Astraea Hill, west of Tōkyō (local time: mid-morning)…
"So what will be our response to this?"
A fist slammed into the table in the centre of the meeting room of the Astraea Hill Tri-School Joint Student Council. "I'll tell you what our response will be!" Kenjō Kaname, a tanned tomboy with dark brown eyes and slate-grey hair, snarled as she glared at the other women gathered in this room that day. "The sames and norms living close to us fear us?! Let's remind them WHY they fear us! A full-out fight scene! We've got Shinobu-chan, Ryū-chan, the Wakefield twins and all the Azuma Gang with us! We hit them hard now, they'll run back to their pitiful little planets with their tails tucked behind their backs! And then we find the jerks that DID THAT to Ataru-kun…!"
"Too brutal, Kaname-chan. Especially with beautiful women involved."
"Beautiful SAME women, Chikaru!" the woman who now was the current incarnation of the Wild Herder of the Plains, the Duffer, snarled. All the girls at this meeting were in their proper school uniforms — the dark blue long robes of the St. Miator Girls' Academy, the silver business suit-like uniforms of the St. Spica Girls' Institute or the light brown-and-red seifuku of the St. Lulim Girls' School — but were all itching to get their battle-uniforms on and head to Tomobiki. "We're not supposed to CARE for those sorts of beings! Besides, what the hell gave this Lum the right to hold the whole PLANET hostage — not once, but TWICE! — to make Ataru-kun stay with her?!"
A sigh. "We are supposed to be moving AWAY from our predecessors' rather nihilist attitudes, Kaname-chan," the president of the student council at St. Lulim, Minamoto Chikaru — the current incarnation of the Master Planner and major domo of the Monarch of the Shadow Realm, Night Raven — calmly stated before sipping her tea. "Then again, despite what did happen to Ataru-kun during the time our memories and the knowledge to use our powers was suppressed, Lum-chan did show she did care for him. When she didn't press her silly marriage claims, they were actually close friends, as close as Ataru-kun is to any of us. Give her a chance and she might come around. After all, it appears that the alliance that her planet is a part of has turned against her."
"What did you hear?" Hanazona Shizuka, the previous year's Étoile of the Three Schools of Astraea — and the current incarnation of the Healer of the Heart and one of the most powerful empaths on Yiziba, the Passion Weaver — asked before sipping her tea.
"Ataru-kun's bounty-hunter friend Nassur has come by to visit. He bore a very stern message from Crown Princess Lupica, that Arab-like girl who came by here a month ago seeking Ataru-kun's help to get some sort of alien love potion to go after that quite handsome tōfu delivery boy that she was interested in," Chikaru answered. "She is also the administrative head of the Galactic Federation of Planet-states, the alliance of local powers Uru is a member of. She has made it clear — despite the objections from Uru as well as Yaminokuni and one other world named Phentax Two — that Lum-chan's and Rupa-kun's actions here this last week were NOT the least bit kosher and will NOT enjoy any official support from the Federation. It has gone to the point where Lupica-chan has threatened to summon a certain fellow from Czarnia to deal with them."
The others in the room winced. Given THAT man's total indestructibility and a passion for fight scenes and death scenes that made even a girl like Warwind seem quite tame, unleashing the likes of Mister "He Who Devours Your Entrails and Thoroughly Enjoys It" on even a woman like Lum would even make most Yizibajohei sick to their stomachs. "Oh, please! Listen to reason, girl!" Ōtori Amane, the tomboyish "prince" of St. Spica — and the current incarnation of the Cosmic Cowgirl, the Wrangler — pleaded.
"Feh! Why should we care for her?!" Kaname snarled.
Most of the other girls didn't react to that comment; the Duffer — the name Kaname used while in battle-uniform was a local Australian term — was more of a heel-line than a neutral-to-face type such as the Wrangler. When it came to fight scenes, the woman seen by many in St. Spica as Amane's number one fan would be in the thick of it. "Ataru WILL care, Kaname-chan," Chikaru stated. "Lum enjoys Chikage's protection."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"Why would Chikage-sama suddenly get involved, Chikaru-onēsama?" Amane's lover and would-be partner for this year's Étoile competition, Konohana Hikari — she was the Mistress of First Loves, the Débutante — then asked. "She normally wouldn't care at all for anyone who — for whatever reason — brings her 'Ani-kun' to harm."
"True, she hasn't told me why this is so, but this is so," Chikaru answered. "Thus, a subtle approach to dealing with Lum-chan is required. The Kagome-chan approach."
More silence.
"You sent her ahead?!" Rokujō Miyuki, the student president of St. Miator — and the current incarnation of Kanrisha; on her receiving her Gift, she elected to use the Japanese word for "administrator" in lieu of its Yizibajohei equivalent, which didn't make sense in any Terran tongue — asked as the others gaped. "With escort, I hope."
A nod. "Hai, hai. Remon-chan and Kizuna-chan went with her."
The others breathed out. Chikaru's fellow Costume Club members — second-year middle-school student Natsume Remon (the Gadgeteer), her classmate Hyūga Kizuna (Playpen) and their younger schoolmate Byakudan Kagome (Suiki) — had got their Gifts at the same time as their "onē-sama" three years ago, long before the younger ones were invited to come attend St. Lulim. Between Remon's hyper-technical skills and Kizuna's broadcast empathy and psychokinesis (geared to make people literally "play"), any possible threat to Kagome — whose own broadcast empathy was energized by the simple fact that she was as pure of a face as one could be on Yiziba — would be wiped out in an instant before a real fight scene began. Thinking about the youngest of the Astraea Group — they often called themselves "les Filles des Fraises" given the large use of French at the Hill and the popular nickname of their living quarters, the Strawberry Dorms — the others could only smirk. Not even a hardened genocidal maniac like Lobo — who was beyond wild even on the Yizibajohei scale! — did ANYTHING bad around Kagome! Thinking about the Last Czarnian, Chikaru remembered a muttered comment he made when the Purest of Hearts just LOOKED at him when he was being his normally profane self two years ago on Yiziba: "Aw, frag! Now I gotta be CIVIL to that fraggin' kid?! Feetal's Giz! Where does that Moroboshi bastich FIND all these crazy dames, anyway?!"
"A little kawaii to knock down the bad Oni, Chikaru-san?" Tomori Shion — the current incarnation of the Mistress of the White Death, Blizzard — then teased.
"Well, it's better than Mister Main Man gutting her with his fish-hook, Shion-san."
"True…"
Tomobiki, that moment…
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Megane perked on hearing that outraged voice, and then he turned as a man in a silver school uniform stormed up to him. "Hey, Mendō! Everything fixed up at your place?"
Mendō Shūtarō was shuddering in outrage as he glanced around. Fortunately for all of Tomobiki, the threat of eternal darkness by alien fungi was gone; once Rupa's pigs had eaten all the mushrooms, the Academician and Lightmage had got to work removing all the spores still in the air over the city. Along the way, the news of the fact that somehow — cause still unknown, but Megane had his suspicions — the fungi plague had NOT gone PAST the borders of Tomobiki to threaten the rest of the planet had got out. While many residents loudly grumbled at the idea of being forced to deal with the mess the aliens unleashed on their city — comments of "Why can't we just ship them off the damned planet finally?!" were becoming commonplace — there was a sense of relief in the air. That — despite the shocking revelation concerning Moroboshi Ataru having NOT lived in Tomobiki since he was six to a little over a year ago…and the other shocking revelation concerning his dealing with an alien race the Oni were literally PETRIFIED of! — gave Megane a sense of hope that things would go back to normal.
Of course, with the young scion of the Mendō fortune now glaring wrathfully at the intact Moroboshi home — only now were construction crews and surveyors inspecting the damage unleashed by the alien mushrooms — one thing was pretty much BACK to normal. "He's not here," Megane stated. "Had to go find a friend of his who was in trouble."
Mendō jolted. "WHAT?! But what about Lum-san?! Don't you know what she's threatened to do to all of us if Moroboshi doesn't surrender to her?!"
Megane sighed. "I personally don't think he CARES now, Mendō!"
Silence.
"He's ABANDONED us…?!" a white-faced Mendō then gargled.
"Why not? He's one of the You Know Whos! They don't give a shit about 'norms!'"
Mendō blinked, and then he gazed at Benten, who had remained in place by her airbike; she had watched as Rupa's pigs — under the control of one of They Who Must Never Be Named, though she hadn't got the tall, big-breasted dame's battle-name — eat all of the mushrooms. And by the looks of things now, eat away the last vestiges of her best friend's heart. "Benten-san! What do you mean?! Where's Moroboshi?!"
"Don't know. Don't care," the Fukunokami biker-babe muttered in a voice of ashes. "He's one of the You Know Whos. No way in fuckin' hell that Lum'll marry him now."
Mendō blinked again. "'You Know Whos?'" he asked the Stormtroopers.
"A race of real, honest-to-goodness METAHUMANS, Mendō," Perm answered. "They call themselves the Yizibajohei…" He then ducked as Benten screamed out. "But as you just saw, people like Benten-san and others don't like hearing that name."
Another blink. "So how on Earth did Moroboshi encounter these beings?!"
"Supposedly, he was found by one of them when he was six," Kakugari answered. "Got taken to their home planet and lived there with an adopted sister until just over a year ago when the Men in Black captured him and brainwashed him into being Lum-chan's opponent in the Tag Race. Late last night, one of them showed up and snapped Ataru's memories back on line. He went off back to this Yiziba place…"
Benten screamed out. "DON'T SAY THAT FUCKIN' NAME, MORON!"
Kakugari winced. "And got himself his own powers. Don't know what, though." He then sighed. "But get this: He's friends with that Infinity girl that helped the X-Men trounce that crazy mutant in Scotland last year…and he also knows Rampage, that American girl who stopped that typhoon off Indonesia four years ago."
"Supposedly, Rampage-san is Ataru's girlfriend!" Chibi added.
"Yeah! And Terra of the Teen Titans is one, too!" Perm noted.
"There was that Shadow Weaver girl, too!" Kakugari stated.
"Shinobu and Ryūnosuke are two of them as well," Megane mused.
"Shinobu-san…?" Mendō eeped.
"Yeah," Megane breathed out. "She's Wildflower. Same type of powers as Rampage has; probably explains her strength in the long term. Ryūnosuke calls herself Carcajou; she's friends with Wolverine of the X-Men. Got ENERGY CLAWS she can extend from her fingers! And I think that Cremisi girl — she's got a WAR HAMMER of all things! — might be Tendō Akane from Nerima. Don't know the names of the rest, though…"
"Hello, everyone."
Benten perked on hearing that voice, and then she turned as Oyuki walked up. "What's going on?!" the Fukunokami demanded of the Neptunian crown princess.
A sigh. "Nassur-sama is here, Benten."
A jolt. Shigaten Benten had always held a deep crush on Nassur of Vos, a crush that would never be fulfilled thanks to his marriage to a fellow Vosian, Cinba of Colony 71, and their being the happy parents of two boys, Akasur and Hamasur. "Nassur…?"
"Yes. And I'm afraid the Galactic Federation has ordered Lum-chan and Rupa to withdraw from Earth once and for all time because of this incident," Oyuki explained. "Lum-chan is also to renounce all claims of marriage to Ataru. If they do not comply to this…" A shudder. "Then Lobo will be summoned to deal with them."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"LOBO?! Gods, you mean…the guy who fights SUPERMAN all the time?!"
Oyuki gasped as she gazed at Kakugari. "You know of that…creature?"
"Sure we do!" Perm stated. "He pops by here all the time, ready to 'frag' anyone that pisses him off! Really tough guy, too! Mostly goes to America…"
He then stopped on seeing that Oyuki was as white as a sheet. "Are you alright, Oyuki-sama?" Megane asked as he walked up to gaze intently at her.
The Neptunian looked as if someone hit HER on the head with a mallet. "How…?" she hissed out. "If someone like Lobo came here to Earth, why didn't we see him…?"
"Well, if he's riding that space-bike of his — which is the same size as a Harley or Benten-san's bike — it'll be pretty hard to spot the guy in space," Kakugari noted.
"Hey, is it true that he actually killed off his whole RACE?!" Chibi asked.
"It is."
Everyone turned…
…and then Benten cried out as Oyuki shied away as the Academician came up to join them, a field bag slung over her shoulder. Lightmage was behind her, an amused smile on his face. "Who…?" Mendō demanded as he pointed at the two Californians.
"Rampage's twin sister, the Academician," Megane introduced. "The guy's Lightmage; he's a technomage. They came here with Rampage from America to help out."
"So what's the news, Sensei?" Chibi asked.
The woman born Elizabeth Wakefield smiled at being called "sensei." "I'm pleased to note that as of twelve minutes ago, there is not a single trace of Yaminokuni fungi anywhere within the Tomobiki containment zone," she declared. "Atop that, the Memory Erasing Device unleashed by this pitiful excuse of a space-cycle enthusiast…" — she thumbed Benten, who ducked behind her airbike in fright despite the fact that the Californian-born meta had just called her "pitiful" — "…late last evening has been disabled and teleported back to Uru where it ultimately belongs. I don't think Lum's family home survived having it dropped on their roof." As the Stormtroopers all gasped, Mendō croaked and Lightmage chuckled, she added, "Since the Urusians have no right whatsoever to alter the memories of anyone here in Tomobiki, you can all relax about being forced to forget that particular girl and her total BETRAYAL of all her friends here on Earth. Not to mention what a MONSTER she really was at the end."
Everyone gaped at her. "You call Lum-san a MONSTER?!" Megane demanded.
"Well, what on Earth would I call such a person?" the Academician stated. "You and your friends call yourselves 'Lum's Stormtroopers' as a group, right? You see yourselves as her main fan club here in town, right?" As the boys nodded, she then said, "Well, is it right for anyone to treat people like yourselves, who have shown her absolute loyalty and devotion…by literally WIPING out all your memories of her?"
The Stormtroopers exchanged looks. "She's got a point," Chibi mused.
"Yeah, that's true," Kakugari noted.
"But, still…!" Megane protested.
"'Toshi, what the hell type of friend WAS Lum-chan anyway?!" Perm then demanded, a look of frustration and outrage on his face. Noting this, the Academician and Lightmage exchanged knowing looks; just put the subject out into the open and someone would bite into it. "It's just like Sensei said: We were there for her every time she needed us to keep an eye on Ataru…and after we did all that — and SUFFERED for it, too, especially when Ataru turned the tables on all of us! — she decides to THANK us by making us FORGET SHE EVER EXISTED?!" A sigh. "I can't believe it!" he then moaned. "We wasted a whole damned YEAR trying to help that ungrateful bitch!" As Megane and Mendō both squawked on hearing that insult against their classmate, Perm shook his head. "Ah, to hell with it! Thanks, Sensei," he then said to the Academician before he straightened himself. "Hope your sis makes the score with Ataru. See ya, guys."
And with a wave, he walked off to his house. Megane and the others watched him go, all stunned by that declaration. "It's a wonder to me why you all don't do that," the Academician then stated as she gazed on the other Stormtroopers and Mendō.
"Um, Accy…" Lightmage called out.
She perked, and then turned…
…before a beaming smile crossed her face. "Hey! How are you?!"
"ONĒ-SAMA!" two cheery voices called out.
The Californian opened her arms as two loveable typhoons of teenage energy flew into her embrace. As the others watched, said typhoons were actually a pair of pretty Japanese girls looking to be about the same age as Prodigy. One had her dark hair with green highlights tied up in side buns over her ears and goggles were over dark brown eyes; she wore a jumpsuit with knitted technological gadgets all over her. The other was the same age, but had brown eyes and caramel brown hair in two side ponytails; she had a white jumpsuit with all sorts of sports icons over it. "Hey, you two!" the Academician said as she lowered the Gadgeteer and Playpen to the ground, and then she moved to gently rub their hands, which made them both blush. "How are you?!"
"We're okay, Onē-sama! But really, really, really mad, too! Where's Ataru-oniisama?" the younger woman born Natsume Remon asked. "Is he alright?"
"He went off to America to rescue Terra; she got into trouble," the Academician said. "He'll be back soon…OH!" she then breathed out as her own eyes locked in on the third girl in a Yizibajohei jumpsuit nearby. "Night Raven planned this, didn't she?"
"Hai!" both the Gadgeteer and Playpen called out.
The others looked…
"What a cute girl…!" Megane gasped on seeing Suiki — she used a Japanese two-kanji term meaning "pure heart" to identify herself — for the first time…
The Redet Glory…
"So Ataru always went after pretty girls…'cept for you and Ranma-oniinēchan because you were being abused by your uncle and aunt and he went through that really stupid and nasty Neko-ken training, right?" Ten then asked.
The Warlock nodded. Nassur had — after Invader and Lum recovered from the stun spell the man born Harry Potter had used on them — dragged the Oni warlord and his child, plus Rupa and Carla, off to allow the leader of the Cosmic Mage Guild a chance to speak to the young Oni alone. "That's right. Ataru found me when I was eight and my cousin Dudley and his friends engaged in a game of 'Harry hunting.' Since I was a 'freak' in the eyes of the Dursleys, I didn't deserve to have anything normal people had. Of course, Ataru had met up with my girlfriend Hermione down in Crawley — it's not too far from Little Whinging — and he sensed what was happening to me." A chuckle. "Believe me, THAT is a day Dudley and his friends will NEVER forget! I think they spent a couple weeks in intensive care healing all the broken bones Ataru left them!"
Ten laughed. Even if the Warlock — he was already calling the older man "Harry-oniichan" — had the power of one of the Scary People, he was really okay. And by the sounds of it, Ataru — the young Oni still felt the urge to use the "a-ho" insult when it came to him — was pretty okay deep down as well. "So did your uncle and aunt try to hurt'cha because Ataru beat their dumb kid up?" he then asked.
"No. After Hermione and Ayumu got me to the Cave of the Future where I got my Gift, I was contacted right then and there by Gringotts, the magical bank my late parents dealt with. Since I was now no longer a wizarding magical but a magical metahuman, I was now exempt from all the rules forced on me by my country's Ministry of Magic. Thus, I returned home to my family's mansion in Somerset and lived there with my house elves until I got my invite to go to Hogwarts three years later. By that time, almost all the girls in my year and one from the year after me met up with Ataru and got their own Gifts." A chuckle. "It was rather interesting keeping our real powers secret from our professors and the Ministry…" He then sighed. "But then came Voldemort…"
"He sounds bad."
"He is, Ten. Two decades ago, he launched a rebellion against the Ministry. He wanted to remove all normal influences on wand-magicals in Britain and set himself up as a magical dictator on the road to conquer all of Earth. My parents fought against him and they died for it. He then tried to kill me because of a prophecy which stated that I or a friend of mine named Neville Longbottom would have 'the power he knows not' and would vanquish Voldemort. My mother sacrificed her magic and life to protect me, which saved me from Voldemort's Killing Curse; the rebound from the magical field that she created destroyed his body and made him a wraith until over a year ago, when he found a way to regain his form." A sigh. "A good man named Cedric Diggory was killed right before my eyes, Ten. An innocent man who died because of me. I decided it was time for Voldemort and his friends to learn what they were really dealing with."
Ten blinked for a moment. "Does that have to do with Ataru losin' his memories?"
A nod. "We think so. We've learned of one other group that were probably involved with this. Have you ever heard of the Cult of the Manhunters?"
A shake of the head. "No."
"You know the Green Lanterns?"
A nod. "Yeah! They're awesome!"
"Well, the Manhunters were the Lanterns' predecessors. They're all human-form robots. But many years ago, they rebelled against the Guardians of the Universe, the immortals who created them. The Green Lanterns were summoned to deal with them and they were almost all wiped out. The survivors hid themselves on various planets — including here on Earth — to try to devise some way to get back at the Guardians. They recruit local agents to help them. One of them, I believe, targeted Terra; she's one of the girls that really cares for Ataru because of what he did for her. I suspect that when this Manhunter cultist found out about Terra's connection to our adopted homeworld, she found allies like Voldemort…and struck at the weakest link in our group: Ataru."
"Because Ataru didn't have a Gift, right?"
"Yes."
"Oh…" Ten breathed out. "That's awful."
"Don't worry about that, Ten," the Warlock grinned in anticipation. "When we get our hands on those people, we will make them severely regret doing that to us." He then sighed as he stood and walked over to the repaired viewport that Cremisi had smashed her way through earlier. "People like myself are in an odd position. We're all Terran-born, so we have our Earth lives to influence us. But in getting a Gift from the Great Crystal of Power, we gain the sum total of knowledge, wisdom and experience of an average of TWO DOZEN prior lives regardless if we earn a Named Gift or are one of the Nameless as Ataru just became. Because of that, there's…a subtle conflict in our souls after we get our Gifts. I look at you…and while the part of me that was the Warlock in twenty previous incarnations would look upon you as a 'same,' someone who is part of a race and society that will eventually disintegrate and die out because you're not evolving anymore genetically or socially…the person that I was born as sees you as a young boy who, even if you don't seem to have much in the way of any sort of parental supervision over you, is not too different than me in the long term." A smirk as he gazed at Ten. "Atop that, you're a meta yourself, Ten. That pyro-kinesis of yours isn't natural amongst your kind, is it?"
A shake of the head. "No."
"What about Lum's lightning powers?"
Ten hummed. "Well, her mom has the same powers, but stuff like that's only been around for a few generations. At least, that's what I learned about in cosmic kindergarten. Same with Rei's metamorphic powers and Ran-chan's empathic vampirism."
"So why should I — much less any meta like me — not want to like you?" the Warlock then said as a teleport portal opened nearby to allow the Academician to come through, she escorting a familiar girl. "Much less Elizabeth there. Or Kagome-chan."
Ten looked…
…and then he gushed out on seeing Suiki standing there, dressed in her snow-white jumpsuit with a stylised red heart outline on her left breast. "Waah! What a pretty lady!" he crooned before floating over to gaze at the girl born Byakudan Kagome.
Suiki blinked, and then she smiled as she gently took Ten into her arms so she could hug him along with her beautiful teddy bear Percival. As she held them close, the Academician and Warlock exchanged a knowing look…
The main meeting hall…
"NASSUR! WHY ARE YOU ALLOWING THAT MONSTER TO ATTACK MY NEPHEW?!"
Nassur blinked before he gazed on the security monitor screen, now showing Suiki holding Ten close to her. "'Attack?' That's a simple HUG she's doing to him. Besides, given that she's the current incarnation of Pureheart, she would never do a thing to hurt him." He sat back in his chair before moving to sip his alkaline salt-augmented spice tea. "She's as good-natured as they come from that world." While he — like all Vosians raised in their native culture — wasn't afraid to say the words "Yiziba" or "Yizibajohei," he did respect the fears the other people in the meeting hall possessed towards that race. Besides, he didn't like people screaming out in mortal fear for no reason; that was always so damned LOUD! "Ten-cha's safe."
"Are y-y-you sure…?" Rupa sputtered.
The bounty hunter's eyes narrowed. "PERFECTLY sure," he icily declared.
THAT made Rupa gargle in shock; angering the likes of Nassur — himself a survivor of a training regime that would destroy most Vosians! — was as bad in its own way as angering the likes of Lobo! As he was guided back in his chair by Carla, Nassur then gazed on Invader. "Now, do I have to repeat what I told you some time ago, Captain? You have no support from the Federation in this whole matter. Whatever excuse your government could make concerning this whole mess won't move Lupica. And — much to my personal delight — anything Ōgi threatens will be rendered meaningless." His eyes narrowed. "You'd be amazed at what my ship's sensors picked up when I came here."
"What?!"
"A cobalt bomb."
Silence.
"WHAT?!" Lum shrieked out. "WHERE?!"
"In the Tomobiki Ginza; is that what you call the local shopping district here?" Nassur then noted. "Now, I know you wouldn't do that sort of thing, Captain. Not with your daughter living here. So there's only one culprit capable OF doing such a thing."
"Ōgi…" Lum then moaned as Invader began shaking his head.
"Right. Now, imagine what Ataru will say — and what he will do — when HE finds out. And remember who one of his friends is." Nassur then glared at the others in the room. "The woman called Infinity is not called the 'Goddess Who Walks Amongst Men' for a reason. And she's not the ONLY reality-warper who is a friend of Ataru's."
More silence.
"But…wh-why in the name of the Dead Grove would Ōgi do something like THAT?!" Rupa demanded. "With the one he sees as a LIVING GODDESS living here…WHY?!"
"I can't answer that," Nassur stated. "But I will tell you this: One of the girls Ataru found over the years was given the Gift of the Weaver. The Mistress of Time and Space." A glance to the Oni. "She can literally SHUT DOWN all your time-travel equipment just like that." He snapped his fingers in emphasis. "And she could literally SHIFT that cobalt bomb INTACT AND WHOLE off Earth…and DROP IT on Lumukyō! Or set it off at the Niphentaxian fleet anchorage by Phentax Twenty. In an INSTANT, Ōgi's battle-fleet would be wiped right out." He crossed his arms. "Who will help protect you all from the Ipraedies or the Seifukusu then?" A shake of the head. "Not my people. Certainly not the Noukiites or the Yehisrites. Earth's already protected by their own metas plus the people Ataru found and took to get Gifts."
"N-n-Nassur-cha…can't you do ANYTHING to stop Darling's friend?!"
Nassur gazed on Lum. "You CARE for ŌGI of all people?!"
Lum jolted, and then rapidly shook her head. "NO!" she shrieked out. "I HATE that monster! You know that!" She then took a deep breath. "Nassur-cha, even if Ōgi did do that, we have no right to condemn his home planet to NUCLEAR WINTER!"
"And you have the right to try to destroy Earth's ECO-SYSTEM just to make Ataru confess feelings he clearly never had in the first place?" Nassur countered.
"HE LOVES ME!"
"Correction, Lum-cha! The LIE he was made to BECOME loved you. The REAL Moroboshi Ataru is, in many respects, a whole different being now. That's the Price of the Gift. And there's nothing you can do to change that fact." He sighed. "This all relates to what happened between you and Rei, doesn't it? You couldn't do anything to influence him because of his dyslexia and dysphonia…so you went after an easier target. And thanks to Fate, the Men in Black and who knows who else, you got it." He shook his head. "Thing you never realised until it was too late was that the Yizibajohei got to him first, Lum." As the others all shuddered on hearing that name, Nassur shook his head again. "And if there's one thing about that race I understand, it's this: Once the Gift is given by the Forge, it's for LIFE! The man you call 'Darling' is dead, Lum-cha. Let him go and get on with your life. And never return to this world again."
Lum blinked…
…before a polite cough echoed from nearby. "WHO ARE YOU?!" Invader screamed out…
…before he turned sheet-white on noting that the pretty girl with the brown hair parted back by a gold ribbon on her forehead and the dark brown eyes was wearing a Yizibajohei-style jumpsuit, one which was black overall with wavy bands of multiple colours woven over the sleeves, leggings and body. "Sorry for intruding," the woman born Suzumiya Haruhi — now the current incarnation of the Weaver — stated as she then walked over to stand close to Nassur before she gazed at him. "Hey, Nassur-kun! Long time no see! You wouldn't BELIEVE what I just found in the Tomobiki Ginza!"
"A cobalt bomb, I believe, Haruhi-chan?" Nassur asked.
"Hai! A BIG sucker, too! Five-hundred megaton yield…or so my friend who's a humanoid interface for the Data Overmind just revealed! So…" And with that, the Mistress of Time and Space then glared at Lum. "Who do I send said bomb to?
"And do I have it DETONATE when it gets there?" she icily added.
As the others in the room paled on hearing that, we now…
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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