C&C, please!



   	Tomobiki.

	Ataru Moroboshi is wandering around the town, looking confused.  Not 
unusual, some might say.  The houses and businesses that he knew as bombed-out 
wrecks not five minutes before, were now whole.  Ataru stared in astonishment.

	He wondered briefly if he had accidentally activated the spacializer.  
The Tomobiki Underground Force had forced Ataru to steal it the previous day, 
thinking that they could use it to return in time and prevent the invasion.  
But it turned out that Lum had predictied their behaviour, and equipped the 
spacializer with a homing device.  Ataru had been volunteered to bring it back, 
since it was his fault it was there in the first place.  Ataru and Shinobu 
protested, but were outvoted.

	Unfortunately, retrieving the device was proving harder than he thought.  
He had gotten halfway to the school, Lum's base, when a wave of dizziness washed 
over him.  When he looked up again, the buildings that had been destroyed a few 
months previously were suddenly back, as if they had always been there.  
Furthermore, there were people on the streets, in complete violation of the 
curfew!

	Ataru was of two minds about all of this.  On the one hand, he wanted 
nothing more than to be back at headquarters with Shinobu.  She was almost 
eight months pregnant, and Ataru wanted to be there when she had the baby.

	On the other hand, he wanted to get another look at the underwear those 
enemy babes were wearing.  He still felt a little guilty about his lecherous 
impulses, after all he was married with a child on the way.  But he could not 
help himself.  It was not just the thrill of getting his hands on their panties, 
it was...

	It was Lum.

	Ataru was definitely of two minds about her.  The woman who had invaded 
his planet, killed his grandmother, and presided over a reign of terror the 
likes of which the world had never seen.  And yet he felt close to her, as if he 
understood why she was doing what she did.  He never voiced these opinions, of 
course.  Mendou would probably cut him in two for such traitorous mutterings.  
But when he was pawing through her underwear, he could not help but notice the 
picture on her dresser, showing a younger Lum smiling next to her parents.  It 
seemed very different from the cold governor they knew.

	Suddenly another wave of dizziness swept over him again.  When he shook 
himself out of it the setting was much different.  He was in Lum's office in 
Tomobiki High School...and she was laying in his arms, dead!

	*NO!!!!  This can't be happening!!!* he thought.  Consciousness slowly 
began to fade as he looked at her body in his arms.  Then, just before he 
passed out, he felt something, a bond of some sort, snap.  He knew then that 
it connected him with Lum, but he was in no shape to do anything about this 
revelation.

	The last thing he perceived before his consciousness fled was a voice 
deep within his mind howling with glee.

	"*FREE!!!!  AFTER SO LONG, I AM FINALLY FREE!!!!!!*"

	*    *    *

Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year:  "Alternate Lum-san III:  Repercussions" Part 1
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by James Bateman, Fred Herriot, E.B. Kushnir, and Sebastian Weinberg
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei Yatsura," 
created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1)	Except for the teaser and flashbacks, this story takes place during 
and following the events of "Darling's Bad Day!  Alternate Lum-san Revisited."  
That story and "Alternate Lum-san" should probably be consulted before reading 
this work.

2)	Once again, I use the spellings I'm comfortable with in my stories, 
hence 'Ran' and 'Ryouko.'  And this is a serious fic, therefore I will not use 
the phrase '[BLANK]' when I mean to say fuck.  Be warned. :-)

3)	Thanks to Mike and Fred for letting me write this.  All characters 
are original to Rumiko Takahashi, except those created for this series by Mike 
Smith and Fred Herriot.

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

And so...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!

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

	Tomobiki, one year later.

	Ataru Moroboshi wandered the deserted streets.  There was not a curfew 
anymore, but there did not need to be.  This area was almost deserted and those 
that did were either dispossessed Urusians and Ipraedies, or those who needed 
a reminder every day of what they had faced.

	Ataru was one of the latter.  He needed to remind himself of what he 
had become.  Every day he relived the horror of his mind falling apart, when the 
*saikoo jinseijitsu* had slaughtered so many people.  He was afraid that if he 
let it go, it would all unravel again.

	He was not helped by the fact that the people of Earth saw the *saikoo 
jinseijitsu* as the hero of the liberation, that they commonly used it as a 
threat to other alien races who harboured thoughts of invasion.  Ataru snorted.  
The governments of Earth had no idea what they were talking about. If the 
*saikoo jinseijitsu* ever got out of his head again, Earth would be the first 
to suffer.

	And now he was out prowling the streets, no real destination in mind.  
He had taken to doing this recently to get away from Benten and Sakura.  Not 
that he objected to their presence in his life, but...Sakura's presence caused 
him so much pain, pain he tried to suppress.  And Benten, hateful enemy turned 
unwilling servant turned friend and confidant, watching the fire and spirit 
within her slowly die was just as painful.  She had nobody left in the world 
except Ataru, and he would not give her what she wanted:  himself.  They could 
only go so far, but no farther.  And so she suffered, needing someone but being 
unable to do anything about it.

	He knew that going out for these walks, limiting his contact with them, 
was the worst thing he could do.  But he needed to keep himself distant.  It 
was for their sake.  They could not get attached to him.  He was too dangerous.  
Eventually, he hoped to persuade the World Court to reduce Benten's sentence, so 
that she could start her life over.  After all, her atrocities were nowhere near 
as bad as Ran's.

	Suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.  He staggered and 
began to panic; the last time this had happened, Lum had died in his arms and 
triggered the apocalypse that followed.  Tomobiki faded out of his vision, and 
he suddenly staggered.  *Oh, please, not again...!* he thought.

	A room slowly came into focus, people standing around him.  He recognized 
Chie and Sakura...Sakura?!  Where were her scars?  And there was Ashin, who he 
knew was dead (because the *saikoo jinseijitsu* had personally taken care of him), 
and...

	And Lum, slowly being assisted to her feet by someone who could only be 
his sister...Nokoko!

	Ataru fainted.

	*    *    *

	"He's starting to come round."

	"What should we tell him?"

	"The truth," said a voice Ataru now recognized as Chie's.  "I sense that 
anything else would be harmful.  However. I also sense that the truth will harm 
him."

	Ataru opened his eyes and looked around.  He almost fainted again at 
what he saw first...Lum, whole and alive, and yet looking at him as if he was an 
impostor.  "What...what's going on?"  He tried to keep himself calm.  A shock 
like this was exactly the sort of thing that the ninja database in his head was 
waiting for.  There had to be an explanation for this.  "What are you all doing 
here?"

	Everyone looked at Chie, who appeared to have been elected speaker for 
the group.  "I apologize.  My daughter Aikyou has recently been appointed as a 
priestess, and we were holding this celebration in her honour.  She wanted to 
demonstrate her powers, and so Ataru volunteered to be the subject of a 
teleportation spell."

	Ataru's eyes narrowed.  "I *am* Ataru," he said coldly.

	"Yes, you are," Chie replied, unfazed, "but not the Ataru of this 
universe.  Aikyou was interrupted in her casting by Sakura's uncle, and there 
was a miscalculation.  From what we can gather, you have been drawn into an 
alternate timeline, and he is in yours.  This is not your world, Ataru Moroboshi, 
as I'm sure you are no doubt aware.  How many differences there are between 
them...that is something only you can tell us."

	Ataru felt himself losing his grip on the situation.  "Different events," 
he murmured to himself.  "How different?  How did you repel the Urusian invasion?"

	Lum spoke to him for the first time.  "Invasion?  What invasion?"

	Ataru avoided looking at her, the sight almost brought tears to his 
eyes.  That or fury, he was not sure which.  "The tag race, of course, that 
you raced against Megane.  And the invasion that followed."

	Lum seemed horrified.  "But...I raced against you!  Or rather, against 
Darling!  And he won, so there was no need to invade!"

	Ataru turned towards the fireplace.  "There you go.  Where I came from, 
Megane lost and Uru invaded.  Thus began the reign of Governor Lum.  A reign 
that ended when Mendou killed her."

	That got everyone's attention.  Lum fainted again.  Nokoko was aghast.  
"Killed her?!  Why?!!"

	Ataru decided that fury was definitely the emotion to go with.  
"Because Lum presided over a reign of terror that lasted for over a year.  She 
and her staff committed atrocities the likes of which hadn't been seen since 
the Second World War."

	This time it was Lum's turn to get angry.  "How could you say that!  
I would never do anything like that!"

	"You did.  Maybe not you, but your alternate self.  And that is something 
that I may never forgive, even with the bond between us."

	"There's a bond between me and *my* Darling!  I have nothing to do 
with you!  I can still feel him faintly in the back of my head.  I can't feel 
you at all."

	Ataru grimaced.  "Then you're lucky.  I have Lum and Shinobu in perpetual 
comas at my home.  I go to see them every day...but I can't feel them at all."

	Chie attempted to take control of the situation.  "You say that Lum was 
killed by...*Mendou?!*  And that she ruled over your world.  What brought it to 
a stop?"

	Ataru's face became lost in shadows.  "The *saikoo jinseijitsu,*" he 
whispered.

	Everyone suddenly became silent.  Lum walked up to him, but stopped as 
she saw his body stiffen.  "I apologize.  I thought...I hadn't thought, that was 
the problem.  This world really is different from yours, isn't it?"

	"I can't see many similarities at all.  Many of my friends are gone.  
Lum and Shinobu are in comas resembling death.  Sakura is permanently lobotomized 
and crippled," Ataru went on, not even glancing at the shock on Sakura's face, 
"...Benten has been sentenced by the World Court to be my slave...nothing's the 
same."  He turned to the group.  "Mendou, Tobimaro, Tsubame, Ashin, my parents, 
Paama, Chibi, Kakugari...all of them are dead.  Uru is a wasteland in space, 
courtesy of the Ipraedies.  And Ipraedos isn't even that much, thanks to the 
Zephyrites and the Yehisrites.  And everyone thanks me for this.  They call me 
the "hero of the liberation," the savior of Earth.  All the *saikoo jinseijitsu* 
did was lash out at everyone connected to me or Lum.  I didn't do anything.  
And they treat that fucker like a hero!"

	Everyone stood in silence, stunned by Ataru's harshness; coarseness was 
not a part of him.  "There are still...gaps in my memory, where I have no recall 
of what I've done.  I'm going to school one morning, and then suddenly the tag 
race is over.  I'm proposing to Shinobu, and then we're at the wedding.  I go 
out to return Lum's spacializer, and I'm suddenly holding her dying body in my 
arms."

	Lum had gone white.  "My...my spacializer?  Darling..."  She paused in 
sudden fear.  "When did that happen?  In your time?"

	Ataru looked at her for the first time in several minutes.  "About a 
year ago."

	"That...that was when Darling stole *my* spacializer...and afterwards, 
he was saying how glad he was that I wasn't dead."

	Chie and Nokoko faced her.  "Are you saying that our Ataru-chan caused 
this?" Nokoko asked.

	"Well, he never wanted to talk about it," Lum mused.

	"It would make sense," Chie mused.  "If he used the spacializer, he 
might have changed history...sufficient to bring about the events we've heard 
about."  He turned back to Ataru.  "This might just explain your memory..."

	Ataru's face made even Chie pause in silence.  He was desperately 
trying to hold back his anger, but looking at the faces around the room was 
not helping him.  "I see.  Thank you, that explains a lot.  If you'll excuse 
me, I need to 
go for a walk."

	Aikyou tried to stop him.  "But Ataru, we need to find a way to get 
you back to your proper dimension..."

	"I know, and I'll come back here.  But finding out that this universe's 
Ataru Moroboshi has been responsible for so much of the pain I've suffered...I 
can't be around you."  He turned to Lum.  "Especially not you."

	And with that, he walked out of the door.  The others stared after him.  
"Do you think he'll come back?" asked Sakura.

	"He seemed so cold and distant...did you notice who wasn't mentioned?" 
Nokoko mused.  "Me, Mie-chan, any of his other recent friends...I wonder what 
happened to the other me."

	Lum stared out the door with a sad look in her eyes.  "Is there 
anything we can do for him?"

	Chie followed her gaze.  "This Ataru keeps his demons caged within him.  
He has not yet learned how to banish them.  He has to learn that on his own.  
We can talk to him, comfort him...but the learning must come from within."  
He looked at Lum.  "Your alternate might have been able to help...but he isn't 
bonded to her anymore.  I'm not sure what he'll do."

	*    *    *

	Ataru walked through the town...Tsuchiura from what he could tell, 
though his memory was not what it was.  Tsuchiura had been one of the towns 
completely destroyed in the invasion.

	He breathed hard, getting angry in spite of himself.  *So, this Ataru 
tried to change history, and in the process ruined my life.  Thanks a lot!*

	This was getting him nowhere.  After all, it was not as if his life 
had been all that hot before.  The Urusians had invaded and destroyed his 
planet.  He was forced to live in a sewer, on the run from forces that would 
have tortured and killed him if he were caught.  Not much of a life.

	This Ataru, on the other hand, not only appeared to have won the tag 
race, but still had Lum bonded to him.  Nokoko had returned here.  In his own 
universe, Ataru's sister had vanished at age six, and he still had no idea 
where she was.  Most of all, nobody looked at him with awe, or fear, or both.  
*Not only did this Ataru ruin my life*, Ataru thought, *...but he's gone and 
improved on it.*

	Ataru was not looking where he was going anymore, dark thoughts 
brewing in his mind.  When they became too much for him, he lashed out with 
his foot, kicking a nearby tree.

	"Hey!  Do you mind?!  Some of us are trying to think up here!"

	Ataru, startled, looked up...and into the face of another dead man.

	In his own universe, Tobimaro Mizunokoji had joined forces with 
Shutaro Mendou shortly after the destruction of their clans.  They left a 
force of bodyguards to watch over their sisters, and with the rest, joined 
their fellow Tomobikians and formed the TUF.  Mendou was the leader, and it 
showed.  The speeches and bluster were something Ataru had gotten sick of 
right away.  Tobimaro, however, had been the one who had actually made sure 
things were done.  Ataru rarely took notice of what Mendou said, but always 
listened to Tobimaro, a fact which infuriated Mendou.

	This, of course, meant that Tobimaro had been one of the first 
victims when the *saikoo jinseijitsu* had burst out of his head.  He had 
rushed into the room, and the possessed teen had used the heart-blast touch.  
Exhausted by the battle, Tobimaro had not been able to recover.  After Lum 
and Shinobu, this was the death Ataru regretted the most.

	And now, here he was in front of Ataru, sitting on a branch about 
twenty feet in the air.  He seemed troubled, but it was hard to tell with 
Tobimaro, who behaved very much like the typical samurai.

	Tobimaro appeared to recognize Ataru as well, or rather recognized 
him as the *other* Ataru.  "Ataru?  What are you doing here in Tsuchiura?"

	Ataru looked up, trying not to give away his feelings.  "I should 
ask you the same thing?  What are you doing here?"

	"Ah, well, that's your fault in a way, I suppose.  What with all the 
events in Tomobiki, especially with what's been happening to my sister, I 
decided to go train for a few months.  I'm just getting back now.  I stopped 
in this tree 
to rest after lunch."

	Ataru frowned.  "It's nine o'clock in the evening.  Why are you still 
here?"

	From what little he could see, Tobimaro appeared to flush.  "I'm 
having a little trouble getting back down."

	Ataru laughed.  Tobimaro's acrophobia, and his deranged attempts to 
cure it by climbing trees, seemed constant in any universe.  He located the 
ladder that had slipped down, and righted it so that Tobimaro could descend.  
Tobimaro then looked closely at Ataru.  "Now, you never answered my question.  
What *are* you doing here?  From what I've heard, you should be in Oshika 
plotting everyone's decline and fall."

	*This sounds interesting,* thought Ataru.  When in doubt, be 
non-committal.  "I'm just trying to get away from it all for a bit.  Things 
have been getting more complicated lately."

	Tobimaro laughed, leaning against the tree.  "Things have always been 
complicated.  It's just that people are noticing it now.  I'm not sure whether 
I want to go back to Tomobiki, to tell you the truth."

	Ataru cocked his head.  "So why are you?"

	Tobimaro snorted.  "Family, what else?  I need to be there to make 
sure my parents don't engage me to Ryouko Mendou while I'm gone.  And...I'd 
like to see if my sister is any better."  He paused for a moment, 
uncomfortable memories playing across his face.  "I know it wasn't you, 
Ataru, but I may never forgive the *saikoo jinseijitsu* for what it did to 
her.  I know she has Osooko now, and that's wonderful, but...much as it made 
me uncomfortable, I'll miss that bond I had with her."  He smiled.  "Not her 
jumping into my futon, but the closeness we shared.  That's gone now."

	Ataru's head reeled.  His sister jumping into his bed?  And why did 
the *saikoo jinseijitsu* not kill Asuka?  Was it more merciful here?  He 
decided to guide the conversation where he wanted it to go, something he was 
always good at.  He decided to take a chance.  "That's interesting coming 
from a man who hates women."  He hoped this Tobimaro was like his counterpart.

	Tobimaro's eyes glinted.  "It's been a lot harder than you think, you 
know.  Most of my experience of women is with Ryouko-chan, and that's not 
exactly a flattering picture."  He sighed.  "I think...given time, I could 
meet the right woman.  But I'm not sure if my life is ready for that.  That's 
what you were doing, Ataru:  making us grow up, even if we don't want to.  
Actually, perhaps deep down, we do.  Maybe that's why I'm going back to 
Tomobiki, to get ready."

	Tobimaro glanced over at Ataru, and noticed his stare.  "Is there 
something wrong?"

	Ataru started.  "No, no.  Just...well, I was staring at your eyes, to 
be honest."

	"Ah, yes, the famous sparkle," Tobimaro retorted.  "It's a genetic 
defect in the family, though of course we would never dare to admit it.  It's 
interesting, I'll grant you that.  When I was seven or eight, girls would  
flock around me.  I never realized it back then, but they were all fascinated 
with my eyes.  Shuu-chan hated it.  It took all the attention away from him.  
Another reason for our feud.  Not all of it was about baseball, you know."

	Tobimaro continued to ramble on.  It was obvious that he was desperate 
for human contact.  Ataru kept introducing random subjects into the conversation, 
listening more to the tone than the actual words themselves.  This world seemed 
so different from his.  Tomobiki seemed almost like an actual person rather than 
a place.

	Suddenly Ataru blinked, and felt himself remembering.  The memory loss 
came with another problem:  occasionally he suffered from flashbacks, recalling 
things that he had forgotten.  This appeared to be one of those times, as 
Tobimaro faded into the background and he suddenly found himself somewhere 
else.  Not travelling between dimension, but within his own mind...

	*    *    *

	Ataru walked through the door to his and Shinobu's small quarters.  
Today had been rough.  They had almost been caught, and had lost one of the 
Kurotenshi.  Ataru took casualties hard, and at the moment he was far from the 
lecherous idiot he presented most of the time.

	He entered to see Shinobu sitting on the edge of the bed, staring into 
space.  Thankfully, Shinobu had stayed here for this mission, pleading sickness.  
Still, to see her unmoving on the bed was a little nerve-wracking.  He shook her 
gently.  "Shinobu-chan?"

	She focused on him, and slowly returned to the world.  "The stick is 
blue," she said.

	Unable to follow her, Ataru responded, "The dog barks at midnight.  
Is this some TUF thing?  What's the matter?"

	She looked at him with despair in her eyes.  "I'm pregnant, Ataru-kun."

	At first he stared at her stupidly.  Then his eyes got big, and he 
started to jump around the room.  "Yatta!!!" he shouted.  "We're going to have 
a baby!!!"  He ran over and hugged Shinobu.  "A baby!!!  Whoo-hoo!!!  I'm going 
to be a father!!!  You're going to be a mother!!!  We're... what?!  What is it?" 
Ataru noticed Shinobu staring at him in horror.

	Suddenly she slapped him.  "Ataru-kun, what are you thinking!?!  I can't 
be pregnant now!  What kind of world is this for a child!  I can't think about 
children now!  We've got to worry about the liberation of our planet!  Oh god, 
how could this have happened?"  She started to cry.

	Ataru was stunned.  He assumed that she would be as happy as he was.  
When they were kids, she was always talking about getting married and having 
children.  It was one of her lifelong dreams.  Now that dream had become a 
nightmare to her.  He could not let that happen.

	He took her in his arms, holding her until she stopped sobbing.  Then he 
began to speak.  "Shinobu-chan, you don't know what you're saying.  This is the 
best thing that's ever happened to us.  We're going to bring a child into 
the world.  And if the world is less than perfect...that will give us more 
reason to change it, won't it?  Shinobu, you wait until the others hear about 
this.  They'll be cheering.  This is the first baby we've seen in this town... 
almost since the invasion.  It's our child, but it's also a symbol.  Of Earth, 
and our refusal to knuckle under.  It's a wonderful thing, Shinobu-chan... 
you've made me so happy."  Ataru was surprised to find there were tears in his 
eyes.

	Shinobu looked at her husband, and suddenly remembered why she married 
him.  It was this person, the wonderful man behind the lecher.  She hugged him, 
crying with joy now.  "You're right, Ataru-kun.  No matter what world our baby 
grows up in, we'll make sure he's happy.  Oh, Ataru-kun, I love you..."

	She pulls him down to the bed in a kiss...

	*    *    *

	"Ataru!  Can you hear me?!  What's the matter?!"

	Ataru 'woke' to find Tobimaro looking at him anxiously.  He wondered how 
long he had been standing there staring into space.  "I'm alright.  I was just 
zoning out there for a moment."

	"Well, try not to do that!  Everyone worries around you now, y'know!  
It's only been a few months since the Spirit War, and I haven't seen you since.  
Who knew what you'd be like!"

	Tobimaro was rambling again, better cut him off.  "I'm alright, I said.  
In fact, I think I'm feeling better than I have all evening.  Thank you, 
Tobimaro."

	Tobimaro stood there, puzzled.  "Um...anytime.  Well, I'm headed back 
to Tomobiki.  Will you be alright?"

	Ataru smiled.  "Yes, I suppose I'd better get back to the party.  I 
have some unfinished business to attend to."

	"Well, okay.  Good luck!" Tobimaro appeared to have totally lost the 
thread of their conversation.  He wandered off, heading back in the direction 
of Tomobiki.

	Ataru sighed, and started back towards Chie's shrine.  He owed them an 
apology, he supposed.  He been too harsh with them.  He had gotten so used to 
being harsh, to letting no emotion get through his cold exterior, that all these 
changes had made them come out in a rush.  He owed Lum an apology most of all.  
It was unfair comparing her with the Lum of his universe.

	He was still unsure about her, even now.  She had orchestrated the 
destruction of his world, and that fact sat on his mind like a cold ball of 
iron.  But the *saikoo jinseijitsu*, when possessing him, had revealed that he 
had been bonded to Lum as a child, even before he had met Shinobu.  That was 
what broke his mind, the shattering of the bond between them.  What that bond 
meant...that was still a mystery to him.  He loved his wife.  But he felt that 
somehow, he was meant to be with Lum.  Sitting in his attic, looking at the 
both of them dying, he had racked himself with guilt trying to reconcile the 
two beliefs.

	He thanked the gods every day, however, for his son.  Kokeru might be 
growing up in an Earth torn apart, but he was also the hope for the future.  
He wondered if the Ataru in this world had someone like that, someone to call 
his own, to touch and love as only a parent could.  Ataru smiled to himself.  
Despite everything, there were some bright spots in his life.

	He approached the shrine, steeled himself, and entered.  There, he 
found Chie, Ashin, Aikyou and Sakura standing over a chalk circle in deep 
discussion.  To his dismay, he saw Sakura's uncle Cherry off to the side, 
being ignored by everyone else.  Ataru wandered over.  "Hello, Cherry."

	Cherry looked at him in surprise.  He had not expected Ataru to give 
him the time of day.  "Hello, Ataru.  I see your face is even more unlucky 
than usual."

	Ataru grimaced.  Apparently this world's Cherry was not different here. 
Still, he could not bring himself to be rude to the monk, after everything that 
had befallen him in Ataru's own universe.  "You could be right there, Cherry.  
I'm not feeling especially lucky today."

	The others turned, noticing him for the first time.  "You decided to 
come back, I see." Sakura said to him.

	"Of course, I have to get home."  Ataru had decided that while he would 
be polite, there was no reason for him to be talkative.  "I apologize to all of 
you for my actions earlier.  It hasn't been the best of days.  Especially you, 
Lum, you don't deserve what I said to you.  In my world, I have...very mixed 
feelings towards your alternate.  That influenced my words towards you.  Anyway, 
let's get on with it," he said, stepping into the circle.  "Do I stand here?"

	The others were brought up short by Ataru's clipped tone, as well as his 
abruptness.  "Well...we're just about ready.  Aikyou thinks she knows how to 
send you back.  All you have to do is stand there."

	"Fine," Ataru said.  He did not want to be here any longer, he wanted 
to be back home.  The last time this had happened he'd come back to find Lum 
dying in his arms.  God only knows what havoc this world's Ataru was wreaking 
now.  Nevertheless, he was not prepared to stay here.

	Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he felt the world 
go grey.  Just before he blacked out, he heard Chie say, "There he goes!  Well 
done, Aikyou."

	"But...but I didn't do anything!" Aikyou protests...

	*    *    *

	Ataru came to with a sea of faces looking at him.  There was...Sakura?  
But she looked fine!  What was going on here?  He sat up quickly.  He was on 
a ship, Vosian by the looks of her, headed back towards the Earth.

	He noticed several people he did not know giving him wary looks.  One 
of them spoke up.  "You're our Ataru, right?  The Ataru of this universe?"

	Ataru looked at him with an equally wary look.  "Well, did Megane lose 
the tag race, did the Urusians invade, is Benten my servant and are Lum and 
Shinobu in comas?  Does that sound familiar?"

	The others appeared to be even more uncomfortable.  "Familiar, yes, but 
not true anymore.  Not all of that."  The speaker was a tall man with glasses, 
whom Sakura seemed to be hanging over.  Ataru could not get over Sakura's change.  
What had happened here?  What else had the 'alternate' Ataru done.

	Slowly he turned to gaze at the rest of the room.  There, standing next 
to a Vosian woman, and wearing a new, unknotted kill-belt, was Shinobu.  But his 
wife refused to look at him, sending a pang deep into Ataru's heart.

	And at the door, waiting with a bearded Vosian, was Lum.  Whole, 
alive...and in handcuffs.  She smiled at him briefly before dropping her gaze.  
Slowly, she was led out of the cabin.

	Ataru felt his knees giving way, and he sank to the deck.  Looking at 
the space where Lum had been, all he could say was, "He did it again, didn't 
he?"

	*    *    *

To be continued...