"Kasuga Ayumu...?"
Ataru couldn't believe it.
But there she was, dressed in a simple beige dress with a coat drawn over her shoulders.
No doubt, she had been caught sometime after school.
Ayumu Kasuga, also known as "Osaka."
To Ataru, a fictional character from a recent comedy manga and anime series his sisters had introduced to him, Azumanga Daioh.
Well, that made some sense, didn't it?
The Being who had delivered Ataru to this dimension had explained that in other universes, Ataru himself was a fictional character, one of the stars of a manga and anime series called Urusei Yatsura, written by one Takahashi Rumiko. Even stranger, his half-sisters were, in other realms of reality, characters of a video game and anime series called Sister Princess, created by the team of Tenhiro Naoto and Kimino Sakurako. "Yours is a unique universe, Moroboshi-san," the Being had told him before Ataru had left Promised Island to track down his sistes. "Some of the people you might encounter might describe your universe as a 'crossover' realm."
And now...
Now...
Ataru pulled his eyes away from Ayumu to check out those other glass coffins closest to him. Sure enough, familiar faces peeked out from those enclosures. Here beside Ayumu was Mihama Chiyo, the pre-adolescent genius child star of AzuDai. There was Sakaki-san, the quiet, ailurophile, tall beauty of the show. Beside her was Kagura-san, the gruff sports-loving tomboy who saw herself as Sakaki's ultimate "rival." Over that way were childhood friends Takino Tomo and Mizuhara Koyomi, also known as "Yomi." Beside Sakaki and Kagura was Aida Kaorin, a girl who had a massive crush on Sakaki. Over yonder were two teachers Ayumu and her classmates interacted with regularly, English teacher Tanizawa Yukari and physical education teacher Kurosawa Minamo. And a whole host of others whom Ataru didn't recognize.
All female.
All cute or beautiful.
All now captive of Ataru's other-self.
Wonderful.
"Well, might as well make sure he doesn't brainwash Ayumu-san's friends," Ataru muttered as he turned to Chiyo's chamber...
"Master, there is a problem."
"What is it?"
"The mental reprogramming of Unit 2749 has been manually aborted."
Hearing that, Ataru's eyes widened, then he rose from his throne. "Who overrode it?"
"Internal sensors report that the area around Unit 2749's suspension chamber is clear...! Wait!" the sexy blonde android once known simply as "Number Six" -- Ataru had renamed the humanoid Cylon "Miroku" since he, even now, didn't like dealing with pure numbers as names -- perked as a new report came in. "Mental reprogramming of Unit 2748 has been manually aborted."
"Who are they?!" the would-be harem king demanded.
"Both of Group 'Azudai.' Kasuga Ayumu. Mihama Chiyo." A pause. "Mental reprogramming of Unit 2747 has been manually aborted."
"Someone's there!!" Ataru snarled, an outraged quiver rocking his body from head to toe. "Someone's come here to take my harem away from me, the horse-thief!! Miroku, send a security team to check it out!!! If they find someone, have him stopped!!"
"By your command, Master. Security team dispatched," Miroku announced, then added, "Mental reprogramming of Unit 2746 has been manually aborted."
Ataru screamed...
"Last one..."
Ataru wiped the light film of sweat from his forehead as he pulled away from Kaorin's suspension chamber. Okay, with the programming reversed, all that had to be done now for this group was free them from their glass coffins, then beam them up to the Windrider and hopeful safety until such time as he or one of the Being's other allies had put down the other Ataru and seized the D-hopper that had allowed this whole mess to get so out of control in the first place. Walking back to Ayumu's chamber, he nodded on seeing the message on the read-out screen, reporting that the mental reprogramming had been fully reversed. "Okay, let's get them out of there," he muttered.
His finger coasted over to the switch that would shut down the suspension cycle and open the chamber. Before he could proceed to free the hapless Ayumu, footfalls made Ataru look right. Seeing ominous shadows reflected from a side hallway, he cursed, then moved into a handy nearby alcove, drawing the cloaking cape fully around him. Tucking his Range Hunter under the light-defeating cape, he clicked the selector switch to three-shot mode, then took a deep breath to relax himself. Hopefully, he'd catch whoever was coming by surprise.
Glancing around the corner, Ataru grimaced on seeing a half-dozen androids march purposefully towards the chambers holding the AzuDai girls. He slipped back into the shadows as one of the imposing guards turned to examine the controls monitoring Ayumu's chamber. In an echoing metallic voice that reminded Ataru of a part of himself he'd gladly rather forget ever existed, the leader of the group reported, "This unit's reprogramming has been halted. Examine the other units and restart their reprogramming."
"By your command," the other androids chanted as one.
Ataru grimaced, then allowing the Range Hunter to slip out from under his cloak, he stepped into the open. "Don't bet on that!!"
The huge rifle locked on target as the Cylons spun on him. "Intruder," the security leader announced. "Termina-..."
A volley chopped him and the android behind him apart. Before the other guards could bring their own blasters to bear on the lone man in butternut, Ataru's thumb shifted the Range Hunter's selector switch to full automatic. On a single press of the trigger, a storm of tungsten-and-lead jacketed depleted uranium polished off the other Cylons. Unseen by Ataru, the shredded arm of one android landed on the RESUME button on the control box beside the chamber holding...
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(Posted Tue, 10 Feb 2004 06:03)
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