Silence fell as Lum took that in, and then she screamed out in mortal terror as she flew for the open window of Ataru's hospital room for her scoutship.
And, no doubt, for the flight back to her home planet, the Doctor knew.
"You have heard of me, no doubt," he mused aloud as he watched the Oni princess vanish into the evening sky over Tomobiki, and then he shook his head before he turned his eyes towards the still body on the diagnostic bed beyond. "My, my . . . "
Walking over, he placed his hand on the clammy skin of Ataru's forehead. The body was already starting to cool; rigour mortis had begun to set in. Closing his eyes for a moment as he sent an omniversal scanning wave through the cadaver's brain, he then grinned as a familiar sensation -- the same sensation he had sensed not so long ago when Moroboshi Ataru first came to the Doctor's attention -- echoed deep within his own mind. "Now to ensure that all learn of this," he said as he withdrew his hand from Ataru's forehead, and then he turned to gaze nowhere in particular.
Of course, what constituted a simple "gaze" for a being like Doctor Destructo was something far more different than could possibly be imagined . . .
As for Lum's reaction to the Doctor's introduction, it's easily explained.
Fans of the Harry Potter series have known, right from their first read of the first book, that most people in Britain's wizarding society found it almost impossible to speak the name of Lord Voldemort aloud. The being born from the blackest of magic and the darkest part of the soul of Tom Marvolo Riddle had come to frighten so many people that the belief soon arose among the wizards and witches of Great Britain that to speak Voldemort's very own name would bring the Dark Lord upon their heads, that soon to be followed by a quick Avada Kedavra spell.
Now, translate that belief to fall upon all the spacefaring races of the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.
Then, to add spice to the mix, take an analogue of all the weirdness that had haunted Tomobiki since the First Tag Race.
Add onto it an analogue of all the weirdness that had haunted neighbouring Fuurinkan ward in Nerima since Saotome Ranma's arrival at the Tendou doojou.
Toss into the mix an analogue of all the weirdness that had haunted the Hinata Inn since Urashima Keitarou became its kanrinin.
Spice it up with analogues of all the strange happenings that have haunted the Azabu-Juuban district of Tokyo's Minato Ward since Sailor Moon first got her powers.
For extra spice, add in analogues of all the strange happenings that have haunted other chaos nexi across Japan, such as a certain shrine run by the Masaki family, to say anything of a large school complex called the Mahora Academy.
And then, to act as the perfect topping, layer it with analogues of all the fights between various superheroes and supervillains that had rocked the United States and other countries since the last son of Krypton made his public debut in Metropolis as Superman and the day Peter Parker decided the power that would make him Spider-Man came with great responsibility.
Got it so far? Good.
Now, take all that, then magnify it to a planetary scale.
Magify it again to the nth degree.
Put it on a planet that could be conductive enough to sustain such chaos.
Result . . .
The planet Yiziba and its native race of metahumanoids, the Yizibajohei.
Got it?
Good.
Now, try to imagine what sort of society could exist on such a planet.
A world where everyone -- man, woman and child -- had some sort of power which would make him/her quite unique if such a person ever lived on a planet of "norms" (using the Yizibajohei slang term for those born without paranormal powers) like the natives of Earth, much less a planet of "sames" (again, using the Yizibajohei slang term for those born with the very same type of paranormal power) like the natives of Lum's homeworld.
Can you think of it?
Could you imagine such a place?
What sort of society could exist there?
What type of government could rise in such a place?
Would there be one single society (like Lum's homeword) or multiple groupings all sharing one biosphere (like Earth)?
What would it be like?
Still having trouble imagining it?
Okay, this writer will help you a bit.
It could be summed up in two words.
Total Chaos!
Got it now?
Wonderful! Back to the story . . .
The Doctor raised his hands as a clipboard suddenly appeared there. Taking the pen linked to the board in hand, he then began to jot down notes in well-scripted kanji and kana; being who he was, understanding a language even as complex as Japanese was simplicity in itself. Once the autopsy report was filled out, the Doctor then dispatched it to the coroner's office.
Of course, given that Ataru had just died, it would be a while before an actual autopsy would be done on the poor lad's corpse. And, given the overwhelming propensity most Japanese felt when it came to "not rocking the boat" -- that tacked onto the lad's own sullied reputation -- it didn't take the Doctor long to realize that if something had not been done about it right away, the truth about Ataru's life and death would never see the light of day.
For this small part of the vast mosaic called "Earth" -- a mosaic the Doctor was determined to remake in Yiziba's own image -- that would be a very good first step.
But first . . .
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(Posted Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:47)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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