Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ The Senior Year ❯ Together the Outland ( Chapter 11 )

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

Twelve years ago...the Moroboshi estate in Sendai.

Located atop a drumlin to the east of the city, the mansion house is a
picturesque Western-style estate which could easily rank as one of the largest
single buildings in Japan. Of quite recent construction, it incorporates many
features which makes it unique among the residences of the rich and famous.
The house is designed with its own power plant supplemented with solar panels
lining the roof. Forming the estate's central cluster with the house is a
beautiful Shinto shrine, a planetarium, a rock garden, a glass-enclosed atrium
and other buildings. Built into the mountain itself are many entrances and
exit ports for both armoured vehicles and aircraft serving the Moroboshi Clan.
The grounds around the estate are heavily treed with an obstacle course,
shooting ranges and other areas meant for the soldiers of the Moroboshi Light
Infantry Division and the Air Corps. There is also, strange given the owner's
lack of ability in such matters, a large playground located near the mansion.

The tranquility of the playground is soon interrupted by the joyous
laughter of two children playing tag. In the lead is a cute six-year old
girl. Right behind her is an average looking five-year old boy. Both look
like each other. "Come catch me, Ataru-chan!" the girl laughs.

"I'll catch you, Nokoko-chan!" he races after her.

The two race about the grounds, hide behind trees, splash their way into
ponds and puddles, leap over rocks. Finally, in a clear field, the boy grabs
the girl's arm. "Tag!" he declares.

The two stop, then with a snicker, fall on their backs. Both are
covered by dirt. The girl smiles. "Ataru-chan?"

"What is it, Nokoko-chan?" he looks over.

The girl then looks sad. "I'm running away from home," she sniffs.

"Huh?! Why?!"

"Be-because," she sniffs again, "I just learned...that you and I...we're
not cousins!" She looks at the boy, touching herself. "We're really brother
and sister!"

The boy looks very excited. "Really?! Honestly?!"

"Uh-huh," the girl nods, "...but 'cause I'm different from other girls,
Mommy didn't want to raise me...and Grandma wants ta marry me off when I'm old
enough! Uncle's the only nice person around!! I don't wanna get married!"

The boy scratches the back of his head. "Who wants to think about
marriage?" he shrugs. "I met this really strange girl that came from the sky
and after she and I played shadow tag, she said she was gonna come back in
eleven years and we'll get married!"

"That's stupid!" the girl harrumpths. "Marriage is stupid!! All boys
are stupid!"

The boy looks hurt. "All boys accept you, Ataru-chan!" she consoles.

The boy smiles as the girl embraces him. Suddenly, an eerie light
appears above their heads. "Uh-oh!" the girl looks up. "That means I gotta
go!"

The girl stands up...and is levitated into the sky! "Nokoko-chan,
wait!!" the boy tries to pursue. "Let me come with you! Don't go!! Come
back here!!"

"'Bye, Ataru-chan!" the girl waves as she disappears. "I'll see you in
twelve years...I promise!"

The boy stops as the girl and the light disappear. Silence falls over
the scene. The boy looks down, a tear in his eye. "I'm alone again."

Ataru Moroboshi walks away from the spot where his sister had
disappeared...

* * *

Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Together The Outland"
by Fred Herriot
**** **** ****
edited by E.B. Kushnir
**** **** ****
Eleventh in a series of fan-fiction stories based on "Urusei Yatsura," created
by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) Well, after the insanity of the Saga of the Tiger, welcome to the first
of our three Senior Year Specials. Were this a hard-copy fanzine, this would
serve the same purpose that an annual issue does for comics: a special
one-shot story which normally would not fit into a regular comic volume.
However, it still is a part of the "UY - The Senior Year" continuity, as the
characters introduced here will become major players in the series.

2) "Together The Outland" is also the prequel to the "Before the Phoenix,
After the Phoenix" saga, which is the time between the end of the Spirit War
and the arrival of Nagaiwakai Moroboshi in "Ataru's First Girlfriend! Arrive
Windy-chan!!" In this series of stories, the Tomobiki gang will suffer
through the aftershocks of the Spirit War and Ataru's attempts to distance
himself (and Lum) from everyone in Tomobiki. While these stories will not be
as intense as the Tiger Saga, they will aid in developing the characters
toward the climax of this series as well as laying the groundwork for our
first sequel series, "Urusei Yatsura Twenty Years Later."

3) This story also marks the start of the "dreamscape" images Lum has in
reflection of Noa-chan's promise first mentioned in the epilogue of
"Spirit-War Tomobiki." Details and specifics about Sagussan terminology will
be relayed to you in these notes in successive stories.

4) "Plank owner" is U.S. Navy terminology for the commissioning crew of a
warship or base. Sakusei Station was a military base prior to its becoming a
trading outpost.

5) "Tokkaebi" is the Korean version of an oni. Physically, it has one horn
on the top of the skull. Not seen as an evil creature in Korean myth, it is
more mischevious and playful.

**** **** ****

"Lum!! Wake up!!" a woman's voice echoes.

Lum's eyes open. "Eh...where am I?" the Oni moans as she looks out the
transport's window to see the foothills of Esanta'cha pass. "Oh, I'm sorry,
Hunba!" she blushes. "I feel asleep."

"Oh, honestly, Lum!" a brown-haired Vosian in a lovely kimono sighs.

Given her present station as Special Advisor of Voisan Affairs to the
Minister of External Affairs, Hunba wears a mix of black, gold and light blue.
Lum, now volunteering for External Affairs, is similarly dressed. It had been
over seven decades since Ataru and Lum first came to Sagussa, but social
regimentation still existed, especially among the *daishi'cha*. Lum stares at
her friend. Hunba had weathered the transition from Vosian freedom fighter to
Sagussan immigrant quite well. With Noa-chan serving as the House Speaker and
Hunba's bond-mate, Noa-chan's sister Honey-chan, serving as Ataru's Executive
Assistant, Lum and Hunba had much time to themselves whenever Ataru, Noa-chan
or Honey-chan could not come to their commune on the slopes of Sagussa's
highest mountain. "Looking forward to being with Honey again?" Lum sighs.

"You bet," Hunba nods. "It may not be as close as when I was with my
husband, but at least I won't have to fight a man for my bond-mate's love."

Lum sighs. She wondered how she ever allowed herself to agree to allow
Ataru to come to Sagussa in the first place. How many years ago was it? The
Oni shakes her head. She had finally put Earth behind her thirty-eight years
ago when her parents had died, with Reiko, Koishii, Amora and Ainba married
and Kokeru fast approaching his time of destiny. The demands of Tomobiki were
presently faint echoes receding in her memory. Still, whenever she cast her
memory back to her teenage years, before and after the Spirit War, before the
Hustari apocalypse, before the Planet of Shadows, the destruction of the
Church of Lum, the Imperialist Counter-Revolution on Uru, Ataru's killing of
the Mikado, the final Tag Race, the Battle of Uru...

Lum stops herself. Thanks to an eight-century lifespan, she had
outlived all her non-Sagussan friends save Nassur, Benten, Shinobu, Junba,
Koosei and Oyuki, not to mention her sisters, Ataru's siblings and their
friends on Nagussa, Sado and in Oshika. Nassur and Benten still ran Home Base
although the Vosian now dabbled in diplomacy as the Galactic Federation grew,
expanded. Shinobu and Junba still resided on Earth, the former still acting
as *laqu'r* of Kyotos. Koosei and Oyuki lived on Triton, Oyuki fulfilling her
destiny as Queen and Koosei willingly being her consort. They still talked as
often as they could. Everyone got together as often as they could given
Oyuki's and Ataru's busy schedules as heads-of-state for their respective
worlds and Shinobu's duties as princess of Kyotos.

Given that, most people living inside the Galactic Barrier would believe
Lum a lonely woman. Loneliness was a thing Sagussans as a race loathed. Each
citizen, man or woman, could always depend on their bond-mates and
child-mates, not to mention bond-mates of one's bond-mates' brothers and
sisters. Every village, every farming commune and collective, every city,
town and hamlet were extended families to the citizens of Sagussa. No one was
left alone.

Lum smiles as she remembers the night her twins Tanko and Atara were
born. It did not help that she had been psychologically crippled when the
"Kashin" was destroyed in the final voyage which slew her parents. Noa-chan
had nursed her back to a semblance of health while Lum was in mourning,
illogically blaming herself for her parents' deaths. Just as she was soon to
enter labour, a storm had struck the Esanta'cha, cutting off all
transportation from their villa to the rest of the planet. The change of
pressure brought on early labour. Lum was alone in the villa at the time.
Her fear at losing her twins made her overcome her psychological
problems...when the door flew open and Noa-chan staggered in, having
physically climbed Esanta'cha's slopes at considerable risk to herself to be
there in her bond-mate's time of need. Tanko and Atara were delivered without
difficulty.

The transport shudders as it lands in the village transit station. Lum
and Hunba disembark. Instantly, a crowd of young children gather around the
*daimon'cha's* Other, passing her a garden of roses. A beaming Lum accepts
them, very much the unofficial queen of a world without marriage or families
like worlds inside the Barrier. After the last child has passed her good
wishes, the Oni and the Vosian proceed across the station to the entry ports
for transports arriving from the capital city.

Along the way, both pass a montage of images. All denoted as ATARU IN
REPOSE, they show Lum's husband kicking Cherry into orbit, dropping a hammer
on Mendou, seeing the guards tortured by the Kuromoroboshi ninjas, arguing
with Shinobu, punching Ryuunosuke's father away from his "son," using Lan's
own bazookas on herself, beating up Rei...they continue for a dozen more
images. "Lecasur's Eternal Soul, how long ago was that?" Hunba sighs.

"Seventy-two years," Lum sighs, "...and eleven children!"

Both laugh at the old *daishi'cha's* joke about keeping track of time
through the number of children born. Since her bonding to Honey-chan, Hunba
had given birth to a dozen children, half-siblings to Grisur, Nassur, Tarosur
and Crinba. Despite being physically in her late twenties when she underwent
*tre'cha*, *satre'cha* and the regeneration which gave her a Sagussan
lifespan, Lum believed Hunba was good for fifty more...and Vosians normally
never had more than two children in a family! "Do you miss them?" Nassur's
mother nods to the images.

"I don't miss many of them at all," the Oni shakes her head.

"Really?" the former rebel fighter muses.

They look at the images, remembering the faces now decades dead and
ashes. Finally, they turn to proceed to the visitor's gallery near the entry
port for the Tere'na City transport. "Whatever happened to those trench-waves
anyway?" Hunba hums.

Lum sighs. "Well, Darling did help Shutaro with his relationship with
Sil, although that got blown out of the water when Sil was killed. Then his
parents forced Shutaro to marry Asuka even when Osooko-chan was pregnant with
her baby. Darling forced the guards to disband by finding them girls of their
own. Cherry died soon after we married. I think he starved."

Hunba laughs. "Shinobu never got Nassur," Lum counts off on her
fingers. "Darling made sure of that, too. But that was no problem since
Junba would eventually come into her life...even though it took Shinobu
seventeen years to realize that Junba was the best thing that ever came to
her. Lan and Rei married. She wound up reproducing like a rabbit. I lost
count of the amount of kids she had. Was it seven or nine? Ryuunosuke never
beat her father, even though her daughter married into more money than Shutaro
ever had. And Sakura grew into a crabby old maid with a daughter more
sex-crazed than Darling before the Spirit War."

Both chuckle. Lum was amazed at the fact that her marriage with Ataru
had lasted so long. Seven decades?! Incredible!! They would celebrate their
centennial, bicentennial, tricentennial and more! Then again, both were from
short-lived races living on a world where lifespans could potentially reach a
millennium, even more. Ataru had obtained his dream of a large harem which
even counted a Lum-chan, still today serving as Head Scientist. He returned
to Lum no matter what. Lum would always be there for him. They never failed
to speak to each other at least once every day whenever the business of the
state took Ataru away. When they were together, their passion would build and
grow to new heights unsurpassed by previous occasions. Benten was awed that
their relationship lasted this long. Then again, cynicism was the
Fukunokami's governing trait.

However, with Ataru's work taking him everywhere in the local cluster
and beyond, there were times when Lum required a personal companion.
Sagussans had long ago recognized the fact that sexual intercourse was a
physical act, not requiring the psychological and emotional attachment other
races associated with it. Hence the practice of bond-mating. While Lum was
beginning to respond to Noa-chan's desires more by instinct than by conscious
choice, the opposite had always been instinct. The Oni felt ashamed,
especially since Noa-chan had been the one who brought Ataru and Lum together,
both twelve years before the First Tag Race, then just before the final Tag
Race.

The transport from Tere'na City arrives, heralded by the stationmaster's
announcements. Lum and Hunba descend to the departure platform. Their wait
is short. The doors slide open and two Seishin-born women disembark.
"Honey!" Hunba gasps.

"Noa!!" Lum sighs.

Noa-chan slides into Lum's arms, still dressed in her duty jumpsuit.
"Miss me, love?"

"Always," the Oni sighs as they kiss...

* * *

Lum awakens with a yawn. "Oh, *datcha*, what a dream...!" she
moans...then stops.

Her friends and classmates stand in front of her. Heat emanates from
Shinobu, Lan, Ryuunosuke and Sakura, their eyes glowing. Mendou and the
guards look devastated. "Breeds like a rabbit, eh?!!" the Seishin girl
growls.

"I never marry Nassur-kun?!!" Ataru's ex-girlfriend howls. "And I wind
up handfasting with another woman?!!"

"A daughter more sex-crazed than Moroboshi?!!" the priestess hisses.

"I never beat my father?!!" the tomboy slams her fist into the other
palm.

"I marry...that man-phobe?!" the scion of Japan's richest family gasps.
"And I lose the woman I really love?!"

"Ataru breaks us up?!" the guards' leader shudders.

Everyone points accusingly at Lum. "AND YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO US?!?!
WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU, ANYWAY?!?!?!"

The Oni backs away fearfully...

* * *

...and falls out of bed! "*Tcha!!*"

Moaning, Lum gets up, stretching herself as she stares out the window of
her rented room. Now in the small apartments over Koruneko's Cafe on Sakusei
Station, the Oni had a clear view of the fifty-kilometre wide floating trading
post. It was early "morning" on Sakusei; since it was on an asteroid caught
between the gravity fields of three star systems, time was mechanically
measured. "Looks like another busy day," Lum muses as she heads off to get
dressed.

She walks into the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. In her
dream, Lum was physically twenty-three years old. "At least I'll still be
pretty enough to keep Darling interested in me!" she giggles as she moves to
brush her teeth.

"What about Ataru?" a voice calls out.

Lum watches as Nassur steps into the bathroom, dressed in a housecoat.
"'Morning, Nassur-chan," the Oni smiles. "Feeling a little better?"

"Somewhat," the Vosian looks at his hand. It slightly trembles.

Lum notices. "What was it like?" she stares at her former mentor.

Nassur grimaces. "Nothing I ever experienced in all my years of
training on Vos and Cademus could have prepared me for that thing," he
shudders. "I was a babe against that monster." A bite enters his voice.
"One sweep of its weapon and I was in a big, black nothing!"

"Nassur-chan..." Lum places a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?!" another voice calls out.

The Vosian sees Benten walk into the bathroom. "Hi, Benten," he lightly
smiles.

Lum notices that his hand has stopped shaking. "C'mon, let's get
dressed," the Fukunokami guides him to their bedroom. "Koruneko-san and
Koosei've got breakfast on."

"Okay," Nassur nods.

The Oni looks worried. Thanks to his phenominal mission success rate,
Nassur had very little to fear when it came to someone directly challenging
him. Varanko and Dakejinzou were allies; Ataru had no reason to hate Nassur;
the Freemasons on Elle were busy defending the kingdom and working on Project:
Black Rose; the ninjas under Nagaiwakai's and Komeru's employ could be held
back by Ataru; the Silent Ones of Vos were busy fighting the Mikado; the
Mikado's Special Hunter Corps that Nassur himself was once a part of were too
busy being chopped up by the rebels to be much of a threat; and the Zephyrite
Inquisition would not concern themselves with the hunter unless Nassur was
involved with some enormity against a Zephyrite, something totally against his
nature. Save for some bad injuries...an expected occupational hazard...Nassur
had never faced anything which could directly threaten his life...

...until he fan afoul of the *saikoo jinseijitsu.*

Lum could understand Nassur's fear, even though he did try to control
it. The sentient ninja database stored in Ataru's mind, now defused and kept
in check by the Cyborg, had eight CENTURIES of experience to draw from in
combatting the hunter. And the *saikoo jinseijitsu* did not waste time trying
to fight the Vosian toe-to-toe, but went right for the kill at the start. And
with Nassur cut down, the others confronting that monster two days ago lost a
lot of their esprit de corps. Nassur was the most experienced and toughest of
the Oni's many friends. With him out of the way, the *saikoo jinseijitsu*
would have eventually succeeded in killing them had not Noa-chan and her
friends intervened when they did.

As she proceeds to dress, Lum sighs. The shock and brutality of the
Spirit War was now starting to sink in. She could hardly imagine what people
back in Tomobiki were going through, not to mention Ataru. Lum did not know
whether to be angry at her boyfriend or not. Ataru had purposefully allowed
the *saikoo jinseijitsu* out of his head...not knowing what it was until it
was too late, of course...to teach his former classmates a lesson they would
not forget. Oh, they would remember that day for the rest of their lives!
Then again, the people of Tomobiki had some blame in this as well, especially
Mendou and the guards. It was they who tried to stop Ataru from leaving
Tomobiki. That made her Darling finally decide to give them a taste of their
own medicine...a taste that nearly killed them all, INCLUDING Ataru!!

Perhaps coming to Sakusei was the right idea. It was time for everyone
to try to reorientate themselves, time to put their lives back in order and
figure out their priorities. Ataru needed it most of all; he was the one who
suffered the most because of the *saikoo jinseijitsu,* both before and after
the Spirit War. Although Lum did not like the idea of his permanently moving
out of Tomobiki, she certainly understood his need to be alone. She needed
it, too.

Coming downstairs, she walks into the cozy restaurant/pub/cafe the
felinoid Koruneko owned. Already around one table were her friends. Koruneko
himself was serving breakfast. "Ah, good morning, Lum," the dimunitive
felinoid smiles. "A pleasant night's rest?"

"It was okay," the Oni smiles as she sits. "Thank you, Koruneko-san."

"My pleasure," Koruneko proceeds back to his kitchen.

"Any news from Tomobiki?" Lum stares at Koosei.

"Well, Lan managed to get her insurance company to buy her a new scout,"
the homeroom teacher sighs. "Reconstruction is just barely starting. Mendou
and Mizunokoji had to call in construction crews from all over Japan.
Everyone still blames Ataru for the whole mess."

"As usual," Benten snorts. "Gods, don't these jerks ever give it a
rest?"

"They will when the repair bill is calculated," Koosei smiles. "I don't
think Mendou's parents are going to pay for the whole mess themselves."

"Well, it's what they deserve after abusing Ataru like that," Oyuki sips
her tea. "All he wanted to do was leave Tomobiki in peace and find some place
where he could raise Reiko-chan and live with Lum-chan. What's so wrong with
that?"

"Think about the Niphentaxians," Koosei wryly snorts.

"You need not tell me about that, Koosei-kun," the Tritonian looks ill,
then stares at the Vosian. "How are you feeling, Nassur-san?"

"A little better, I guess," Nassur folds his hands under his chin. "The
shock of what happened is still with me. A pity I couldn't find some way to
convince that thing to go after the Mikado. He wouldn't stand a chance
against the *saikoo jinseijitsu.*"

"Wishful thinking," Lum snorts. "That thing inside Darling hates
everything that Darling stands for. It might help the Mikado kill you if you
aren't careful."

Koruneko then comes up with some herbal tea. "Speaking of that annoying
little pest," the felinoid muses, "...you all best be on your toes while
you're here. Yakuzaishi-kun just told me that there's a company of Mikado
Marines lurking about the station."

Everyone looks discomfitted. "It never rains but it pours," Benten
growls.

"Someone better call Dake-chan here ASAP," Koosei muses. "Nassur's in
no shape to take on a pack of Mikado Marines."

"And to add misery to your downpour, a hunter is soon to be among them,"
Koruneko looks sympathetic. "A woman by the name of Mujanba."

"Mujanba?!" Nassur blinks, then groans. "Yep, that's worse."

"You know her?" Benten snarls.

"By reputation," the Vosian sighs. "Mujanba's from Colony Nine. She
never went through the hunter schools; she's self-taught. She joined the
Mikado's side when a radical rebel sect burned her village and killed her
parents. She has no love of rebels whatsoever, although it's believed she
doesn't get along with the other hunters. She a lone wolf. And her success
rate, for someone who's only sixty-two, is as good as mine."

"Like Yukio, with experience," the Fukunokami shudders. "Wonderful."

"Well, if matters get too out of hand, I can always be of assistance,"
Koruneko offers.

"Thanks, Koruneko-san," Nassur smiles...

* * *

"So this is Sakusei," Mujanba hums as she looks around. "Quaint little
place."

Stepping out of the arrivals terminal after taking a transport
warpshuttle from Colony 106, the Colony Nine native mixes with the crowd of
workers, traders and tourists filing their way down Sakusei's main
throughfare. The huntress would rather be back in the Confederation instead
of the middle of the Urusian Union; back home, she could busy herself
eliminating the radical racist and socialist movements which were trying to
influence the main rebel leadership into accepting their viewpoints as the
Vosian Civil War entered what she knew was the final year. All the colonies
were in rebel hands and Vos itself had been invaded two months previously.
The Mikado was done for; it was only a question of when and how. Mujanba may
be on his side, but she was a pragmatist at heart. If the rebels could form a
decent government dedicated to social and political justice, she would gladly
switch allegiance. Right now it was still too early to tell.

But something incredible had just happened on Earth, home to some new
allies of the legendary renegade Nassur. Just a couple days ago, a titanic
battle had been fought which devestated the infamous habitation of Tomobiki,
nearly killing Nassur and all his friends. Details were still quite sketchy;
the huntress assigned to Earth had nearly been killed herself during the
Spirit War, as the local news media called it. Hearing that ominous title
made Mujanba, a child of sorcerers and nature-psionics, shudder. What had
happened there? However, the huntress in Tomobiki had confirmed that Nassur
had been critically wounded in the battle and was now recuperating somewhere
on Sakusei. Colonel Furusur, commander of the Hunter Corps, had dispatched
Mujanba to assist a company of Mikado Marines in an assassination attempt.
Mujanba suspected it was a waste of time. Nassur ate Mikado Marines for
breakfast, and even if he was wounded, he was not helpless. He had a partner
now: Hotei Shigaten's daughter Benten. Further, Dakejinzou Shogai and
Varanko, warriors with even more fearsome and very well-earned reputations,
could never be ignored when one targetted the renegade.

Mujanba runs a hand through her neck-length brown hair, her hazel eyes
scanning left and right for the person she is scheduled to meet. As she
looks, she notices someone stapling a poster to a bulletin board. Curious,
Mujanba notices that similar posters were on every bulletin board in sight.
She walks up to the person, a red-haired humanoid woman draped in a grey cape.
Beside her is a young man, also red-haired, who is dressed in a muscle shirt
and skintight pants. "Is there something wrong?" she inquires.

The woman turns around. To Mujanba, her movement is in entrancing slow
motion. What a beauty! The red hair, cut short to a taper at the back of the
neck, seems to gently sweep with the motion of her head. Her cape billows,
revealing that she is wearing a strapless silver-and-grey bikini with slip-on
shoes. Her green eyes are like twin emeralds. And that did not count the
dozens of crystals dotting her skin, looking as if they were embedded in her
skin; they were not attached to chains. The woman stops, then smiles as she
produces one of her posters. "Yes. Have you seen this woman?"

Mujanba stares at the poster, showing a face shot of a cuter female
version of Ataru Moroboshi, then looks back at the beauty holding it. "Um...I
just arrived at the station," she embarrassingly notes. "But I'll keep my
eyes open if you want."

"Oh, you're an angel, love," the woman reaches into her cape to hand her
a small snapshot of the target of her search. "Here you go."

Mujanba takes the picture, then slips it into her jumpsuit...and again
finds herself staring at the woman before her. Although Terran
human...Caucasian, if Mujanba remembered the specific sub-race correctly...her
skin is tanned as if she had spent all her life in Earth's hot tropics.
Further, her hair has a metallic tinge to it, more akin to a Yehisrite than a
Terran. And her voice is touched with such a haunting lilt. Exotic or what?!
This woman is the most gorgeous creature Mujanba has ever seen! Where had she
been all her life?

Their eyes lock momentarily. The Terran finds herself smiling, her
cheeks flushing in embarrassment, then is startled by a cough from the younger
man. "Nicole, I'll get the rest of the posters put up if you want to spend
some time alone."

Nicole? Mujanba had to find a book on Terran names so she could learn
what that meant. "Uh...eh...what did you say?" Nicole blinks confusedly, then
remembers. "Oh, sure, Jason. Go ahead."

She hands Jason the posters, then returns to staring at Mujanba as the
young man heads off. Both women blink, then find themselves giggling. "I
haven't been stared at like that since I came out of the closet," Nicole
admits.

"I...I've never stared at anyone quite like you before," Mujanba smiles.
"My name's Mujanba. I'm from Vos Colony Nine."

"A pleasure," Nicole holds out her hand. "Nicole McTavish. My friends
call me Cole. I'm from Earth...Killiecrankie, Scotland to be precise."

Mujanba places her hand in Nicole's, allowing the Terran to give her a
warm squeeze. "A pleasure, Nicole," she smiles.

"I said my friends call me Cole."

"We just met."

"And you're wanting lots more."

"Well..." Mujanba stutters.

Both women burst out laughing. "Oooh, boy!" Nicole scratches her
temple. "I came here looking for my friend and I wind up flirting with some
other girl."

"Are you taken?" Mujanba coyly muses.

"Nope. You?"

"No, but if I did become interested, I wouldn't mind recognizing you."

"Ah, yes. Vosian genetic slavery."

"Hey!!" Mujanba looks incensed.

"Sorry about that," Nicole smiles. "My grandmother's a Vosian-Yehisrite
hybrid...*azhis'f,* I think they're called. She crash-landed on Earth over a
century and a half ago. Believe me, I know about recognition."

"Oh, that explains it," Mujanba nods, gently squeezing Nicole's
hand...as her eyes glow bright silver. "Um...I'm sorry, but I have to go meet
someone. Can I meet you later?"

"Koruneko's Cafe," Nicole points down the street. "It's on the main
drag. I'll be there around two."

"See you then," Mujanba winks, then runs off.

Nicole watches her go. "Whoo, now that's a bonnie lass if I've ever met
one!" she sighs, then giggles. "Oh, Nokoko's going to be so jealous!"

Down the street, Mujanba almost skips to her rendezvous. Maybe coming
to Sakusei was not such a bad idea after all. She would have to thank Furusur
for it sometime later...with a letterbomb.

Now, if she could just remember her mother's instant self-recognition
spell!

"Mujanba-san!!" a young voice calls out.

Mujanba's eyes glow, then she looks right to see a Vosian girl of about
fourteen run up. "Hi," she waves. "Are you from the Sixteenth?"

"Yes, ma'am," the girl stops, saluting her. "Private Muzainba reporting
to take you to Major Henkensur."

Muzainba saddens Mujanba. Hardly developed, her black hair was tied in
a high ponytail. Her brown eyes seemed befitting to someone much younger than
fourteen. "You must be a new one if you forgot that you don't salute in the
field," Mujanba sighs, smiling at her gaff. After all, she had been that
innocent once.

"Um...sorry, ma'am," Muzainba blushes, looking down. "Well, I can take
you to the Major right now."

"Sure, let's go," Mujanba nods.

* * *

"Your reputation has proceeded you, Captain," Henkensur grumbles as he
stares at Mujanba. "Your adherence and service to the Mikado's cause is
admirable...but your penchant for unfriendliness, even open hostility, with
your fellow hunters does make one wary on calling your services. I had hoped
Furusur would have sent someone who could better work as part of a team."

"If you want a chance of success against Nassur, you need the best,"
Mujanba crosses her arms, her fingers touching the knotted loop of her
kill-belt slung over her right shoulder; the sign of a very successful hunter.
"Until someone better comes along or this war finally ends, that's me. If you
want someone to be buddy-buddy with, then your mission will be a failure.
Take your pick, Major. What do you want?"

Henkensur grumbles. Physically well past fifty, he had lost all his
hair and his face was already collapsing to the ages. "We have tried to trace
Nassur down, both either by himself or by his collegues. Rumour has it that
not only is his new partner here, but so is the so-called Devil's Daughter,
the crown princess of Triton and Koosei Ryooki. To date, we haven't found
where they are staying."

"Then, that's where I'll begin," Mujanba smiles. "Once Nassur is found,
what then?"

"I haven't decided yet," Henkensur snorts. "Personally, I think
Huntress Thanba's reports about this so-called 'spirit war' in Tomobiki were
grossly exaggerated. Those Terrans are very backward. I can't see what the
Urusians and the Ipraedies see in that mudball anyway!"

"That is beside the point of course," Mujanba cuts in. "Besides, I'm
more inclined to believe Thanba. I know her quite well. She's a good
huntress, stable and dependable. She wouldn't make an exaggeration,
especially if what she just reported really did happen. Don't forget she was
nearly killed in that battle."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the major waves her off. "Private Muzainba will
show you around the station. Dismissed."

Mujanba nods, then follows Muzainba out of the major's office. The two
proceed out of the apartment which serves as the company's base onto a side
street leading downtown. "Well, most of us aren't really busy here, so we do
relax," the private explains. "We're a little worried, though. The Galactic
Federation is getting peeved with the Mikado sending hunters and marines into
their space to try to track down rebels, renegades and asylum seekers. Rumour
has it that the Urusian government is going to pass a law which will grant
official governmental recognition to Hunba's rebel army and the rebel elements
of the Vosian Defence Force, then order the arrest and expulsion of all Mikado
supporters."

"If I was a member of the Tribal Council, I'd hold off until I saw what
sort of government the rebels could form," Mujanba hums.

"Do you think the Mikado will last?" the young private looks
apprehensive.

"It's only a matter of time," the huntress projects a reassuring smile.
"If we're lucky, we could slip away unseen and go live in peace elsewhere."

"I dunno," Muzainba shakes her head. "I mean, my parents fought in the
Marines, so they expected me to do the same thing."

"Your parents still alive?"

"No, they were killed at Colony Forty. Yours?"

"Killed in a raid on my village on Colony Nine," Mujanba looks sad,
wondering if Nicole's parents were still alive so she could properly present
herself to them as their future daughter-in-law...then wonders if Nicole's
parents would accept what she is...then wonders what was making her think this
way about someone she had just met! "It's the problem with this damn war.
It'll never really end...especially the memories."

"Yeah," Muzainba nods, then her brown eyes glow gold. "Oh, there's
Jason!"

Mujanba stops. "You know him?!"

"Yeah, I've seen him around a few times since he and his sister Nicole
came here looking for their friend. He's really nice. Jason!"

Jason, who is busy stapling another poster on the wall of the station's
pharmacy, turns around, smiling. "Hi, Muzai-chan...oh, hi, Miss Mujanba!"

"Hi, Jason," Mujanba smiles, privately relieved that Jason was related
by blood to her girlfriend. Girlfriend? *I've got to get my head examined,
jumping to conclusions like that!!* she admonishes herself, blushing.

"Mujanba-san, are you okay?" Muzainba inquires.

"Eh?!" the huntress jolts, then giggles. "Oh, I'm sorry. My mind's a
thousand parsecs away! What did you say, Muzainba?"

"Jason said that you wanted to meet her sister at Koruneko's Cafe," the
private blinks confusedly. "Is something wrong?"

"I think Miss Mujanba's got a crush on my sister," Jason admits.

"Eh?!" Muzainba gasps, then leans up to Mujanba, hands clasped.
"Really?! Did you recognize her?!!"

"H-hey, not yet!!" Mujanba chuckles. "Let me get to know her first,
then we'll let recognition weave it's magic!"

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" the younger Vosian gushes. "Oh, if I
recognize Jason, then we'll be sisters-in-law! Isn't that great?!"

"Well, let's worry about that when we get there," Mujanba laughs.
"Um...Jason, where is Koruneko's Cafe anyway?"

"I was just going to meet Nicole there right now," Jason turns down a
street. "Come on."

"Lead on, MacDuff," Mujanba beams.

The three head off down the main street. Looking out a window of his
pharmacy, the dinosaur-like Yakuzaishi hums, his eyes narrow. Walking over to
his phone, he makes a call down the street...

* * *

"This is Koruneko's place?!" Mujanba whistles. "Rustic."

"Yeah, it's neat, isn't it?!" Muzainba beams. "And Koruneko-sama is so
cute...for a walking, talking cat."

"So I've heard," the huntress muses. Koruneko was a "known but not
spoken about casually in a polite conversation" type of sentient. No one had
any idea what race he hailed from, what planet was his home or why he decided
a century ago to be one of Sakusei Station's plank owners. No one even knew
his exact age, although it was rumoured to be past the thirty thousand year
mark. His wisdom was unsurpassed by anything and anyone. Further, he had a
terrifying aura of mystery about him. No one knew what he was capable of
doing or why. His reputation among the galaxy's leaders had made even the
Mikado quake in mortal dread. His laser-like stare, it was said, could drive
people to suicide.

The illusion is quickly shattered as the reality walks up. "Ah, Jason,
welcome back," Koruneko smiles as he greets them at the door. "I see you've
brought Muzainba with you...and who might this be?" he peacefully glances at
Mujanba.

"This is Mujanba, from Colony Nine," Muzainba introduces them.

"A pleasure, Koruneko-sama," Mujanba bows. Despite the peaceful
demeanor, the huntress could sense the spiritual aura surrounding Koruneko.
His reputation was very well deserved.

"Mujanba!!" a voice calls out.

"Nicole!" Mujanba lets out a tremulous sigh as she walks over to the
Terran's table, Jason and Muzainba in her wake. "Hi!!"

"Hi, yourself," Nicole grips her hands as they sit. Koruneko quickly
hands them menus, then withdraws to the kitchen. "So, you met Muzainba, eh?!"

"Well...we work in the same business," Muzainba explains.

"Hey, it's none of my business what you do," Nicole chuckles. "Just
don't get killed, huh? Jason wouldn't like it if he had to bury you."

"I'll try not to," the private giggles, reaching out to hold Jason's
hand.

"I see you got the posters up here," Mujanba notices a poster of Nokoko
hanging from each of the pillars separating the eating area from the bar.
"What makes you think you can find your friend here, Nicole?"

"Because Nokoko came here after she visited planet Elle," Nicole
blushes. "She came back to where we normally live, then disappeared again.
Jason and I checked out Elle, but we found nothing, so we came here to look."

"I hope you find her," Mujanba looks sympathetic. "Was she a close
friend?"

"You mean were we ever sexually involved?" Nicole inquires. "Nope. Mal
would never allow that."

"Ah, so Nokoko's taken," Mujanba nods understandingly, then looks
around. "Um...but where's Mal?"

"She's a private sort of person," Nicole hesitantly responds. "She
wouldn't fit in a crowd."

"One would understand that of a Nendo-kata who hasn't Crossed Over,"
Koruneko serves them ice water.

"Nendo-kata?!" Mujanba blinks. "I've never heard of a race by that
name."

"You wouldn't," the felinoid explains. "They're from a galaxy some six
billion parsecs from here. Mal and her school came to this galaxy through an
interdimensional warp, which is when they met Nicole, Jason and Nokoko."

"Wow!" the Vosian huntress whistles...then her eyes glow.

"*Tcha!!*" Lum's shocked voice exclaims from nearby. "Everybody, look
at this!!!"

Koruneko winces. "Oh, not now," he sighs. At least Yakuzaishi had
warned him this could be coming.

Mujanba spins around to see Lum, Benten, Oyuki and Koosei staring
disbelievingly at one of Nicole's posters. "I don't believe it!!" Benten
exclaims. "This chick looks like she could be Moroboshi's twin sister!!!"

"Look at the name," Koosei points.

Lum reads, her eyes widening in disbelief. "'No-...ko-...ko
MOROBOSHI?!?!?!'" she exclaims. "But, that's impossible!! Darling doesn't
have a sister!!!"

Nicole rises, walking over to them. "That's not true, if it's Ataru
Moroboshi you're talking about, love. Nokoko's his elder sister."

The four spin around to stare at Nicole...then they see who is sitting
at her table! "Who the hell...?!!" Benten slips into a defensive mode.

"Mujanba, I presume," Oyuki's eyes narrow, her voice cool.

Mujanba rises, her hand pulling off her overcoat to reveal her black
hunter's uniform and three-looped kill-belt. Muzainba also rises, a mix of
fear and determination on her face. Nicole and Jason stare at everyone,
wondering what this was about.

Nearby, Koruneko sighs. His mother warned him of days like this...

* * *

"Well, well, well!!" Lum snarls, lightning dancing over her. "Look what
the cat just dragged in!!"

Mujanba remains calm as she studies the four before her. Lum and Benten
were experienced fighters although they were not soldiers by training. Koosei
was quite fearsome in his own way, as was Oyuki. Still, they were not in
Nassur's class...nor hers. "Where is he?" she evenly demands.

"Where you and your friends can't touch him, dyke!" Benten snarls,
snapping her chains. "You Mikado hunters think you're the toughest lot in the
galaxy! Against some REAL warriors, you're nothing but a bunch of wimps!"

Nicole blinks. How did the S-and-M queen know Mujanba's sexual
preference, especially since she was as hetero as they came? "I'll be more
than happy to demonstrate how tough I really am, bitch," Mujanba growls.

"Not in this cafe," an icy voice cuts in.

Everyone turns to see Koruneko walk out from behind his bar, placing
himself between Mujanba and Lum. He looks at one group, then the next. "I've
no personal interest in your petty little dispute," he intones, then stares at
Mujanba. "Nassur is currently healing under my care. You will inform whoever
is your commanding officer that I will not tolerate anyone coming in here to
disrupt my establishment."

"Certainly," Mujanba nods.

"And as for you people," Koruneko stares at Lum. "Don't provoke fights
in this cafe. I do not tolerate that of any of my guests...and besides, it's
how you make enemies."

"Of course, Koruneko-san," Lum nods.

"Excellent," the felinoid smiles, then returns to the bar.

Everyone relaxes as Lum's group sit in a booth as far away from Mujanba
as possible. "Little fella really knows how to keep control of this place,
huh?" Nicole stares at Mujanba.

"His reputation goes far and wide," Mujanba sits down beside her friend,
reaching over to grasp Nicole's hand. "Besides, I didn't expect to run into
Nassur's friends when I came to see you."

"I don't want to know about it," Nicole shakes her head. "As long as it
doesn't interfere with my looking for Nokoko, I don't care."

"Suit yourself," Mujanba smiles.

"Oh, by the way," Lum's voice echoes from behind the Terran, "...how do
you know that Darling has a sister?!"

Nicole stares at the Oni, now standing behind her with arms crossed.
"Because Nokoko told me that she left a brother named Ataru behind when she
moved into the Outland to live beside me. And Ataru is the only male child
about your age still alive in the whole Moroboshi family, unless his old hag
of a mother had another kid after Nokoko left."

Everyone save Jason looks shocked. "The...Outland...?" Lum gasps.

"That's impossible!!" Mujanba exclaims. "No human can survive in the
Outland!"

"Did I say I was human?" Nicole stands. "C'mon, Jason. Let's go ask
around to see if people've seen Nokoko."

"Okay, Nicole," Jason stands. "Bye, Muzai-chan. Bye, Miss Mujanba."

"Bye," the two Vosian women wave as the Terrans walk out.

Lum watches them go, understandably confused. "Who...is that woman?"

*That's what I'd like to know!* Mujanba mentally echoes...

* * *

Tomobiki.

Now a virtual desert thanks to the Spirit War, life in Japan's most
infamous district has nearly ground to a halt. With the scarcity of decent
repair equipment and the lack of building materials, almost everyone is forced
to live in a tent city erected by the Moroboshi Clan. Many are still picking
through the piled wreckage at the district's outskirts looking for personal
belongings which may have survived the final confrontation at the Moroboshi
home. However, there is one place which weathered the storm unscathed: the
Seikou home.

Currently, Mie is relaxing on the front porch reading a newspaper when
four shadows fall over her. "What do you dorks want?"

The guards look incensed. "Alright, Mie-san, we'll ask you once!"
Megane growls, his glasses glittering. "Where is he?!"

"Who?" the Kyushu native does not look up.

"Ataru, who else?!"

"Don't know. He didn't tell me where he was going. Even if he did, I
wouldn't tell you clowns. Now, get off the property or else I'll get Tamiko-
chan to telekinetically fire you into Tokyo Bay."

The four shudder, remembering when Suzume demonstrated his ESP powers in
the clock tower sometime before. They quickly scamper off the property, then
dejectedly walk back toward their temporary homes. "This is crazy!" Paama
snarls. "If we don't find Ataru and haul him down here quick so that the
people could lynch the son-of-a-bitch, everyone'll lynch all of us!!"

"What did you expect from that country tramp anyway?!" Kakugari moans.
"She's been on Ataru's side since day one!"

"H-hey, guys," Chibi stammers. "L-look!"

The four stop, staring at a person ahead of them. The familiar messy
brown hair cut short harkens to them. "It's him!" Megane gasps, then shudders
with unholy rage. "He's actually got the balls to come back here and gloat at
his victory!! It's time for some long-overdue divine punishment!!!
CHARGE!!!!"

The guards leap at the person, knocking their target to the ground in a
dogpile. "Ataru, you bastard, this time, you're toast!!!" Megane snarls.

A titanic explosion later sees the bodyguards fried to their bones!!
"Who was saying something about my becoming toast?!" an indignant...and
female...voice demands.

The explosion, however, has drawn a crowd. "Hey, it is Ataru!!" Momoe
snarls. "What's that demonic bastard doing back here?!"

"I don't know, but he's going to suffer for what he did to us!!" Kumiko
growls.

Shinobu is one of the last to come up. "Ataru-kun's come back?" she
inquires, a mix of indignant anger and dread on her face. "What's he doing
back here?! I thought he wanted to leave!!"

"Well, this'll be Darling's grave!!" Lan snarls, hefting a bazooka and
taking aim.

Seeing what is arrayed against her, Nokoko blinks, then sighs. "Fine!
Your funeral!!"

Everyone save Shinobu is then blasted down by a pulse-wave of explosive
energy which literally bursts from her body!! Ataru's former girlfriend howls
as she covers her face from the blast, then stares back to see everyone who
had tried to confront Nokoko now flat on their backs, burnt to a crisp.
"Wow!!" she whistles, falling to her knees. "Is Ataru-kun developing another
personality?!"

"Jeez, maybe coming back to this dump wasn't such a hot idea after all!"
Nokoko mutters to herself as she wipes the dust off her shirt. "Maybe I
should've just gone out and found wherever Ataru-chan's living and move in
with him!"

Lan then appears in front of her. "Darling, you slime!! My insurance
rates went through the roof after you wrecked my scoutship!!" she growls,
fangs out and murder in her eyes as she seizes Nokoko by her shirt collar.
"Now, are you going to pay me some money or do you spend the rest of your life
in an old-age home after I suck the youth out of you?!!"

Nokoko looks coy. "Suck away, airhead!" she sneers, then grabs her in a
tight embrace. "Pucker up, sweetie!!"

"Hey...umpth!!" Lan gasps as her mouth is swamped by Nokoko's.

Everyone blinks as the Seishin teen tries to wrestle her way out of
Nokoko's grasp, but Ataru's sister is far too strong for Lan. Their mouths
part, Lan yowling in pain as Nokoko devilishly smiles. "Had enough?" she
muses.

"Let me go, you freak!!" Lan screams, the strain of her powers
backfiring starting to show on her face. "How'd you get so much youth
injected into you anyway?!"

"It's what you get when you inherit the life-force of a Nendo-kata who
can live for two thousand years, cutie," Nokoko shoves Lan's face back into
kissing range. "Let's smooch!!"

Lan gasps as her mouth is covered again! "Ataru was never that
agressive, even before Icarus," Ryuunosuke muses.

"Something's not right here," Natsuko blinks.

Finally, Lan is let go, collapsing to the ground. Everyone notices that
the Seishin teen's features have aged considerably thanks to her backfiring
powers. "Humph!" Nokoko snorts. "Not good enough to be Mal's template,
that's for sure."

"You...bastard..." Lan gasps.

Shinobu blinks as she stares intently at Nokoko. Her memories begin to
tug at something Ataru told her a very long time ago. "No...it can't be...he
said you ran away from home..." she softly intones.

"Ataru, you bastard!!!" Megane leaps up to grab Nokoko by her shirt, his
wrists pressing into her bust. "How dare you...eh?!"

He stops, feeling a lot more softness in Nokoko's chest than he would
expect from Ataru. Letting go of her shirt, he gives her bust a gentle
squeeze. She is naturally not impressed. "Care to feel me up some more?!"
she snarls, fist cocked and ready to strike. "Only Mal has the right to touch
me there!!"

Megane stammers, falling back disbelievingly. "Y-y-you...y-y-you're
a...!"

"That's right," Nokoko snaps as her fist flies. "I'M A GIRL!!!!"

Megane flies into orbit! "Hey, that's my joke!!" Ryuunosuke barks.

Everyone is taken by surprise. "Ataru got a sex-change?!!" Paama
exclaims.

"No, stupid!!" Shinobu bashes him down with a sledgehammer! "This isn't
Ataru-kun! If it was, all that jostling around would've brought out the
*saikoo jinseijitsu*...!!"

Suddenly, all that is left around Shinobu is Nokoko! "Eh?!" Ataru's
former girlfriend looks confused. "Where'd everybody go?!"

"They took off when you mentioned the *saikoo jinseijitsu,*" Nokoko
explains, then hums. "Do I know you from somewhere?!"

"I doubt it," Shinobu smiles. "I'm Shinobu Miyaki. You're Ataru-kun's
cousin Nokoko, right?"

"No, I'm not Ataru-chan's cousin," Nokoko shakes her head.

Shinobu looks confused. "I'm his sister," Nokoko explains.

* * *

"So, you found him, eh?!" Henkensur cackles as he hears Mujanba's
report. "Good!! This mission's becoming easier than I thought!"

"I doubt it," the huntress shakes her head. "Nassur is presently under
Koruneko-sama's protection. If we tried to assault him at this time, it'd be
suicide for all of us!"

The major is enraged. "Spare me that garbage about how powerful that
walking flea-bitten furball is said to be, Captain!" he snaps. "Nassur is a
traitor, murderer and deserter from the ranks of your own Hunters Corps. He
will be dragged back to Lecashuto for trial and then be executed for his
crimes against the Mikado."

Mujanba shows no emotion by his bombast. Then again, what did she
expect? The Mikado Marines, who were hailed by the Mikado's propaganda
machine to be the special elite of the Vosian Defence Force, were crewed by
the dregs of Vosian society: drifters, racists, homophobes, fascists,
psychopaths, sociopaths and anything else imaginable. They had such an
arrogance around them which blinded them to the truth of the situation.
"Fine, then," she sighs, turning to leave. "If you want to attack Koruneko's
place head on, then it's your funeral, Major."

"Where are you going?!" Henkensur demands.

"I'm going on a date," Mujanba freezes him with an icy stare. "Besides,
I'm technically not under your command, Major. I always make sure that I
never am commanded by such incompetency as you. I'll be sure to send a report
to your regimental commander, if that will ever do anything. Good day."

Henkensur helplessly sputters as the huntress storms out of the office.
She had always made it her policy to keep herself out of any Marine chain of
command. Very few of that lot had any imagination to speak of. Was it any
wonder that the Mikado was losing ground to the rebels in the fight for the
homeworld? Then Mujanba thinks of Muzainba. A young girl who should be in
school or out looking for a boyfriend, not working as a Marine. Another lost
face in a war that no longer made sense.

She is about to walk out of the barracks when she hears Muzainba's
voice. "Will you leave me alone, you jerks! I'm not your play-toy!!"

Spinning around, she marches into a barrack dorm. "What's going on
here?!" she barks.

Muzainba is now in the middle of a bunch of male Marines, now stripped
nude and looking like she definitely does not wish to be among her fellow
troopers. They appear to be drunk, as bottles of cognac, super-vodka, red
beet wine and ale quickly attest. "What business is it of yours, dyke?!" a
sergeant slurs. "You're not going to poison our little Muzai-chan with your
perverted garbage!"

Mujanba freezes them with a stare. "If I had my way, I'd kill every
homophobic prick in the Mikado's service!" she icily intones. "But if I did,
then all that would be left would be the GOOD warriors!! Better to leave your
kind to be cannon-fodder so the GOOD warriors can survive to rebuild Vos when
the war's over!! Private, you're with me!"

The marines tremble fearfully under that gaze; Mujanba had a brutal
reputation for arranging the deaths of people who displeased her. "Yes,
ma'am!!" Muzainba snaps to attention, then grabs her jumpsuit and runs out
after the captain.

A few minutes later, both women walk out of the dorm. "Oh, thanks,
Mujanba-san!" the private breathes out in relief. "I never thought I could
get away from those jerks."

"Why'd you get assigned with this lot?!" the huntress quizzically stares
at Muzainba. "There's not another woman in the whole company!"

"It's my parents' old regiment," Muzainba looks embarrassed.

"Oh, I see," Mujanba's eyes roll. "Well, let's go find Jason and
Nicole. They might be out there putting up more posters."

"Okay!" Muzainba beams.

Unseen by either of them, a burly sergeant-major watches from a secluded
corner...

* * *

"That should be the last of it!" Nicole wipes her brow as she steps
back. "The whole station's covered with them now."

"I hope this helps," Jason looks relieved. "Miss Mal's getting very
pensive about Miss Nokoko being missing. You'd think that her tentacles were
just cut off and dumped at the other end of the Outland, the way she acts
these days."

"That's the way Nendo-kata are, unfortunately," Nicole smiles, stroking
her brother's hair. "At least you're starting to get some basic idioms down,
Jason. That's good."

Jason smiles. "Thanks, Nicole. But...can I ask you something?"

"What?" she inquires as they turn to walk back to the large ship docks.

"Why did you create me?"

Nicole remains silent for a moment. "Oh, I don't know," she hums.
"Maybe because I got a little jealous when Nokoko told me that her fondest
dream was to go back to Earth and get her brother away from the people who
rejected her...and that made me remember that the real Jason McTavish, the
same twin brother I played with and was best friends with for so long, thought
I was the lowest form of garbage when I discovered that I was a lesbian.
Having you around made my pain go away."

"I'm glad," her brother nods. "But...have you ever been tempted?"

"Tempted to what?"

"To go back to Earth," Jason shrugs. "I've never seen Earth. All I've
got are copies of your memory when you programmed my wetware."

"Well, I suppose all of us'll be making a decision soon," Nicole muses.
"Nokoko's greatest dream is to take Ataru away from his family so they could
be together again like they were when they were kids. Mal and her friends are
all for it. In their eyes, Ataru and whatever girlfriend he might have these
days would just become part of the school. And if they left the Outland, it
would get pretty lonely for us. We've got each other and the palace, of
course, but that's obviously not enough."

"Then let's take Muzai-chan and Mujanba with us," Jason proposes.

Nicole stops. "Do you like Muzainba?"

"Uh-huh," Jason nods, then looks pensive. "Is that good?"

Nicole laughs. "It's perfect."

"Jason!" a high-pitched voice echoes. "Nicole-san!!"

Both turn to see Mujanba and Muzainba walk up. "Muzai-chan, Muja-chan!"
Nicole waves. "What brings you people around?!"

"Oh, we had to get away from those dorks in the barracks," Muzainba
sighs, reaching out to gently grasp Jason's hand. "They're such pigs!
Mujanba-san saved me."

"Ah, that's great!" Nicole smiles, reaching out to grasp Mujanba's hand.

The huntress leans up. "'Muja-chan?'" she coos in Nicole's ear.

"What, no one's ever called you that before?" Nicole coyly muses.

Mujanba flushes. "Oh, Jason, it was so horrible!" Muzainba turns to
Nicole's brother, passionately gripping his hand close to her heart. "They
wanted to touch me in all my private places. I'm the only woman in that bunch
and they're such pigs! Could you ever forgive me?"

"W-w-well..." Jason stammers, "...as long as you're not hurt, I suppose
we don't have to worry, I guess..."

The older women laugh. "I guess Jason's about to get his first
girlfriend," Nicole smiles, then stares at Mujanba. "Why don't we leave the
young ones alone and go find someplace private?"

"As tempting as that is, I don't want to leave Muzainba alone with those
pricks," Mujanba sighs. "Most Mikado Marines are both racist and homophobic,
as well as having other socially degenerate problems. They're just as bad as
the SS from your Earth's Nazi Germany."

"Well, who says we have to put ourselves into the path of danger?"
Nicole hums. "C'mon...my ship's this way."

Hooking arms, the four head off to the docks. Watching them, the
sergeant-major hums, then stares at a poster Nicole hung up earlier. The
contact information is clearly written on the bottom of the sheet. Icily
smiling, he heads off...

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this, Lum?" Benten inquires.

An hour later, Lum, Benten and Oyuki are walking from Koruneko's Cafe to
the large ship docks. A poster of Nokoko is in the Oni's hands. "I want to
find out what's going on, Benten," she sighs. "If Darling has a sister he
doesn't know about, then we have to find out who and what she is, not to
mention how she survived in the Outland for who knows how long."

"There's a simpler way, Lum," the Tritonian notes. "Simply go to Earth
and ask Ataru's parents. Surely they would remember if he had a sister;
Ataru's mother would certainly remember giving birth to her at least."

"Uh...I don't know about that, Oyuki," Lum looks pensive. "I mean, with
the way Darling's family is, I doubt I could get any straight answers from any
of them."

"Now, she's listening to some reason," the Fukunokami looks relieved,
then stops, blinking. "Girls, look!" she points.

The three stare at the dock where Nicole's ship is parked. The ship
itself is a giant of a vessel, equal to the size of a Zephyrite destroyer. It
resembles from all angles of view an intricate snowflake composed of many
types of gems, mostly diamonds. That does not interest them. What does is
the sight of a Vosian man trying to sneak aboard via the lone gangway leading
to the ship's bow. Lum, Benten and Oyuki scramble to a remote hiding place.
"Who's that?" the Oni hisses.

"Vosian," the Fukunokami's eyes narrow. "He must be one of the Mikado
Marines Koruneko-san warned us about. What's he doing here?"

"I could not suspect, but he may prove to be a stumbling block in our
desire to interrogate Nokoko's friends," the Tritonian muses.

"Good point!" Lum nods. "No stupid Mikado Marine is going to stop me
from learning what's going on with Darling's family. Let's go!"

The three scramble to the gangway...

* * *

"Whoo!!!" Mujanba pants as she finally recovers from her orgasm. "That
was wild!"

"That was the first time I've done it in quite a while," Nicole smiles
as they side-by-side on the former's bed deep in the crystal palace. "Glad I
didn't forget much. Sex is like riding a bicycle. You get rusty if you don't
do it for a while, but you don't forget it."

"I'm glad," the Vosian chuckles, kissing the bridge of the Terran's
nose. "Now, can you please answer me a question?"

Nicole smiles. "I'm human...human enough that if you want to have kids
with me, they'll be human, too. But...this isn't my original body."

"What happened?"

"When the palace brought me into the Outland twenty-four years ago, it
did not consider that I was unable to shield myself from the sulfuric and
hydrochloric acids that dimension is filled with," Nicole sighs. "Before I
knew it, my body was being consumed alive. It managed to save my mind in its
central computer, then after a bit, I was able to build a new body since I
didn't like the idea of spending the rest of my life a disembodied ghost
inside a sentient starship."

"That would be painful," Mujanba nods. "What about Jason?"

"I created him from my own DNA," Nicole looks up. "The real Jason
McTavish, my twin brother, was atop being my sibling, also my best
friend...until the day..."

"I hear you," Mujanba looks sympathetic. "Is your whole family the same
way?"

"They were...twenty-four years ago, that is," the Terran looks sad.
"Yours?"

"Well, I come from a very matriarchial colony, inhabited by witches,
sorcerers and nature-psis...people who can communicate with the living spirits
in plants and animals," the Vosian explains. "My family accepted what I was
right away. Mom even taught me a self-recognition spell so that if the day
came that I did find someone I really liked, I could make myself recognize
her. But...they were killed when a bunch of radical rebels came and burned my
villiage. They believed that people such as myself were polluting the Vosian
race. I thank God that such bastards are a minority in the rebel camps."

"By the sounds of it, you're about to jump ship."

"I'm tempted, I'll admit," Mujanba nods. "You heard what happened to
Muzainba. The whole Mikado Marine Corps and a lot of the Special Hunter Corps
are the same way. There are the real good ones, those who are fighting not
for the Mikado, but for a Vos that won't slip back into the social stagnation
we had a century ago, but sadly, they're few and far between. And I haven't
seen a clear enough political agenda in the rebel camps which could make me
decide what to do with myself."

"A wait-and-see type, eh?" Nicole nods. "You're pretty smart...eh?"

The Terran's face freezes as her eyes gloss over for a moment. Mujanba
looks scared. "Nicole! What's wrong?! Nicole!!"

Nicole blinks, then sits up. "We've got intruders."

Mujanba's eyes glow. "I can't sense anything."

"Because the palace is constructed of materials which reflect most
psionic powers," Nicole slips on her bikini. "Don't worry. The palace's
sensors picked them up."

She walks over to a control console on one side of the bedroom. Mujanba
stands beside her. Two images appears on the viewing crystal. "There's Lum,
Benten and Oyuki," the Vosian points at one.

"They must be here to ask about Nokoko," Nicole hums. "But who's this
other bucko near where the Nendo-kata are?"

Mujanba blinks. "He's the company sergeant-major of Muzainba's group!
What's he doing here?!"

"He's probably here to keep an eye on you and Muzai-chan," Nicole sighs.
"No matter. He's waltzing right into Donna's room. She can handle him."

"Are you sure?" Mujanba looks concerned. "Mikado Marines can be tough
when they want to be."

Nicole gives her a knowledgeable smile. "That's because you don't know
what a Nendo-kata is capable of doing..."

* * *

*Forty years in the Marines and I've never seen garbage like this until
that dyke walked into our lives!* Osensur sneers to himself as he prowls down
one of the palace's corridors, gun out as he tries to search for his targets.
*What we do with our own is none of that pervert's concerns! By the way they
were getting buddy-buddy with those Yehisrites could only mean that they're
about to defect to the rebels! Now, where are those traitors?!*

He locates a door, then gently opens it. "Never seen a ship like this
before," he mutters to himself as he looks inside.

The chamber beyond is about the size of a large classroom, high as a
silo. It is almost all taken in by a giant tank of salt water...which is now
inhabited by something which catches the soldier's attention. "What's that?!"

The dim light hides most of the details. However, Osensur can discern
that the creature inside, about the size of a small truck, is mollusk-like,
with a forest of long tentacles branching from her body. Two eyes, glowing a
deep burgundy, sit on stalks projecting from the top of the head. To one side
of that is an opaque pouch over double the size of a large man. Inside floats
something which could be human. Blinking, Osensur tries to scan her with his
powers. "What are you?!"

Suddenly, her eyes burn like twin coals as her voice booms in the
marine's mind. <<***PURVEYOR OF DISUNITY!!!! YOU DARE ENTER NICOLE'S BELOVED
PALACE TO DESTROY HER LIFE-MATE AND JASON'S LIFE-MATE?!?!?! PREPARE TO
EMBRACE THE DEPTHS OF THE MOTHER OCEAN FOR YOUR CRIMES AGAINST THE
UNITY!!!!!!***>>

Osensur screams as his brains begin to fry in his skull...

* * *

"*Tcha!!!*" Lum howls as a psychic flash rips through her mind, driving
the surprised Oni to her knees. "What was that?!!"

* * *

The stunned Osensur watches as the creature telekinetically lifts
herself from the tank, her tentacles snaking out toward him. Naturally, he
freaks. "Get away from me, you monster!!!" he howls, madly firing away.

Several bolts burn into her skin, causing deep wounds!! None,
fortunately, come close to her pouch...

* * *

"Donna's been hit!!!" Lum gasps as she grabs her shoulder, staggering
against a wall.

Benten and Oyuki try to keep the Oni on her feet. "Lum, what's with
you?!" the Fukunokami yells into her friend's ear.

"She's psychically bonded to whatever or whoever's aboard this
starship," the Tritonian quickly concludes, feeling Lum's forehead.
"Lum-chan, sever yourself from whoever it is!"

"N-no...!" Lum shakes her friends away, then flies down the hallway.
"The Unity is disrupted!!" she bellows, her accent all but gone from her
voice. "Donna is about to Cross Over!!! The Purveyor of disUnity must be
stopped and punished before Donna is cast to the depths of the Mother Ocean
and our school is rent asunder once more!!! Donna!!!"

"Lum!!!" Benten cries.

It is useless as the Oni spins around a corner, then disappears. "What
the freakin' hell's going on in this place?!" Benten quizzically stares at
Oyuki.

* * *

Osensur scrambles back as Donna falls into the pool, her eyes fading as
blood stains the seawater which has sustained her for a millennium. Quickly
deciding that tracking down and killing two traitors is not worth this, he
scrambles for the door...just as it explodes in a blast of lightning!!!
"DONNA!!!!!!" Lum's voice yells from outside.

The marine leaps out of the way, his gun tracking on target as Lum flies
through the smoke. However, the Oni is unnaturally quick as she spins around,
a killing blast of lightning arcing at him! Osensur scrambles clear as he
returns fire, the shots going wide. "Stupid Oni, get out of my way!!" he
bellows.

Lum leaps into the air, lightning balls firing from her hands at machine
gun speed! "Sub-creature!! Purveyor of disUnity!!! Prepare to embrace the
depths of the Mother Ocean for your assault on my sister!!!"

Osensur somersaults away from the blasts as they rip into the bulkheads
and decks, trying just to stay alive from Lum's murderous assault. "Lecasur's
Soul, they said that bitch was good, but this is too much!!" he gasps as he
tries to make a break for the door...

...just as the pouch on Donna's side explodes!! "Donna!!!" Lum looks
overjoyed. "You've Crossed Over!!!"

Seeing that the Oni is distracted, Osensur runs for the door...just as a
lithe female HUMANOID form fires out of the water, flips, then lands with
unnerving grace in the Vosian's path! Osensur gasps as he stops, falling to
his backside in shock. "Get away from me!!" he screams, madly firing his
pistol.

The woman raises a hand as a telekinetic shield forms around her. The
bolts deflect off the shield to impact harmlessly on the bulkheads. "Now,"
the woman's Ellsian-accented voice hisses, her green eyes glowing a deep
burgundy, "...you will suffer for your crimes, sub-creature!"

Her hand makes a grasping motion. Osensur is suddenly lifted into the
air. "H-hey...!" the Vosian helplessly screams...

...as Donna's hand twists around, collapsing into a fist. Osensur's
screams are silenced as his body is literally twisted and crushed into a gory
pulp!! Then as Donna's hand opens, what is left of the Vosian marine falls
into a bloody heap on the deck, never to rise again. "The punishment has been
delivered," Donna announces.

Lum smiles as she flies to embrace the transformed Nendo-kata. "And the
Unity is preserved," she calls out, almost as if she was intoning a
ritualistic phrase. "Oh, sister, you are safe! Praise the Mother Ocean that
you are safe!!"

Donna looks sad. "Mal, release her. You have no right to do this, even
to help me...especially to this one."

Lum blinks quizzically, then feels faint. "*Tcha*...what happened to
me...?" she moans, her accent returning, as she collapses into Donna's arms.

Gently, the transformed Nendo-kata lifts the unconscious Oni into her
arms. "It is you," she smiles. "The beloved mate of the one our sister
Nokoko has sought for twelve of your sun-cycles. Now, you too will become
part of our school, Lum."

By that time, a crowd has run up to the door. "Lum, are you okay?!!"
Benten calls out.

"Donna, what's going on?!!" Nicole demands.

Turning, Donna carries Lum into the hallway, where everyone else is
standing. "All is well," she announces. "The Unity is preserved. The Agent
of disUnity who would have killed Mujanba and Muzainba is no more."
Nicole beams. "Oh, thank God!"

"And Miss Donna's Crossed Over, too!" Jason smiles.

On seeing the transformed Nendo-kata, Benten and Oyuki are agast.
"ELLE?!?!?!" both women exclaim.

Donna smiles, looking exactly like...yet so unlike...the Rose Queen.
"Yes. Elle is my template, the one whose blood I used so that I could Cross
Over and become human, become like Nokoko, Nicole and Jason. You need not
fear me, Benten Shigaten, Oyuki. I am not the Purveyor of disUnity who has
attempted to wrest Nokoko's sibling from his one true mate."

Benten and Oyuki stare at each other, then at the being gently holding
their best friend. "Then...who or what are you?" the latter hesitantly
inquires.

"I am Donna de Rosenbach." the Nendo-kata-turned-Ellsian introduces
herself. "I am a Nendo-kata, loyal servant and avowed protector of the Unity.
I and my seven sisters form the school which adopted the beloved sister of
Lum's Darling...Nokoko Moroboshi...as one of our own."

Blinking, Benten and Oyuki turn to Nicole. "Um...could you explain all
this to us?" the Fukunokami looks totally lost at sea.

"It's a long story," Nicole looks sympathetic.

"We are willing to listen," the Tritonian sighs...

* * *

"You're Ataru-kun's sister?!" Shinobu gasps. "But...that's impossible!"

She and Nokoko are now sitting in a tent being used by Abraham Shapiro
as a temporary shelter for his ice cream business. They are now sharing a
Mount Fuji, a mountain of ice cream which is the largest treat the Vosian-born
vendor has to offer. "It's true," the latter nods. "Uncle Komeru told me
himself twelve years ago, just before I ran away from home."

Shinobu blinks. "Boy, that must've been hard," she looks sympathetic,
then stares quizzically at Ataru's sister. "But...why would Ataru-kun's
mother do that to you?! You were a pretty normal kid, or so Ataru-kun hinted
at."

"Well, if you're homophobic, I'm as abnormal as you can get," Nokoko
quips.

Shinobu jerks. Nokoko lightly smiles. "Gotcha."

Silence settles over them as they eat. Shinobu stares quizzically at
Nokoko from time to time. This was a...? Nokoko seemed quite normal to
her...if you ignored her mysterious powers, which was easy to do in a place
like Tomobiki with Lum living here. A more feminine Ryuunosuke was Shinobu's
best impression of Ataru's sister. "Boy, that must've been hard," she finally
admits. "I don't know what I would've done if I was lied to like that. Are
you thinking of going to see your uncle?"

"It's my intention," Nokoko admits. "Ever since I ran off from Sendai,
my fondest dream was to come back and take Ataru-kun away from those morons.
As far as I'm concerned, that's still the plan."

"I think Ataru-kun beat you to that end," Shinobu weakly smiles. "He
disowned his parents over a month ago."

"He did?!" Nokoko stops, staring quizzically at her companion. "Why?!"

Shinobu sighs, then explains what Ataru had been like over the last few
years. The unrepentent skirt-chaser, doing everything in his power to keep
Lum at bay. How everyone looked on him as the "cancer of the class." How his
parents feverently wished he was never born. Then, she recaps the last
month's trauma, starting from his trip to Icarus, then leading to his showdown
with his classmates, his adoption of Reiko, his forcing Lum to either respect
his wishes or else be booted out of his life, his departure from school and
eventual departure from Tomobiki, which led to the Spirit War. Taking all
that in, Nokoko lets out a whistle as she stares out the tent's windows to see
the level of devestation. "Wow! Don't piss my baby brother off! So why was
everyone so against the idea of him going if they hated him so much?"

"Well, it wasn't him they were concerned about, but Lum," Shinobu sighs.
"Almost all the boys here have major-league crushes on her. If she moved out
of Tomobiki, they'd be devestated. And almost all the girls have crushes on
this fellow named Shutaro Mendou. They think that if Ataru-kun left, Lum
would drop him and go after Mendou."

"In other words, they wanted to make it a no-win situation for my
brother, eh?" Nokoko hums. "By the looks of it, I've come back in time.
Ataru-chan needs all the firepower he can get. My friends and I can help him
there." She then stares at Shinobu. "So, what's your problem? Why are you
so against their leaving?"

Shinobu jolts as her companion's gaze bores into her like twin drills.
"Wh-what do y-you mean...?!" she stammers, sweat appearing on her forehead.

"Uh-huh," a knowing smile crosses Nokoko's face. "You need him and Lum
around so you can get your hands on this Nassur fellow. Sorry, honey, but you
can forget it. I can see why he gave you a couple good roundhouses to your
cheek over the last while," she stands, moving to head out. "It's what you
get...it's what you *deserve*...for using friends like that. Thanks for the
ice cream, anyway. See ya."

Shinobu stares at Nokoko as she heads out. "Th-that's got to be the
most spiteful person I've ever met," she gasps, stunned at how easily Ataru's
sister could turn on people. "She could give Lan lessons!"

Nokoko heads out of the tent, stretching herself. Waiting for her there
is Shapiro. Beside him is a Vosian woman in her early twenties dressed in
normal clothes and an apron. "Thank you for coming," they bow to her.

Nokoko glares at them, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah, I'm sure," her voice
turns icy.

Both Shapiro and his friend shudder, sweat appearing on their heads.
"Wh-whatever's the problem, m-miss?" the former inquires.

"I have no problem...yet," Nokoko stares the vendor right in the eye.
"And I personally have no problem about what *really* brings you here," she
stabs a finger at Shapiro's chest. "But I give you this warning, pal. You
can do whatever you want to these clods. If you kill them all, I'll cheer you
on. But if you lay a FINGER on my brother or his girlfriend, you, your floozy
here and that purveyor of disUnity you call the Mikado are going to end up
ashes in the Outland! Understand?!"

"B-but, w-we're just immigrants f-from Israel," Shapiro's assistant
fearfully stammers, trying to look as sweet as possible.

"Sure, Thanba," Nokoko icily smiles. "Tell me another one."

Thanba jolts in shock. "How did you...?!"

Nokoko waves as she goes. "You can never lie to a telepath."

Shapiro and Thanba watch her depart. "T-telepath...?" the latter stares
at her superior. "I didn't even sense her m-mind-probe! What sort of monster
is that...?"

"F-for th-the life of m-me, I d-don't know," the former gulps, feeling
truly afraid for the first time since he came to Earth...

* * *

"My," Koruneko smiles as he brings out a small bowl of beef-and-noodles
soup, placing it in front of Donna. "The first meal as a human being. This
should make you feel a little better."

The Nendo-kata-turned-Ellsian nods. She is now dressed in a tank-stop
shirt and blue jeans, provided to her by one of Koruneko's friends. "Thank
you, sir," she picks up a pair of chopsticks, then digs in.

Lum and her friends watch as Donna starts to eat. "Wait a minute!" the
Oni blinks. "If Donna was a squid not more than an hour ago, how is it that
she's able to eat like a normal person."

"Good grief, girl, she and her friends've watched Nokoko and I eat all
the time," Nicole nibbles on some rice cakes. "There's nothing Donna doesn't
know about being human. We've been living together for the last twelve years.
Did you expect anything different?"

"But how the hell did she transform into this?" Benten stares at Nicole.

"She's a Nendo-kata," Nicole shrugs. "Crossing Over is as natural to
them as breathing is to us."

"Is this permanent?" Oyuki inquires.

"Oh, yes," Nicole nods, then looks worried. "Oh, poor Nintaiko!
Donna's Crossed Over and we've yet to find a genetic template for her to Cross
Over, too!"

"Nintaiko?" everyone looks confused.

"My life-mate," Donna smiles.

"Life-mate?!" Lum blinks. "You mean that Nintaiko's a girl, too?"

"Of course," Donna nods. "ALL Nendo-kata are what you would address as
female."

Everyone not of the Outland faints! "I don't believe it!!" Benten
exclaims. "A race of dykes! What will they think of next?!"

Suddenly, the huntress finds herself at the receiving end of withering
stares from Mujanba and Nicole. "Keep it up, recognition bait, and Nassur'll
be looking for a new partner!!" the former snarls, cracking her knuckles.

"Benten, that really was quite gauche," Nassur admonishes. "After all,
to people like Donna, WE'RE the aliens."

"Alright, alright, already!!" Benten bows repentently. "I'm sorry I
called you that. But...how the heck do you people have kids if you don't have
guys to do it with?!" she looks at Donna.

"Well, we did, many generations ago," Donna does not look disturbed.
"But when the males in our society sensed the great joy females experienced in
bearing new life to renew the Great School, they wanted to experience the same
thing. So, all the males Crossed Over and became females themselves."

"Wow!" Benten whistles.

"But that still didn't solve the problem." Lum notes.

"On the contrary, Lum," Koruneko cuts in. "The males did realize that
if they became females, the whole race would become extinct. So they modified
the eggs their ovaries would produce so they could combine not with sperm, but
with other eggs. A natural form of parthenogenesis, so to speak. And all
they had to do when kittens were desired was telekinetically implant their
eggs into the recepient's womb and permit their partner to do the same thing.
Within a generation, all Nendo-kata had adjusted to this form of reproduction.
It was quite civil."

"How'd you know that, old timer?" Koosei quizzically stares at the
feline.

"Why, I was there, Koosei-kun," Koruneko admits. Taking a cup of herbal
tea in hand, he sighs. "Ah, to actually know that Nendo-kata will be living
in this galaxy brings joy to my heart. No race was ever more in touch with
the very spirit of Creation than they."

"Well, I hate to ruin this little reunion party, but we've got a big
problem," Benten cuts in. "Thanks to Donna...who deserves a medal for this,
by the way...a Mikado Marine is dead. It won't take long for Mujanba's
friends to clue in as to what happened. And once they do, we're all going to
be in for a rough time."

"She's right, you know," Mujanba sighs, then looks contritely at Nicole.
"Sorry, Nicole. Looks like you people just got involved."

"No big deal," Nicole shrugs. "With Donna and all her friends involved,
those pricks'll just wind up like that jerk she and Mal fought."

"Don't you mean Donna and me?" Lum cuts in.

"Lum-chan, Mal-san did take control of you, remember?" Oyuki stares at
the Oni.

"Um...yeah, that's true...I think," Lum looks confused. "I mean, when I
sensed Donna challenging that sleezoid, Mal just...joined me. I remember what
happened. She wasn't in control of me. We were trying to kill that creep
together."

"Ah, true Unity at its best," Koruneko smiles. "It appears, Donna, that
Mal has found her template."

"You mean...Mal would really want to become a double of me?!" Lum
blinks, pointing at herself.

"Do you wish to suggest someone else?" Donna stares confusedly at Lum.
"After all, you are bonded to your Darling and Mal wishes to form a permanent
bond with Nokoko. Nokoko and Ataru are siblings, remember?"

"Um...yeah, that's right!" the Oni embarrassingly laughs. "I just hope
Mom and Dad'll understand it when I tell them I just got a sister out of
nowhere!!"

"But we should find templates for the others," Donna then frowns. "It
is not right that I have Crossed Over and the others have not."

She then stares at Benten and Oyuki. "H-hey, what're you starin' at us
for?!" the former stammers.

"Surely, you're not actually thinking...?!" the latter tries to back
away.

Nassur and Koosei appear behind them. "You just volunteered," the
Vosian smiles as the two gently push their girlfriends to join Donna and Lum.
"Looks like you'll be getting sisters, too."

"Who said we volunteered?!!" both women demand.

* * *

A while later, a wheelbarrow covered in a tarp appears in front of the
dorm where Henkensur's Marines are based. A private comes out, curious as to
what brought this here. "What's going on?" he stares at the wheelbarrow, then
pulls back the tarp. On seeing what is inside, he backs away, paling. "Oh,
gods!! Major!!!"

Henhensur runs out at that time. "What is it?!"

"Look!" the private points to the wheelbarrow, then turns away to vomit.

The major pulls back the tarp, then gags on seeing Osensur's remains.
He then notices a note attached to what is left of the sergeant-major's
uniform:

"Dear Bad Guys,

"You're butting your noses where they don't belong. Mujanba and
Muzainba are now a part of us. Nassur doesn't like it when people
try to hurt his friends. Try to stop us and you'll wind up like
this prick.

"The Good Guys."

Glaring at the note, he then tears it up. "We'll see about that!!" he
growls, then yells at the private, "Get everyone mustered!! That renegade and
his allies are dead!!"

"Yes, sir," the private doubles into the barracks.

* * *

Watching this from some distance away, Mujanba lowers her binoculars.
"How utterly predictable," she sneers, then pulls out a small communicator.
"Sorcerer to Crystal. Tell Renegade the party crashers are on their way."

* * *

"How exactly does this work?!" Lum blinks as she, Oyuki and Benten
follow Donna into a very large chamber.

Inside the chamber are seven large vats of seawater, each inhabited by a
Nendo-kata. While the skin colour and spotting differs between each
individual, there is no discernable difference between them. Each of them has
a small tag attached to their chambers. The names marked are MAL, NINTAIKO,
SAITEN, OSOOKO, OOKAKO, TATSUKO and HEI. "All that is really required for a
Crossing Over is a blood sample, or other sample that possesses a complete set
of chromosomes. Once we have that, our bodies then begin to quite rapidly
produce the chromasomes in a hatching pouch. Once the body is fully
developed, it is then released."

"But such production must be very energy-consuming to your old bodies,"
Oyuki notes.

"It's fatal," Donna admits. "When the Crossing Over occurs, our old
bodies literally disintegrate once our new bodies are released. There is no
danger to our spirits, though. When the new body is complete, we simply shift
our minds from our old bodies to our new bodies."

"Wow!!" Benten whistles. "How long does this take?"

"A day," Donna admits. "And in case you were wondering, Nicole was the
one who obtained the genetic samples from that Purveyor of disUnity who is now
my sister. She did so when we travelled to her planet to try to locate
Nokoko..."

The Nendo-kata-turned-Ellsian jolts as she stares at Mal's chamber.
"Mal, don't be so impatient!" she snaps. "Lum's here!"

"I guess Mal-chan wants to get this underway as soon as she can," Lum
smiles, flying over to Mal's chamber. "Don't worry. I want to hear the story
of what Nicole did to that hubby-thief! Any story about Elle suffering makes
me happy!"

"I see," Donna hums.

"So, what about us?" Benten walks up. "Which one do we get?"

In answer, Donna draws two blindfolds to cover her companions' eyes.
"That, we let the Unity answer," she explains. "The one thing I've noticed
about you air-breathers is that you allow your physical senses to dominate
your opinions. This time, let your hearts do the exploring. Your hearts will
never lie to you."

"If you say so," Benten muses.

As Benten and Oyuki are permitted to try to find their new sisters, Lum
sits on the edge of Mal's tank, slipping off her boots to allow her feet to
soak in the water. "So, you want to be my sister, eh?" the Oni muses, staring
at the Nendo-kata below her. "How did you and Darling's sister meet, anyway?"

In response, Mal's eyes glow a deep burgundy. Lum's mind is then
flooded with images...

Every twelve years, the Outland Nebula, the region of space which
encloses the gateway into the Outland dimension, orinetates its interdimension
gateway to face the general direction of Earth's solar system. Twelve years
ago, Nicole began to despair about not seeing another human being again.
Sensing their need, Mal's school cast their minds out to locate a suitable
companion for their neighbour.

They found Nokoko Moroboshi.

Back then, Nokoko was a very physically active, tomboyish sort of girl,
living under the illusion that she was Komeru's daughter instead of his niece.
Ataru visited on occasion, but Nokoko wanted him to visit more, or even
better, come live with her. Ataru's parents naturally balked at that, so they
threatened to prevent their son from visiting his unknown sister. Tired of
Kinshou's game, Komeru sat Nokoko down one day and told her the truth: she
had been sent to Sendai shortly before her fourth birthday to be raised by him
for reasons which made no sense whatsoever to Komeru.

Nokoko was heartbroken, not to mention very hurt over the lies people
kept perpetuating around her. She was also hurt over not being able to live
with her brother Ataru, the one person she cared for more than anything else
in the whole world. With that, she resolved to run away from home, in hopes
of making Komeru force Kinshou to take her back. Realizing that Nokoko stood
low odds of surviving alone at such a young age, Mal telepathically contacted
her, offering her a place to stay and friendly sentients she could meet.
Nokoko accepted and in a day, was in the Outland.

Of course, the Outland was no place for a young Terran girl. Nokoko was
nearly eaten alive by the acid fields which filled the dimension before
another Nendo-kata...Mal's would-be life-mate...gave up her life for Nokoko to
survive. While Mal was heartbroken over that action, her faith in Unity
allowed her to overcome her grief and accept Nokoko as part of the school.
Eventually, as Nokoko matured, their friendship blossomed into love...

"And now you want to be Nokoko-chan's life-mate...just like I want to be
Darling's life-mate," Lum sighs, then smiles, allowing herself to slip into
the tank...

* * *

*Allow my heart to choose, she says!* Benten snorts to herself as she
feels her way along the chambers, questioning for the umpteenth time why she
was even going along with this idea. *Sheesh!! Easy for Donna to say: she's
a bloody telepath!!*

Suddenly, a voice fills her mind. <<Do not be angry at Donna, Benten.
You air-breathers really do have different perceptions than we.>>

<<Who are you?>> Benten calls out.

The speaker does not answer. Frowning, the Fukunokami moves to take off
the blindfold...then realizes why Donna put it on her in the first place. *Of
course! They all look alike to me, so I can't really tell the difference
between each of them by looks alone!!*

<<You're learning,>> that voice croons.

Benten sets her jaw as she allows herself to walk away from the tank.
"I'm gonna try to do this," she announces.

"Good, Benten," Donna nods.

Benten uses a meditative technique Nassur taught her to relax her mind,
then reaches out. Turning one way, she takes a step, then pauses. No mental
reaction. Nope, not there. She then shifts to another direction. A touch of
cold touches her skin. Oyuki was in that direction. Not that way, either.
Relaxing, Benten tries to think. Whoever she chose was going to be a physical
double of herself. Go on that.

An image appears in her mind. She is relaxing on the beach, her feet
being gently lapped by the waves. No, it was not a beach, but a small island
in the middle of an endless sea. That made sense; the Nendo-kata's homeworld
had to be totally covered by water. Now, just wait. Suddenly, an airbike
bursts from the water some distance away. Riding it is herself. Bingo!

Benten walks into the water toward her waiting sister. <<That's right,
Benten,>> her duplicate speaks, rising into the air. <<Now, there is Unity
between us.>>

A ladder appears. Benten looks up, then begins to climb...

* * *

While Benten found herself on an island, Oyuki now stood in an empty ice
field on Neptune, in a region still envioromentally devestated thanks to the
Seifukusu occupation centuries before. Her throat is dry. *I need something
to drink,* she muses to herself as she begins to look for a pocket of unfrozen
water.

She walks around for a bit. It is a clear day despite the fact that
most of Neptune's atmosphere was too poisonous to allow people to live there
for more than a day without falling ill. Oyuki then realizes why she is not
suffering. This was her fondest dream come true; for Neptune to be restored,
made habitable for her people. Oyuki then stumbles onto a tower of solid ice.
A step ladder leads her to the summit. Slipping off her kimono, she ascends
the latter to the top.

Waiting for her is herself...

* * *

"Whoo, that was fun!!" Benten smiles sometime later as she dries her
hair.

She, Lum and Oyuki were now relaxing after taking a swim with their
future sisters in the crystal palace's sauna. "At least now I finally learned
what brought Nokoko-chan to the Outland in the first place," the Oni sighs.
"Darling's family is even more fouled up than I first suspected."

At her friends' questioning stares, she explains the story Mal
telepathically communicated to her. Benten and Oyuki are aghast. "Holy shit,
Moroboshi's old lady did that to her?!" the former exclaims.

"Imagine what Ataru will do when he finds out," the latter sighs.

"I hope it doesn't turn out too bad," Lum sighs. "I mean, Darling may
have reasons to be angry at them, but I don't like the idea of him just
walking out on them like that! They're his parents. They've got feelings."

"Yeah, for what, I wonder?" Benten snorts.

The door opens and Mujanba walks in. "Hi, everyone," the huntress waves
as she slips herself into the sauna. "Oooh, that feels good."

"So, what's new?" Benten wonders.

"They got Osensur's body back, plus Nicole's note," Mujanba smiles.
"Henkensur's trying to muster his troops now. Problem is, half of them are
either drunk or stoned, so he has to snap them back into shape before leading
them against Koruneko's place."

"How long will that take?" Lum wonders.

"About a day...just long enough for Mal, Saiten and Osooko to be
involved," Mujanba smiles. "Further, Koosei got Koruneko-san to jam all
Vosian military and civilian frequencies out of Sakusei so Henkensur can't
call home and tell them that Muzainba and I've skipped town."

"That's good," Lum smiles. "Then once this is over, you're free to be
with Nicole and Muzainba's free to be with Jason."

"Yeah, but will they have to go back to the Outland?" Benten wonders.
"I wouldn't want to live in that dump, especially if the rumours about that
place have an iota of truth in them."

"Oh, they're more than true," Mujanba warns. "Nicole was nearly killed
when she first entered the Outland."

"So was Nokoko-chan," Lum comments, then smiles. "I know!" she snaps
her fingers. "You can all come down to live with us on Earth!"

"In Tomobiki?!" Mujanba blinks. "Lum, where would Nicole park the
palace?"

"Then, you'd have to live with Darling, wherever he's going to be
living," the Oni counters. "Nokoko-chan wants to be with her brother again.
Mal-chan and the others are going along with it, so why can't you go with
them?"

"Well, that's what Nicole's been thinking," the Vosian muses, then nods,
smiling. "Okay!"

* * *

"Thanks for letting me sleep here, Mie-chan," Nokoko yawns as she walks
into the kitchen.

After leaving Shinobu behind, Nokoko wandered around Tomobiki a little
more before stumbling across Mie. The Kyushu native had been looking for her,
hearing from some of her classmates that a female version of Ataru possessing
terrifying powers was on the loose. After meeting and getting to know each
other, Mie offered Nokoko the chance to sleep at her house. "It's okay,
Nokoko-chan," Mie smiles as she prepares breakfast. "Ataru-chan and
Reiko-chan were guests here too, especially after he decided he had enough of
his parents. I don't mind."

Both relax in the living room, digging in. "I can't believe it," Nokoko
sighs. "I'm nowhere close to doing it with Mal yet and my brother's already
got a kid. Is he actually married to this Lum I've heard so much about?"

"Officially no," Mie shakes her head. "But it's just a matter of time
before they finally do tie the knot. Lum-chan just has to get used to the
idea of not living in Tomobiki anymore. After all, why would Ataru-chan want
to raise his daughter in the range of the assholes who live in this dump?"

"That's true," Nokoko muses, remembering her encounter with Ataru's
ex-classmates yesterday. "I can sense all the hatred and anger being
projected at him. I just wonder why he never did it sooner."

"Well, I think the *saikoo jinseijitsu* was holding him back," Mie
muses. "It really did a number on him, made him look like a total spastic
moron in the eyes of everyone around him...all just to get enough negative
emotional energy to burst out and destroy Ataru-chan. Gods, he must be
feeling really used right now."

"He won't be as soon as I see him again," Nokoko asserts.

The front doorbell rings. "I'll get it!" Tamiko calls out as she runs
to the door, opening it. "Oh, Yumoa-san, you're here! Come on in!!"

"Thanks," Reigi Yumoa smiles as he steps inside. Dressed in
construction overalls and a hard hat, he had just been called down from the
reconstruction of the Toranoseishin Finances building. "Where's your sister?"

"In here, Reigi," Mie calls out, then stands as the financier walks in,
waving to her guest. "Look familiar?"

Surprise crosses his face. "Ataru, what are...?!"

Nokoko lightly smiles as she turns around. "Wrong Moroboshi,
Reigi-chan."

He is stunned speechless for a moment. "No-...ko-...ko...?" he gasps,
eyes wide under his glasses.

Nokoko giggles as she leaps up to embrace him. "How are you,
Onii-chan?!" she cries.

"'Onii-chan?!!'" Mie and Tamiko quizzically inquire.

Nokoko and Reigi part. "Well, since I believed that I was Uncle's
child, I looked at all his wards as either my brothers or sisters," the former
explains. "It's a little hard to get out of the habit, even twelve years
later."

"Speaking of which," the latter stares at his guardian's niece,
"...where in Buddha's name have you been for the last decade or so?! We've
torn the whole planet apart looking for you!"

"Well, I wasn't on Earth," Nokoko explains. "Actually, I was in another
dimension."

Reigi blinks. "I'd like to hear this story."

"Sometime later," Nokoko assures him. "Now, will someone please tell me
where my brother is?!"

"He's in Oshika right now, supervising the construction of his new
house," Reigi explains. "Just don't tell anyone here about that. We've still
got to get the prefectural supreme court to get the court injunctions in
place."

"Well, if they don't want any of Tomobiki's garbage to infect Oshika,
they'll do it," Mie sarcastically notes.

"I'm sure they will," Reigi chuckles.

"Oshika?!" Tamiko muses. "That's actually on the seashore, isn't it?"

"It's on a small peninsula on the east side of Sendai-wan," Reigi
explains. "Curious that Ataru-kun chose that place given the presence of the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* in his head. I'd've figured he would have chosen a place
close to a volcano or an active fault line."

"What do you mean?" Mie blinks.

"The *saikoo jinseijitsu*, from what I remember, is deathly afraid of
water," Nokoko sighs. "One of its previous hosts nearly drowned, which came
as close as possible to destroying it."

"Further, it has no defense against a water-based attack since its
powers are earth-based," Reigi augments.

"Ah, understandable," Mie nods approvingly. "I wonder how long it'll
take Supersnob to put it all together."

"He still has to avoid getting blamed for having his house destroyed by
his parents," Reigi chuckles.

Everyone laughs. Nokoko then blinks. "Mal..."

The others stare at her. "Nokoko-chan, what's wrong?" Tamiko wonders.

A curious look crosses her face. "Mal..." she repeats, turning to stare
heavenward. "Mal...you're Crossing Over."

"Eh?!" Tamiko blinks. "What's she talking about?"

"Mal's her lover, I think," Mie explains, placing a hand on her friend's
shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

"I...yeah, I'm fine," Nokoko blinks. "I think I better get back to the
Outland as soon as I can. Something's going on with Mal and the others."

"When can you muster the power to get back?" Tamiko inquires.

"Not for a day or so," Nokoko sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I
just hope Mal's okay."

She turns and stares out the window...

* * *

"Alright, men, are you with me?!!" Henkensur demands.

The hundred or so Mikado Marines which form Henkensur's company let out
a muffled roar of approval. Everyone is now mustered in the ground floor of
their barracks. "Now, listen up!!" the major barks. "The slimes who are
keeping that renegade Nassur safe have also corrupted that dyke and one of our
own!! They murdered our sergeant-major! Are we going to let them get away
with this?!"

"Never!!!" the Marines roar.

"Remember Colony Seventy-one!!" Henkensur admonishes them. "Remember
the innocents who were killed!! Remember all our comrades who have died!!
Remember the innocents in Lecashuto killed by the Niphentaxians!!! Leave no
survivors!! The spirits of your friends will never rest until they are
dead!!!"

Suddenly, the whole building begins to tremble violently as some
invisible force assaults its walls. The Marines blink confusedly as they look
up...just as the ceiling collapses on them! "We're under attack!!!" Henkensur
screams.

The whole building shatters, then all the parts implode on themselves,
catching the helpless warriors inside. Viewing this from nearby, Mujanba lets
out an awed whistle. "Shit, they're really effective, aren't they?!"

"I'm pretty impressed," Nassur muses, standing beside her. "If we had a
battallion of Nendo-kata fighting for us, the Mikado wouldn't stand a chance!"

Benten nibbles on some popcorn. "This is better than watching a movie!"
she snickers.

The others nod in agreement. In a minute, the building has collapsed on
its inhabitants. However, almost as quickly, people begin to dig their way
out from the rubble. Henkensur is one of them. "Who...dares...?!"

"We dare, sub-creature!!" a voice snarls.

The major spins around to see four shadowy figures down the street. One
is Oni, dressed in a sleeveless ankle-length skirt. The second is Ellsian, in
tank-top and jeans. The third is Tritonian, hair tied in a ponytail, dressed
in blouse, tie and slacks. The fourth is Fukunokami, in long-sleeve shirt and
jeans, her hair tied in a bun with a ribbon. Their faces are in shadow, but
their eyes glow deep burgundy like mythical demons. "Wh-who...?!" Henkensur
gasps.

Not answering, the four raise their hands, their eyes then glowing
star-white. Henkensur then screams as he and the other surviving Marines are
literally twisted inside out by a force none of them could counter. In a
minute, the rubble is now stained with blood and gore. The hands lower as
their eyes revert to normal. "They are no more," Donna sighs. "Such a pity.
Their devotion to their cause was most...admirable."

The Nendo-kata-turned-Fukunokami...Saiten Shigaten...walks to the
rubble, her hands raised in offerance to the Nendo-kata's diety. "Tatsuko, my
love, speak through me," she softly intones, then speaks out, "Blessed Mother
Ocean, Mistress of Unity, Creator of All Things, accept these lost sentients
into Your Depths where they may be cleansed of their thoughts of disUnity,
then allow them to return once more to the Cosmic Chain of Life, never again
to tear the Unity asunder."

"Let it be so," Donna, Mal and Osooko chant, hands clasped in prayer.

Saiten's eyes then glow. The rubble and its shattered human cargo glows
for a moment, then literally ignites as their component atoms are shattered
with such awesome force, it would destroy Sakusei Station itself were it not
totally controlled by Saiten's powers. Everyone, even Koruneko, blink in
dumbfounded shock as the funnel of energy blasts away from Sakusei, scattering
the fragments of a hundred Vosian warriors and the building they called home
into the black vacuum. "Lecasur's Eternal Soul, did you see that?!!" Nassur
gasps.

Oyuki, tricorder out, scans the funnel of energy. "Unbelievable!" she
stares at the readings. "Saiten-san literally smashed all their atoms into
their component parts, then sent them flying off into space!! Nothing I know
of can do something like that!!"

"Is that normal for a Nendo-kata?" Koosei worriedly stares at Koruneko.

"Actually, that is far more power that I've ever seen a Nendo-kata
display," the feline hesitantly admits. "Well, I best go to the
station-master and tell him what's happened. I'm sure this will cause
something of a row."

With that, Koruneko walks off. By that time, nothing remains of the
building save a hollow square in the ground which was the basement. And with
that, the four Nendo-kata proceed to join their friends. "The matter is
ended," Mal smiles as she walks up to Lum. "Those sub-creatures will threaten
you no more, sister."

"Um...th-thanks," Lum hesitantly answers, unsure of genetic duplicate
now openly acknowledging that she is part of her family. "D-did S-saiten-chan
r-really blow the building up?"

"I only needed one atom to commence the chain-reaction," Saiten
confesses, thinly smiling. Despite standing upright and speaking with a clear
voice, the Nendo-kata-turned-Fukunokami seemed physically fatigued. "Once
that occured, the others exploded on their own accord. Then all that was
necessary was to shield the others from the effects of the blast. It was of
no problem...although I will confess it shall be a while before I do that
again."

"I think that's what all of you inherited after all your years in the
Outland," Nicole muses, doing her best to make the others feel calm around her
friends.

"I was wrong," Nassur admits.

"What ails you, brother-in-law?" Saiten stares at her sister's partner.

Nassur and Benten suddenly flush at Saiten's supposition. "Well, I
believed that a battallion of Nendo-kata would be enough to destroy the
Mikado. After seeing what you did, only one of you would be needed to get rid
of him!"

"If you want, we can do it right now," Osooko offers. "All of us can
sense the terrible level of disUnity that sub-creature has unleashed on you
and those you care for."

"Don't tempt me!" Nassur gasps.

"Well, I guess that means I can't go back to Vos," Mujanba hums. "A
pity."

"Why's that?!" Nicole quizzically stares at her lover.

"I can't send Furusur a letterbomb!!!" Mujanba cries.

Everyone faints!

* * *

"Hi, everyone!" Ten-chan cheerily calls out as he lands his scooter on
the ground beside the Moroboshi family tent. Stepping off, he blinks, looking
around at the level of devestation which befell Tomobiki. "Wow!!! Who did
all this?!"

"That stupid son of mine!!" Ataru's mother snaps as she slaves over a
portable stove. "I wish he was never born!"

The young Oni sighs, obviously having not got the answer he wanted.
Ataru's father is reading his paper, oblivious to his being without a house.
At that time, Shinobu walks up. "Oh, Ten-chan, you're back!" she smiles.

"Hi, Shinobu!" Ten-chan floats to her. "Who did all this?!"

"Some evil monster inside Ataru-kun," Shinobu admits. "It's the thing
that made him act like a skirt-chasing idiot for the past ten years or so.
But it was Lum who destroyed it...and wound up doing all this," she waves
around to indicate the district.

"Lum-chan did all this," Ten-chan blinks. "Boy, don't get her upset.
So, did Ataru move off to wherever he was going?"

"Yes, he did," Shinobu sighs. "And none of us still know where. Oh, by
the way, how's Nassur-kun?"

"Ah, he's fine, or so I heard yesterday," Ten-chan smiles. "They were
worried about a bunch of Mikado Marines on the station, but they hooked up
with some new friends to take care of them. They should be back later today."

"Oh, that's nice!" Shinobu beams.

"Hey, who's the little tokkaebi?" a voice inquires from behind them.

Ten-chan looks indignant. "I'm NOT a tokkaebi!!!" he screams.

He then gets swept into Nokoko's arms, then swamped with a kiss! "Wanna
bet?!!"

"Ack!!!" Ten-chan gasps, then disbelievingly stares at Ataru's sister.
"Who are you?! You're a girl!"

Nokoko silences him with a finger to her lips, then walks into the tent.
"Hi, Dad!" she waves at her father.

"Oh, hi, Nokoko," Muchi does not look up from his paper.

Nokoko walks up behind her mother. "What's cooking, Mom?"

"Just some sukiyaki, Nokoko-chan," Kinshou cheerily answers. "It'll be
ready in a few minutes."

"Okay," Nokoko nods, moving to sit down.

Her mother jerks, stunned realization on her face. "***NOKOKO?!?!?!***"

A second later, Nokoko is pelted with beans. "Oni out, luck in! Oni
out, luck in!! Oni out, luck in!!!" Kinshou chants.

"Forget it, Mom, I'm not an Oni!" Nokoko's eyes roll as she zaps her
mother with a force-blast. "Sheesh!! She hasn't changed in twelve years!
It's no wonder Ataru-chan decided to leave this place!"

"What are you doing back here?!!" Kinshou demands as she stares at her
daughter, disbelief and fear in her eyes. "Why don't you go back up to live
with Broken Balls?!! At least he was willing to put up to you!!!"

"But I wanted to come back here and annoy you, stupid!" Nokoko sneers, a
mirthless smile crossing her face. "I vowed I'd get my revenge on you for
what you did to me when I was a kid, and I meant it!!"

Kinshou growls. Shinobu and Ten-chan blink surprisedly at this
confrontation. "Um...Shinobu, who is she?" the latter stares at the former.

"She's Ataru-kun's missing sister, believe it or not," the former shakes
her head...then blinks on hearing a curious rumbling noise. "What the...?!"
she turns to stare to the sky.

Everyone walks out of the tent to see Nicole's crystal palace hovering
over Tomobiki. A gangway is already extending to the ground, Nicole and
Mujanba riding down with it. "There you are, you silly girl!!" Nicole snaps
on seeing her neighbour. "Where the devil've you been all this time?!"

"Here having fun, Cole!" Nokoko waves as she walks up to embrace Nicole.
She is then quick to notice Nicole's lover. "Oh, who is *this* delictable
creature?!" she coyly inquires, batting her eyelashes. "Nicole, you must
introduce us!"

Introductions are made as Lum flies down from the ship. "Lum-chan, who
are these people?!" Ten-chan points at Nokoko, Nicole and their friends. "Is
that really Ataru's sister?!"

"That's her," Lum beams, then points out everyone else as they come down
from the crystal palace. "That's Nokoko-chan's friend Nicole, Nicole's lover
Mujanba, Nicole's brother Jason, Jason's girlfriend Muzainba, Elle's sister
Donna, Oyuki's sister Osooko, Benten's sister Saiten and my sister Mal!"

Ten-chan and Shinobu blink in shock. "***YOU DON'T HAVE A
SISTER!!!!!!***" both exclaim.

"Mal?!!" Nokoko exclaims, bolting up in shock.

"Right here," a voice coos from behind her.

Nokoko spins around to see Mal standing there. Reaching out
telepathically to confirm that the mind within the Oni's body is the same one
who brought her to the Outland years before, tears spring in the former's
eyes. "Mal-chan...you really did Cross Over...!"

"I did," Mal nods, joyful tears flowing down her cheeks. "Oh, Beloved,
isn't it wonderful?! Now at last we are One!!!"

With a delighted wail, Mal leaps over to embrace her life-mate. "I...I
guess w-we are...!" Nokoko laughs, then cheering, lifts Mal up, twirls her
around, then swamps her with a loving kiss.

"Oh, isn't it beautiful?!" Lum gasps in admiration.

"What is this?!!" an incensed male voice demands.

Everyone spins around to see Mendou and the guards staring
disbelievingly at Mal and Nokoko. "Hey, dyke!!!" Megane snarls, pointing at
Nokoko. "Unhand Lum-san's sister this instant!!! How dare you presume you
have the right to touch her, much less KISS her?!!"

"She's my lover, dorks!!" Nokoko slips an arm around Mal, giving them a
snide glare. "Got a problem with that?!"

"We do!!!" the guards growl.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Lum warns.

Nokoko and Mal stare at each other. "Beloved, we should not permit
these sub-creatures to infest the lives of my sister and your brother," the
latter muses.

"I guess we're going to have to destroy them, then," the former hums.

Both then turn on the five boys, their eyes now glowing a deep burgundy.
Seeing this demonic vision, they quickly retreat. "L-lum-s-san, h-help
us...!!" Megane stammers.

"Don't run to me for help!" Lum sneers. "You deserve this!!"

A nuclear explosion later sees the five fried nearly to ashes!!!
"***BUTT OUT AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!!!!***" Nokoko and Mal scream...

* * *

"This is a wonderful day!!" Lum beams. "Darling's sister has come back
after living twelve years in the Outland and all her friends are on their way
to becoming human so they can live with her. Darling will be so happy when he
finds out!"

She smiles at Nokoko and Mal, who are now the center of attention at a
small gathering in a large tent serving as the town cafeteria. With them are
all of Lum's classmates and friends plus Nokoko's human friends from the
Outland. "If Lum-san considers this a happy day, then let's celebrate,"
Mendou smiles, still wincing in pain from the powerful energy blasts he
received from Nokoko and Mal earlier.

The others smile. The Nendo-kata evenly glare at them, then look at
each other, communicating psionically. <<What a pit of disUnity!>> Saiten
sneers, looking violently ill. <<These sub-creatures will do anything to have
Lum-chan's approval!>>

<<And their hatred of Nokoko-chan's brother is more than obvious!>>
Osooko notes. <<We should destroy these sub-creatures at once, so their
disUnifying thoughts do not pollute Lum-chan further.>>

<<No,>> Mal shakes her head. <<Ataru-kun's plan to remove Lum-chan from
this pit of disUnity is sound. Lum-chan must come to her own decision in
regards to these sub-creatures. To force disUnity between her and them
against her will, while it will do her much good in the end, is an Act of
disUnity in itself.>>

The others readily nod. Lum notices the secretive stares between the
four women. "Nokoko-chan, is something wrong?" she then stares at Ataru's
sister. "They don't seem very happy."

"I don't blame them," Nokoko muses, sipping her tea. "After all,
Nendo-kata can smell a pack of liars a kiloparsec away. They know what these
idiots've done to my brother. If they were given the chance, they'd kill all
of them in an instant."

Lum jerks in shock. "What does that mean?!"

"It means that as long as you continue to stay in this moron's paradise,
you risk losing Ataru-chan," Nokoko shrugs. "Why do you think he left? He
doesn't want to be around this place, much less raise his daughter here. If
you're really smart, you'll move out and go live with him."

Everyone from Tomobiki pales. "B-but...I can't l-leave..." Lum
stammers.

"Why not?"

"W-well...b-because these are my friends!!" Lum waves at her classmates.
"I can't just walk out on them like that! Besides, I can't just change my
visa on a whim! I have to stay in Tomobiki until I graduate, then I can move
out!!"

Nokoko stares at her, then shrugs. "Okay. If you're up to a
long-distance love affair, that's your choice." Swallowing the rest of her
tea, she stares at her friends. "As for us, we'll just move in beside
Ataru-chan. After all, since he disowned the two dorks we were born from,
then he doesn't have much in the way of family outside of Reiko-chan, Uncle
and Grandma. I suppose I'll just have to move in and be the family he needs."

"And we can become his neighbours," Mal augments.

"Not to mention his first **real** friends," Donna adds, then smiles at
Mie, "...outside of this wonderful Agent of Unity."

"Flatterer!" the Kyushu native blushes.

"That's true," Lum considers the point. "Well, Darling must be feeling
a little lonely right about now," she hums, then remembers something. "Wait a
moment! What about Nintaiko, Ookako, Hei and Tatsuko?! They still haven't
Crossed Over!"

The four Nendo-kata consider the point. "Yes, it is terrible that we
have Crossed Over and they have not," Saiten muses.

"Easily answered, sis," Benten smiles. "Just get four volunteers to act
as their templates. I may have been a little hesitant on allowing you to
template yourself off me at first, but I've no regrets now."

"Oh, Mother Ocean bless you, sister," Saiten beams, then stands up.
"Very well. I shall be the one who shall choose Tatsuko's template."

Donna, Osooko and Mal quickly volunteer themselves to choose Nintaiko's,
Ookako's and Hei's templates. "What does all this mean, Koosei-kun?" Sakura
whispers to her former classmate. "What is this 'Crossing Over?!'"

"It's how they became human," Koosei explains. "It's a really complex
thing. You've got to understand them a little more before you can grasp what
they're after."

"I suppose so," Sakura nods...

* * *

"What a strange day this is," Shinobu sighs as she walks back to her
family's tent, Ryuunosuke beside her. "Ataru-kun's long missing sister just
shows up out of nowhere, she brings with her a very strange group of friends,
and now they want to help their other friends turn into human beings."

"Weird if you ask me," Ryuunosuke sighs, then blinks on seeing Lan up
ahead. "Hey, Lan!"

"Eh?!" the Seishin teen looks behind her, then smiles. "Oh, Ryuunosuke-
san. Shinobu. Where are you two going?"

"Home," Shinobu supplies as they join Lan. "What did you think about
Nokoko and her friends?"

"What should I think?!" Lan sneers. "Did you hear Lum-chan?! She
actually liked the idea of those walking squid actually living with Darling!"

Ryuunosuke and Shinobu blink as they realize something. "Hey, that's
right!" the former gasps. "And when those girls mentioned that they wanted to
be Ataru's first real friends outside of Mie, Lum didn't object!"

The three girls stop, considering the point. "Then, it's really
happened," Shinobu sniffs. "Ataru-kun no longer cares for any of us."

"After what he just went through, do you blame him?" Ryuunosuke muses.
"Not to mention what we've put him through?"

"Doubtful," Shinobu looks down.

"Well, that's no problem for me," Lan yawns. "When Lum-chan moves up to
live with Darling, I'll just move up to live beside them!"

"Don't bet on it!" a hand slams into Lan's shoulder, nearly crushing the
Seishin teen into the thickness of okonomiyaki.

Everyone turns to see Mie there. "Yumoa-san just told me earlier that
they're about to get the prefectural supreme court to slap injunctions on
everyone who lives in Tomobiki!!" the Kyushu native projects a Cheshire cat
smile. "Except me! Once they're in, you couldn't come within a hundred
kilometres of him without getting thrown in jail! And I also heard that his
uncle bought up all the available land around where he lives, which means you
couldn't move up even if there was no injunction against you visiting! Tough
luck, airhead!" she waves, running off to her home. "See ya!"

Shinobu, Ryuunosuke and Lan remain in place. "We'd be...forbidden to
even...visit him...?!" the tomboy squeaks.

"I couldn't move up...to live beside them...?!" Lan stammers.

"He really *does* hate us!" Ataru's ex-girlfriend moans...

* * *

"Hello, Thanba," Mujanba smiles as she walks into the tent which
temporarily houses Shapiro's Ice Cream Parlour.

Thanba gasps, her eyes glowing as she spins around to see who just
addressed her. Fortunately for the observer, no one else is around to
overhear them. "C-Captain Mujanba!" she stammers, them smiles, drawing
herself to attention. "It's a pleasure to see you again, ma'am!" she bows
respectfully.

"A pleasure to see you, too," Mujanba nods as she sits at a table. "So,
where's the old curmudgeon you're working with?"

Both women's eyes glow. "I resent that statement, Captain!" a voice
snaps with mock indignity. "I'm not old!"

Mujanba giggles as Shapiro walks up. "Okay, middle-aged, then," the
Colony Nine native quips.

Everyone laughs as the ice cream vendor and his assistant sit with her.
"So, what brings you to Earth?" Shapiro inquires. "Did that fool Furusur
assign you to come here?"

"No, as far as he's concerned, I'm dead and ashes along with the rest of
Major Henkensur's company on Sakusei Station," Mujanba gives them a knowing
smile. "And I'd really appreciate it if that story continues."

"That's no problem," Shapiro readily nods. "Furusur's a clueless moron
who should've been retired ages ago. Then again, I never did go along with
the whole idea of a secret corps of psi-hunters, especially the way they were
recruited. If you want to be kept a secret, I'll be more than happy to help
you."

"I appreciate it," Mujanba nods.

"Actually, although I know how much you didn't get a long with a lot of
people, being the way you are," Thanba flushes, "...but a lot of us in the
ranks really do admire you, Mujanba-san. After all, unlike all of us, you
trained yourself and volunteered to be a hunter. All of us never had a choice
about it."

Mujanba looks sympathetic. "Well, when the Mikado does go down, you and
the others...those who survive the next year, that is...can get out and
finally learn the truth."

"You really think it'll be that soon?" Thanba inquires.

"I think so," Mujanba nods, then stares at Shapiro. "And I think I'm
not alone in that."

He nods. "The Mikado was good for Vos...to a point. Right now, it's
time to stop this senseless fighting and start healing. Unfortunately, the
Mikado and most of his advisors are not the type to take 'no' for an answer."

"True, true," Mujanba muses. "Oh, I just forgot. There's another
survivor of Henkensur's company...a young girl named Muzainba."

"She's dead, too," Thanba giggles.

The others laugh. Later, Mujanba and Thanba walk out of the tent. "So,
how do you like Earth?" the former inquires.

"It's beautiful," the latter sighs. "I always heard it was such a
backward world, but after living here for a bit, I realized that they're just
people, like us in a lot of ways."

"Uh-huh," Mujanba muses, staring knowingly at the younger hunter.
"Something tells me that there's another reason you like it here."

Before Thanba could answer, a male voice calls out. "Thelma-chan!"

Thanba's eyes glow for a moment, then she spins around. "Toshio-kun!"
she gushes.

A handsome young man walks up. He blinks on seeing Mujanba. "Oh," he
sighs, looking relieved. "Friend of yours, Tha-chan?"

"Yep," Thanba wraps an arm around his, then waves to Mujanba. "This is
Mujanba. She's a retired hunter. Mujanba-san, this is my boyfriend, Toshio
Yoshida. Don't worry. He knows who I am."

"Hi," Mujanba nods. "Hope you realize what you're getting yourself into
if you marry her."

"She told me after she recognized me," Toshio smiles. "Don't worry.
She's moving to retire from your group anyway. What about you?"

"I've got my own lover," Mujanba admits. "Besides, Furusur has dreamed
a lot about how he'd get rid of me. If the chance comes, I'll pay the bastard
back for it."

"Good luck to you then," Toshio nods, then snuggles against his
girlfriend. "Busy now, Tha-chan?"

"Never busy for you, love," Thanba purrs as they head off.

Mujanba smiles, then her eyes glow. "What was that all about?" Nicole
inquires as she walks up.

"Oh, just another happy outcome from a sad war," Mujanba nuzzles her
nose against her lover's neck. "What's up?"

"There's a meeting in the palace," Nicole nods to the orbiting crystal
palace. "We're going to discuss what we're going to do to keep Nokoko's
brother away from this place. C'mon."

The two head off...

* * *

"This is the situation as I understand it," Nokoko briefs her friends in
a private meeting room aboard the palace a little later. "Ataru-chan wants
nothing to do anymore with anyone from Tomobiki, although he's probably still
in a state of shock over what the *saikoo jinseijitsu* did to him. Everyone
here, Lum-chan included, believes that once he gets over the shock, he'll
return and things, they hope, will go back to normal. I want to stop that
before he gets any silly ideas about coming back."

"Agreed," Mal nods. "Most of these sub-creatures are so emotionally
dependant on Ataru-kun to be the receptacle for their scorn and disgust that
his absence from this place has left an emotional void within them. Still, it
is an act of disUnity to permit Ataru-kun to succumb once more to the sway of
these sub-creatures."

"But we cannot force him to remain in Oshika, Mal-chan," Saiten notes.

"True, but our presence in Oshika will tempt him to stay," Nokoko notes.
"Especially mine...once Ataru-chan learns what was done to me when I was a
kid."

The other Nendo-kata nod. Nicole, her brother and their lovers remain
silent. Of course, it was automatically assumed that wherever Nokoko wanted
to go live, the Nendo-kata would also be willing to go. The very thought of
breaking up the school for any reason would be like physically dismembering
them, the bonds between the Nendo-kata and their adopted schoolmate were that
strong. "So what does this mean for finding templates for Nintaiko, Ookako,
Hei and Tatsuko?" Donna inquires.

"Simple," Nokoko smiles. "Ataru-chan's obviously at a very vulnerable
emotional state right now. He could, as has been hinted by Ryooki-san,
Reigi-chan and Mie-chan, decide that he never wants to come back to this
dump...or, given how much the *saikoo jinseijitsu* influenced him, he might
revert back to his old patterns of behaviour."

"His...girl-hunts, as everyone refers to them," Saiten notes.

"Right," Nokoko nods. "And, as we can all easily tell, all his
favourite girls are right here in Tomobiki," she points down.

"So, those who become the templates for the others must resemble those
people he previously took interest in," Osooko concludes.

"Right," Nokoko drawls it out, then produces four pictures. "And with
you all now looking like some of the women Ataru-chan's liked, here are the
others."

She lays the pictures down. Sakura, Shinobu, Ryuunosuke and Lan. The
four Nendo-kata pick them up, then begin to pass them around as they look
closely at the four would-be templates. "My sister once believed this one to
be a male before she learned the truth," Saiten points to Ryuunosuke's
picture. "I think she'd be perfect to be Tatsuko's template."

"And this one in her own way used to care for Ataru-kun, much in the
same manner as my sister," Donna nods to Shinobu's picture. "She would be
perfect for Nintaiko."

"So that means Sakura and Lan for Ookako and Hei," Mal concludes.
"When?"

"Tonight," Nokoko smiles. "Then after they've Crossed Over, we all head
up to Oshika to live with Ataru-chan. By that time, the court injunctions
will be in place, so the jerks here will be able to do nothing to him...not
without getting hurt themselves."

The others nod. At that time, a voice echoes out. "Hello?! Hey, where
is everyone in this place?!"

"In here, Reigi-chan!" Nokoko calls out.

Reigi ducks into the meeting room. "Oh, there you all are!" he sighs in
relief. "You know how much of a maze this place is?!"

"Sorry about that, Reigi," Nicole giggles.

"What's up?" Nokoko inquires.

The financier smiles. "I just told some friends that you're still
alive. They want to see you."

"Who?!"

"Kinko and the others."

Nokoko blinks. "My...babysitters?" she gasps, hesitantly rising to her
feet. "How'd you get in contact with them?!"

"After they quit in the wake of your leaving, they came down to work for
the Mizunokoji family," Reigi explains. "And they've missed you a lot."

"I'll go, I'll go!!" Nokoko beams.

"May I come with you?" Osooko inquires. "I'm sure Mal-chan can handle
Sakura and Lan."

"Sure," Nokoko nods. "We've got to get to work on your problem now that
you've Crossed Over."

Osooko beams as the two women head out with Reigi. "Let's go!" Mal
stands. "Our schoolmates need us."

Donna and Saiten nod as they follow Lum's sister out. "What problem is
that, Jason?" Muzainba stares quizzically at her boyfriend. "Is Osooko-sempai
sick?"

"It's...well, I'll tell you about it later, in private," Jason sighs, a
touch of sympathetic sadness in his eyes. "Mentioning it in their presence
hurts them a lot."

* * *

"Nokoko-chan!!!" Kinko Makige yips.

"Kinko-onee-chan!!!" Nokoko gasps as she runs up to embrace the
Kurotenshi's leader. "How are you?!"

"I'm fine," Kinko beams, tears appearing in her eyes. "You naughty
girl! Why did you run off like that?! Do you have any idea how worried your
uncle was when you left?!"

"I know, I know," Nokoko nods, then stares at the other Kurotenshi.
"Hi, girls!"

Gasps of delight and relief echo from the other Kurotenshi as they
embrace and kiss Nokoko. Nearby, Osooko watches them. Her mind had already
told her what she needed to know. Her answers did not lie with these people.
She would have to look elsewhere. At least Nokoko was reunited with friends.
That was good; the Unity was again further enhanced. At that moment, Tobimaro
and his parents walk up. "Um, Kinko, who's this?" the scion of the Mizunokoji
sports empire asks.

Kinko quickly introduces Nokoko to her present employers. "You're
Nokoko?!" Tobimaro's mother Saeko gasps, then bows. "Well, welcome back!
Kinko-chan and the others've spoken about you."

"Thanks, ma'am," Nokoko returns her bow, then blinks. "What in the
Unity's name is THAT?!?!" she points.

Everyone turns. In the distance, several Kurotenshi are busy monitoring
Asuka, who is preparing to do a hundred yard dash. She is currently in her
Iron Maiden armour. "That's...my sister, Asuka," Tobimaro sighs. "She's been
in that armour day in and out since the Spirit War."

"What's her problem?" Nokoko inquires.

"She's...ever since she was brought out from the convent, she's always
been afraid of men," Saeko Mizunokoji looks sad. "But we were able to
convince her that some men...Tobimaro-chan and her future fiance Shutaro
Mendou...were not evil. However, that monster in your brother's head turned
around and destroyed what little we were able to do to make her overcome her
fear."

"Poor kid," Nokoko looks sympathetic.

One of the Kurotenshi fires a starter's pistol. Asuka bolts off...then
falls to the ground with a panicked scream! "No!! No!! Keep it away!! Get
it away from me!!! Help me!!!"

"Mistress!" the Kurotenshi runs to her aid.

Seeing this, Osooko runs off to join them. The others watch her, but
say nothing. The Nendo-kata-turned-Tritonian slows to a walk as she
approaches the shivering armoured woman. "Is she well?" she gently inquires.

"Does this look well to you?!" another Kurotenshi snaps.

"Permit me," Osooko kneels beside Asuka. "Asuka? Asuka-chan? Are you
alright?"

"Make it go away...!" Asuka sobs. "Please make it go away..."

Taking a deep breath, Osooko concentrates. Her eyes glow burgundy as
she projects her mind into Asuka's...

* * *

In an instant, she sees what is afflicting the helpless woman: dark
mental images of quasi-male monsters, looking like Mendou, Tobimaro, Ataru and
the other men she encountered in her brief time in civilization; all now
attacking Asuka, who is helplessly chained against a wall. Osooko appears in
front of the helpless woman. "Begone!" the Nendo-kata commands.

A bolt of energy lashes from her hands to pulverize the monsters,
disintegrating them in the blink of an eye. Asuka blinks when her ears do not
register their lustful growls, then she stares in the direction from where the
monsters came. "Who...?" she hesitantly inquires.

Osooko turns around and shatters the bonds chaining Asuka to the wall.
"Those images that sub-creature within Ataru-kun's mind created will plague
you no more, Asuka-chan," she announces.

Asuka blinks, then she runs into Osooko's embrace. "Oh, thank you!!
Thank you!!" the grateful woman wails.

Osooko jerks...

* * *

...for now she is being tightly embraced by a wailing Asuka, still in
her Iron Maiden armour! "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!" Asuka chants
again and again.

"Please, Asuka...you're crushing me...!" Osooko gasps, not willing to
use her own telekinetic powers to pry Asuka away from her.

"Oh, sorry!!" Asuka gasps, letting go.

Because her embracer was standing up, Osooko falls flat on her face!
"This is...certainly not the way to seek a life-mate..." the Nendo-kata-
turned-Tritonian grunts, her body now half-covered in muck.

Asuka pulls up her visor to see what happened. "Ooops!" she looks
repentent, covering her mouth with her hand...

* * *

"You want ME to be Tatsuko's template?!" Ryuunosuke looks shocked when
Saiten meets her that afternoon near Tomobiki High School, which is now under
reconstruction. "Why?!"

"Well I was inspired by the time that my sister took interest in you
before she learned of your true gender," Saiten admits, maintaining her
silence about the real reason the tomboy has been targetted. "I must admit,
you are an asthetically pleasant being to behold, Ryuunosuke-chan."

Ryuunosuke turns beet red at her compliment. "Th-thanks!" she stammers,
then looks concerned. "But, there might be a problem. My dipstick of a dad
might try to make her act like a boy, just like he does to me! That might put
some crimps on your relationship."

"Not really, if what I sense of your father is true," Saiten notes. "I
notice he worships the Mother Ocean almost with the same fervour as we.
Further, your mother's spirit now truthfully resides in the Mother Ocean. In
our eyes, it would be seen as Fate that a sage like Tatsuko would template
herself from the blood of one who is in his own way so much like us."

"Sage?" Ryuunosuke blinks. "Is that some sort of priestess?"

"It serves the same idea," the Nendo-kata-turned-Fukunokami nods.
"While all of us are deeply instilled with the philosophy of Unity and the
belief in the Mother Ocean's power, there are those who specialize in
preserving and teaching those beliefs. Those are known as sages. Tatsuko is
the sage for our school."

The tomboy takes that information in. "Well, I suppose there's no real
harm in it. But what about Dad?"

"With our powers, Tatsuko will have no problems," Saiten smiles.
"Besides, we will be living with Ataru-kun and Nokoko-chan."

"True," Ryuunosuke muses. "But you better watch out for Moroboshi. Who
knows what he's capable of doing right now."

"I doubt...he will be a problem," Saiten assures her...

* * *

"Me?!!" Shinobu blinks, staring quizzically at Donna as she eats a Mount
Fuji. Both are now meeting in Shapiro's ice cream parlour-tent. "You
actually want me to be Nintaiko's template?! Why?!"

"Why not?!" Donna shrugs, sipping a milkshake. "You are very beautiful
by your great school's standards..."

"Flatterer!" Shinobu blushes.

"...and while Ataru-kun may at present be angry at you for his many
reasons, having Nintaiko template herself off you might convince him to
be...nicer towards you," the Nendo-kata-turned-Ellsian stares knowingly at
her. "While you do not see him as a future mate, I do sense that you still
wish to be his friend."

Shinobu blinks, then looks down, sadness crossing her face. "Well...I
don't know anymore. I mean, with that court injunction Mie told us about, we
can't just go up to wherever he's living to visit him, especially now that
college entrance and end-term exams are coming. We'll be pretty busy down
here."

"He wishes to feel safe again...at least, that is how your teacher
believes him to presently feel," Donna notes. "If there are duplicates of
women such as yourself around him now, over time, the chance is there that in
the near-future, he will feel safe around you."

"That's true," Shinobu nods, then giggles. "And with a small group of
women living around him, Mendou-san and the guards'll go totally bonkers
because they can't go up there to protect you from Ataru-kun."

"Yes, that might cure those Purveyors of disUnity of their disUnifying
lust for Lum-chan," Donna hums. "So, will you or won't you?"

Ataru's ex-girlfriend considers the point, then nods. "Okay."

* * *

"Why me?" Sakura blinks, quizzically staring at Mal. "Surely there are
other women who would better fit Ookako's needs."

"What makes you believe that?" Mal blinks. Both are now in the former's
shrine, now rebuilt and reopened. "After I told Ookako about you, she was
more than willing to consider you to become her sister."

"M-my...s-sister?!" the priestess stammers. "Do you actually accept
your templates as family?!"

"Of course," the Nendo-kata-turned-Oni readily nods. "Such always
serves the cause of Unity. Lum-chan has accepted me as part of her family, as
Benten-chan has Saiten-chan and Oyuki-chan has Osooko-chan."

"Well..." Sakura muses.

"You mustn't!!!" a voice intones.

Cherry appears between the two, causing both Sakura and Mal to faint!
"Sakura, you must never consider such a hideous act!!" the monk threateningly
points at his niece. "These sea-spirits are trying to drive Ataru away from
us!! If Ataru is further driven away from Tomobiki, he will further embrace
the phoenix, which will bring Doom to Tomobiki's dreams as the Spirit War
proved so well!!!"

Incensed, Mal literally burns with her lightning powers. "Perveyor of
disUnity, begone!!!"

She lets loose such a titanic blast of energy at Cherry that it nearly
turns him into a pile of ashes!! "It's...fate...!" the monk hoarsely moans.

"Are you still on that?!" Sakura snorts, standing, then turns to Mal.
"Looks like Ookako's got her template!"

Mal beams...

* * *

"Oh, no, you don't!!!" Lan wags an angry finger at Lum. "I'm not going
along with this one bit!! Forget it! Ask Seikou!!"

"I already asked her," Lum sighs. The Oni had been drafted by her
sister to get Lan to become Hei's template while Mal talked to Sakura. Both
were now meeting in front of Lan's new scout ship, the grounds now
meticulously restored to their pre-Spirit War condition. "Mie-chan said it
wasn't really necessary since she's exempted from the court injunction
protecting Darling and can visit him anytime she pleases. Besides, Hei-chan
wants you to be her template. What's the matter with that?"

"What's the matter?!!" the Seishin teen growls. "Lum, are you that
blind?! Don't you see what that dyke is trying to do?!! She's templating
those squid off all of us so that Darling has no reason to come back to
Tomobiki!!"

Lum looks incensed. "You call Nokoko-chan a dyke again, Lan, and I'll
let Mal-chan have her way with you!!" she snarls, coming face-to-face with her
classmate. "You better know that while Mal-chan may have my powers, she
doesn't have my training!! One zap from her'll kill, guaranteed!!!"

"As if that ever bothered me!" Lan snorts.

Lum gives her a knowing stare. "Oh, I see! You're just upset because
Darling can see through your act these days and he's not going to play along
with you anymore! What's the matter?! Can't stand it that the man you want
to destroy is now so powerful, he can crush you like a flea?!"

"What do you know?!" Lan sneers.

"Fine, then," Lum sighs, staring at her fingernails. "I guess I'll have
to ask Daddy to get General Yethis to have Rei posted to another frontier
group...say out by Noukiios."

Hearing that, Lan nearly has a heart attack. "**WHAT?!?!?!**" she
screams, glaring at Lum with a mix of shock and fury. "You wouldn't?!!" she
leans up to the Oni.

"Well, you know how General Yethis hates the idea of you living on
Earth, not to mention Rei coming to Earth all the time," Lum innocently muses,
not staring at the Seishin teen. "He doesn't want his nephew to be influenced
by such 'primitive monkeys.' Don't you want to make the general happy so that
you can marry Rei without his getting in the way?"

Lan shudders. "You hate the Imperialists just as much as I do, Lum!!"
she growls.

Lum stares at her friend. "Lan-chan...you know your mother was probably
killed on Shingetsu," a touch of sympathy appears in her eyes. "You have no
family left now. Wouldn't it be nice for you to have something of a
family...a real, loving family...again?"

Lan stops, blinking. Frustrated, sad tears well in her eyes as her mind
recounts the numerous times her mother beat her whenever she had been blamed
for things Lum usually did. Despite Chena's abusive nature, Lan still cared
for her mother. She had not heard anything from her since she first moved to
Earth long ago. In a sense, Rei was the only real family she had. But
sometimes...it really was not enough. "I hate you..." she grits, the tears
flowing down her cheeks. "I hate you...!"

The Oni stands, gently embracing Lan. "C'mon," she guides the Seishin
teen towards Nicole's palace. "Hei-chan's waiting."

* * *

"Your clothes are in the wash now, Osooko-san," Asuka calls out as
Osooko takes a shower.

The two are now in Asuka's rebuilt apartment, a private lodge located in
an isolated section of the Mizunokoji estate. It is also, thanks to its
mistress' fears, the most well-protected part of the grounds, with mine
fields, barbed wire fencing and automatically controlled machine gun posts
forming a defensive cordon well away from the building proper. Also, female
troopers patrol the perimeter. Asuka has now laid out a housecoat for her
guest. "Thank you, Asuka-chan," Osooko's voice echoes from the shower. "I'll
be out in a minute."

Asuka nods, then relaxes on her bed. "Oh, I feel so much better," she
lets out a sigh of relief. "The last week's been a nightmare."

By that time, Osooko has stopped showering, now drying herself off.
Asuka stands as she begins to undress for her shower. "A nice shower should
really hit the spot," she muses.

Osooko walks out at that time, her hands tying her ponytail with a
ribbon. Thanks to the bathing of hot water, her normally frozen silver hair
is melted loose, but is now quickly refreezing. "You can go ahead,
Asuka-chan...eh?!" she lets out a startled gasp.

The Nendo-kata-turned-Tritonian stares at Asuka's very firm, well
exercised body...now fully displayed for her to see. "Thanks, Osooko-san,"
the latter beams as she heads for the shower stall, not noticing the former's
stunned look.

As Asuka walks out of sight, Osooko's cheeks redden. "She is so
beautiful..." she hoarsely exclaims, feeling her heart, now beating like a
jackhammer.

"Did you say something, Osooko-san?" Asuka inquires from the shower as
the water turns on.

"N-nothing!" Osooko stammers in response, then staggers to the bed,
trying to catch her breath.

<<Nothing?!>> Nokoko's voice telepathically echoes in her mind.
<<Fates, Osooko-chan, we all felt your hormones kick into gear all the way
over here!>>

<<Mind your own business, Nokoko-chan!!>> Osooko mentally sneers, then
relaxes. Thanks to her over two decades of exposure to Nicole and later
Nokoko, Osooko, like the other Nendo-kata, intrinsically knew well what Terran
standards of physical beauty were like. Further, when she templated her new
body from Oyuki, Osooko mind-scanned the Tritonian, absorbing Tritonian social
mores and values, including their beauty standards. While such information
did not override her own culture's values, they did influence her...for unlike
the other Nendo-kata, Osooko had no mate.

Five centuries before Nokoko's arrival in the Outland, there were ten in
Osooko's school. All Nendo-kata schools were evenly numbered so that everyone
had a chance to have a mate. All Nendo-kata couples always bore two children
at the same time. Osooko's mate was the school's bard, the one who on
occasion wandered from school to school to relay information about their
school. When they were first trapped in the Outland, the bard went off to
locate a possible point of exit so that they could either return home or seek
a new home so they could all resettle.

She never returned.

Osooko was devastated. Every once in a while, she would telepathically
call out, in hopes of finding her mate so she could come back and rejoin the
school. Five hundred years of trying produced no answers; unfortunately, the
Outland is as infinitely vast as the universe from where the Nendo-kata
hailed. Over time, Osooko lost hope of ever having a mate. While her
schoolmates were always there for her, not to mention Nicole and Nokoko when
they came to the Outland, it was not enough. Osooko was more than willing to
move to Earth with Nokoko when the time came for them to leave the Outland.
Now as a human being, she stood a better chance of finding a mate.

Osooko is shaken out of her thoughts by Asuka's voice. "Osooko-san, are
you okay?"

"Eh?!" the Nendo-kata blinks, then stares quizzically at her host...then
feels the wet sting of her tears. "Did you say something, Asuka-chan?"

"You're crying!" Asuka gasps, reaching over to gently grasp Osooko's
hand. "What's wrong?!"

"I..." Osooko sniffs, wiping her face, then sighs. "I was remembering
my mate."

Asuka looks sympathetic, still gripping her guest's hand. "What
happened? Did you and he break up?"

"She," Osooko amends. "All of my race are female, Asuka-chan. There
are no males among the Nendo-kata."

The puzzled look on the Terran's face forces Osooko to explain who and
what she is. She also explains the parthenogenetic process the Nendo-kata use
to reproduce. At the end of it, Asuka is stunned. "You mean you're some sort
of living squid?" she reaches over to feel Osooko's arms. "You feel quite
human to me."

"That's because I've Crossed Over," Osooko points to herself, then
explains how that happens. "When Nokoko-chan wanted to come back to Earth, we
had to become human so we could live with her. Given your curious forms of
xenophobia, living on Earth as we once were would do us no good."

"I...can see that," Asuka whistles. "Wow! So, what did happen to
your...lover? Did she leave you?"

"No. I've no idea what happened to her, which is what hurts so much,"
Osooko sniffs, then stares heavenward. "Oh, where are you, sister?!!" she
wails. "Don't you realize how much I miss you, how we all miss you?!! Has
the depths of the Mother Ocean claimed you?!! Oh, why did you go...?!"

With a hoarse, muffled cry, Osooko leans into Asuka. The Terran
embraces her friend, sympathetic tears appearing in her eyes. "There, there,"
she gently coos. "It's okay. Let it out."

The Nendo-kata weeps for a few minutes before recovering herself,
pulling away from Asuka. "Thank you, Asuka-chan. I guess I really needed
that."

Asuka smiles. "So...you wanted to become human so you stood a better
chance of getting a lover once you were here. Can you do it with a guy?"

"No," Osooko shakes her head. "Ever since the Great Crossing Over, when
all Nendo-kata males became female themselves, the eggs produced in our
bodies, even after the Crossing Over, can only mate with the eggs of females,
even females of other species. I must have a female mate."

"Must?" Asuka looks concerned.

"Yes," Osooko nods. "Perhaps I should not have Crossed Over when the
others did. By Crossing Over, I've doomed myself to either mate with someone
as soon as I can...or die."

Asuka pales. "D-d-DIE?!?!"

"Yes," Osooko sighs. "When we Cross Over, our reproductive systems are
then driven by a profound increase of hormones to produce eggs so that we may
form bonds with our new host race. No one, at least no one at the time we
lived in the Mother Ocean, understood why this happened. It just did. If we
do not produce offspring within six of your months, the hormonal
increase...kills us."

Silence falls over them as Asuka takes that in, staring disbelievingly
at Osooko. She then remembers Osooko's curious stare as she walked to the
shower. "So...why did you tell me all this?"

"Well, you did ask," Osooko blushes. "And...I would really desire
it...if you became my mate."

Asuka blinks, then without considering the implications of what her
response would mean for her future, says the first thing that comes to her
mind. "Oh, Osooko-chan, I'd love to!!!"

Osooko faints!

* * *

"Well, that was a weird experience," Shinobu admits.

She, Ryuunosuke, Sakura and Lan disembark Nicole's crystal palace.
"Taking a swim with a truck-sized squid doesn't particularly make my day,
Shinobu!" the Seishin teen snorts.

"What's your problem, Lan?!" the tomboy stares at her classmate.

"My problem is the fact that all of you are allowing that dyke to get
away with this!" Lan sneers. "All Nokoko's doing is ensuring that Darling
stays up where he's going to live!!"

The others moan. "Oh, you're just upset because you can't get your
revenge on Ataru-kun anymore!" his former girlfriend sneers.

"WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH IT?!?!" Lan barks, then storms off. "Mark
my words!!! With them living up there, Darling'll NEVER return!!"

The others watch her go. "Brother, does she think we're that dumb?!"
Ryuunosuke slaps her forehead.

"It's been obvious for a very long time," the priestess muses...

* * *

"You WANT to be my mate?!" Osooko blinks disbelievingly, a mix of shock,
disbelief and hope on her face.

"I said I'd love to," Asuka nods.

"But," the Nendo-kata-turned-Tritonian twittles her fingers, realizing
that Asuka is quite naive when it came to personal relationships, "...what of
your planned union with Shutaro Mendou...?"

Asuka looks disgusted. "What union?!" she snorts, looking away.

This was quite a surprise. "But...I distinctively sense that everyone
expects you to unite with him," Osooko notes.

"Yes, I know that," Asuka hugs herself. "But will it be a real
marriage?"

Silence falls over them for a moment. Osooko did not need her empathic
senses or telepathy to tell that if there had been any real Unity between
Mendou and his fiancee, it had evaporated long ago. Asuka was keeping
something to herself, something that had been eating at her for some time.
"You do not love him?" she gently inquires.

"Why should I?" Asuka stares at her. "He doesn't love me."

"Yes, I did sense that he did not have any true feelings of Unity
towards you when I first met him," Osooko notes.

"Understandable," Asuka growls. "All he's ever really had eyes for is
Lum! Believe me, I'll be one very happy person when that Oni leaves this
place and goes to live wherever Ataru is living. Then again, even if she
goes, could Shuu-chan ever learn to love me? I'm nothing compared to Lum!"

"You still like him," Osooko notes.

"I care for him," Asuka admits, "...even though I may not show that I
still get scared of him whenever I'm near him. It's like that with all men,
even my brother."

"Have you ever told anyone this? Your parents?"

The Terran shakes her head. "I did. They try not to let that stop
them. As far as they're concerned, the priority is to get me married to
Shuu-chan."

"And you do not wish to subscribe yourself to such a plan?"

"Not...anymore."

Silence falls over the scene. Asuka stands up, walking to the window to
stare outside. No one is in sight. "I may not really show it when I'm with
people, but I'm not as totally ignorant as to what's been going on with
Shuu-chan as people would believe. Ryooko-chan sends me daily reports on what
her brother's been up to. Over the last while...since that business with
those big mushrooms and that tag race Lum and Ataru had...all Shuu-chan seems
to be concerned about is trying to find some way to get Lum away from Ataru."

"From what I understand from others, that is all Shutaro has ever been
concerned with," Osooko notes.

"Not always," Asuka shakes her head. "When we met...although then, I
was scared out of my mind when he first appeared...he really was attracted to
me. Over the next while, he courted me, dated me, acting as if Lum never
really existed. Oh, he still went after Ataru whenever he did something Lum
didn't agree to, but everyone did that."

"By the sounds of it, he really was interested in you."

"He was," Asuka nods. "I sensed it right away. My fear of men was
still there, as I admitted before...but it was controllable around Shuu-chan.
Ton-chan, too. When we were seeing each other, Shuu-chan came by at least
once a week. He called me almost every day. But," she sadly shakes her head,
"...I haven't heard from him in three months!"

Osooko nods, understanding the full extent of Asuka's problem. Her fear
of males was quite genuine...but it was conquered when she was approached not
with naked lust (as Ataru was want to do) but sincere friendship, the love of
siblings, even intimite romantic interest (as Tobimaro and Mendou
demonstrated). Now having been cut off from that for a while, Asuka was
beginning to wonder if Mendou's interest in her was genuine. "I did not
mind-scan Mendou enough to properly interpret what his feelings are in concern
with Lum, much less yourself," she sighs.

"You don't need to," Asuka walks back to sit beside her. "Ryooko-chan's
filled me in on everything. Three months ago, Shuu-chan decided...confided in
his diary, which she can get her hands on at any time...that Ataru had once
again proven how unworthy he was of Lum because he never gave in and said he
loved her out loud. Shuu-chan believed that the chance had come for him to
take Lum away from Ataru. And he's been working at it ever since."

"So I did sense from him," Osooko nods agreeingly.

"And to make matters worse, Ryooko-chan just found out that Shuu-chan
now believes that there's no hope for a marriage between us after what that
monster inside of Ataru did to me," Asuka points to her head. "He's even gone
as far as convincing his parents that there's no way a marriage between us
will work."

"Then all this requires is time for the Unity between you two to
reform."

"What Unity?!" Asuka barks.

Osooko stares at her hostess. "There's no Unity here!!" Asuka stands
up, pointing outside. "There's never been any Unity, to be honest with you!!
All I've ever been taught was how to be the perfect housewife, the loyal and
loving homemaker to a husband who's willing to drop me at a moment's notice so
he can chase some alien!"

The Nendo-kata remains silent as the Terran rants, "Just because I've
been afraid of men since I came out of the convent doesn't mean that I'm
stupid!" Asuka shakes her head. "I've seen how other people have it! They
have dreams, lives of their own! They can decide at any time what they want
to do with themselves! I've never been given that chance!! I think my
parents never wanted me to have that chance! Do you actually expect me to go
along with what they plan, actually marry someone like Shutaro Mendou, slave
myself to him without having something to say about it?!"

"Asuka-chan, you are woefully ill-equipped to consider other options for
yourself," Osooko warns.

"Yeah!" Asuka nods, tears welling her eyes. "I am! And that isn't an
accident, either! It's deliberate!! They want me to be ignorant so I can't
protest when the day comes! I've heard what Kinko-chan and the others've
said! They've always asked 'Where is the jerk?!' 'Isn't he supposed to be
engaged to marry Asuka, not chase after Lum?!' 'Why isn't he here?! She
misses him!' 'Why does she have to marry an insensitive clod like that...?!'"

"I understand now," Osooko cuts in, her hand raised.

Asuka shakes her head, a sob escaping from her lips as she staggers over
to fall into her guest's warm embrace. "And I hate it...!" she moans, sobs
overcoming her. "I hate it...I hate it...!"

Osooko gently rocks, allowing Asuka the chance to vent her anger and
sorrow at the horrible state of her life. The Nendo-kata finds herself awed
by the raw intelligence her host possesses. Asuka was hideously ill-educated
when it came to matters of forming some sort of successful Unity with her
mate, especially if he is one who was only interested in shattering the Unity
between Nokoko's brother and Mal's sister. Osooko found herself overwhelmed,
at a loss as to what to do...not to mention overwhelmed by her desperate need
to mate with someone. Asuka was everything Osooko could ever ask for in a
mate. Capable of incredible acts of Unity if given the chance. This
situation required Tatsuko. Reaching out, Osooko smiles. Tatsuko had just
begun her Crossing Over. Perfect. "Asuka?"

"Wh-what is it?" Asuka sniffs, staring at her guest.

"I...I have a friend who might be able to help you come to grips with
what has happened to you," Osooko sighs. "She is well versed in the ways of
Unity...that which all Nendo-kata adhere to and defend. In our eyes, you are
in desperate need of Unity...in your terms, friendship and love. And we all
are sworn to aid all who are in need of Unity regardless of what stands in our
way. I want to help you...not just because I desire you as my mate, the
co-parent of my future child...but because I really believe you need a
friend...one who will not lead you down false currents."

Asuka blinks. "Y-you mean that?" she gasps.

"I mean it," Osooko nods, smiling. "And...if this contact does convince
you to return to your pursuit of Shutaro...then I am more than willing to
accept whatever decision you make. Regardless of which...I still want to be
your friend."

The Terran beams. "Thank you..."

* * *

"What hit this place?!" Seven Bake Rose gasps.

She had arrived on Earth several hours before, on Elle's orders to
ascertain what has happened to her Honey and, if possible, retrieve and return
him to the Rose Queen. Now dressed in slacks, shirt, overcoat and a fedora
hat, the mercenary makes her way through the shattered streets of Tomobiki.
"Boy, these lunatics really DO write the book on urban renewal!" she whistles,
taking in all the devastation around her.

Minutes later, she arrives at Tomobiki High School, now almost totally
rebuilt. Nicole's crystal palace hovers over the school's back lawn. Seeing
this, Rose leaps behind a bush, eyes widening in recognition. "Fates, what's
that thing doing here?!" she exclaims, then a calculating hum escapes her
lips. "Oh, that's right! She did say she wanted to come back to get her
hands on her brother! If I time this right, I can nab both of them!"

Chuckling, the mercenary sneaks away to make a call home...

* * *

"Who's that?!" Muzainba inquires as the image of Seven Bake Rose appears
on a monitor.

The ex-Marine is relaxing in the crystal palace's main control room.
Dressed in a bikini similar to Nicole's, her body has been studded with the
same crystaline cyberlinking points Nicole and her brother possess. Jason
sits beside her, likewise linked. "Rose de Hausenbach...also known as Seven
Bake Rose," he confirms her identity. "A mercenary currently under Queen
Elle's employ."

"What would Queen Elle want?" Muzainba inquires. "I mean, I know she's
one of Nassur's enemies and that she recently had a group of Mikado hunters
killed by her Freemasons, but what would bring her here?"

"She's very interested in Miss Nokoko's brother," Jason disconnects
himself from the palace. "Miss Nokoko found this out one day when she visited
Elle's planet. She nearly killed Elle, not to mention let out all her
so-called 'Cute Boys.' When we were last there, Nicole got blood samples from
Elle so that Donna could Cross Over."

"So Rose would know about Nicole-san and Nokoko-sempai," the Vosian
quickly concludes. "Uh-oh! That's trouble."

"What's trouble?" a voice inquires.

Nicole and Mujanba, who herself has undergone the cyberlink conversion,
walk in. "Seven Bake Rose's here," Jason reports.

Nicole sighs. "Oh, wonderful! Just what the doctor ordered! Any signs
of the Freemasons she's working with?"

"Scanning for Yehisrite lifesigns," Muzainba links herself into the
palace, cybersurfing to the sensory nodules and setting them to work. After a
moment, she shakes her head. "Nope. Nothing here. The only alien lifesigns
which should not be here are Rose's."

"I'll tell Nokoko then," Nicole groans. "Boy, that witch Elle just
doesn't give up, does she?!"

"It's her most annoying trait," Mujanba confirms...

* * *

"'Morning!" Asuka's cheery voice calls out.

Osooko yawns as her eyes open, seeing her hostess entering the bedroom,
carrying a tray with their breakfast. Stretching herself, the
Nendo-kata-turned-Tritonian slips on a housecoat as the two relax and eat.
"Did you sleep well last night?" she inquires.

Asuka nods. "It was the first real good night's sleep I've had since
coming out of the convent."

Last night, nothing untoward really happened between them although Asuka
had invited Osooko to remain with her. They had spent the night talking about
their lives, the philosophy which drove the Nendo-kata, how Asuka really looks
upon the people she has interacted with since her entry into society...all
punctuated with loving hugs, tender kisses and moments when they just stared
into each other's eyes, drinking in the friendship and the first spark of love
they felt for the other.

Sleeping together seemed only natural, although Osooko was grossly
tempted to commit an indiscretion with her future life-mate. However, that
would have to wait until Asuka could fully bring herself to accept Osooko.
Proper Unity, Tatsuko had telepathically advised her, took time to develop.
Asuka would have to reorganize her whole life to accomodate her relationship
with Osooko...and that was not to mention what Asuka would have to do to keep
peace with her parents, and resolve her feelings for Mendou.

At that moment, the door opens and Asuka's mother walks in. "Good
morning, Asuka-chan," she cheerily calls out, then notices her guest. "Oh!
Good morning, Osooko-san!"

"Good morning, Mother," both teenagers automatically call out.

Saeko blushes at Osooko's words. "Osooko-san, you don't have to call me
'Mother!' Shouldn't you be calling Oyuki-sama's mother that?"

"I will when I finally meet her," Osooko smiles.

"Mother, what did you expect from her?" Asuka inquires. "After all,
Osooko-chan IS my lover!"

"Lover?!" her mother innocently blinks. "Oh, that's nice! Well,
Tobimaro-chan is off on his wilderness trek! I wonder how he's ever going to
allow himself to settle down with Ryooko-san?" she muses, then shrugs. "Oh,
well! Guess we'll have to see. Have a good day, you two!"

With that, she departs. "Mother sure accepted that easily enough,
didn't she?" Asuka stares at Osooko.

"I wonder..." the Nendo-kata muses.

Outside, Saeko heads back to the main mansion house, a delighted smile
on her face. "Oh, it's so nice to see Asuka-chan so happy," she muses. "She
and her lover look so nice together...eh?!"

It hits her, literally; a fifty tonne weight marked with the word LOVER
smashes on her head! "***LOVER?!?!?!***" she bellows loud enough to shake the
whole of Tokyo to its foundations.

Inside their room, Osooko and Asuka wince. "I believe she has fully
realized what you said," the former sighs...

* * *

"Hey, guys, did you hear the latest news?!" Momoe rushes up to Kumiko
and Natsuko later that afternoon by the front gate of Tomobiki High School.

"What, what?!" the others inquire.

"Get this!" Momoe gasps. "Rumour now has it that Mendou-san has decided
he won't marry Asuka Mizunokoji!"

"No way!!" the others exclaim.

"Hey, did you hear about Mendou-san?!" another girl runs up.

"We heard, we heard!!!"

"Let's go tell the others!" Natsuko proposes.

"Right!!!" the girls chant as they split up...

* * *

Within the hour, the rebuilding Mendou mansion is under seige...by
almost every girl of high school age in Tomobiki! Dressed in either school
uniforms or very formal civilian clothes, they mob Mendou, who is quite
surprised that the news of his decision to halt his engagement to Asuka got
out so quickly. Ryooko, no doubt. "Ladies, ladies!" he gasps, trying to calm
them down. "Please, one at a time! One at a time!"

"Oh, Mendou-san, we knew you'd finally reject that man-phobe!" Ogin coos
as she gently embraces him from one side.

"Now you can have your pick of any of us!" Yumi rubs her cheek against
his.

Mendou's father walks up, surprised by the sudden deluge of young
maidens. "Shutaro, since when did you have all these ladies take interest in
you?" he wryly muses, staring at his son, a touch of pride and admiration in
his eyes. He had never had this type of luck when he was a teenager.

"Well, they've been interested in me for some time now..." Mendou
embarrassingly chuckles.

"Ah, I understand," his father nods. "Well, with what could happen to
Asuka-san, I suppose it's for the best. I guess it'll have to be Ryooko-chan
and Tobimaro-san who marry..."

"Certainly not!!" an incensed voice snaps.

Everyone spins around to see a VERY displeased Ryooko standing there,
the air around her afire with her anger. "Ryo-ryooko...wh-what is it...?!"
her father stammers, taking an involuntary step back, surprised at her
display.

Mendou's sister freezes them with an icy glare. "If you even THINK that
I'm going to marry someone like Tobimaro Mizunokoji just so that you can end
that silly feud we've had with that family...I WILL bear you a grudge!!" she
intones, her voice now utterly demonic.

Everyone shudders as Ryooko storms back to her room, having NEVER seen
her lose her temper like that since she first came into their lives. "M-my,
sh-she's upset..." her father hesitantly muses.

As she returns to her apartment, Ryooko stares in the direction of the
rebuilt Toranoseishin Finances tower. *Reigi-kun, I will marry you...* she
vows, placing her hand over her heart, *...even if I have to conquer Heaven
and Hell itself to do so!*

In his office, Reigi sneezes!

* * *

"Sister, there you are!" Mal beams as she flies up to Lum. "It's
happened!"

"Eh?!" Lum spins around, then realizing what Mal just said, leaps up to
embrace her. "Oh, they've Crossed Over! Wonderful!! Now everyone's back
together again! Are you going up to see Darling?!"

"Not just yet," the Nendo-kata-turned-Oni shakes her head.
"Nintaiko-chan, Ookako-chan, Hei-chan and Tatsuko-chan want to meet their
sisters and families. But there's even more."

"More?!" the Oni blinks.

"Yes!" Mal giggles. "Osooko's finally found her mate!"

"She did?!" Lum looks surprised. "Wonderful! Who's the lucky girl?!"

"Asuka Mizunokoji!"

Lum blinks. "Asuka Mizunokoji?! Are you sure about that, Mal-chan?!
Asuka's supposed to marry Shutaro!"

Mal makes a face. "A sweet, beautiful sentient of Unity like Asuka-chan
mate with THAT sub-creature?!" she snorts. "Ridiculous! Besides," admiration
appears in her voice as she points, "...don't they look so beautiful?!"

Lum looks...to see Asuka and Osooko walk down the street. Both are now
dressed in stylish civilians...and holding hands. "Oh, it's so nice to be
able to walk in public knowing that I'm safe!" the former sighs.

"You'll always be safe in my arms, Asuka-chan," Osooko coos.

Cherry then appears in front of them, waving his beads and incense!
"Dark sea-spirit!!!" he barks, causing Asuka to leap defensively behind
Osooko. "Leave this innocent child!!! Return to the cauldron of fire from
which you arose!!!"

"A man!!!" Asuka wails.

A second later, Osooko telekinetically shoots Cherry into orbit!
"Purveyor of disUnity, begone!!!"

"It's fate...!" the monk wails as he breaks escape velocity.

Then from out of nowhere, Asuka's mother leaps up to grab her daughter's
free arm. "You lesbian hentai!!!" she snarls. "Stop seducing my poor
child!!! She's marrying Shutaro Mendou!!"

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!!!!" Asuka screams loud enough to knock her mother
over. "If I'm going to love anyone, it's Osooko-chan!!"

"You want to love her?!!" Saeko wails, then drops to her knees, jets of
tears showering everything around them. "Oh, Asuka-chan, you so disappoint
me!! I gave you the best education, groomed you to be the perfect housewife
so peace at last could come to our family...and you...you turn around and fall
in love with another woman?!! An alien atop of that?!! Oh, you have shamed
me...eh?!"

Asuka and Osooko have disappeared. "Where did they go?!" the former's
mother demands, looking around.

"On a date, I think," Lum muses, then stares at her sister. "You're
right, Mal-chan! They actually ARE a beautiful couple!"

"*Tcha!*" Mal imitates her sister's accent.

Saeko moans, then passes out...

* * *

"What a beautiful day!" Tsubame Ozuno muses as he walks out of his
rebuilt home. "I might as well go visit Sakura-chan and see how she's doing."

A beautiful bouquet of roses in hand, the occultist proceeds toward
Sakura's shrine. Noticing this from nearby, a group of male Tomobiki High
seniors look angry. "There's the jerk who thinks he's going to marry
Sakura-sensei!" one hisses. "Where's he going?!"

"Don't you see the roses?!" another snarls. "He's going to try to
seduce our poor nurse!"

"This can't be allowed!" a third snaps. "C'mon!!"

The group heads off in pursuit of Tsubame. After a while, they close in
on the occultist as he approaches Sakura's shrine. "We've got to do it now,"
their leader hisses. "Ready?!"

The others grimly nod. "Now!!" he barks.

Tsubame gasps as he spins around, seeing a half-dozen high school
seniors charge at him. "BASTARD, HOW DARE YOU MOLEST **OUR**
SAKURA-SENSEI?!?!?!" they angrily charge him...

...then find themselves flying AWAY from Tsubame! "Purveyors of
disUnity!!!" a familiar voice barks. "Leave my sister's mate be or else
prepare to embrace the Black Ocean!!"

The group smashes into the ground several metres away, stunned by this
development. "What...hit us?" their leader demands.

"I did!" that familiar voice snaps.

Everyone spins around to see Ookako standing protectively in front of
Tsubame. Now dressed in a stylish blouse with tie and slacks, she looks very
attractive. "Sakura-sensei, why are you doing this?!" the leader demands as
the boys get back to their feet. "Don't you see how much we love you?!"

"All I presently see are a group of sub-creatures about to be
exterminated for their crimes against the Unity," Ookako snarls as her brown
eyes glow burgundy, her hand rising to aim at them. "Now, BEGONE!!!!"

A force-bolt of cosmic energy lashes out to incinerate the boys where
they stand!! They drop in unconscious heaps on the ground as Ookako turns to
face Tsubame, her eyes reverting to normal. "There you are, Tsubame-kun," the
Nendo-kata-turned-Terran beams. "These Purveyors of disUnity will not disturb
your desire to forge a Unity with my sister."

Tsubame blinks, a mix of awe and fear in his eyes. Of course, he had
tapped into the district grapevine...in other words, Ten-chan...so he knew who
and what Ookako was. "Um...th-thanks," he stammers, trying to get some sense
of control over himself.

"Tsubame-kun, what's going on...eh?!" Sakura blinks as she walks up.
"Oh, Ookako! What's going on?!"

"Oh, don't mind us, sister," Ookako beams, waving back to the
unconscious pile of young men. "Those sub-creatures were trying to hurt poor
Tsubame-kun when he came to see you. I just stopped them."

Sakura looks. "And how," she whistles.

With that, the three proceed into the shrine. Cherry then walks up,
having seen everything. He is suitably impressed. "Maybe those sea-spirits
aren't so bad after all," he muses...

* * *

Meanwhile, Shinobu is window-shopping downtown. "Oh, it's so nice to
have all the shops open again," she sighs.

Suddenly, the thunder of running feet is heard as a familiar voice
bellows, "SHINOBU-SAN, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!"

"Oh, not HIM again!!" the girl panics, then spins around, her fist
cocked to strike. "LEAVE ME ALONE...eh?!" she stops.

Looking around, she does not see her target. "Where is he?!"

Suddenly, her own voice echoes from nearby. "Sub-creature!!! Purveyor
of disUnity!! Unhand me at once!!! I'm not Shinobu!!"

Shinobu spins back around to literally see herself being beseiged by
Soban, who has his "target" caught in a tight bearhug. "Oh, Shinobu-san, I've
heard such awful rumours about you!" the large-lipped delinquent moans. "Is
it true?!"

"I would answer you if I was my sister, but I'm not!" Nintaiko grunts as
she tries to wiggle her way out of Soban's grip. "Now, unhand me!! I already
have a life-mate!"

"Never!!" Soban snaps. "I heard you were chasing after some alien
bounty-hunter!! Do you know how dangerous that is?! I'll save you from your
mad lust!!"

Nintaiko stops, then bursts out laughing. The delinquent stops applying
pressure to her leg, staring quizzically at her. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry," the Nendo-kata-turned-Terran covers her lips. "It's just
that I've never sensed such true feelings of Unity since I came to this pit of
disUnity." She then points across the street. "And Shinobu is over there."

"Eh?!" Soban turns to look, then freaks on seeing TWO Shinobu Miyakis.
"Then...if she's Shinobu-san...who are you?!!" he looks back at Nintaiko.

"I'm Nintaiko Miyaki, Shinobu's sister," Nintaiko points at herself.

Soban blinks. "Oh! I didn't know Shinobu-san had a sister! I'm sorry!
Would you excuse me?!" With that, he spins around and runs after Shinobu.
"SHINOBU-SAN, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!"

"Eeek!!!" Shinobu freaks as she drop-kicks him into orbit! "Get away
from me, you freak! I don't want you!! I want Nassur-kun!"

"I love you...!!" Soban screams as he sails away.

Sighing, Nintaiko stares up, her eyes glowing. Soban then stops,
falling back to land atop Shinobu, knocking Ataru's former girlfriend to the
ground. "Ooof!!!" escapes from their lips as they try to recover.

"Th-that wasn't s-supposed to h-happen!" Shinobu gasps.

Nintaiko walks up. "Oh, sister, honestly!!" she crosses her arms,
emitting an exhaspirated sigh. "Why is it you are rejecting the honest
feelings of this sentient?!"

"Because I want Nassur-kun!" Shinobu repeats herself.

"You cannot have him," Nintaiko warns. "Nassur-kun desires Benten-
chan."

Shinobu blinks as that statement sinks in. "***WHAT?!?!?!***" she
bellows, bolting to her feet. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE WANTS SOMEONE ELSE?!?!?!
**MY** NASSUR-KUN WITH **THAT** CHAIN-BITCH?!?!?! I'LL NEVER ALLOW THAT TO
HAPPEN AS LONG AS I LIVE!!!!"

"Then you will die alone and un-bonded," Nintaiko warns.

Shinobu faints! Nintaiko walks over to brush Soban off, then presents
him to her. "Now, this sentient, despite his physical deformities," she fixes
his uniform, then sighs, "...although why you air-breathers put such credence
on physical beauty, I will never truly understand..." she then moves Shinobu
to stand in front of Soban, "...does care for you a lot. So why don't you go
on a date?!"

"What?!!" Shinobu barks, glaring at her sister. "Hey, I only agreed to
allow you to template yourself off me!! I didn't say you could be my marriage
counsellor!!!"

Nintaiko's eyes roll, then shifts Shinobu's head to stare once more on
Soban, her eyes glowing. "Look again!"

The image in front of Shinobu changes. Insead of the puggish,
large-lipped creature she has been beating up for the last year, there stands
a mildly handsome, dwarfish young bespeckled man with plain features.
"S-soban...?!" Shinobu gasps, surprised at the changes.

"That is what he is like past the surface features," Nintaiko smiles.
"Now, is that more preferable?"

"I...I..." Shinobu stammers, unsure of how she should respond.

The Nendo-kata walks around, placing her sister's hand in Soban's.
"There you go!" Nintaiko smiles. "Now, run along, you two!" she waves them
off in dismissal. "Have a good time!"

Shinobu and Soban stare at each other. "Want to go get some ice cream?"
the latter inquires.

"S-sure!" the former nods.

They run off to Shapiro's. Nintaiko sighs. "Well, that little crisis
is resolved! Oh, it's so wonderful when the Unity is further enhanced." A
curious look then crosses her face. "Even if it needs a swift blow in the
brain-sac every once in a while!"

"Nintaiko-chan!!" Donna's voice echoes.

"Donna-chan!" Nintaiko joyfully squeals as she leaps into her life-
mate's arms. "There you are!!"

The two Nendo-kata run off, hand-in-hand...

* * *

"Hey, guys," Paama sighs as he walks up.

The other guards stare quizzically at their friend. They are now
passing Lan's scout on their way home. "What is it, Shitto-kun?" Kakugari
inquires.

Paama waves a notice he just tore off a telephone pole. "Look," he
hands it to Megane.

The others stare at the sheet. It reads:

"To Whomever This May Concern,"

"Be advised that a court injunction passed by the Prefectural
Supreme Court of Miyagi-ken is now in effect. All citizens native
to Tomobiki-cho, Tokyo-to (except those detailed by special
exemption), as well as all aliens possessing resident alien's
visas, as well as friends of those indicated above (as detailed by
the court), are forbidden to enter a zone; its boundary denoted by
a twenty kilometre radius of the town of Oshika, on the
Ojika-hantou east-north-east of Sendai City.

"All citizens of Tomobiki-cho caught in this area will be
immediately arrested and charged with the following:

1) Contempt of court;
2) Failure to observe this court injunction;
3) Planned assault and battery on the person of Ataru
Moroboshi, now resident of Oshika;
4) Planned kidnapping of Ataru Moroboshi, now resident of
Oshika;
5) Disturbing the peace;
6) Any other charges which may be applicable.

"Signed...the Chief Justice, Miyagi Prefecture Supreme Court."

The guards utter a communal sigh. "So that's where he lives!" Chibi shakes
his head. "Shit, how could we have let this happen?!"

"Relax, Urayamu-kun," Megane suddenly smiles. "All's not lost! Don't
you realize that Lum-san is a resident of Tomobiki?"

The other guards blink. "Hey, that's right!!" Kakugari gasps, then
smiles. "Then...Lum-chan is forbidden to go to Oshika!"

"Right!!" Megane cackles. "I knew this was going to happen! The
instant he was out of town, that bastard would seal himself from Lum-san's
divine, righteous wrath!! Once she comes to realize what he has done, she'll
never have anything to do with him again!" He then stares at his companions.
"And guess who has to be around to ensure that her broken heart mends...right,
guys?"

"Right!!" the other guards nod.

"Don't bet on that," a voice warns.

They stare at Lan as she walks out of her front lawn. "What does that
mean?" Chibi inquires.

"Lum-chan doesn't have a resident alien's visa," the Seishin teen
trembles. "I have one," she then snarls, "...and if I try to change it,
Koosei'll make sure I never live on Earth again!"

"So what does Lum-chan have?!" Paama inquires.

"A visiting student's visa!" Lan sneers. "Besides, even if she did have
a resident alien's visa, Darling would've probably exempted her like he did
that bitch Seikou and her family, not to mention Koosei!!"

The guards look shocked. "WHAT?!?!?!" Megane explodes, then turns
north. "Curse you, Ataru...!!!"

The four boys are silenced as a orange tiger-bull form crashes on them!
Rei lets out a dizzy moo as he shakes his head. "There you go, Lan-chan!" a
familiar voice declares.

Lan spins around to see Hei walk up, now dressed in a T-shirt and blue
jeans. Further, Hei truly looks like a Seishin-Urusian, with tapered ears and
fanged canines. "You're me!!!" she gasps, falling on her backside in shock.

"What did you expect?" the Nendo-kata-turned-Seishin shrugs. "I caught
Rei-kun just as he was about to go to Oshika to pester Ataru-kun. You should
know that Rei-kun is barred from entering that school. So I brought him back
to you."

"You did?!" Lan looks surprised.

"Well, you don't want Ataru-kun to send poor Rei-kun to the depths of
the Mother Ocean, do you?!" Hei warns. "When he transforms into his armoured
self, he could do that with considerable ease."

Lan looks scared. "Ah...right!"

The three aliens then proceed into Lan's scout, leaving the guards
flattened on the ground nearby. "Did...someone catch...the number of...that
meteor that...hit us...?" Megane groans...

* * *

"Oh, it's so nice to have you here again," Nagisa beams as he walks out,
a large bowl full of ramen in hand. "I could use the help getting the shop
ready for winter."

"We're always ready to come out here," Mr. Fujinami smiles as he works
on the stove. "After all, you're part of the family now, Nagisa-chan! Isn't
that right, Ryuunosuke?!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" the tomboy sighs as she repairs a cracked crossbeam,
obviously wondering why her family purchased this island in the first place.

Insensed, Fujinami swamps her with a tidal wave! "RYUUNOSUKE
FUJINAMI!!!! HOW DARE YOU NOT SHOW THE PROPER ENTHUSIASM WHEN WORKING IN
HAMAJAYA?!?! WHAT TYPE OF **MAN** ARE YOU ANYWAY?!?!?!"

Ryuunosuke is blasted out of the teashop to fall flat on her face on the
beach! "Father, that was harsh, wasn't it?" Nagisa sighs as he heads out to
look in on his girlfriend.

"Shit, why did we come here in the first place?!" Ryuunosuke moans as
she sits up, rubbing her skull...then stops, staring at the Sagami Sea
surrounding their island. "Holy...!!"

"Oh, my!" Nagisa gasps disbelievingly.

Fujinami runs out to see what is going on. Now in the shallow depths of
the sea, a nude figure seems to be enveloped in dancing waves and waterspouts.
The short-cut hair, the taunt and well-exercised figure, this time not
sheathed in man's clothing, is all too recognizable to her observers.
"Ryuunosuke-sama, th-that's you...!" Nagisa gasps.

"What is that...?!!" the tomboy's father demands.

"Tatsuko...?!" Ryuunosuke blinks.

After a few minutes, Tatsuko allows the waves to subside, her glowing
eyes returning to their normal blue. She then walks ashore, where a towel, a
tank-top shirt and a billowing skirt await. "Oh, to finally bathe in Earth's
own Mother Ocean," the Nendo-kata sage sighs.

"Um...hi, Tatsuko!" Ryuunosuke waves.

Tatsuko smiles, waving back as she towels herself off, then dresses.
Seeing this, Fujinami freaks, angrily turning on his "son." "WHAT IS THE
MEANING OF THIS?!?!?!" he bellows in Ryuunosuke's ear. "*RYUUNOSUKE
FUJINAMI!!!! I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A DOUBLE OF YOU?!?!
IF THAT'S SO, WHY ISN'T TATSUKO A **BOY?!?!?!***"

He then flies into orbit! "BECAUSE I'M A **GIRL!!!!!!**" Ryuunosuke
bellows.

"I'm in orbit...!!!" he screams as he breaks escape veolcity.

Nagisa and Ryuunosuke sigh. Tatsuko has a wondering look on her face.
"What type of family did I template myself to be a part of?" she inquires...

* * *

"SHE is there?!!" Elle snarls.

Seven Bake Rose nods as she stands at attention aboard her frigate, now
in cloaked orbit over Earth. "I saw McTavish's crystal palace parked over
Tomobiki with my own eyes, boss," the mercenary reports. "I didn't see Mr.
Groom's sister, but you can lay bets wherever the Crystal Lady is, she's not
far behind!"

The Rose Queen shudders with barely controlled fury. "So! She dares
move against me! She's probably in concert with the Devil's Daughter and
Honey's grandmother to take him away from me!!"

"So what's the plan now, boss?"

Elle considers the matter. "Where is Honey right now?"

"In some place called Oshika," Rose reports. "It's north of Tokyo.
But, from what I've been able to gather, it's very close to the main base of
Mr. Groom's uncle. And he's just as bad as Mr. Groom's grandmother. I don't
think attacking there'll be a smart idea, especially now that his sister and
the Crystal Lady are nearby. They intend to see him today!"

"Then we'll have to wait until Honey is in Tomobiki before we
appropriate him," Elle concludes. "That damnable sister of his is a million
times worse than Nassur and Shogai combined! We'll have to be very cautious!"

"A safe plan," Rose nods. "Besides, if he's really getting the hots for
the Devil's Daughter now, then he'll probably come down to see her, make sure
that she's okay...probably even try to persuade her to move up north with
him," she shrugs. "I've heard that the reason he wanted to move out of
Tomobiki was so that he could get Lum away from there."

"Hmm," the Rose Queen thoughtfully muses. "I wonder how that boor Oogi
would take to that idea. Maybe I should call him and tell him what's
happening. Perhaps we could use that to get Honey away from Lum. After all,
learning about a whole PLANET which worships that witch would probably sicken
Honey and his grandmother enough that he'd finally decide he'll have nothing
to do with her." Shaking herself out of her contemplation, she stares at the
mercenary. "Maintain your watch, Rose. If opportunity comes, seize it."

"Yes, ma'am," Rose bows...

* * *

"Well, there they go," Shinobu sighs.

Everyone sits in Tomobiki town park watching as Nicole's crystal palace
gracefully soars north toward Oshika. "Now, Darling will have a family he's
comfortable with," Lum sighs, looking very pleased. "That's nice."

"You seem happy," Ten-chan stares quizzically at his cousin. "I always
thought you wanted him to stay here with his parents."

"I do...I still do," the older Oni nods. "But after hearing about what
Mr. and Mrs. Moroboshi did to Nokoko-chan, I'm beginning to wonder what sort
of parents Darling has."

"In other words, he was smart in getting out of there as fast as he
could," Ryuunosuke comments.

"Maybe...oh, I don't know," Lum shakes her head.

"Speaking of which," Mie walks up. "What the hell are you still doing
here, Lum-chan?! Aren't you going up to see Ataru-chan?!"

"Eh?!" Lum stares at the Kyushu native.

"You idiot, you're not exempted from the court injunction, remember?!"
Mie sighs in exhaspiration, reaching down to yank Lum to her feet. "Besides,
the sooner you see him again, the sooner your relationship gets back on track!
Let's go!!"

"Hey!!" Lum gasps. "Let me have my arm back!"

Before the two women could get far, Mendou and the guards stand in their
way. "Oh, no, you don't, Seikou!!" Megane snarls. "You're not taking Lum-san
into that den where we can't protect her from Ataru's idiocy!!! She stays
here!!"

"Right!!!" the other boys snap.

"Oh, Ten-chan," Mie sweetly calls out.

The five then get roasted by the young Oni's flame-breath!! "Thanks,
Ten-chan!" Mie smiles as she takes Lum back to the Moroboshi home.

"It's okay," Ten-chan sighs, pulling out a lollipop from his jumper and
taking a lick. "Boy, Mie-onee-chan can sure get real nice candy!" he smiles.

The others moan. "If Mie keeps this up, Lum'll be out of here in a
month, tops!" Ryuunosuke sighs.

"I think that's her general plan," Shinobu hums. "But for the life of
me, I can't understand why she wants to keep Ataru-kun and Lum together! I
always thought she wanted Ataru-kun to herself!!"

"Weird," Momoe hums...

* * *

Oshika.

Located at the tip of the Ojika-hantou, a strip of land stabbing south-
east into the Pacific Ocean which forms the north-east border of Sendai-wan,
the small town is perhaps one of the most peaceful places in Japan. Strange
that Ataru would choose this place above all the other possibilities, Komeru
Moroboshi muses as he walks to a gate leading to a strip of beachfront
property three kilometres long by five hundred metres deep. Stepping through,
he makes his way through a grove of pine trees onto the beach, now the scene
of very heavy construction.

The chief executive officer of Toranoseishin Finances finds a large rock
to seat himself as he watches the construction crews put the finishing touches
to the split-level bungalow now being built for his nephew. The house design
was excellent, a lot more roomier and less imposing than that hovel Muchi and
Kinshou lived in down south. Up the beach, four smaller bungalows were being
built to accomodate Nokoko's friends from the Outland. The bay in front of
them, enclosed by a hook of sand connecting the shore with a small island a
kilometre away, would be the place where Nicole McTavish would relocate her
crystal palace.

Komeru feels a chill run down his spine as he wonders what happened to
his niece over the twelve years of her exile in the Outland. Reigi had given
him sketchy details when he dropped that bombshell on him yesterday. Nokoko
looked well, was determined to be with Ataru as soon as she could and would
brook no interference from anyone. Not that Komeru would want to interfere.
If Nokoko wanted to be the family Ataru desperately needed after rejecting his
parents, that suited Komeru perfectly. It would be the ultimate kick in the
teeth to Kinshou.

And now with the court injunctions in place, no one save a very select
group could come north to see Ataru. It had been quite a piece of legal
engineering, but Komeru had made the situation plain: since Ataru no longer
wanted to deal with the people who had made his life hell for the last two
years, forbidding those same people to come north was the only way to keep the
insanity out of Oshika. Besides, the numerous companies which formed Komeru's
personal conglomerate had their headquarters and financial bases in nearby
Sendai. Politics and business always going hand-in-hand, whatever Komeru
normally wanted, he got...although, unlike the Mendous, he never pushed it.

Now, all he hoped was that Lum would not push it. While he was more
than happy at the arrangement between his nephew and the Oni, Komeru knew that
Lum was on very thin ice when it came to Nagaiwakai. One more major mishap,
his mother warned, and the Oni was either going to be ashes in her family
grave or else sent back to Uru with no hope of seeing her Darling again.
Komeru sighs. Nagaiwakai cared a lot for her grandson, but remained ill-
informed when it came to the exact goings-on concerning Lum and Ataru. Then
again, all her anger could just be attributed to personal pain and jealousy;
Lum's presence in Tomobiki, until recently, kept Ataru away from Nagaiwakai.

His thoughts are punctuated by the whistling noise of a large ship
making its way through the heavens. Looking south, he watches as the giant
crystal palace drifts over the ocean, then on arriving over the dredged-out
bay, settles itself into the water. The palace begins to metamorph, adjusting
its mass to better fit its new purpose as a ground-bound home instead of a
flying palace. One of the branches transforms into an arch bridge which
terminates some distance from Ataru's new house. Komeru stands as he walks
over to stare at the people emerging. One is instantly recognizable.
"Uncle!!!" Nokoko cries out as she runs to him.

"Hiya, Cupcake!!" Komeru laughs as they embrace.

Nokoko makes a face. "Don't call me 'Cupcake!!'" she bats his nose,
then places a kiss on his cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Komeru shrugs. "I'm more concerned about the girl who
disappeared on me twelve years ago!" he wryly muses, then stares concernedly
at her. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," his niece replies, projecting a celestial smile.

By that time, the Nendo-kata (save Osooko, who remained in Tomobiki with
Asuka) have emerged. Mal flies up to her lover. Komeru is stunned to see a
living, breathing double of Lum now dressed in a fetching long skirt. "Wow!!"
he whistles. "I'd swear you were Lum if I didn't know any better!"

"But, sir, Lum-chan is my sister," Mal smiles, blushing.

As they come up, Nokoko does the introductions. Greetings are
exchanged, then Nokoko turns back to her uncle. "Where's Ataru-chan?"

"Out there on the rock," Komeru points to the small island on the
leeward side of Nicole's palace. "He's been meditating there all day ever
since he came up here. I think he's still in shock over what happened in
Tomobiki before you arrived."

"That's sad," Nokoko muses, then turns to her schoolmates and friends.
"Why don't you girls relax? I'll look in on my brother."

"Sure, Nokoko-chan," Mujanba nods as Nokoko heads off.

By that time, another ship is heard. Komeru looks south to see Lum's
scout land some distance from Ataru's new home. The hatch opens, allowing Lum
and Mie to emerge. "*Tcha!* There's everyone!" the Oni points. "Hi!!"

"Sister!" Mal flies over to grasp Lum's hand, then smiles at Mie.
"Mie-chan, you're here, too!"

"Well, someone had to kick-start this lunkhead up here!" Mie playfully
elbows her classmate.

"Mie...!" Lum blushes, then blinks. "Oh, Darling, there you are!!
Darling!"

She flies over, embracing Komeru...just as a black-clad form crashes
into the financier's head, causing him to fall flat on his face! Lum is
shocked to see a very aged man in a ninja's gi pressing Komeru's face into the
sand. "You disrespectful alien!! How dare you be so personal with the
Master?! Bow to the Master! Bow! Bow!!"

"Idiot, I AM the Master!!" Komeru bashes the aged ninja into orbit!

"Sorry, sir...!" he wails as he breaks escape veolicty.

Everyone is understandably confused. "What was that all about?!" Nicole
points up.

"He's Megami," Komeru sighs, standing. "He's the oldest worker in the
corporation. I've never had the heart to retire him although he's now so
senile, he doesn't know the difference between me and the other workers!"

"Oh!" Lum then looks embarrassed, noticing the financier's weathered
features, greying hair, moustache and goatee. "I'm sorry, Oji-chan! I
thought you were Darling!! Where is he?!"

"He's out on the rock," Komeru nods to where Nokoko has gone.

Lum stares, then looks around, remembering something else. "Oh, where's
Reiko-chan and Belle-chan?! And is Yukio still around?!"

"They're at school right now," Komeru points north. "Good thing Mother
suggested the Ishinomaki Academy. It's one of the better private schools in
the country. I would've recommended Ataru send his kids there but Mother beat
me to the mark. And Yukio's in Sendai shopping right now."

Lum nods, then heads out to the small island. There, Ataru sits in a
lotus position, facing the endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean as waves crash
below his feet. Some of the spray soaks him, but he pays it no mind. Lum and
Nokoko stop some metres away, stare at each other, then approach. "Darling?"
the Oni hesitantly probes.

Ataru's breathing noticeably picks up as his eyes flutter open.
"Oh...hi, Lum," he neutrally responds.

Lum stares at Ataru's sister, then walks over to gently touch his
shoulder. "Darling...there's someone here to see you."

"Who?" he looks at her...then notices who else is there.

"Hi, little brother," Nokoko smiles as he stares dumbfoundedly at her.
"I told you I'd come back."

Ataru blinks, gracefully standing to stare more closely at this female
version of himself, his mind searching through his few and tattered memories
from over a decade ago. Finally, a name comes to him. "No-...ko-...ko...?!"

"Yeah, it's me!" Nokoko blushes. "I'm back."

Suddenly, the memories of their parting flood back into his mind, as if
the *saikoo jinseijitsu*, now powerless and exhausted from the efforts of the
Spirit War, just let it out so that it would cause its host pain. Shaking his
head, Ataru nearly staggers. Lum's hand gently supports him as tears begin to
flow from his eyes, a raging mix of emotions storming across his face.
"My...sister...!" he stammers, moving toward her. "My sister...! Why...?!"

Her own eyes stinging with her joy and relief, Nokoko leaps over to
fiercely embrace her brother. "Ataru-chan!!"

"Nokoko-chan!!" he sobs, holding her just to prove once and for all that
she has returned. "Nokoko-chan...why didn't you take me with you...?!"

"I wanted to," his sister sniffs. "Oh, Unity, I wanted to so much...!"

Their voices lose their strength as the tears flow. Nearby, Lum also
cries. "Darling's family is whole," she quietly notes. "After so long,
Darling's family is together again..."

* * *

Later, everyone travels to the Moroboshi estate south of Sendai for a
reception held in Nokoko's honour. By that time, Reiko and Belle have
returned from school, as has Yukio from shopping. Nokoko is the centre of
attention as the many other wards and workers who live at the estate come up
to talk with her, or simply stare at the once-missing child. Nokoko smiles as
she greets everyone, Mal beside her. Nearby, Lum, Ataru and Mie watch.
"Well, at least she doesn't have to worry about atomizing people when she's up
here," the Kyushu native muses.

"You're right about that," Lum nods, then stares at Ataru. "Oh,
Darling, why didn't you tell me that you had people like this related to you?!
I would've loved to have met them!"

"I..." Ataru sighs, realizing that he could not skirt around this
subject anymore. "Well, I felt that with the way you were coming at me over
the last two years, keeping a few things secret was the best way to keep a
grip on my life."

Lum jolts, then looks away. "Why?!" she pouts. "I told you everything
about my life!"

"True, but every time you did tell me, it was because you were dragging
me off somewhere I didn't want to go," Ataru snidely glares at her.
"Setsubun, for example?!"

"You have to admit, he has a point, Lum-chan," Mie muses.

The Oni jerks. "Besides," Ataru looks back at his tea, "...I don't
think the *saikoo jinseijitsu* would've liked the idea of its primary power
source being curtailed by the likes of Uncle, much less Grandma."

"That's true," Lum nods.

A butler then enters the reception room, approaching the host.
"Apologies, Master, but your brother and sister-in-law are here," he bows to
Komeru.

"What the hell are they doing here?!" the financier's eyes roll, then
nods. "Okay!! Bring them in!"

Ataru's parents then walk into the room. "So there you are!" Kinshou
storms right up to her brother-in-law. "What makes you think you're going to
get away with this?!"

Everyone is quick to notice the nasty hatred between Kinshou and Komeru.
Muchi remains back, obviously not wanting to get involved in this argument.
"Get away with what?!" Komeru sneers.

"With your stupid court injunction!!" Kinshou growls. "If you think
you're going to block me from seeing my idiot son, you're mistaken!!"

"Who says I'M your son?" Ataru calmly sips tea.

His mother jolts, spinning around to face him. "And don't you start
with that now!! You're coming back home where you belong!"

"If you want me to do that," Ataru evenly glares at her, "...apologize
first!"

"Apologize?!!" she demands. "For what?!!"

"First, to Nokoko-chan for throwing her out of the house like you did!!"
he snarls, the ice in his voice causing Kinshou to shiver. "Second, to Uncle
and everyone here for barring them from me after Lum came to live with us!!
Third, to Grandma for stopping me from moving out of the house when Lum came!!
And fourth, to me for treating me like such garbage over the last ten years!!"

His mother trembles in rage. "If you think you're going to demand that
of me, you're mistaken!!" she growls.

"Fine," Ataru looks away. "Grow old and die alone! I never want to see
you again!!"

Hearing that elicits a pained wail from Kinshou as Ataru walks away.
"Oh, don't worry," Nokoko sweetly smiles as she walks up to her mother. "I'LL
be more than happy to be the family Ataru-chan needs, not to mention my
schoolmates! Right, girls?!"

"Right!!" the Nendo-kata chant as one.

With a vengeful giggle, Nokoko heads off to join Ataru. "Mrs.
Moroboshi, you should apologize," Lum notes.

"Hey, who's side are you on?!!" Kinshou snaps.

The Oni balks. "Well, it is the only prudent thing," she comments,
blushing.

"Boy, she IS a spiteful old bat, isn't she?!" Mie disgustedly shakes her
head.

Kinshou growls. "And if you think you're going to try to drag Lum-chan
up here against her will, think again!!" she points at Mie. "Lum-chan likes
it down in Tomobiki! And I never want to see you at the house again!! You've
caused enough trouble!"

"Who says Mie-chan has caused trouble?!" Lum snaps, butting between the
two. "Did Shutaro or Aisuru say something?!!"

"Well...!" Kinshou balks.

"And how dare you forbid my friend from visiting me?!" the Oni adds.
"Keep that up and I WILL move up here to live with Darling!!"

Kinshou faints! Seeing this, Komeru walks over to Muchi. "Let's talk!"
the older brother pinches the latter's ear, then drags him off.

Muchi does not protest. "Boy, your daddy was really smart leaving this
lot," Belle looks at Reiko.

"That's what I say!" the latter sighs.

"Hello, there, little one," a cheery voice calls out.

Belle turns around to see Donna and Nintaiko standing behind her.
Shocked on seeing one who looks like her queen, Belle's response is
understandable: she freaks out. "Your Majesty!"

"No, I am not Elle," Donna shakes her head. "I'm Elle-chan's sister
Donna. And this," she waves to Nintaiko, "...is my life-mate Nintaiko. We're
two of the Nendo-kata who came with Nokoko-chan."

Hearing that, Belle relaxes. "Oh, I'm sorry, Donna-san. You look so
much like the Queen."

"Well, I did template this new body off her," Donna admits. "Belle-
chan, I could not help but notice that you seem to be...alone."

"Well, she hasn't been adopted by Daddy, if that's what you mean," Reiko
explains.

Donna and Nintaiko look at each other. "What do you think?" the latter
muses.

"We've always thought alike, my love," the former beams, then stares at
Belle. "Belle-chan, how would you like us to become your parents?"

Belle blinks, surprised by this generous offer. "Really?!! Honestly?!!
You'll be my mommy...er, mommies?!" she stammers on remembering that two women
stand before her.

"Of course we will," Nintaiko nods. "Since we'll all be living together
in Oshika, you'll have the chance to play with Reiko-chan whenever you want."

"Well?" Donna probes.

"Okay! Okay!!" Belle beams as she allows Donna to lift her into an
embrace.

Nearby, Lum and Ataru look pleased. "Well, there's one less orphan to
worry about," the latter muses.

The former looks concernedly at her boyfriend. "I hope you don't feel
like you're an orphan, Darling."

"That's what you might believe," Ataru sighs, turning to walk over to
join Nokoko. "But I doubt I'll ever be convinced otherwise."

Lum looks sad as he walks away. "Darling..."

* * *

"What the hell is with you?!!" Komeru snaps, staring at his brother.
"You just allow that idiot to run ripshod over your life, your son's
life...and that doesn't begin to excuse what you allowed her to do to your
daughter!!"

"Does it matter anymore?!" Muchi shrugs. Both are now sitting in the
mansion's atrium, which presently presents a good imitation of a central
African jungle. "You know I've always been soft when it comes to Kinshou!"

"Soft?!" Komeru snorts. "Brother, why did you marry her?!"

"You couldn't, remember?!"

"So?!! Mother could've found you other girls, nicer ones at that!!"

"I didn't want Mother to find me anyone!" Muchi sighs. "I didn't want
Mother to dote all over me like she was willing to!! I wanted to live my own
life!"

"Well, I can understand that now," Komeru crosses his arms. "And now
you're facing the fact that Ataru wants to live his own life. In fact, I'd
say that Ataru's been living his own life since Lum walked into it. You
two've been blithely sailing along, ignoring the hell he's been going
through...and now you're going to pay for it! Big time, if I know Ataru; he's
got two years, maybe more, to get off his chest...and I don't think the Spirit
War fully cleansed him!"

"True," Muchi sighs, staring at the stars. "Actually, to be honest with
you, I'm happy for him."

"Oh?"

"Sure," he nods. "He's out there, starting his own life. He has a
daughter now. And by the looks of it, he's finally overcome his hesitation
when it comes to Lum. Same with Nokoko. She went out, got a life she could
control, and now wants to help Ataru live his own life."

"Then tell them that," Komeru insists. He knew deep down that Muchi did
not always play the role of the haggard, cash-strapped salaryman most would
assume him to be given his propensity for ignoring the mad insanity around him
by reading his paper. "At least let them know you're proud of them."

Muchi considers the point, then shakes his head. "No...not yet," he
sighs. "Let them get their anger out of their systems first. If Kinshou or I
try to force ourselves on them, it'll just make things worse. I understand
that. Kinshou'll have learn to understand it."

"So will Mother when the time comes," his brother nods.

"Yeah," Muchi nods. "It's going to hit the fan when she does face that.
Hopefully, no one'll get hurt over it."

"Yeah, hopefully," Komeru chuckles...

* * *

"A place to run on my own?!" Nokoko blinks as she follows Komeru down
one of Oshika's few main throughfares the next morning.

"That's right," Komeru smiles. "I know you, Cupcake. Even before you
decided to move to the Outland, you always were one who wanted to run your own
life. I'm more than happy to give you whatever stipends you need...but this
might actually make you feel better."

He points. In front of them is a coffee shop now under reconstruction.
The name TIGER CUB CAFE in Roman script and kanji has been posted over the
front door. "A coffee shop?"

"Hey, it's how I started," Komeru shrugs. "It's not too difficult given
your friends' telepathic abilities; they could learn all the tricks in
minutes. Further, given your looks, you've got an edge over other shops."

"That's pretty sexist, isn't it?"

"Hey, if our society was more like the Nendo-kata, we'd be a hell of a
lot better off," her uncle looks apologetic. "Like it or not, you have to
take things as they are. Isn't that what this Unity dictates?"

"Yeah, but always on *our* terms," Nokoko muses.

"And with that, you'll have no problems with any potential hentai-
types," Komeru comments. "All your telekinetic powers, plus the stuff your
friends inherited from their sisters, Nicole and all the tricks that palace of
hers can use...and, if push comes to shove, Ataru and his Cyborg half.
Where's the threat?"

"True," Nokoko muses as she stares into the coffee shop, now halfway
through its renovation. "We'd have to come here to modify it to something
we'd be comfortable with."

"Your choice, Cupcake," Komeru beams, waving her to the Tiger Cub. "As
far as I'm concerned, the sky's the limit on this one!"

Nokoko chuckles. Despite the lies Komeru espoused before he grew tired
of Kinshou's game, he did care deeply for his "daughter," just as much as he
did his many wards. In fact, during the three years Nokoko lived in Sendai,
Komeru always remained at home, playing with her, teaching her, caring for her
as if she was truly his own.

It still angered her...angered Komeru, too...that her mother abandonded
her to Komeru's care, then emotionally abandoned Ataru when Nokoko had left,
when he needed help the most. She still did not understand the full extent of
Ataru's hurt; she had only been with her brother for just a day. Further, she
still did not fully understand what was driving her mother. Was she still in
that much pain over losing *him?* "Uncle, can I ask you something?" she
stares at Komeru.

"What is it, Cupcake?"

Nokoko bites her lip. "Do you ever think about Kaeru-chan?"

Komeru sighs. "Sometimes. I still wonder what happened to his body
after he...well..."

"Does Mom still think of him?"

"All the time, I guess, given the way she treats Ataru," he muses.
"Wishing he was never born, then still thinking of him as her baby. One would
think that after Kaeru-chan died, she would have clung to you and Ataru. It's
crazy the way things work out, isn't it?"

"Does Ataru-chan know?"

"I don't think he remembers Kaeru-chan," Komeru shakes his head. "And
this New Years, Mother and Grandmother have vowed that he'll learn the whole
story. I can only guess what that'll do to his impression of your parents."

Nokoko shrugs. "They only brought it on themselves."

"True..."

* * *

"Okay, that's the last of it!" Ataru cheerily announces as he packs the
rest of his clothes in the dresser bureau. "We're all in!"

"Yay!!" Reiko beams as she hops onto the heart-shaped bed in the room
Ataru and Lum would share, as was proclaimed by a sign on the door. Matching
the three other bedrooms in the upper level of the house, the room was triple
the size of Ataru's old room in Tomobiki. Along with the bed and Korean-style
floor-pipe heating (which Ataru actually preferred over the kotatsu heaters,
partially because of his early encounters with Kotatsuneko), the room had a
large but shallow closet fit for two peoples' wardrobes, a television set in
one corner with two lounge chairs and a dual work area by the door.

Ataru walks out to the kitchen, where Mal is busy preparing tea. "You
got your stuff moved in, Mal-chan?"

"What little we possess," the Nendo-kata-turned-Oni muses as she pours
tea. "Beloved and I will proceed to purchase a wardrobe as soon as we can."

"She still with Uncle looking over the Tiger Cub?"

Mal concentrates for the briefest of seconds. "Yes. They're discussing
something which has made Beloved raise privacy guards."

"Privacy guards?" Ataru looks confused. "What would she wish to keep
from you given how long you've been together."

Mal blushes. "Ataru-kun, even my race values one's right to privacy. I
trust Beloved enough that when she feels fit to tell me, she will tell me."

"Okay. No sense for two relationships to become strained," Ataru nods
as he inspects the rest of his personal domain.

His.

It still was hard to believe even now. The land, the houses, had all
been built with the massed allowance Nagaiwakai had set aside for him every
month (to the value of five hundred million yen per month) for the past ten
years. Added to compound interest with the highest potential yield, it had
become quite a tidy nestegg when Ataru finally tapped into it. He did not
even get those ridiculous century morgages similar to his parents' for their
home. Fortunately, Oshika was enough in the boondocks to ensure that the
property rates, even for three kiometres of beachfront, were not out of
Ataru's reach.

And what a house. With Lum, Nokoko, Mal and Reiko, plus room for their
children when the time came, it was still more than enough. Four very large
bedrooms (one set aside for a nursery), a bathroom, dual kitchens and a dining
room on the upper level; a depressed living room with picture window and
twinned sofas and loveseats with a coffee table on the main level; plus room
for expansion in the basement level even with a laundry machine, dryer, the
furnace and other necessary equipment to keep the place running. This was his
place. No one else had title to this land, this house. His.

Damn, it felt good!

The door then opens, allowing Lum to fly in. "Darling!" she lands,
embracing him. "There you are...*tcha!!*" she emits an awed gasp as she looks
around, drinking in the view.

He stays silent as she makes her way around the home, greeting Mal along
the way. The disbelief and awe...not to mention the first hint of acceptance,
even love...in Lum's eyes sent shivers of delight up Ataru's spine. This had
been his best idea. His parents could never do this, not on his father's
salary. Mendou could do it, but that was if Lum wanted him, which she did
not. No one else could have done this. Only he could. Only he had the right
to do this. That felt even better! "Like?" he purrs as she steps into their
bedroom.

"I love it," she lets out a romantic sigh, leaning back into him. "Oh,
Darling, this is so...so...beautiful!"

"I'm glad," he embraces her from behind, his tongue playfully licking
the tip of her horn-bud. "After all, it's for both of us."

Lum purrs, her own desires coming to life. "Good!" she growls as she
yanks Ataru to the bed. "Let's break it in!"

"Yes, let's!" he nods, chuckling.

In the kitchen, Mal looks up as the door to Ataru's and Lum's room
closes, the faint sounds of giggling and more intimate noises leaking through
the walls. "Ah, the Unity between them is so strong," the Nendo-kata-turned-
Oni sighs. "Once they are free of all the problems before them, nothing will
stand in their way..."

* * *

"Whoa!!!" Benten whistles as she lands her airbike by the front door of
Ataru's house, drinking in the view. "Shit, I better make sure this is the
place!!" Then noting the presence of Lum's scout, she nods. "Yep! This is
it!"

Dismounting her machine, she walks to the door. Before she could ring
the doorbell, the door opens on its own accord. "Come in, Benten-chan!" Mal's
voice calls out from inside.

The Fukunokami shudders as she hesitantly walks inside. The Nendo-kata
were worse than Vosians when it came to sensing someone approach their abodes.
Their telekinetic abilities made it all the more intimidating. This would
take some getting used to. "Yo, Mal!" she waves as she sees the Nendo-kata-
turned-Oni relaxing in the dining room. "Where're Lum and Moroboshi?!"

"Right here, Benten," Lum yawns as she walks out from the bedroom, now
dressed in a housecoat.

Benten is quick to notice the glow on her friend's face. "Whoo, what've
you two been doing?" she snidely muses.

"What do you think?!" Lum sticks her tongue out at her friend. "Darling
and I were trying out our new bed."

"Lucky!" Benten sneers.

"Ah, you're just jealous!" Lum smirks. "You should be a little more
appreciative of Darling, Benten. After all, he helped you fulfill your dream,
remember?!"

"At least he helped move it to the right conclusion," Benten hums as the
two sit at the dining room table.

Mal moves to pour them tea. While they were on Sakusei, Lum had told
Benten about what Ataru had really done for her and Nassur at the close of the
Spirit War. It pleased the Fukunokami because it had been done right behind
Shinobu's back, in such a way that the Terran could not interfere. And with
Nassur's *nicha* for Cinba's passing away fast approaching, the final goal of
Benten's dreams was now in sight. "So where's Moroboshi and his sister?" she
muses, then feels warmth in her feet. "And why's the floor so hot?!"

"Darling's in the bathroom relaxing right now," Lum sips her tea.
"Nokoko-chan's with everyone in Sendai purchasing clothes. And the floor has
heat-pipes in them. Different heating system, adopted from the Koreans.
Darling chose that to ensure that he had no need for kotatsus."

"Which keeps Kotatsuneko away," Benten concludes. "I see his plans to
keep everyone out of this place are running full steam ahead."

"I actually encountered that disembodied sentient when I was in
Tomobiki," Mal muses. "Actually, he is pleased that Ataru-kun is moving to
forge his own school...although Kotatsuneko-kun used the term 'litter' when he
spoke of it."

Both Lum and Benten are surprised. "You actually spoke to him?!" the
former blinks.

"Telepathically, of course," Mal beams. "Kotatsuneko-kun is quite a
conversationalist." She then looks at Lum. "So is his good friend, the sage
who administers your present place of education. He too wishes Ataru-kun
well. Actually, it was they who taught me how to make tea."

"That's nice," Lum smiles. "At least Darling doesn't have to think that
*everyone* in Tomobiki hates him."

"Yeah, but people like Kotatsuneko and the Principal are bit players,
Lum," Benten notes. "The ones you have to worry about are jerks like Lan,
Mendou, Megane, Miyaki and the rest of that crowd."

"Well, I still think Darling's overreacting," Lum sighs.

"Is he?" Mal hums.

"Or are you not reacting enough?" Benten inquires.

Before Lum could answer, a chilly feeling passes through the house.
"What the...?!" Mal blinks as she looks down to see snow drifting from the
door leading to the basement. "What's going on?!"

"Oh, Oyuki's visiting!" Lum smiles. "Come in, Oyuki!!"

The door opens, allowing a small pile of snow to drift out as Oyuki
emerges. "Ah, this must be the place," she notes, then looks up. "Hello,
everyone. Am I too late?"

"Most curious form of transportation," Mal comments.

"Come on up, Oyuki-chan!" Lum waves her friend up.

As Oyuki ascends the stairs, an incensed yell thunders from the
bathroom. "***OYUKI!!!!!!***"

The Tritonian nearly leaps out of her kimono in shock as an incensed
Ataru marches out of the bathroom, dressed in a robe and with a look on his
face which could kill. "Is...th-there a problem, Ataru...?" Oyuki stammers,
shuddering at the air around him boiling.

Ataru's yell then nearly blows all the windows out of the house!
"***WHAT'S THE BLOODY IDEA TELEPORTING INTO MY BASEMENT LIKE THAT?!?!?! AND
WHO GAVE YOU THE GODDAMNED RIGHT TO TELEPORT INTO* MY *HOUSE WITHOUT* MY
*PERMISSION?!?!?!***"

Oyuki pales; NO ONE has ever yelled at her like this! "I...I just came
here to visit Lum-chan, Ataru. Y-you never minded th-that before..."

One look at his face shows Oyuki that Lum's boyfriend no longer accepts
that. "That was when we were all living in that hovel back in Tomobiki!!!
Then, I didn't care what you did to that place considering it was those two
dipsticks who had to pay for it!!!" he threateningly points at her. "This is
MY house!!! Outside of Nokoko-chan, I'M the one who dictates what goes on in
this place!!! And that means if you want to come visit, you teleport here
OUTSIDE this house, then come in like normal people do!!! I will not have you
wrecking MY basement or ruining MY carpets with all the snow you drag in after
you come here from Triton!!! And if you don't do that, I'll have that damn
Warp Chamber of yours shut down by the Inquisition!!! GOT THAT?!?!"

Everyone, even Mal, is stunned by the level of anger which is literally
leeching from all the pores on Ataru's body. "O-of course," Oyuki readily
nods.

"Better!!!" he snaps as he storms back to the bathroom.

The door slams shut after him! "*Tcha*...!" Lum gasps

"Whoa!!" Benten whistles. "What lit his tailpipes?!"

"Well, it is his house after all," Oyuki sheepishly shrugs, looking
somewhat apologetic.

The four women then sit, drinking their tea in silence...

* * *

"He YELLED at Oyuki?!!" Shinobu gasps.

Everyone surrounds Lum in class the next morning, stunned looks on their
faces. The Oni had just told them about the incident in Ataru's home
concerning the Tritonian's teleporting there when she wanted to have tea with
her friends. "*Tcha!*" the Oni nods. "As far as Darling's concerned, Oyuki
can visit but she can't teleport into the house itself. She has to come down
outside, then walk in like everyone else."

"Oh?!" Megane sneers. "How long was he frozen?!"

"Frozen?!" Lum blinks. "What do you mean?!"

"I mean, how long was he frozen after Oyuki-sama punished him for his
disrespect?!" the guards' leader chuckles.

"Who says anything about Darling being frozen?!" Lum snaps, shocking
Megane with the venom in her voice. "And what about him being punished?!
It's his house, remember?! He sets the rules! If he doesn't want Oyuki-chan
to teleport into his house, she has no right to refuse him!! Just because
she's a princess doesn't mean that Oyuki-chan's not above respecting other
people's property rights!"

Everyone looks surprised. "I thought his uncle owned the property,"
Momoe muses.

"I thought it was a present from his grandmother," Kumiko comments.

"Nope," Mie does not look up from her book. "All the deeds are in
Ataru-chan's name. Now, the money he used was the allowance his grandmother
set aside for him for the past ten years, but he's the one who signed all the
contracts. He doesn't even have to worry about a mortgage; the place is his
until the day he dies."

"He had an allowance?!" Kakugari blinks.

"Five hundred million a month," the Kyushu native comments.

Mendou looks shocked. "FIVE HUNDRED MILLION YEN?!?! That's even more
than I get from my parents!!!"

"Yeah, but his mom always tried to stop him from using it," Mie notes.
"She never told Ataru-chan where his account was or what account number it
was...or something like that."

Everyone looks confused. "Ataru's family is wierd!" Chibi shakes his
head.

"You can say that again," Paama snorts.

"Who cares about that?!" Megane snarls, then turns to Lum. "Don't you
get it, Lum-san?! He's using that place to drive you out of his life!! He
just showed it when he humiliated Oyuki-sama! You just watch!! He'll be
doing it to you before long!!"

"What's this?!" the Oni demands. "Just because Darling wants people to
behave themselves inside his home doesn't mean he's trying to drive me out of
his life! I like that house!! I can even see myself moving there after
school's finished!"

All the boys look shocked. "What?!!" Megane demands.

"And besides," Lum sighs. "I can't leave Darling all by his lonesome up
there. He'll starve if he doesn't have any sex with me!"

Everyone faints! "Hey, who do you think you are?!!" Shinobu barks at
the Oni. "Jamie McTavish and Dansei Fujinami?!!"

Lum, however, is swept in a spotlight, taking microphone in hand. "Oh,
at last, my dreams are coming true!" she calls out. "My own beautiful Darling
has built a home where we can live, we can raise a family and where we can be
together, our love growing every time we touch, we kiss and we unleash the
lustful monsters within us! Who can deny that this is the destiny that we
have sought for so long?! Now I KNOW Darling and I will marry...!!"

Suddenly, Lum is blasted down by Megane's scream! "*NEVER!!!! WE SHALL
**NEVER** RECOGNIZE SUCH A HEINOUS ENGAGEMENT!!!!!!*"

Megane then gets buried by every desk in the class thanks to Mie!!
"***STOP INTERRUPTING LUM-CHAN'S SOLILOQUY, YOU CREEP!!!! THERE'S NOTHING YOU
CAN DO TO STOP IT!!!!!!***"

Koosei then appears beside the prostrate Megane, making notes in his
discipline records. "And that's ANOTHER week's detention for disturbing the
class, Megane!"

"What about Seikou?!" he demands.

"What about her?" the teacher innocently shrugs.

Megane moans. "Hey, Lum-chan!" a voice calls out.

Everyone turns to see Nokoko walk into the class, Ten-chan being held by
his jumper in her hand. "Nokoko-chan, what's going on?! What did Ten-chan
do?!" Lum flies up to her future sister-in-law.

Nokoko hands the young Oni over. "Make sure he doesn't come to Oshika
anymore. Ataru-chan doesn't want him there!"

"What?!" Lum gasps. "Why not?!"

"First of all, he pesters Reiko-chan and Belle-chan when they're
supposed to be going to school!" Nokoko points at Ten-chan.

"I only wanted to play with them...!" Ten-chan cries.

"Quiet!!!" Nokoko barks, making Ten-chan clam up, then turns back to
Lum. "Secondly, as far as Ataru-chan's concerned, he's worn out his welcome
on Earth! He doesn't want Ten-chan coming up there even if he doesn't want to
play with Reiko-chan! If he comes up again without permission, Ataru-chan'll
call Grandma and get Ten-chan's visa revoked and send him back to Uru!"

"What?!!" Ten-chan leaps out of Lum's arms, shocked that Ataru was
willing to push things that far. "She can't do that!!"

"Yes, she can!" Koosei appears behind the young Oni, the ice in his
voice causing Ten-chan to bolt to attention. "And I'll be happy to help her!!
Ten, what did I tell you about disobeying your elders, especially when you're
also trespassing on private property?!"

"But it's only Ataru...!" Ten-chan protests.

Annoyed, Lum zaps her cousin! "That's enough!!!"

The young Oni howls, dropping to the floor. "Ten-chan, you will *never*
go back up north unless Darling or I...**and only Darling and I**...give you
permission to go up there!!" Lum decrees, pointing at him. "If you disobey,
I'LL send you back home!!!"

"But...Lum-chan..." Ten-chan looks shocked by his cousin's decision.
"Why...?!"

"Because that house belongs to Darling and whatever he says goes!!" Lum
growls, causing her cousin to jolt back fearfully. "You have been a source of
trouble to Darling since you first came here! This is a planet with its own
rules, and it doesn't tolerate naughty little boys who don't listen to their
elders!!"

"But I'm a *good* little boy...!!" he whines.

He gets zapped again!! "A likely story!!!" Lum snarls.

Koosei then drags Ten-chan out of the room. "C'mon, Ten-chan! Let's
go! We're going to have a talk with the Moroboshis about you!" He then looks
at his class. "Private study hall, you guys!"

"Yes, sir," they chant.

Mie walks up to Lum. <<Weren't you being just a little harsh on the
poor guy?>> she telepathically inquires.

<<It's the only way he'll learn not to misbehave!>> Lum shrugs as she
returns to her desk...

* * *

"Well, well, well!!" Seven Bake Rose gleefully cackles as she sees an
image of room 337. "There's Mr. Groom right now...and with Ryooki out of the
way, there's no witnesses!!!"

She programs the teleporter...

* * *

"I'm beginning to understand something," Megane growls.

The other guards and Mendou stand beside him at the back of the class.
"What's that, Aisuru-kun?" Paama hums.

"Ataru's plan," the bespeckled student sneers. "Much that Jariten is a
pest, he's always helped Lum-san keep control over that bastard. Now that
we're all isolated from Ataru by that damn court injunction and with Jariten
out of the way, there's nothing Lum-san can do to prevent Ataru from doing
whatever he wants!"

"That doesn't mention the fact that Ataru can easily drive Lum-chan out
of his life now that he's away from Tomobiki," Kakugari adds. "And once he
does that, she'll be so heartbroken, she'll head back home...or even worse..."
he pales as the most horrible scenario plays out in his mind.

"Don't think of such things, Daremo-kun!" Chibi hisses.

"Then our course of action is simple!" Mendou icily muses. "Moroboshi
must be dragged back to Tomobiki!"

"Yeah, but how?!" Paama demands.

"My, my...what's with the conspiring looks?!" a mocking voice inquires
from behind them.

The five nearly leap out of their uniforms when they see Nokoko standing
behind them, her arms crossed and an amused look on her face. "N-n-nokoko-
san...!" Chibi stammers.

"Trying to drag Ataru-chan away from me against his will, much less
mine?!" Nokoko growls, her eyes glowing burgundy. "I should warn you that
when I first went to the Outland, the matriarch of Mal-chan's school
sacrificed her life essence to save my life before I was killed by the
sulfuric acid fields that place is filled with!"

The five boys gasp, their faces paling, as her telekinetic powers snare
their hearts, applying enormous pressure on them. "And when that happened, I
inherited all her powers," Nokoko icily adds. "Not to mention the
determination all Nendo-kata have to preserve a school's Unity. And my
brother and Mal-chan's sister are now part of our school, which means that if
you try to hurt either of them, either physically or mentally..."

With strangled cries, they collapse into unconscious heaps on the floor!
"...you'll be cast to the depths of the Mother Ocean to feed the sharks!!"
Nokoko makes a cutting motion across her throat, her eyes reverting to their
normal brown.

Seeing Mendou passed out, the girls freak. "Mendou-san!!! What
happened to him?!!" Momoe gasps.

"She didn't even touch them!!" Kumiko stammers.

Nokoko glares at them. "Want some of the same?!" she snarls.

The girls fearfully back away, shaking their heads...just as Mie's
scream is heard. "LUM-CHAN!!!!!!"

Everyone spins around to see the Oni disappear in a teleporter beam, Mie
hanging onto her...and being taken with her! "Lum-chan!!!" Nokoko
screams...just as another teleporter beam takes her away!!

Pandemonium breaks out as Mendou, the guards, Shinobu and Lan are also
seized!!! Before a second is up, a deafening silence has fallen over the
class. "What happened?!!" Natsuko gapes.

"Someone kidnapped them!!" Ryuunosuke blinks. "But...who'd be after
them now...?!"

* * *

"WHERE ARE WE?!?!?!" Lan demands.

Everyone is presently inside a ship's brig. The light pink and white
colours look familiar to some. "I've got a funny feeling about this," Lum
gulps.

"I take it you have an idea where we are," Mie comments.

"Unfortunately," Lum stares at Nokoko. "I think we're on an Ellsian
ship."

"ELLE?!?!?!" everyone else exclaims.

"Yep!" Nokoko sighs. "Unity, what does that worthless bitch want now?!"

"Darling, no doubt," Lum hums, then staring at Nokoko, finds herself
giggling.

"What's so funny?!" Chibi demands.

"S-seven Bake Rose m-must be running this," the Oni nearly falls to her
knees in a spasm of giggles. "She's gonna freak when she finds out that
'Darling'..." she points to Nokoko, "...is really a woman!!"

Hearing that, everyone else howls with delight. "Eh, it's no problem,"
Nokoko snorts. "I warned the bitch the next time she tried to hurt my
brother, I'd go to Elle and kill all her Cute Boys! Guess they're about to
become ashes in their family crypts!"

Surprise crosses people's faces. "You've met Elle?!" Shinobu blinks in
surprise.

"About a half-year ago," Nokoko sits down on a bench. "The Outland
Nebula, where the local interdimensional warp to the Outland is located, is
three systems over from planet Elle. Nicole and I always went there to do
some shopping."

"I'm surprised Elle never noticed you before," Lan blinks in surprise.
"You and Darling do look alike."

"True, but since I only visited the shopping complexes in Baran and
other places, I never got to see the whore face-to-face," Nokoko snorts.
"Until my last visit. Nicole and I were in downtown Baran when Elle's idiot
savant Babara spotted me. Believing I was Ataru-chan, she had me arrested and
dragged to Elle...when it was proven that while I wasn't Ataru-chan, I was
related to him. That's when I heard of her attempt to make a popscicle out of
him."

"I bet that didn't go over well," Mie hums.

"Well, you guys're lucky you never saw her palace after I got done with
it," Nokoko ruefully smiles, eliciting a chuckle from everyone else. "I let
all the Cute Boys loose, then after I nearly rendered Elle into her component
atoms, Nicole and I skipped town."

"I wish you had killed her," Lum moans. "Maybe that was the reason
behind Elle's attempt to kidnap Darling sometime ago; just to keep you at
bay."

"Maybe," Nokoko chuckles. "I never heard about that. But when we all
decided to move out of the Outland and back to Earth, Cole came up with the
idea of templating Donna off Elle. She got samples of Elle's blood when she
went there looking for me, thinking that the bitch snatched me when I was
trying to get to Earth."

"Which means that Elle'll know about Nicole," Lum muses.

"There's still a chance," Mie hums. "Nokoko-chan, do you think Elle
knows about Mal-chan and the others?!"

"No, I've never had cause to tell anyone about them," Nokoko shakes her
head.

"Then there's still a chance that Darling could rescue us with the help
of Nokoko-chan's school," Lum beams. "They'll be a total surprise to Elle,
especially Donna-chan."

Mie and Nokoko happily nod. Everyone else looks shocked. "What?!!"
Megane gasps. "Are you crazy, Lum-san?!! What makes you think that idiot
Ataru's going to try to come rescue us?!!"

"I agree!" Shinobu nods, a lovestruck look appearing on her face. "But
I'm sure Nassur-kun will come rescue us!" she swoons.

Mendou and the guards readily nod. "Don't bet on that," Nokoko snorts.
"Ataru-chan's gone to a lot of effort to help Nassur recognize and marry
*Benten*, not you!! He won't call Nassur just to ensure he stays away from
you, Miyaki!"

Hearing this, Shinobu freaks. "WHAT?!?! How dare that creep try to
mess up my love life...?!!"

Mie side-kicks Shinobu into a bulkhead! "Whose business is it of yours,
Thunderhips?!!" she snaps.

Shinobu moans. "We're doomed," Lan sighs...

* * *

A while later, Rose's frigate docks with the flagship of the Royal
Ellsian Navy, the "Rose Emperor." Double the size of the standard patrol
monitor, the Royal flagship is surrounded by a fleet of a half-dozen monitors,
weapons armed and at the ready. In the hangar deck, Babara waits as the
boarding ramp lowers, allowing Rose to disembark. "We have them!" the
mercenary smiles.

A platoon of Ellsian troops scamper into the ship to retrieve the
prisoners. "Nicely done, Rose," the elderly nanny smiles. "Her Majesty will
be very pleased."

Rose relaxes as the prisoners are towed out. "A pleasure to see you
again, Lum," Babara glares at the Oni. "I don't believe this time we'll be
having surprises coming at us from either Nassur or Dakejinzou Shogai."

"What do you want, you old hag?!" Lum snarls, now restrained thanks to a
power-dampener around her neck.

"What do you expect?" Babara sighs. "Her Majesty's need for Mr. Groom
is much larger and more vital now!"

"What?!!" Megane bellows. "How dare you heap scorn on Lum-san's
dreams...?!!"

Babara belts him with her cane! "Silence, you pig!! Once you and your
four cohorts, plus these two are executed," she icily glares at Shinobu and
Lan, "...then Lum will have no allies left to call upon outside of her
precious Vosian, his partner and Princess Oyuki! Plus, I do not believe I
need to mention what your deaths will do to the Niphentaxians," she stares at
Lum.

"Who are the Niphentaxians?" Shinobu blinks.

"Read the next special," Lum sighs.

"Hey, why are you going to execute me?!" Lan demands. "I'm no friend of
Lum's!"

She gets belted by the cane! "Oh, spare me!" Babara snorts. "We all
know about your pathetic desires for revenge on the Devil's Daughter! Given
your mental instability, killing you would actually be something of a mercy!"

"She won't be missed!" Paama sneers.

Lan growls. Babara's eyes then fall on Mie. "Who is this?"

"Ah...sorry," Rose blushes, bowing. "She got caught up in the
teleporter when I snatched Lum."

"Oh?" Babara hums. "Well, one can admire friendship, although why any
of the females in that school would like Lum, I've really no idea. I don't
recognize you, so we'll spare you...as long as you behave yourself."

Mie glares at the dimunitive Ellsian. "That depends on you," she icily
exhales.

"Ah, Mr. Groom!" Babara turns to Nokoko. "There you are, all safe and
sound! Now, you can finally fulfill your obligation with Her Majesty and
become her official consort."

"Well, if Elle's turned into a lesbian, I'll be more than happy to marry
her," Nokoko quips. "Then again, my life-mate might not take too well to
that!"

Shock crosses the Ellsians' faces as they hear that obviously female
voice. "Wh-what...?!" Babara stammers, then prods her cane into Nokoko's
bust. Getting the wrong result, she spins at Rose. "You fool!!! This isn't
Mr. Groom!!! This is Mr. Groom's sister!!!"

"What?!!" Rose freaks, staring disbelievingly at Nokoko. "Impossible!!!
I could've sworn it was Mr. Groom!! Maybe the Devil's Daughter used a
sex-change gun on him!!!"

"Why would I do that?!" Lum snarls.

"You idiot!!! Why Elle-sama always relies on such an incompetent as
you, I'll never understand!!" Babara snarls.

"Sorry," Rose looks contrite.

The aged nanny then stares at Nokoko. "But...there may be an
opportunity," she muses. "Have her secured with the other prisoners," she
then orders the guards. "I'm going to talk to Elle-sama. Come along, Rose."

The prisoners are dragged off...

* * *

"I really don't like coming here, Osooko-chan!" Asuka looks scared as
they walk up the centre court of Tomobiki High School. "Why are we coming
here anyway?! Can't we just call ahead?!"

"Please control yourself, Asuka-chan," the Nendo-kata sighs. "I sensed
that a great act of disUnity surrounding Nokoko-chan and Lum-chan has just
occured. It has to be investigated."

"Osooko!! There you are!!" a voice cries out.

Ryuunosuke then runs up to them. "Ryuunosuke-chan, what has happened?!"
Osooko inquires.

"Some jerk just kidnapped Nokoko, Lum, Mie and the others!" the tomboy
pants on stopping. "Problem is, we don't have a clue as to who could've done
it or why!!"

"I can explain that," a voice speaks from behind them.

Everyone turns to see Abraham Shapiro standing behind them. "Shapiro-
san?!" Ryuunosuke blinks. "What is it?!"

"I spotted someone who may have been responsible for these abductions,"
the Vosian reports, then looks at Osooko. "Osooko-san, does the name of Seven
Bake Rose sound familiar to you?"

"Her?!" Osooko blinks, then nods. "Ah, yes! The lap-remora of that
sub-creature Donna-chan templated herself from!"

"You mean Elle's behind this?!" Ryuunosuke blinks.

"Unfortunately," Osooko evenly glares skyward. "But she shall now rue
the day she assaulted our school, as did those Mikado Marines on Sakusei
Station when they threatened Benten-chan's life-mate. Come, Asuka-chan. We
must see the others at once."

The two run off. Ryuunosuke and Shapiro watch them leave...

* * *

"Now, who could that be?!" Koosei grumbles as he walks into his living
room, his space-telephone now ringing. Picking up the receiver, he calls into
it, "Yes?"

Elle's image appears on the videoscreen beside the phone. "Hello,
Koosei-kun. It's been a while."

"Elle?" the teacher blinks as he sits down. "Yes, it has. But you're
not one to make a social call. What do you want?"

"Simple enough," the Rose Queen smiles. "Honey."

Koosei moans. "Brother, you are a glutton for punishment, aren't you?!"
he smirks. "What makes you think I'm going to turn him over to you, much less
try to persuade him to come see you?"

"Because if he does not come, he'll never see his sister alive again,"
Elle responds.

"What?!" Koosei blinks.

"Seven Bake Rose has just captured Lum, Nokoko and several of the Oni's
pathetic cohorts, right after you left class with Lum's cousin," Elle smiles
triumphantly. "I've already planned executions for Lum and her friends for
all their many crimes against me...and what they've done against Earth; I
don't need to describe to you what will happen when news of this reaches
Phentax Two. We're prepared against them as well. But I'm willing to spare
and free Honey's sister if he willingly surrenders himself to me."

Koosei glares at Elle's image. The Rose Queen looks frightfully
neutral, in full command of her senses. "What are your terms?" he sighs.

"Simple," Elle nods. "Honey is to call no one...and I mean Nassur,
Lum's father, Dakejinzou Shogai...OR his grandmother for that matter!! I know
all about her connection to Zephyrus. In fact, if she even raises a peep of
protest, Nokoko dies! I'm sure Honey will be able to stop that...say in the
same manner he rid himself of those morons he was sired by!"

"Go on."

"I also know Nicole McTavish is on Earth, too," Elle smiles. "Believe
me, I'll gladly see that witch dead for all she did against me and my Cute
Boys. She is to transport Honey to our frontier near the Yiziba system.
Further, Honey is to come *alone!* I don't want to see that genetic
abomination Yukio near him, much less his daughter! I'll decide what her fate
will be later! When he's there, I have him brought to Elle, then after we
marry, I'll have Nokoko sent back to Earth! Understood?"

"I understand," Koosei nods, holding his face poker still.

"And one more thing," Elle threateningly points at him. "No contacting
anyone with your phone, not even your girlfriend!! I've got a scout
monitoring all communications leaving Earth! Anything from you or Honey's
grandmother and that poor innocent student who was swept up when we took Lum
prisoner...Mie, I think her name is...will be made to suffer! Understood?!"

"Perfectly," Koosei sighs.

The line is cut. At that moment, the door opens. "I take it she's
called you," Shapiro comments.

"She did," Koosei growls, standing. "Well, I better get up to Oshika to
tell Ataru the bad news."

"Osooko-san and her lover are already on their way up," the ice cream
vendor reports. "I hope you can stop them before long."

"I'll try," the teacher moans...

* * *

"***WHAT?!?!?!***" Ataru's rage nearly blows off the roof of his home.
"***WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT ELLE KIDNAPPED LUM AND MY SISTER?!?!?!***"

In the living room, Yukio, all the Nendo-kata, Nicole's group and Koosei
tremble as they stare at a VERY angry Ataru, who has just been told what
happened. "Afraid it's true, Ataru," the homeroom teacher sighs. "Worse,
unless you do exactly as she says, your sister's going to be facing a firing
squad! What did she do that pissed Elle off so much, anyway?!"

"Who cares?!!" Ataru snarls as he turns around, opening and clenching
his fist as he considers what to do. "I actually wish Nokoko-chan had
finished the bitch off!! Then I'd never have to worry about her again!!!"

"And so we shall!!" Mal snarls. "That sub-creature DARES try to shatter
our school's Unity by absconding with our matriarch?!! She'll be in the Black
Ocean, her soul's carcass feeding the devil-sharks, when we're finished with
her!!"

The other Nendo-kata readily nod, letting out a victory cheer. "Hold
it, girls!" Koosei waves them down. "If you try to butt into this, Nokoko'll
be executed!! You can't just blitz off half-cocked like this!! We need to
plan!"

"We're planning!!!" Ataru snarls, spinning on Koosei. "Just because we
don't do this all the time like Nassur doesn't mean we're stupid, you know!!"

"So what in Lecasur's name **do** we do?!" Mujanba cuts in. "Elle's
obviously trying to get Nicole into space so she can be killed, thus ensuring
that no one can try to rescue Nokoko! You can lay bets that once Ataru's in
the Refrigerator, Nokoko'll be dead!"

"I'm not going to sail my palace out there just to get my ass shot
off!!" Nicole protests.

"Say, Cole," Ataru sits beside Nicole. "Can your palace cloak itself?"

"Of course it can," Nicole nods.

"Does it have a teleporter?!" Ataru adds. "And electronic counter-
measures gear to jam sensory, too?!"

"I wouldn't go anywhere without them!"

"And can it do this...?" he whispers into her ear.

Nicole blinks, then nods. "Child's play!!"

"Good!" Ataru devilishly smiles. "Here's what we'll do!"

Everyone huddles...

* * *

"Well, well, well!" Elle mirthlessly smiles as she walks into the brig
aboard the "Rose Emperor" sometime later, flanked by a troop of guards,
weapons out and armed to full power. "Aren't we all cozy?! Don't worry; you
won't be here for long!"

"You witch!!" Lum spins on her. "How dare you keep forcing yourself on
Darling?!! He doesn't want you anymore!!"

"Oh, I'm sure I can persuade him to my cause, especially now that you're
here!" Elle glares at Nokoko. "It's been a while, Nokoko. I see the Outland
has treated you well."

"I've missed you too, slut!!" Nokoko snarls.

Incensed, Elle slaps her. "Mind your place!!" she snarls. "You and
your crystalline friend won't be stopping me from getting what I've waited
twelve years for! As a matter of fact, your friend will be delivering Honey
to me very soon! Once she does that, she'll be executed for her trying to
kill my defenseless Cute Boys!"

"Nicole-san actually did that?!" Megane gasps.

"I wish she succeeded, too!" Nokoko snorts.

"Silence!!" Elle barks. "And once she's out of the way, I'll have you
killed after Honey is in the Refrigerator!"

"You're welcome to try," Nokoko icily smiles. "Just make your first
shot count. 'Cause if I get free, you'll be the first one who winds up in the
Black Ocean! You know your pathetic Freemasons won't slow me down!!"

Lum and Lan stare disbelievingly at Nokoko, understandably awed that she
could make that assertion about challenging the Freemasons, the feared and
respected ninja-like citizen-soldiers of Yehisril now calling planet Elle
home. "Lord Dureko is awaiting the chance of a rematch!" Elle smiles. "In
fact, your fate will be decided by him and his teachers!"

"If you think you're going to get away with this, Elle, think again!!"
Lum snarls. "Nassur-chan or Dakejinzou-chan'll be around soon enough to
rescue us!"

"Oh, I don't think so, Lum," the Rose Queen icily smiles. "I told
Koosei Ryooki if he even THINKS of calling anyone to try to rescue you, then
Nokoko will be put to death...along with this one," she glares at Mie, then
turns back to Nokoko. "Even one peep from Honey's grandmother will be your
death warrant, Nokoko. I'm sure Honey can think of ways of keeping his
grandmother at bay before it no longer becomes necessary."

"We'll see who gets the last laugh," Nokoko muses.

An intercom signal is heard. "Your Majesty," Babara's voice filters
through the wall station. "Signal from our Earth observers. Nicole
McTavish's crystal palace has departed Earth orbit, on course for Yiziba.
Your orders?"

Elle walks over to the console. "Signal the squadron. Have them
proceed to the rendezvous point! Once Honey is safely aboard, have then
destroy McTavish's ship!! And tell the gunners to make sure of it this time!!
No sense in having that witch come out of the grave like Nassur is always want
to!"

"Yes, Elle-sama," the aged nanny nods.

With that, Elle departs, laughing all the way. Watching her go, Nokoko
looks unsure. *Cole, Ataru-chan, I hope you guys are on your toes! This
bitch is playing for keeps!!*

* * *

Sometime later, in a remote sector of Ellsian space, the seven patrol
monitors converge. Already at red alert, weapons armed and at the ready, they
maintain a vigil for Nicole's travelling palace. Elle remains relaxed in the
command chair of the "Rose Emperor." "Any sign of that woman's ship?!" she
barks.

"Nothing yet, Your Majesty...wait!" a sensory officer blinks as contact
is made. "Single vessel, approaching from the direction of Earth-Triton!
Configuration matches Nicole McTavish's ship!!"

"Excellent!" Elle smiles. "Signal her!"

The screen then dissolves into an image of Ataru and Nicole, both
standing in the palace's control centre. "We're here, Elle!" the latter
snorts. "Where do you want him?!"

"Right here," Elle waves beside her.

"Okay," Nicole nods.

Ataru then disappears in a teleport beam...to reappear beside Elle.
"Honey!!" the Rose Queen beams, leaping at him...

...and ramming chin-first into his elbow! "Don't act so familiar with
me, bitch!!" Ataru snarls. "I'm **not** one of your pathetic Cute Boys!!
What they ever saw in you is way beyond me!"

Elle collapses to the deck, now nursing a nice bruise under her lips.
The whole bridge crew is stunned silent by his act. She angrily glares at
him. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Want some more?!" Ataru icily inquires, the murderous gleam in his eyes
sending chills down everyone's spine, including Elle's.

Staggering to her feet, she spits up blood. "Let's see how defiant you
are after this!" she snarls, then turns to the captain. "Fire at will!!"

The seven patrol monitors blast away at the crystal palace. It
literally disintegrates into atoms! Smiling, she then faces Ataru. "Well,
where's your spirit now, Honey?!"

"It's quite fine," Ataru whistles, staring at his fingernails. "You
honestly think we'd fall for that old trick?"

Elle looks surprised at his ability to resist her trying to intimidate
him. "What?!!"

"That wasn't Nicole's palace you destroyed," Ataru smiles. "It was just
a hollow mass which was remotely controlled by the crystal palace, which is
quite far away. Oh, by the way, your little scout was taken into custody by
the Zephyrite Navy on Grandma's orders just after we left." He then glares at
her. "There are other ways of sending messages to my grandmother besides a
telephone, you know."

Elle shudders. "If I even hear a peep from her, your sister dies,
Honey! That's a promise."

"You try it...and *you* will die," Ataru icily responds. "And I have
ways of making that happen. And don't think these Freemasons I've heard so
much about'll stop me, either. I've got something even they'll find very hard
to swallow!"

"You mean your little transformation trick," Elle smirks. "We've made
preparations for that!"

"Since when was I talking about the Cyborg?" Ataru smiles.

The two glare at each other. Ataru remains frightfully neutral and Elle
tries to retake command of the situation. "Fine, then!!" the Rose Queen
snorts. "If I have to earn your love, Honey, I will! Have him taken to join
his friends!!" she barks at a pair of very large guards.

"Yes, ma'am!" they grab Ataru by both arms...

...then wind up pitched into the deckhead! "No thanks," Ataru yawns as
he heads for an exit. "I don't like aggressive women. I get my fill of that
from idiots like Miyaki and Fujinami!"

A platoon of guards escorts him out, keeping out of range of his hands.
Elle shudders, then turns to the captain. "Have two monitors place here to
keep an eye out for McTavish!! Inform me at once if there's even a sign of
her!"

"Yes, ma'am!!" the captain salutes as the Rose Queen storms off the
bridge.

Total silence reigns on the bridge as everyone stares at each other,
stunned and scared. "Incredible!" a communications officer whispers to her
friend. "It's like he's a different man! What happened to him?!"

"I don't know, but Her Majesty's out of her mind if she thinks she's
going to tame him!" the other officer hisses. "I don't even think Lord Dureko
would take him on like this!!"

"Yeah!" a third officer nods. "Did you hear what he did to the Masters
of Noukiios, not to mention the Devil's Daughter in their last Tag Race?!
Elle-sama's going to get that if she's not careful!!"

The others hum as they consider that point...

* * *

"What happened to him?!" Elle cries as she staggers into her bedroom,
slamming the door behind her. "What did that Oni witch do to make him so
evil?!" With an anguished sob, she falls on her bed, gingerly feeling the
bruise Ataru's elbow left her. "Why couldn't he be like he was twelve years
ago?!"

Letting out a sigh, Elle slips herself out of her battlesuit and cape,
then proceeds into the bath to refreshen herself. "Oh, how am I going to make
Honey love me?" she moans as she slips into the warm water, taking a cloth to
her bruised cheek.

She yelps as the pain rips through her nerves. Meanwhile, in the
bedroom, two figures sneak out of the shadows: Donna and Mujanba. The former
takes hold of Elle's battlesuit and cape. <<Coast is clear,>> the Vosian's
eyes flash as she psi-links to the Nendo-kata. <<Let's do it!>>

Donna nods as they return to the shadows, this time with Mujanba hiding
herself behind the door to the bathroom. Moments later, Elle emerges, drying
herself off. "Oh, what to do...?"

"How about going to sleep, sister?" a voice inquires.

Elle stops, totally shocked to see *herself* sitting on the bed, now
dressed in her uniform. "Who...?!!" she gasps, then tries to bolt for the
intercom...

...but is knocked out when Mujanba delivers a chop to her neck! "Uh-uh,
trench-wave!!" the Vosian smiles, wagging her fingers in a no-no gesture as
the Rose Queen drops to the deck. "No calling your friends!"

Donna then walks over to gently touch her sister's forehead, her eyes
glowing for a moment. "There!" she nods, standing as her eyes revert to
normal. "That should ensure that no one will suspect the truth. And this
should take care of any others!" her eyes again glow burgundy as she sweeps
the room with her powers.

Cries of shocked outrage are heard as a half-dozen black-clad forms drop
hard to the deck!! All are as husky-skinned as Anna, Babara's co-worker in
Project: Black Rose. "Thanks, Donna-chan!" the Vosian smiles. "It's always
such a pain dealing with Yehisrites since our tracking powers can't detect
their brainwaves."

"We are not so restricted," Donna notes.

Mujanba quickly piles their prisoners together, then presses one of the
crystals on her arm. She, Elle and the Freemasons disappear in a teleport
beam. With that, Donna relaxes. "Queen for a day," she hums, then looks
concerned. "But...if what I sensed from my sister is true...perhaps there are
other parties involved in trying to plunge Elle into the depths of disUnity.
If that is true, then it must be investigated at once."

Humming, she lays back on her bed, wondering what to do...

* * *

"Darling, are you alright?!!" Lum gasps as she leaps to Ataru's side,
keeping him sitting straight.

The Terran moans, a dazed look on his face. He has just been brought
into the cell holding Lum, Nokoko and the others after he was escorted off the
bridge of the "Rose Emperor." Seeing no physical damage, Lum angrily spins on
Babara, who accompanied the guards. "What did you do to him, you old hag?!!"

"Oh, come now," the elderly Ellsian sighs. "Do you honestly think we're
going to take chances with Mr. Groom's ability to transform himself into that
cybernetic monstrosity he's been using on all of you? Do not worry. He has
just been injected with a neural paralyzer, which is inhibiting his higher
brain functions. He's as helpless as a kitten."

Lum has fire in her eyes. "You won't get away with this!!"

"We already have," Babara sneers as she walks out, the guards following
her.

Once they are alone, Lum, Mie and Nokoko turn to try to slap Ataru back
to his senses. "Hey, little brother, snap out of it!!" his sister barks into
his ears. "We need you now!!"

Ataru lets out a weak moan as he sinks to his side. "I wanna go to
sleep, Mommy..." he drunkenly slurs as his eyes close.

Everyone else has fearful looks on their faces. "Oh, man, this is the
worst!" Paama gulps. "Ataru's now a zombie and we're just hours away from
being executed because we like Lum-chan!"

"It's what you get for not having a life, Tweedledee!" Mie snorts,
reaching over to lightly touch Ataru's face. "Maybe you'll get a chance once
you're in Hell; I doubt you'll be heading upstairs given the shit you
idiots've caused!"

Outraged growls utter from the boys as the Kyushu native tries to psi-
probe Ataru's mind. "How is he?!" Lum looks anxious.

Mie shakes her head. "All I get is a sign saying 'Out of Order,'" she
sighs, pulling her hand away. "I wish I had Nassur's ability to use a psychic
knife. That'd snap Ataru-chan out of it in a flash."

The Oni sighs, sitting beside her unconscious Darling. She then looks
over. "Is the *saikoo jinseijitsu* affected?"

Everyone from Tomobiki turns sheet-white with mortal fear at Lum's
unspoken suggestion. Mie touches Ataru's face. "Nope," she shakes her head.
"It's in a different part of Ataru-chan's mind than what normally affects the
Cyborg. I don't think Elle's lapdogs know it's even there. You thinking what
I'm thinking?"

Lum hesitantly nods. "If push comes to shove...let it out. One good
whack in the back of Darling's head'll do it."

"Okay," Mie nods.

Megane leaps over to stare Lum in the eye. "Lum-san, are you CRAZY?!?!"
he gasps. "Let that monster out of his head?!! It'll kill all of us for sure
this time!!!"

"Maybe," Lum sighs. "Then again, that thing hates everyone who shows
any kindness to Darling. I'm betting that since Elle wants Darling for
herself...not to mention her wanting to freeze him in her refrigerator...the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* won't take to that idea well."

Mie and Nokoko readily nod to that idea. The others still look
hesitant, vividly remembering their experiences with the rampaging ninjitsu
database during the dark hours of the Spirit War. "I'm still hoping for
Nassur-kun," Shinobu shudders.

"Dakejinzou would look good right about now," Lan adds.

"Or Nokoko-chan's friends," Mie sits beside Lum. "I suppose we have to
sit back and wait for the fireworks to start."

"Yeah," Lum nods...

* * *

"Oooh..." Elle moans. "Where am I...?"

The Rose Queen's eyes open, then she shudders on feeling that she is
upside-down somewhere. Looking around, she finds herself in a room completely
walled by crystal. Further, her nude body is bound hand and foot by
crystalline braces. Looking down, she then pales on seeing that she is
potentially about to be lowered into a very thin, dark tube about the same
size as a photon torpedo launcher. "Where am I?!!" she barks out, trying to
free herself. "What is this place?!!"

"Welcome aboard my ship," an ominous voice growls from behind her.

Elle shudders as Nicole walks into view. "You!!!" she snaps, icily
glaring at the crystal-studded Scotswoman. "How dare you do this to me?!! My
troops will have you hunted down and slain for this act!! And that's not to
mention what will happen to Honey's sister!!"

"A pity the little brigade of skirmishers that were in your quarters
won't be around to make their reports to their bosses back in Baran," Nicole
smiles. "Yehisrites might be able to block out Vosian powers like my lover's,
but a Nendo-kata can pick them out in the blink of an eye. They're right over
there!" she points.

Elle looks over to see her half-dozen Freemason guards now frozen inside
crystalline torpedoes, almost as if they were in the Refrigerator of Love's
cryostasis tubes. Turning back to Nicole, she tries her best to look defiant.
"How can you explain my disappearance from the 'Rose Emperor' then?!
Someone's bound to notice sooner or later that I'm gone!"

"Oh?!" Nicole laughs. "Don't you remember that nice little cut I gave
you last time I was in Baran?! Why do you think I took it?! Nokoko and I
weren't the only people who lived in our part of the Outland, you know!
Mal-chan, why don't you join us?"

Elle turns white on seeing what to her appears to be Lum walk into the
room. "L-l-lum...?!" she fearfully stammers.

Understandably incensed, Mal zaps her with lightning, a bolt of energy
which nearly burns Elle to a crisp! "You disgusting sub-creature!!!" she
growls, her eyes ablaze. "How DARE you think of destroying our school by
murdering my Beloved, not to mention my poor sister?!! Believe me, the
punishment we are preparing for your many heinous acts will more than befit
the crimes you have committed!!!"

Elle emits a blood-curling scream, having never felt Lum's lightning
before this, especially not at the uncontrolled ferocity Mal can unleash.
"Mal-chan isn't the only one of her kind, you know," Nicole cuts in. "Another
one is Donna. You may remember her. She was sitting on your bed when
Muja-chan knocked you out."

The Rose Queen pales. "Wh-what...?"

"Let me explain. Nendo-kata are telepathic and telekinetic, as well as
possessing an allasomorphic ability to grow a new body just like that!" Nicole
snaps her fingers. "When I took your blood, I gave it to Donna, who grew
herself a body which is physically the same as yours right to the last
chromasome and RNA strand. When we put you to sleep, she also mind-scanned
you, copying things like body language, dialect, not to mention all your
knowledge and plans. As far as everyone is concerned, even your old maid,
Donna...is you."

Elle shudders. "Very soon, Elle will be ordering back all her forces
from the frontier...not to mention transmitting all command codes for your
navy to us prior to docking in Baran. Once she and Ataru are at the altar,
she'll knock out any neural paralyzer you may have planned to use on him to
keep the Cyborg down. And as for your guests at the wedding...well," Nicole
shrugs, "...I hope their papers are in order."

"That's an act of war!!" the Rose Queen snarls.

"Tough shit!" Nicole viciously slaps her. "You should've just taken the
hint and left Ataru-chan alone!! I wonder what he's going to have in mind
when he gets back aboard! Maybe eternity in the Outland frozen in
crystal...or even better, just beam you in there and let the acid fields do
the work! You'll probably live for about ten seconds before you're nothing
more than ashes!! Think on that!"

The two women then walk out of the chamber. Elle tries to free herself.
"Someone, help me!!!" she cries...

* * *

Sometime later, the "Rose Emperor" arrives at the Royal Docks outside of
Baran. Troops form a guard of honour as "Elle"...Donna, now dressed as the
Rose Queen...disembarks alongside Babara and Seven Bake Rose. "Have Honey
taken and prepared for the wedding," the fake Rose Queen orders. "Let's not
dally. The sooner it's done, the sooner Honey's in the Refrigerator and Lum
and her friends are forever out of my hair!" *Oh, the Mother Ocean will make
me pay for that comment!* she ruefully muses to herself.

"Of course, Elle-sama," Babara nods, not suspecting one bit that this is
not the real Elle. "What of Lum and her companions? Shall we execute them
now?"

"No, that's not necessary," Donna shakes her head. "Have them brought
to the cathedral. I want Lum to witness this. I'll decide what to do with
them later."

"Certainly, Elle-sama," the aged nanny nods, then heads off.

Donna then turns to Rose. "Rose, would you relay to all our monitors on
the frontier that they are now released to their normal patrol duties? I
don't think we'll need them to stand guard anymore."

"You sure about that, boss?" Rose looks concerned. "Nassur or Shogai
might pull a fast one on us."

"With the life of Honey's sister and Lum on the line?" Donna's eyebrow
rises. "I doubt even Honey's grandmother would risk losing her last living
grandchildren just to salvage her honour."

"True," Rose hums.

She moves to obey but is obviously still unconvinced. The transformed
Nendo-kata's eyes narrow as an annoyed look crosses her face. "And I don't
recall giving you an option to question my orders, Rose!!" she growls, her
voice rising an octave.

The mercenary shudders, having never heard her superior raise her voice
to her like that before. "S-sorry, b-boss!" she stammers. "I'll get right on
it!!"

With that, she scrambles back to the "Rose Emperor." At that time, the
prisoners are escorted off the ship. Ataru is now on a stretcher being
carried by two guards. "Elle, you witch!!!" Lum snarls, being held back by a
half-dozen guards. "You'll never get away with this!! I swear you'll never
get away with this!!!"

Donna turns away, letting out a snort. "That's what you think, Lum-
chan!" she sneers. "Let's see what you think after Honey and I've wed!! See
them prepared for the ceremony!"

"Yes, ma'am!!" the guards respond, towing their charges away.

With that, the fake Rose Queen makes her way to an automated hovercar,
which takes her to the palace. Once alone, she emits a long sigh. "I hope
Nicole-chan and the others come soon," she quietly muses, staring at the
beautiful skyline of Baran.

"*Is there a problem, Your Majesty?*" the car's onboard computer
inquires.

"There is no problem," Donna slips back into her role...

* * *

"'Lum-chan?!'" Mie blinks confusedly, keeping her voice down, after the
prisoners are forced into changerooms to prepare for the ceremony. "Since
when did Elle ever get that personal with you?" she stares at the Oni.

Lum hums as she slips out of her bikini, then frowns at the gown she is
being forced to wear. "I don't know, Mie-chan," she sighs as she slips into
it. "It's nothing."

"Nothing like hell," Nokoko snickers as she whispers into Lum's ears.
"We've got a friend in the right place."

The Oni blinks as she stares at Ataru's sister, then her eyes widen as
Nokoko mouths the word "Donna." "Oh, that's wonderful," Lum giggles as she
continues to dress, then mouths the Nendo-kata's name to Mie in response to
her questioning look.

Mie snickers. "Oooh, this is going to be good!"

* * *

"Lord Dureko," Donna smiles at the image before her. "How nice to see
you again. I trust you are well?"

The man on her videophone screen is a middle-aged Yehisrite with wavy
silver-flecked rust-red hair, a thick handlebar moustache and penetrating
green eyes. He is dressed in what appears to be a light pink button shirt.
"I am fine, Your Majesty, but I really would desire you not start
conversations with idle pleasantries," he grumbles. "What is it you desire of
me?"

*A race we could actually admire for their forthrightness,* Donna muses
to herself. "As you should know, Honey is once again in my hands. I will
have the wedding right away to prevent any further problems. However, despite
all the precautions I've taken, the chance is still there that someone might
come along to try to ruin my plans for marrying Honey. Naturally, I would
want that stopped."

"You should've asked us the first time you tried to wed the Slayer of
the Masters of Noukiios," Dureko comments, crossing his arms. "The Devil's
Daughter and her cohorts would all be in the Three-Faced One's court by now
had we been there two years ago."

"True, true," the fake Rose Queen dismisses the comment with a wave. "A
mistake in planning on my part. I sorely underestimated Lum's resolve to hang
onto Honey. No mistakes this time. I wish five echelons to be at the
cathedral in an hour so that any intruders can be swiftly dealt with. Once
the ceremony is over, they will then have the right to do whatever they please
to Lum and her followers."

Dureko looks surprised; an echelon was a battallion-strength group (nine
hundred warriors), which, given the Freemasons' skills, would make five
echelons a serious case of overkill even when dealing with the likes of
Dakejinzou Shogai! "Five echelons, Your Majesty?!"

"Yes, five echelons, Lord Dureko," Donna nods, flashing him an very
annoyed look. "As the Terrans are fond of saying, 'better safe than sorry.'"

"True," Dureko nods. "As you wish, Your Majesty. We shall be there.
Dureko out."

The screen goes dark. Smiling, Donna stands as she strips out of her
borrowed battlesuit, then walks over to where Elle's beautiful white wedding
gown was laid out in preparation for her big day.

Her telepathic powers had read Dureko's mind even while they had been
talking. The Yehisrite warlord was surprised, even suspicious, by "Elle"
taking such overprecautions, but had not guessed that was because the person
he was talking to was not the Rose Queen. And five echelons constituted half
the fighting force Dureko had at his command. With the others scattered
across the Kingdom, everyone would be back safe on Earth before re-
enforcements could be called.

Staring at the wedding gown, Donna sighs. It would look so good on her
when she handfasted with Nintaiko...

* * *

"So this is the Baran Cathedral," Megane looks around in awe at the size
of the very large church located near the Royal palace. "Nice place!" he
whistles at the rose-influenced architecture, not to mention the sixty-three
stained glass windows, each bearing the image of the Ellsian Kingdom's
previous Rose Queens.

"It is that, isn't it?" Mendou muses, then struggles with the handcuffs
holding his hands behind his back. "I just wish we weren't being forced to
tour it."

"Who's he?" Shinobu nods to a stained glass window behind the pulpit,
displaying the image of a very handsome man dressed in the robes of royalty, a
sword in one hand and a sceptre in the other.

"Adam, the Rose Emperor who founded the modern Ellsian state," Lum
explains. "He's a great hero to Elle's people. He saved the planet from
being invaded by the Seifukusu Dominion, villains who even make the Ipraedies
these days look tame."

"Poor guy must be turning over in his grave right now..." Paama
moans...then yelps as a rifle butt slams into the back of his head! "Hey,
watch it!!" he snaps.

The female soldier behind him gives Paama an icy stare. "How dare you
make light of the Rose Emperor's accomplishments?!!"

"Geez, sorry!" Paama grunts.

Kakugari looks around, noting that the walls are lined in black-clad
husky-skinned warriors. "Who're all the ninjas?"

"They're the Freemasons," Lum gulps. "Yehisrite versions of Grandma's
ninjas...and just as nasty. Atop that, they're totally loyal to Elle."

"We're dead," Lan shudders.

The murmur of the crowd then dies down. "Hey, there's Ataru and Elle!"
Chibi hisses.

The Wedding March begins. Everyone stands as the "couple" slide to the
altar on a moving pad. Awaiting them is the large bishop who presided over
Elle's first attempt at marrying her Honey. Ataru still has a very dazed look
on his face, he being supported by Seven Bake Rose. "Poor Ataru-kun," Shinobu
sniffs, momentarily forgetting her anger and sadness over his ending their
friendship. "He probably doesn't even realize what's happening."

"He'll get a wake-up call very soon," Nokoko smiles...

* * *

At that moment, the "Rose Emperor" and her sisterships are in a deployed
orbit over the gateway leading through Elle's planetary defence shield into
Baran. On the bridge of the flagship, the crew watches as their "leader"
proceeds to the altar alongside Ataru. "Well, it looks like she'll make it
through this time," the captain smiles, commenting to the first officer.
"Maybe now she'll calm down and start acting rationally again."

"And Babara-sama and Dureko-sama can sit down and find out who's been
trying to manipulate Her Majesty and put whoever it is out of business," the
first officer nods agreeingly.

A sensory alarm sounds off. "Ma'am, contact bearing down at us!" the
sensory officer yips. "It's McTavish!!"

"Red alert!!!" the captain barks, then braces herself as the bridge
lights dim. "Looks like they decided to try it anyway!!"

Suddenly, all seven ships darken as all power fades. "What the...?!!"
the first officer gasps in sudden surprise.

Nicole's disembodied voice then sounds off all around them. "Sorry
about that, loves," she giggles. "Can't let you scream to the surface that
we're heading in to raid the party. And I don't suggest you try to fire on me
if you get power back on line. Right now, your tramp of a queen's my prisoner
and I'll have her executed on the spot if you even think of shooting at us!"

The monitors begin to drift as the crystal palace charges past them,
flying through the portal toward Baran. On the bridge, the crew leap to
emergency stations as they try to keep some sense of control over their
vessels. "Elle-sama is McTavish's prisoner?!!" the first officer cries,
staring at the captain.

The captain is just as surprised. "Then...who's that in the Cathedral
with Mr. Groom...?!"

* * *

By this time, the ceremony is halfway finished. Ataru remains in his
dazed state, still being held upright by Rose. Donna remains in place, a
bored look on her face, now realizing that the mating rituals of air-breathers
seemed to drag on for Eternity! *Blessed Mother Ocean, will he finally get
this over with?!* her eyes roll. *I could have mated with Nintaiko-chan and
we could've had our babies at the rate this sub-creature is carrying on this
madness!*

In the audience, the assembled dignitaries look pleased. With the
Freemasons in visual range, they believe that this time, Elle has succeeded in
netting the one she has sought for so long. Mendou, the guards, Shinobu and
Lan have defeated looks on their faces, the realization dawning on them that
their luck in getting out of scrapes like this has probably just dried up.
Lum, Nokoko and Mie remain relaxed, mentally preparing themselves for when the
party-crashers came to rescue them. "I hope my handfasting with Mal-chan
doesn't take this long," Nokoko whispers to Lum.

"Sensualists do a nice, clean ceremony," the Oni advises. She had
talked with Nokoko in the "Rose Emperor's" brig about possible same-sex mating
ceremonies she and Mal could explore when they finally got back together.

"Now's not the time to talk about getting married, you know," Lan snarls
from behind them.

"What the hell do you care, airhead?" Mie snarls, icily glaring at her
classmate. "Considering how moronic that boyfriend of yours is, I wonder if
he's even got enough intelligence to propose to you, much less make love to
you!"

Lan looks ready to explode. "I resent...!!"

A rifle butt shuts her up. By this time, the bishop has reached this
point. "If there is anyone who in any way objects to these two being wedded
in holy matrimony, let them speak now...or forever hold their peace!" he
declares.

"I wish they never included something like that," Babara muses from
nearby.

Suddenly, a voice yells out, "I object!!!"

Everyone spins around to see the cathedral's doors fly open, a lithe
form striding purposefully into the hall. Shocked looks cross everyone's face
on seeing that this is a woman. "Nintaiko-chan?!!" Shinobu blinks, wondering
how her sister had come to be there.

"Who are you?!!" the bishop demands.

At that moment, Donna reaches over to grip Ataru's hand. Her eyes glow
burgundy for a brief second. Ataru jolts, then shakes his head, his dazed
look being replaced by momentary confusion. Nintaiko continues to approach
the altar. "I'm Nintaiko Miyaki of the Great School of the Nendo-kata!!" she
points at Donna and Ataru. "And that's **my** life-mate you're trying to
marry off there!!!"

"Oh, you want her?!" Ataru surprisingly blinks, then stares at "Elle."
"Donna-chan, shame on you!!" he snorts. "And here I thought you were that
moronic bitch you templated yourself from!" He then backs off the pedestal,
shoving Rose aside as he waves Nintaiko up. "Here you go, Nintaiko-chan!!
She's all yours!"

"Thank you, Ataru-chan!!" Nintaiko bows to him, then heads to the altar
to take her place beside Donna.

"Wait!!!" Babara barks. "What's the meaning of this?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Ataru icily glares at her. "I decided to change
the game! The old one bored me!!"

His left eye glows as he fires pulse beams at Lum, Nokoko and Mie,
shattering their bonds. "Thanks, Darling!!!" the Oni leaps into the air,
zapping Babara before she could sound the alarm!

"Ataru-chan, behind you!!!" Mie barks.

Before Rose could slam him with another neural paralyzer shot, psychic
flame consumes Ataru...and the mercenary finds herself caught by the Cyborg,
boosted into the air via her neck! He makes a "no-no" gesture, then cocks his
hand. "**I normally don't hit ladies, but then...**" he lets it fly,
"***YOU'RE NO LADY!!!!!!***"

Rose is smashed through a wall, taking with her a phalanx of
Freemasons!! "**Shoot, Nassur's right!**" Ataru snorts. "**She DOES have a
glass jaw!!**"

Pandemonium breaks out as the other Freemasons prepare to attack. "At
them, lads!!!" Dureko barks from the back of the room.

Before the Yehisrites could charge, the very cathedral shakes as if it
was seized by a giant's hand! The windows shatter and the masonry explodes as
sharp fragments lance into the crowd, blowing them down like a platoon of
infantry hit by canister fire!! Everyone from Earth hits the deck as Mal's
voice is heard. "***WHERE IS BELOVED AND MY SISTER?!?!?!***"

"Mal-chan!!!" Lum yips as she dodges stun-fire from whatever Ellsian
security forces survived the Nendo-kata's assault.

It turns into a total free-for-all as the guests and anyone else who
does not look like Ataru, Lum, Donna, Nintaiko, Nokoko and Mie are hit with
every conceivable attack the Nendo-kata and their allies have at their beck
and call. Even Asuka is there, screaming "MEN!!!!!! AIYEE!!!!!! GET AWAY
FROM ME!!!!!!" as she takes a bee-shaped fighter and bashes away any male
Freemason who tries to get close to her. Osooko stays close to her future
life-mate's side, shielding the paranoid Terran from any female Freemasons who
would take advantage of Asuka's phobia. From above, particle fire from
various points on Nicole's crystal palace pours down to cut the cathedral off
from any possible re-enforcement. And in the thick of it is Ataru, who now
finds himself surrounded by three phalanxes of warriors. "Surrender now and
we'll be easy on you!!" Dureko warns from nearby.

The Cyborg crosses his arms. "**Go ahead!!! You can't be any worse
than the Masters of Noukiios!!**"

Insulted that he would compare them to a group of slave traders, the
Freemasons let out a enraged cry as they charge. Ataru is instantly dogpiled
by three hundred Yehisrites! "Darling!!!" Lum gasps as she sees this from
above, then forms a lightning ball. "Get off him this instant...!!!"

An explosion of bodies then occurs as the Cyborg bashes them all away
with one arm!! Lum yelps as she leaps to safety, then stares in awe on seeing
that her transformed boyfriend is unharmed. "**I was right!**" Ataru snorts
as he moves to take on the next group. "**You ARE worse than the Masters of
Noukiios!**"

"Oh, Darling's okay!" Lum giggles as she heads back to work.

Meanwhile, Nokoko and Mie charge out of one of the holes in the
cathedral walls, heading for a large, remote building on the palace grounds.
Mal flies out after them. "Beloved, where are you going?!" the
Nendo-kata-turned-Oni inquires.

"To Elle's stupid Refrigerator!!" Nokoko snarls. "I got a promise I'm
going to see fulfilled!"

From inside the cathedral, Babara watches with growing horror as Ataru's
sister and her companions heads to the Refrigerator of Love. "No!!" the aged
Ellsian gasps. "That witch must be stopped!"

She then gets buried by the unconscious bishop, knocked out by Nintaiko
and Donna! "He refused to bond us!!" the former snarls. "What a sub-
creature! Can't they see that our love is just as legitimate as Lum-chan's
love for Ataru-kun?!"

"Who cares about what these silly air-breathers think?!" Donna sighs.
"You're lucky you weren't here standing through this barbaric ceremony!! I
almost fell asleep the way he droned on like that!"

"Well, I best take you to bed, then!" Nintaiko beams as she sweeps Donna
into her arms, then levitates toward Nicole's palace.

"Hey, is someone going to get us out of these damn chains?!!" Lan cries
out.

"**Sure, I will...!**" Ataru looks at them after knocking back another
phalanx of Freemasons.

"Oh, Darling, you're so nice!!" Lan beams.

Ataru's eye-beam then slices through a still-intact section of the side
wall! It then collapses right atop his former classmates!! "**Not!!!**" the
machine-man mirthlessly laughs as he ploughs into another group of Freemasons.

"Darling...you're just...plain awful..." Lan's voice escapes from
somewhere under the wreckage.

After blasting a group of dignitaries with her lightning, Lum flies to
Ataru. "Darling, where's Nokoko, Mal and Mie?!"

Osooko comes up. "They're heading for this place where Elle keeps her
cryofrozen lovers," she reports. "I believe Nokoko-chan intends to see them
sent to the Black Ocean!"

"**Good!!**" Ataru snorts.

"No...you mustn't..." a weak voice pleads.

Everyone turns to see Babara crawling her way out from under the
unconscious bishop. "'Mustn't?!!'" Lum snarls, lightning dancing over her
body. "You old ghoul!!! After all of Elle's stupid tricks and lies, after
all the times she's barged in where she doesn't belong, if you think we're
going to let you off scot-free this time, you're wrong!!!"

"I agree!!" Ataru declares after reverting to normal. "This time,
Elle's going to be taught a lesson she won't soon forget!!!"

Seeing the uncompromising looks on their faces, Babara turns to Ataru.
"Mr. Groom, have mercy, I beg you!! You don't understand what's at stake
here!"

Ataru snorts, then looks at Lum. "Lum-chan, if I wasn't totally out of
it, did I telepathically hear you suggest that you let *it* out so it can
play?!"

"I did," the Oni smiles.

The devilish looks on their faces causes Babara to fearfully shudder.
"'I-it'...?" she gulps.

"This!!" Lum winds up, then belts Ataru with a concentrated blast of her
lighting right at the back of his head!

Ataru drops to his knees, then as a familiar transformation takes place,
a dirge-like voice utters from his lips. "*WHO LET ME OUT THIS TIME?!*" the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* inquires.

"I did," Lum smiles, gazing at the possessed teen. "After all, I think
you'd want to have a hand in destroying this place, considering that bitch
Elle wanted to cryofreeze your host...and you."

The sentient ninjitsu database icily smiles. "*IS THAT A FACT?!*" it
snarls. "*THEN I'LL JUST HAVE TO HEAT THINGS UP A BIT!!*"

Babara shudders as Lum and the Nendo-kata make themselves very scarce.
The possessed Ataru then begins a tai-chi like manoeuvre as the aged nanny
tries to flee. "***EARTH-HEART FIRE-GEYSER!!!!!!***"

Baran Cathedral explodes!!

* * *

"Whoo!!!" Nicole howls as everyone watches the fire-geyser consume the
cathedral and a quarter of the palace grounds from an open observation deck on
the crystal palace. "Now, *that's* a bang!!!"

Lum and the Nendo-kata land on the deck, then turn to wait for Ataru.
"Wow!" the Oni whistles. "They'll be digging out of there for a week!" She
then nods. "Serves them right for touching MY Darling!"

Ataru then sails out the geyser of lava, back in Cyborg form as he makes
a perfect landing on the deck behind them. "**And that...**" he transforms
back to normal, "...is that!!"

"Darling!!" Lum swamps him with a kiss. "You're okay!"

"Hey, without all that energy that thing stole from Memory, it can only
do so much with what little *mei'de* I've got in me!" Ataru smiles, then looks
around. "Where's Nokoko, Mal and Mie?!"

"We're here!" a voice calls out from above them.

Mal lands with Mie and Nokoko. "You okay, sis?!" Ataru comes up to his
sister. "Those creeps didn't hurt you, did they?!"

"Are you kidding me, Ataru-chan?!" Nokoko snorts, hugging her brother.
"Against the two of us, those clowns down below are a bunch of ameteurs!"

"And the Refrigerator?" Lum hesitantly inquires. "What about the Cute
Boys?! Did you...?"

She gives the Oni a content smile. "I'm a Nendo-kata now, Lum-
chan...have been one for twelve years," she sighs. "I'll gladly kill in the
name of Unity...but even I can't stomach a massacre."

"Good!" Mujanba sighs. "Now, let's skeddadle for home before the Royal
Ellsian Navy tries to prolong our stay."

"They won't get far as long as Elle's aboard," Nicole laughs, then
stares at Ataru. "So what do we do with her?"

"I still say dump her in the Outland," Ataru muses.

"I agree to that one!" Lum snarls.

"Don't," Donna's voice calls out.

Everyone turns to see Elle's sister walk onto the deck. "What do you
mean, Donna-chan?!" Lum blinks. "That witch has caused us so much
trouble...!"

"I know that, Lum-chan, but let my sister live, please," Donna calmly
interrupts. "There is so much more to her than meets the eye, a state of
affairs I'm still trying to understand. I know that casting her to the Black
Ocean now will eliminate any threat to the Unity between you and Ataru-kun,
but in the end run, I sincerely believe that we would be committing a crime
against the Unity."

Everyone considers the point. Ataru sighs resignedly. "I might
seriously regret this in the future, but I've got no stomach for killing the
little sleeze myself! We'll hang onto her until we get to the border, then
dump her out in a crystal tube so her people can find her...IF they still want
her as queen after this!"

"Let's go, then!" Nicole waves them inside.

They head into the palace as it ascends into orbit. Everyone relaxes in
a lounge as Mie sits beside Lum. "Hey, Lum-chan, I have a question," the
Kyushu native muses.

"What is it, Mie-chan?" the Oni stares at her.

"What's Hifuto Syndrome?"

Lum blinks as the name comes to her. "That's a very deadly
flesh-rotting disease, if I remember my health studies back in junior high.
It's said to be awfully contageous among a lot of humanoids, not to mention
fatal if not caught in the early stages." She then looks warily at her
classmate. "You don't have it, do you?!"

"No, I just saw it posted someone and I got curious," Mie stands,
heading over to join Asuka and Osooko. "Thanks."

Nearby, Nokoko and Mal stare at each other. "I guess there's a lot more
to that Refrigerator than meets the eye," the former muses.

"Perhaps Donna-chan has a right to be concerned," the latter hums.
"Maybe we should come back here sometime in the future."

"Let's wait until after our siblings are married so that Elle can't use
it into another try to grab my brother," Nokoko smiles as she draws her
life-mate into her embrace. "And speaking of such handfastings, how about you
and I take a trip to the altar?"

"Oh, Beloved, I'll be happy to," Mal purrs as they kiss.

Everyone smiles as some of the couples go to more private places to be
intimate with their mates. Mie notices a curious look on Asuka's face. "Hey,
you okay, Asuka?"

"I'm not sure," she hums. "But I got this weird feeling that we forgot
something when we left Baran."

"I can't think of anything," Mie innocently shrugs.

As the crystal palace warps for Earth, a titanic scream seems to echo
through space from Elle.

"***CURSE YOU, ATARU MOROBOSHI!!!!!!***"

* * *

Captain Invader emits a delighted laugh as he slaps Ataru in the back,
nearly causing him to fold in half. "Mr. Groom, you are some piece of
work!!!" he howls as everyone relaxes in the living room of Ataru's house a
day later, enjoying their victory celebration over Elle. "You planned all
that to save my daughter and your sister...and you pulled it off without our
help, too!!!"

"Even I couldn't've done it better," Nassur muses from nearby. "I guess
there's a lot more to you than meets the eye, Ataru."

"Well, what did you expect after I found out what I've got in the back
of my mind?!" Ataru shrugs sheepishly. "But, at least Nokoko-chan's school is
intact again...and despite my show of mercy at the end, I don't think Elle's
going to be around for a while."

"I hope never again!!" Lum snarls.

"Ditto here!" Ataru sweeps her into his arms, then kisses her.

Everyone lets out a chorus of wolf-calls and cheers. "Well, why are you
all celebrating?!" Osooko demands, conspicuously alone. "What about me?!
What am I supposed to without a mate of my own?!"

The other Nendo-kata are sympathetic. "Osooko-chan, you did agree to
allow Asuka-chan to go back to her family so she can tackle her fear of
males," Tatsuko warns. "Even if she does desire to return to you, she will
have to be rid of her phobia if she is going to live or work anywhere outside
of this compound, especially with Ataru-kun and Jason-kun living here."

"T-true," Osooko sniffs.

"Don't worry, Osooko-chan," Ataru smiles at Oyuki's sister. "I'll get
Grandma to loan you a Kuromoroboshi so you can send letters to Asuka-chan
whenever you want...and it's guaranteed since there's no way Asuka-chan's
mother can interfere."

"Thank you, Ataru-kun," Osooko then smiles.

"Speaking of your former classmates, Ataru," Nassur looks concerned,
"...but what are you going to do now that you left half of them on Elle when
you bugged out with everyone else?! They're not going to forgive you for that
one, you know!"

"Much that I hate to admit it, he's right," Benten sighs.

Ataru groans. "Well, if Elle's smart, she'll execute the whole lot and
I'll never have to think of them again!"

"Since when has Elle EVER been smart?!" Koosei muses.

"True," Ataru looks down, his shoulders slumping.

"And speaking of which," Nassur's eyes glow. "I think that's them right
now! They're coming up from the south fence."

"And they aren't here for a social call," Nokoko's eyes glow.

"Too bad," Ataru recovers. "Give me the phone!"

Lum hands him the cordless phone. He dials a number...just as Mendou's
incensed voice bellows from outside. "***MOROBOSHI!!!! YOU DARE LEAVE US
BEHIND WHEN YOU MADE YOUR GETAWAY WITH LUM-SAN?!?! COME OUT RIGHT NOW SO THAT
YOU CAN BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR HEINOUS SIN!!!!***"

Sirens are then heard, followed by surprised shouts. "Hey!!!" Megane
screams. "What are you doing?!! Get those things off us!!"

"Quiet!" a policeman is then heard. "You're under arrest!!"

"Arrest?!!" Shinobu yelps. "Why are you arresting us?!"

Lum walks to the door, staring outside to see her classmates now on the
sand, their hands cuffed behind their back as a platoon of Oshika's finest
prepare to drag them off. "Lum-san, please call these people off!!" Mendou
gasps. "Tell them what's going on!!"

"Why should I?!" the Oni snorts, not the least bit impressed. "After
all, you're the ones who're breaking the court injunction!"

"***COURT INJUNCTION?!?!?!***" everyone else screams.

"That's right!!" the platoon sergeant waves the familiar note now posted
on every telephone pole in Tomobiki in front of Mendou's face. "Don't you
people from Tomobiki know that there are things called 'laws' that you're not
supposed to break?! Take them away!"

"Lum-chan, help us!!" Lan screams as the police drag them off.

"Don't look at me, Lan," Lum snorts, looking away. "It's not my fault
that you can't understand that Earth has its own laws and that they have to be
obeyed even by us!!"

The students let out defeated moans as they are dragged away. Ataru,
Nassur and Koosei watch from the doorway. "Now, that's cruel!" the teacher
lets out an awed whistle.

"Are you implying that what they did to me is any less?!" Ataru icily
glares at Koosei.

"I didn't say that!" Koosei shakes his head...

* * *

A day later, Nicole's crystal palace makes rendezvous with the "Kashin"
over Earth. Also arriving on the scene is a golden-hulled hawk-shaped ship
half the battle wagon's size. In the hangar deck of the "Kashin," a military
greeting party waits as a shuttle docks. Captain Invader, in his clan
leader's uniform, marches up as a tall woman disembarks. "Welcome aboard the
Urusian Defence Force Ship 'Kashin,' Your Grace. I'm Captain Invader."

The woman, golden-skinned like all Zeiwanites, nods. "Thank you,
Captain. I bring greetings from the Prime Minister. He wishes you and your
family well."

As the greetings continue, Lum and Ataru stand in the row of spectators
nearby. "You know these people?" the Terran whispers.

"Daddy knows their Prime Minister," the Oni replies. "Before he was
elected, he was Ambassador to Uru."

The parade is dismissed. Captain Invader escorts the priest to the
observation gallery for refreshments. Lum and Ataru stay out of her father's
way. Arriving in the lounge, the two meet Brother Darklight Sunfire, who
waits there along with the other monks working for Nagaiwakai Moroboshi, not
to mention the guests from Earth. "Ataru, Lum," the tall Zephyrite nods.

"Hi, Brother Sunfire," the Terran smiles. "Thanks for arranging for
this."

"A pity we could not have done this ourselves," Brother Sunfire looks
embarrassed. "Despite our advancements, our churches do not have proper
procedures for same-sex matings."

"Nor do many other races," Lum sighs.

The monk nods, then walks away. Ataru's mother walks up. "Honestly,
Ataru!" she snorts. "Did you actually agree to allowing your sister to go
through this barbaric ceremony?!"

"'Barbaric?!'" Lum growls. "If you want to know, the Zeiwanites are
considered one of the most culturally advanced races in the Federation!"

"Ignore her," Ataru looks away. "She'll still grow old and die alone."

Kinshou faints! "Lum!!!" an incensed voice barks.

Yukio storms up, fixing Lum with an icy glare. "Wh-what is it, Yukio?"
the Oni stammers.

"I hear that you're still trying to drag Koichi back to Tomobiki," the
hybrid growls, leaning at her. "What's the matter?! Can't try to dominate
him without the help of those lap-dogs you've depended on for so long?!"

"Th-th-that's not t-t-true," Lum stammers.

"Yukio..." Ataru sighs.

"This, I warn you," Yukio points a threatening finger at Lum. "If you
think you're going to get away with betraying Koichi, you're mistaken!" the
hybrid points at Lum. "Do it again and I'll **take** Koichi away from you!!"

Lum gulps as Yukio marches away. "And that's a promise!!" she growls as
she walks away.

"Nice to see I'm popular," Ataru rubs the back of his head.

* * *

An hour later, the guests shift to the crystal palace. Nicole has
already arranged to have a large room converted to a temporary temple for
Nokoko's and Mal's handfasting. In her room, Nokoko slips into a ladies'
tuxedo, complete with bow tie and ankle-length skirt. Ataru waits for her by
the door. "You okay?"

"Am I?" she sighs. "I can see why you've been so hesitant on marrying
Lum. I've got butterflies in my stomach the size of battleships!"

"Hey," he pats her shoulder. "C'mon! Mal-chan's waiting!"

Nokoko nods, then slips her arm through his. The two step into the
temple. Nokoko is awed at the crowd awaiting her. "Wow!" she whispers.
"I've never seen so many people in all my life!"

"Don't let the amount fool you," he warns. "They're just here because
Lum's here."

In the back rows of the temple, Mendou and the guards look around.
They, along with Shinobu and Lan, had just been brought aboard at the last
minute. "A wedding?" Megane adjusts his glasses. "Who's getting married?"

"Nokoko and Mal are!" Ryuunosuke smiles, clearly excited by events.
"Great, isn't it?!"

The five boys pale. "What?!!" Mendou bolts up. "Moroboshi's weird
sister marrying Lum-san's maniac doppelganger?!! We shall never permit this
to happen!!"

"What are you going to do about it?!" Sakura muses.

"Heh!!" Megane laughs. "We'll just state our objections when the priest
asks for them!"

"Can't do that!" Benten giggles.

"Eh?!" the leader of the guards looks confused.

"Sensualist handfastings don't have that!" the Fukunokami snickers.
"You can't say a thing to stop this!!" she mockingly chants. "This time, you
lose!!"

"What?!!" Kakugari howls. "This is unforgivable!!! We will not allow
this to...!"

Koosei's Saturn Five crushes Mendou and the guards!!!! "Yes, it is
unforgivable to interrupt a handfasting!!" the teacher snarls. "Keep it up
and I'll get Oyuki-chan and Osooko-chan to freeze you solid!!!"

"You better realize that's an emergency escape hatch you're sitting
over," Nassur adds.

Mendou and the guards confirm their position, then try to
escape...before crystal cables snare them and bind them into place! "Not a
chance!!" Nicole walks up, winking at the five helpless boys. "Ataru-kun
warned us about you idiots! Sit back and relax!!"

The five boys helplessly moan. Nicole sits beside Mujanba, Jason and
Muzainba in the front row. Also there are the other Nendo-kata, Sakura and
Brother Sunfire. "I should apologize to you," the Zephyrite monk leans over.

"Eh?!" the Shinto priestess looks surprised. "Why?"

"Well, this is something your religion does not recognize."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" she giggles. "Ookako-chan'll do this
someday. I'm looking forward to this."

"You would condone this barbarism?!" Cherry leans at her from the row
behind.

"The gods work in mysterious ways!" his niece responds. "I will not be
denied the chance to see all their works in action!!"

Cherry is then crushed into his seat by Captain Invader. "I hear a peep
out of you, shrimp, and I'll spare Mr. Groom the trouble of ridding himself
and Lum-chan of you!" the large Oni growls.

"It's fate...!" the monk moans.

By that time, the Sensualist priestess finishes her pre-ceremony
prayers. "May the intended join together," she declares.

Nokoko looks back to see Lum escort Mal to her side. The Nendo-kata-
turned-Oni is dressed in a tuxedo matched with a lovely turquoise gown
reflective of the sea. Seeing her future mate approach, Ataru's sister
reflects on all the times they had shared together, separated by species and
other factors. Suddenly, her doubts disappear as Mal joins Nokoko at the
altar. The two face each other, grasping hands as the priestess raises her
hands in offering. "I call upon the Mother Goddess to bless the promises
about to be exchanged."

Ataru and Lum are present to present objects aiding the handfasting.
"May this water represent the pledge of blood, the uniting of flesh, the
covenant of your hearts, forever joined, never to be separated," the Oni
presents an ornate cup bearing a mix of tiger-star gems and golden tigers,
representing the two clans.

She hands the cup to her sister. On Mal's insistence, water,
representing the Mother Ocean, was used as the sacramental fluid. Facing
Nokoko, she smiles. "My love, I am forever yours."

She drinks, then hands the cup to Lum, who passes it to Ataru, then to
Nokoko. Facing Mal, Nokoko smiles. "Beloved, I am yours forever."

She drinks, then passes the cup to Ataru, who returns it to Lum. As the
Oni places the cup aside, Ataru picks up a silk pillow bearing a pair of
beautiful diamond wedding rings. Nokoko takes one and slips it on Mal's
finger. Ataru passes the pillow to Lum. Mal takes the other ring and slips
it on Nokoko's finger. The two hold hands. "Until death and beyond," Nokoko
smiles, "...never apart, never parted."

"Forever together," Mal completes, "...forever One."

They kiss. In the crowd, couples hold hands. Shinobu looks incensed on
seeing Nassur and Benten snuggle, but an incensed stare from Dakejinzou stops
her. "As you have sworn, so shall it be done," the priestess concludes. "Let
no mortal tear asunder what has been vowed this day. May the Mother Goddess
bless you, protect you and preserve your Union now and forever more."

Everyone cheers...

*** The End (Or Is It?!) ***