On 25-Jun-98, Henry J. Cobb wrote:

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This rough draft is for all the fans who thought that Skuld was replacing
Lum in this story.
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   Lum's role in the story maybe.  Lum is, of course, is irreplaceable.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked again.

"BUMOO!"  The 15 foot long tiger-striped monster with elephant ears, horns
and a black horse-like tail turned the corner of the maze behind Skuld.

Skuld ran around the kotatsu, then pointed at the plate on it.  "Look Rei,
COOKIES!"

   Taking lessons in Oni pacification from Ran, perhaps?

Skuld didn't stay to watch the rest of the fight.  She needed to get back
to the fountain at the center of the maze.  She had been too surprised when
Rei first appeared to teleport out, but now she desperately wanted to
leave.  She just couldn't face one of the boys she'd killed.

   Let's see.  First there was Sentaro, now Rei.  You're making Skuld to 
be one homicidal maniac, aren't you.

She turned back to face him, hammer at the ready.  "Gee Rei, you've
certainly grown in the past three years.  Death certainly has been good to
you."

[Rei on a talk show chair: "When you're dead, time is all you have...."]

"Bumoo!"  Rei moved in slowly, stalking the goddess with steady graceful
tread of a jungle cat.

"Look, I'm really really sorry I killed you.  Can't we be friends?"

"And I won't do it to you again.  Really." ;-)

Skuld fired the raygun as she drew it from hyperspace.  There was no time
to aim and no room to miss.  The beam sizzled through Rei's chest.

"No!  Not again!"  Skuld would have done anything to have taken back that
shot.  She dropped her weapon and buried her face in her hands.

"Gusun gusun gusun."

Those weren't Skuld's sobs.  As she pulled her hands from her face, she
noticed that they were a bit smaller and the cut on her face was gone.
All around she felt a bit younger.  "No, don't take me back to that day!"

She looked up at the schoolyard on Uru.  All of the children, from many
different species, seemed to be shocked into silence.  All the blood seemed
to have drained from Ran's face.  Benten stood shivering in the grasp of
conflicting emotions.  Oyuki had fallen to her knees with her hands
crossed over her mouth.  All was silence, except for Lum's gentle sobbing.

Lum held Rei's humanoid form in her lap.  Even with a hole blown in his
chest, he was so very handsome.

   Here I thought Skuld was about to have an introduction in heavy 
artillary from a certain vengeful redhead.  What happened was a skillful
surprise.

Smoke billowed out from Ataru's corpse, blanketing everything in a
gray fog.

Skuld hugged her knees to herself as she drifted through the fog.  "No, THAT
hasn't happened.  Not yet.  It won't happen.  I won't let it happen!  Not
again!"

   Here I think is the root of the game Skuld and Ataru are playing here.  A 
different one from the one Lum and Ataru played in UY, indeed.
   Skuld is afraid to let herself get too close to Ataru because she fears
he'll
die too.  Just like Rei and Sentaro.
   Skuld's attraction to Ataru, and self distancing from it, has been hinted
at through much of the story so far.  Noble Scarlett is a big clue here, since
she is an aspect of Skuld.

Through the fog, Skuld heard her own voice.  "That's the advantage of
triage.  You tell them: ``Help is on the way, please keep up hope'' and
then you leave them to DIE!"

Why did those words now hurt so much?  Surely, if anybody was expendable,
it was that idiot.  Was it simply another case where she would fail to
live up to her responsibilities or was it something more?

"Scarlet's right."  Skuld wiped the tears from her eyes and opened them.

[Snip the part of Skuld's dream involving Belldandy & Keichi]

"That last one really hurt didn't it?"  A short figure stood in the
gloom.  "You want him for yourself?"

"I got over that long ago."  Skuld didn't turn away from the river.  "Show
yourself Mujaki."

"Have we met young lady?"  The short demon with white hair, in the
star-spangled suit and top hat stepped out of the shadows.

"No, but mother pointed you out in the Big Picture Book of Supernatural
Beasts.  She said that you'd come to give naughty little goddesses bad
dreams."

"That's right, I haven't run you through her death yet."

Skuld sneered at the demon.  "Is that the worst you can you do, dredge up
my past?"

"For somebody with such a remarkable imagination, your worst nightmares
seem to all be things that have actually happened."

Or Might happen...

"Then this is a big operation for you.  Why bother, I'll be free as soon
as I awaken."

"You are awake."  Mujaki announced.  "Shall I pinch you to prove it to
you?  It's your nature as something of an illusion to be where you appear
to be."

Skuld turned around to glare at the demon.  "Now that you've got me
trapped, what do you intend?  To destroy me?"

"What a waste of potential, my dear lady.  Also impossible.  There will
always be a future, just as there will always be dreams.  If I snuff out
your current form you will reemerge in some other and you are almost
perfect this time around."

"Perfect for what?"

"My dreams are not that different from Shutaro's.  He sees you as a great
prize as both a woman to be won as well as extremely helpful in his plans.
You are even more useful to me."

"In what way?"

"With our combined powers we can make every nightmare come true."

"You're scum, you know that?"

"I simply am what I have been created to be.  I'll leave you here for a
while my lady and then when you're feeling better when can talk."

"I don't think so.  I'll be leaving now."

"How?"  The demon swept his arm around.  "You're trapped in my domain!"

"This is all I need to defeat you."  Skuld held up her left pinky.  A red
thread trailed away from it.

"What is this?"  The demon leaned forwards to get a better look and had his
head smashed to the floor by Ataru's tennis shoe.

"It's about time you got here Ataru."  Skuld stood up and walked to his
side.

"Is this guy bothering you?"  Ataru asked.

"Not any more."

"You will never escape goddess!"  Mujaki shouted from under Ataru's foot.

"Where is this place?"  Ataru looked around at the cave.

"It's a rather depressing dream and I think it's about time to wake up."
Skuld took Ataru's hand and walked a few meters away.

The demon got to his feet.  "He can wake up, but you never will!"

"You don't know anything, do you?"  Skuld turned back to Ataru  "Come on,
let's go."

"But how?"  Ataru asked.

"Like this."  Skuld wrapped her arms around Ataru's neck and brought him
close for a kiss.  He was so surprised that he woke up.

When Skuld opened her eyes, she was sitting on Ataru's lap, in his desk in
the classroom.  She could feel the shock of all the other students.
Everything was back to normal.

"S-sorry."  Ataru whispered.  "I feel asleep in class.  I was up all night
looking for you."

"How sweet."  Skuld leaned forwards to kiss him again.

"Moroboshi!"  Sensei Onsen-mark slammed his hand down on his desk.  "What
is the meaning of this?"

"Uh, I found Skuld, sir."  Ataru placed his right hand behind his neck.

Skuld reluctantly got off of Ataru and walked around to her own desk.

"And what is your story Skuld?"  The teacher asked.

"I was abducted by a demon, sir."

"What!"

"On my word as a goddess sir."

After school Shutaro walked up to the couple with one hand on the hilt of
his katana.  "Ataru, if you ever cause this goddess the slightest pain, I
will hear of it and you will suffer.  Until then, I just want to say
congratulations and I wish both of you the best."  He shook Ataru's hand.

"Thank you Shutaro."  Skuld gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He just stood there shocked as the pair walked on, holding hands.

Ataru stopped. "Skuld, I don't know what to tell my mother."

Skuld lead him over to a bench in front of the fountain in the park.  "Try
the truth."

"I just don't know how she's going to take it."

"I think, that just this once, she'll be proud of you."

"Skuld..."

Skuld put her arms around Ataru's neck and drew him in for a kiss.

And here is where the surprise comes in.....

"My, what a touching scene, t'cha."

Skuld disentangled herself from Ataru and looked back at the girl leaning
over their park bench.  "Lum!"

So Lum isn't replaced in the series.  Ran is!
Except that Lum has a better incentive to be out for Ataru's blood.

"So this is your Darling?"  Lum had blue eyes, long green hair, fangs and
horns and wore a tiger-striped bikini with matching boots.  "Sentaro,
aren't you, t'cha?"

"No, I'm Ataru."

"Why you little two-timer Skuld, I never knew you had it in you, t'cha!"

"Sentaro is dead."  Skuld scowled.  "What do you want here Lum?"

"Nice little planet you've got her Skuld.  Selfish of you to keep it a
secret like this.  I'll have to take it away, t'cha."

"Do you think you can just walk in here and take over?"  Ataru asked Lum.

"Earth's military is no match for her forces."  Skuld whispered to
Ataru. "But, her pride won't let her turn down a personal challenge."

"I challenge you!"  Ataru stood and pointed to the alien princess.

"My a bit of spunk there, t'cha.  This should be fun.  If you should win I
shall call off the invasion and grant you any one thing in my ability.
But, when I win you become my first Earth slave willingly, t'cha?"

"Agreed."

"Now as the challenged party, I get to pick the game.  It has to be
something that won't bruise you too much.  I wouldn't want to spoil my
prize.  How about tag, t'cha?"

"Whatever you say."

"Ataru..."  Skuld grabbed his arm.

"You will have ten days to catch me and grab my horns.  That sounds simple
enough, t'cha?"

"Lady, ain't nothing gonna keep me from grabbing you."

"But first I need to go arrange press coverage, t'cha."  Lum waved as she
flew towards a waiting UFO.

"S-she can fly?"  Ataru looked after Lum as she flew off.

"I tried to warn you dummy."  Skuld sat down again.

   And here we go through a altered form of "Beautiful Nightmares" to 
get to the orignal UY beginning.  
   This series has had well developed interpertations of Skuld, Ataru
and the other members of the UY cast, with hidden depths and secret
dark corners to both Skuld and Ataru.  Special kudos for Ataru's 
characterization, which maintains nearly all of his Anime traits 
while adding just enough to make us root for him.  Henry, you may
just be the first person to really know how to write Ataru.
   While the plots have been an alternate universe reworking of
the first season of UY, the reworking has been skillfully 
executed, adding quite a few surprises and twists along the
way.
   And now the tag race.
   I look forward to the conclusion to this excellent, if 
not widely recognized, series.  "Urusei Megamisama" certainly
deserves widespread attention, and I hope it receives it.

Henry J. Cobbhcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb
   Next: "The Game of the Oni"