Fûrinkan High School…
"…are now coming out of Tomobiki and neighbouring districts concerning the intervention lead by the ground forces of the Imperial Dominion of Noukiios and supported by the United Nations Special Committee on Alien Activities and the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, along with volunteer martial artists from the infamous 'Seven Battle Schools' located throughout Kantô," the NHK street reporter stated as she waved behind her to indicate cuffed and defeated alien observers now under the watchful guard of Imperial Marines, the location marked as "somewhere in Tomobiki." "According to a spokesperson for the Seven Schools, Hokona Uru of Rakuyô Senior High School in Bunkyô Ward in Tôkyô, at least three hundred and sixty of these aliens have been found and detained in Tomobiki and other parts of Nishitôkyô, as well as the neighbouring cities of Nerima, Musashino, Kodaira, Koganei, Niiza and Higashikurume. As to why they are here, the United Nations Secretary-General, Kimun Pan, reported in a briefing at the National Diet that they all — and this is NO joke, ladies and gentlemen! — are worshippers of none other than Lum Redet, the alien princess of the planet Uru who came to Earth over a year ago and currently resides in Tomobiki…"
"Eh?! People from other worlds actually WORSHIP that alien girl?!"
That question came from one Kei Arimori, member of Year 1 Class D of Fûrinkan High School. A pretty girl originally from Ikoma in Nara prefecture close to Kyôto, she had long pink hair she styled in two odango-like buns at her temples, blue-green eyes peeking out of her face. She was a childish girl who had been into cosplay for quite some time; Kei was always the hit at parties when she would show up as a magical girl like the characters in Sailor Moon and other shows like it. And like many girls at school, she harboured a secret crush on one particular student in this class, though she knew it was not wise to ever express her interest openly. Not if she wanted to avoid a very lengthy stay in intensive care thanks to two girls in her very class, a warrior-maiden from China or a psychotic rhythmic martial arts gymnast whose brother was a second-year student at this school and whose father was the principal.
"Sounds like it," Ruriko Minegishi mused from her seat. Another out-of-town girl (she was from Takatsuki near Ôsaka), she was a girl with long brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes under glasses. Like Kei, she also had a deep crush on Ranma Saotome, one that was nurtured thanks to his constantly standing up to the principal (who always seemed to try to find some nefarious way of shearing the hair of girls like Ruriko's off to conform to his weird standards). She also particularly didn't care one bit for either Akane Tendô or Ukyô Kuonji; while she didn't have proof positive of what might be going on with those two, she did suspect that neither of them were very honest with the man they were honour-bound to marry. "Oh, my!" she gasped, pointing at the television, which was now situated by the teacher's desk. "It's Ranma-kun!"
Shocked gasps echoed through the crowd as another NHK reporter began her on-the-scene analysis. "This is Tsumeko Okumoto, currently in Nerima prefecture not several blocks from Fûrinkan High School," she stated. "As you can see, the famous martial arts prodigy Ranma Saotome, who is a close friend of Lum Redet's, came out to assist the tôshi of the Seven Battle Schools in ensuring the crowds around the bases where these aliens had hid themselves were not harmed when the Noukiite soldiers came in to capture them. Right now, he is currently accompanied by what looks like Saotome-san himself in female form. Let's see if he'll give us an interview." She turned and waved to him. "Saotome-san! Could you come here, please?!" she called out.
As the crowd in Class 1-D watched, Ranma perked, and then smiling, came up, his female replica right at his side and clinging to one of his arms. "Hey!" he called out, waving back. "You're Tsumeko Okumoto-san, right?! From NHK here in Nerima?!"
The reporter perked. "H-hai! You've seen me before?!"
A nod. "Hai! You do good work! So what's up?"
"Well, all our viewers — and this is certainly now going beyond the limits of Japan as we are feeding this interview to CNN, the BBC and elsewhere — are very interested as to what the visiting dignitaries from Noukiios now at the National Diet visiting Prime Minister Kôga and Secretary-General Pan just revealed concerning these other aliens here. Since you are Lum-san's friend, could you please elaborate as what this was all about and why both the United Nations and the Noukiites are taking such harsh action against them?"
Ranma sighed. "Well, these aliens are called 'Niphentaxians' and they all, for some really dorky reason, see Lum as a living goddess. I just found out the whole truth about this over the weekend, when Lum finally got married to her fiancée, Tariko Hana. This is what they've been doing since they came here…!"
He then explained what he had heard concerning the Church of Lum and what they had been doing concerning their "goddess," her "holy company"…and what especially they would have gladly done to the man they denounced as the "great evil" (not to mention anyone else who they decided needed elimination). As that news was relayed across Japan and the world, the members of Class 1-D could only shake their heads in disbelief. "I once heard space was said to be weird, but THIS takes the cake!" Daisuke Bosabosa said, shaking his head. "Jeez…!"
"Yeah," Hiroshi Chanpatsu muttered as he crossed his arms.
"Poor Lum-chan!" Sayuri Asano breathed out. "I'm glad that Ranma-kun was there for her and her fiancée! To live under something like THAT…!"
"But how is it that Ranma-kun was able to get away from his fiancées here in town to go visit Lum-chan and that Tariko girl?" Yuka Tokoro asked before she turned to gaze on Akane. "Akane-chan? Did you know anything about this?!"
Akane shook her head. "Not a thing, Yuka. Not a thing."
"I was totally clueless about it, too," Ukyô added. "Ran-chan never said a thing to me." She then waved to the television. "Then again, if this is for real…"
"Looks pretty real to me," Kei mused, and then she perked. "Oh! Listen!"
"…who is this girl anyway, Saotome-san?" Tsumeko asked as she indicated the beautiful redhead at Ranma's side. "Many people are aware of your magical curse that transforms you into a girl looking exactly like this; you appeared this way on the news Saturday evening when you helped chase those gunmen after Randy Hammond. So…&?"
Ranma chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his companion. "This here is a clone of my female self made by the Niphentaxians as a way of creating the perfect assassin to go after people like Ataru or anyone else they may have hated," he stated. "Her name's Hitomi Hayashi; she's taken my father's pre-marriage name as her own."
"Konnichi wa, Okumoto-sensei!" Hitomi chirruped as she smiled at the reporter.
Tsumeko laughed as she bowed to the other woman. "Konnichi wa, Hitomi-chan. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be here today?"
"Sure!" Hitomi stated. "I'm what's called an Avalonian. In truth, I'm a bioroid that was created inside a great factory on one of the worlds currently under Niphentaxian control in the main part of the system. The body itself was later brought here to Earth and the DNA in it was templated after Onii-chan's female body."
"You're an android?!" Tsumeko asked.
"No, no, Sensei! Bi-o-roid! Just like in Appleseed…!"
As that explanation continued, the people of Class 1-D began to look ill. "Holy shit!" Daisuke gasped. "That poor kid! Good thing Ranma came along when he did!"
"Damn straight about that, Dai!" Hiroshi breathed out as many of the people in the room nodded their heads. "These Niphentaxians are fuckin' SICK!"
"Amen to that, bro'!" another man in the class chimed.
"No wonder Lum-san hates them," Kei spat out.
Others nodded. "…what do you intend to do now, Hitomi-chan?" Tsumeko asked.
"Well, I'm sure that Otô-chan, Okâ-chan and Hiojii-chan won't mind my coming into the family," Hitomi mused as she shrugged. "After all, Okâ-chan's always wanted a daughter and even if Onii-chan can turn into a girl, he was born a boy and he needs to be a boy if he's going to marry his girlfriend Tsueko-onêchan…!"
Silence fell over the class as eyes turned to gaze on Akane and Ukyô…
Tomobiki High School, Class 2-4, that very moment…
"So this is why you needed to keep us — especially Mendô, Megane and his crew — in the class until the Noukiites showed up, right?"
Shiryû nodded. Even though both she and Unchô had relaxed themselves when it came to the members of the class leaving the room, none of the students there had moved from their seats since the television had been wheeled in and (for those who had not learned things beforehand) they watched as their whole worldview had been smashed apart. "That is correct, Fujinami-san. Since this entire town — save for most of this school and the Moroboshi home — have been covered in sensors the Niphentaxians laid out to observe and monitor everything you did, we simply couldn't afford to take the chance with any of you." She then nodded to the copies of the Book of Lum that had been brought into the class from the nearby Niphentaxian agent bases, all removed by the Noukiites and transported to the school by students from Seito and Yoshû so the "holy company" could see the holy book of the Church of Lum for themselves.
Eyes locked on the people so affected by this. "So what's it like, Ryûnosuke-kun?" Tomoko Honda, a girl with long raven-black hair and grey eyes behind glasses who worked as a volunteer librarian, asked as people gathered around Ryûnosuke's desk.
The tomboy was shaking her head. "Some of this stuff, I recognise. But the rest of it…!" She then closed her copy of the Book and set it aside. "Fuck! How many people did Lum say worshipped her from this place?!"
"Fifteen billion," Unchô answered.
Jaws hit the floor. "Shit!" Kakugari breathed out.
Eyes locked on the Stormtroopers. "What do you guys think?" Kasumi Nanase, a very cute girl with dark brown hair curled inward at her shoulders and dark brown eyes — she was often seen as the "class baby" due to her always getting scared, crying and hiding under her desk whenever something scary or weird happened — then asked.
Silence fell as the Stormtroopers exchanged looks, and then Megane stood up. He walked over to Ataru's empty desk, staring at his picture for a moment, and then he nodded before straightening himself, clapping his hands once and bowing to give his prayers. Everyone remained silence as he did that, and then they watched as he straightened himself. "You ultimately did what we all promised we'd do for Lum-san when she first came to us, Ataru. And while you were helping Lum-san and Tariko-san, you also managed to do everything you could to free that kami inside you so she could live her own life even at the cost of your own," he solemnly declared. "I wish you were alive now so I could say 'I'm sorry' for all the crap I caused you, but I hope that wherever you are now, man, you can rest assured that you did what you vowed you'd do."
A chair scraped back on the floor. People then watched as Mendô stood up and walked over to stand beside Megane in front of Ataru's desk. The scion of Japan's richest family remained still for a moment, and then clapped his hands once and deeply bowed to the picture before him, whispering his own prayers. He then straightened himself. "A man can make mistakes, but only a fool makes the same mistakes many times over," he then said. "You showed up my many weaknesses and shortcomings as we sparred, Ataru, while gladly and publicly acknowledging your own weaknesses and shortcomings. As you gladly stood there and allowed the insults, curses and attacks that were hurled your way to rebound off you, you clearly showed us there was much more to you than what others believed." A chuckle. "Please forgive us for not seeing that until it was too late. You, Ataru, were born of the blood of ninjas.
"You died a samurai."
"Amen to that," Perm said as he stood up.
"Fuckin' A!" Kakugari snarled as he also got to his feet.
"Hear-hear!" Chibi whooped as he got up.
In a strange echo of what the girls had done a couple hours earlier, the boys then rose and formed a line of prayer to Ataru's desk as they made their own farewells to him. The girls all smiled as they watched this, those "in the know" about what really happened the previous evening exchanging a knowing look and nod with the others.
When that was done, people then turned their attention back to the television, which was still showing an interview between NHK reporter Tsumeko Okumoto and Ranma Saotome, he accompanied by Hitomi Hayashi. "…others created with you?!" Tsumeko asked.
"Hai," Hitomi said with a nod, and then she looked over. "Kaori! Minami! Atsumi! C'mon over here! Tsumeko-sensei wants to ask you some questions!"
Everyone fell silent as they watched three other women walk into camera range…
The Tendô home…
"OH, MY!" Kasumi cried, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Fûrinkan High School, Class 2-D…
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Nabiki screamed out.
And in Class 1-D…
"THAT'S ME!" Akane gasped as she pointed at the screen.
Tomobiki High School…
"Damn! Ranma's fiancée and her sisters, too?!" Megane demanded.
Other shushed him as the interview continued. "…cloned to ensure no one could suspect any changes had Ranma-kun's soul been absorbed into Hitomi-chan's body?" Tsumeko asked as the cameras focused on the three newcomers to the interview.
"Essentially correct," Minami Tendô stated; she had fallen into the position of spokesperson for the clones of the Tendô sisters. "Of course, our 'masters'…" — She thumbed to the half-dozen Niphentaxian spies, who were now being hoisted onto their feet, their hands (still tied behind their backs) now chained onto a high bar suspended between two scout flitters at two metres' altitude, which would make sure they would go wherever their captors decided. — "…failed to realise that if Ranma-sama suddenly could not change back to being a guy, something weird was going on. Atop that, Genma-ojisama and Happôsai-ojiisama, not to mention Elder Cologne here…" — She indicated the two multi-centenarians, both again perched on Hitomi's shoulders. — "…would have sensed the massive difference of ki patterns between Ranma-sama in his normal body and Ranma-sama in an Avalonian body."
"So where exactly are people like yourself…well, built (not to mince words about that)?" the reporter then asked.
All four shook their heads. "I'm afraid we weren't programmed with that knowledge, Sensei," Kaori responded with a shrug. "It was just luck enough that all four of us acquired the skills necessary to control our psionic abilities from what was taken from the factory itself when the assembly line was brought here three weeks ago and we were templated and allowed to awaken. As to where the factory is…"
"They might know," Atsumi said as she nodded derisively at the Niphentaxians, who were now being marched away from the scene. "I'm sure the Noukiites will ask them."
"I hope they will," Tsumeko stated, and then she perked as something came in through her Bluetooth earpiece before she said, "Thank you so much for your time."
"Our pleasure," Ranma said as the others nodded.
The reporter then faced the camera as those she had just interviewed walked off. "We're going to turn things now to a CNN reporter currently in Tomobiki, who is now with Lum Redet and her wife, Tariko Hana, currently at the Moroboshi home. This is Tsumeko Okumoto for NHK news in Nerima, Tôkyô-to. Komugi-san?"
The image then changed to that of a girl with glasses over dark brown eyes and neck-length shaggy chestnut hair. "With thanks to the people of NHK for their contributions to the reporting of this momentous day for Earth," she said in English as subtitles appeared on the screen underneath her. "This is Komugi Itô for CNN, currently at the Moroboshi home in Tomobiki, west of Tôkyô. With me now is perhaps the most famous expatriate resident of this suburb of Earth's largest city and her just-married wife — Lum Redet of the planet Uru and Tariko Hana of Wakkanai in Hokkaidô at the northern end of Japan — who got married in a private ceremony yesterday morning on the front lawn here as witnessed by the first four visitors from the planet Noukiios known to have come to our world." The camera panned over to where Lum and Tariko were standing arm-in-arm at the front gate of the Moroboshi home, both looking quite happy. "Miss Redet, Miss Hana…or should we actually now say Mrs. Redet, Mrs. Hana…?" she then called out in English as Tariko and Lum laughed. "First of all, how does it feel to be finally out of the closet and married to each other?"
"Simply wonderful!" Lum said, also speaking English, as Tariko laughed.
"And we'll figure out who wears the pants in our relationship sooner or later," Tariko added in English as she winked, which made Lum laugh (not to mention many of the girls in Class 2-4 as they watched this). "But in truth, Lum and I have been married all along. Among her people, doing this…" — She then reached up to gently tag the Oni's horns. — "…is the official act of getting married. All the stuff with a church, the wedding dresses and all that is just window dressing."
"So what would happen if someone else tags an Oni's horns that were tagged earlier?" Komugi then asked. "If marrying someone like Lum here is THAT easy…?"
"Well, technically, if they did that, it's considered an act of rape," Tariko answered as her face turned neutral. "And while many of the people here in Tomobiki — or so both Lum and I have often feared — will do much for her, I hope they would never do THAT to her." She then breathed out, "Unlike the Niphentaxians, of course. Not to mention groups on her home planet who wouldn't like learning Lum is a lesbian."
"WHAT?!" many people in Class 2-4 screamed out.
"Such as who?" Komugi immediately asked.
"Well, much that I wouldn't want to bore people with a bit of my planet's history, I've got no choice," Lum replied. "Two centuries ago your time, my world was the heart of a feudal empire quite similar to what existed in Europe in the Middle Ages. We knew of your planet even back then, but we never took interest towards opening contact with you since you ARE an indigenous species and we feared even then that neighbouring interplanetary empires — Noukiios, for example — would intervene." A sigh. "Even further, studying Earth culture and society was quite a fad amongst my people back then. So you can probably guess what the reaction might have been when we learned of the American — and especially the French — Revolutions."
"There was a woman who lived back then," Tariko added. "Her name was Syl Aruka; she's a relative of Lum's friend Ran, in fact. She was pretty high up in the Imperial hierarchy, but began to realise that a lot of the ideas folks like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were talking about back then were pretty good ones. So she tried to usher that in among Lum's people." She lowered her eyes. "Sadly, the powers that were in control back then didn't take too well to that."
"When she was killed one day when trying to agitate the population to rise up against their 'betters'…" — One could sense the derision in Lum's voice as she said that word. — "…our Union Revolution began, which eventually saw the government of the Empire pulled down and replaced by the modern Union," Lum added.
"A democratic regime?" Komugi asked.
Lum and Tariko exchanged a look before both turned back. "It's more of a military-run meritocracy more than anything else," the former then replied.
"A military junta, you mean?"
"Not like places such as the Philippines under Marcos or South Korea under Pak," Tariko then said. "True, you got to be a serving military officer to achieve high posting in government. But a lot of the folks who do get up there are actually quite capable people who care for what they've been tasked to do and care for the people they swore they would protect when they first joined the Defence Forces."
"Our president, General Lana Hozan, is an example of this," Lum added. "Granted, some would say I'm prejudiced because he's a personal friend of my parents, but I will say that in the last ten years he has been President of the Central Cabinet Command — the President of the Union — many people's lives on Uru and her colonies have improved greatly. And since many people on Uru view Earth with considerable kindness due to our long interest in your world, that you were made 'safe' by our 'invasion' a year ago is another victory banner for him and those who serve under him."
"What was that all about, anyway?" Komugi then asked. "Many people around Earth — especially here in Japan — have long been curious as to the incredible shift of attitude you and your father showed after Ataru Moroboshi defeated you in the First Tag Race. What exactly were your people's intentions a year ago?"
"To protect Earth from invasion by the enemies of my own race and our allies across the local cluster: the Ipraedies Empire," Lum replied, and then she explained.
"Just like Ran-chan told us back on Saturday when K'ekhech-dono came," Chibi said.
"Damn…!" Megane breathed out. "Talk about blind-man's bluff!"
"Let us hope these Ipraedies don't call it," Mendô noted.
"With the Noukiites involved?" Kakugari mused. "Doubt it."
At the end of Lum's explanation, Komugi moved to get the interview back on track: "So even if your people are prosperous and happy with your current form of government, I assume there are people who would like to turn back the clock and restore the Empire?"
"Unfortunately, there are," Lum said with a nod. "Some of them are in very high places, in fact. While I don't know all the names and I wouldn't want to say anything in public at this time, I…" She then stopped as she closed her eyes.
"They're out there," Tariko said as she held Lum tight. "And in a way, they're as much a pack of fanatic stalkers as the Niphentaxians." She waved to her wife. "Lum has the 'luck' to be directly descent from the last Emperor, so she would be seen as the first leader of the Second Empire if it ever rose." The hand pointed down to the Oni's abdomen. "And for bastards like that, this beautiful woman is only worth one thing to them. And while medical technology does make having a child between a lesbian couple quite easy, to those misogynist jerks back on Uru…" She shook her head.
"I see," Komugi breathed out.
In the classroom, people exchanged looks. "Damn!" Ryûnosuke breathed out for them all.
"You can say that again, Ryûnosuke," Shinobu mused as she crossed her arms.
In a cavern under the mountains north of Nippara…
"This lady was actually a man, My Lady?"
Kyech nodded as she sat on the work table located in what had once been the central control room of the vast underground complex drilled into the bedrock of the earth west of the famous Nippara Limestone Cave and close to the Issekiyama Shrine. "Hai." She then closed her eyes. "Julie is still in mourning over a lost friend."
Hearing that, the captain in charge of the platoon that had been landed in Nippara perked, and then he nodded. "I understand, My Lady. Is the lady under parole?"
Kyech nodded. "Hai."
He turned then to the woman standing beside Kyech, a very beautiful girl with a childish face, shaggy black hair and deep blue-grey eyes, now dressed in a T-shirt under a pullover sweater and stylish slacks. "My deepest condolences for the loss of your friend, Lady Julia," he stated with a graceful bow. "May we at least know your birth-name so that it can be entered into the official record of this campaign?"
"Juhzi dai-Nyhon," Julie said as she held up a card with her original name and her former and current Earth names written there in Rômaji. "As a man, I called myself 'Jules Nike.'" She impishly smiled. "Now I'll be 'Julie Nike.'" Her smile then faded as her eyes began to tear. "If only I could have been this way for Fungi…"
The captain nodded in understanding. "With all due respect for your loss, Lady Julia, may I ask as to how Lord Fungi met his death?" he tenderly inquired.
Julie instantly froze before a sob escaped her and she hugged herself. As the soldiers there all began to panic and the captain tried to fluster out an apology, Kyech took a deep breath. "He was executed for apostasy," she answered for her new friend.
The soldiers gaped, and then they grimaced. Apostasy was decriminalised on Noukiios as one of the many steps the government of Ep'ye launched to finally bring the Tri-Kingdoms era to a final end two millennia ago. "I am sure the Ch'uoeuk would have immediately granted Lord Fungi the Final Judgement and he currently now enjoys his heavenly reward, Lady Julia," the captain solemnly declared as he deeply bowed.
"Arigatô," Julie said with a smile as she stared at him, and then she turned to Kyech. "Kyech-san, when will Shasta, Mack and Connie be brought here?" She waved to three covered gestation units nearby. "Their new bodies are ready."
A sigh. "We need to make sure Motoko is safe first, Julie."
The Niphentaxian-turned-Terran/Avalonian nodded. "Hai. That IS Fungi's child in her, of course." She then shuddered as fresh tears filled her eyes. "Fungi…!"
Kyech walked over to gently embrace her, and then she gave the captain a knowing look. He nodded, and then bowed, giving a salute before he and his platoon withdrew. The Dragonspeaker watched them go, and then she turned to hold the crying Julie close. She then perked on seeing a familiar flame-plumed bird now seated atop one of the unused gestation chambers some distance away, and then her eyes narrowed as we…
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:14)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.