Remember Love

By Ron Dow75

[This story comes from an idea by Erutaerc, and the

inspiration of the "UY" movie "Remember My Love".]

Wizard Tsubame Ozuno rubbed his bloodshot eyes again.

He decided to leave his special project on his conjuring

table and take a rest break. He'd been at it for nearly a

month now. The lack of sleep was beginning to take its

toll on his handsome face.

He went to the kitchen of his modest Gothic mansion on

the outskirts of Tokyo, and started making himself another

pot of strong coffee. Coffee, not tea. That was a habit

he'd picked up when he had studied the occult arts in

America and Europe. He had needed the caffeine when his

he was required to stay up late. So many of their Western

spells called for some phase of the moon or the other--

The Moon! Tomorrow was a full moon! He just HAD to finish

his special project by tomorrow!

"Come on! Come on!" he told the percolator. "I wish I

had spent my money on a coffeemaker rather than that

dehydrator! But it's so hard to BUY dried tongue of dog

or powdered asphodel in Japan, and the shipping costs

from--"

Suddenly the brochure he was fanning the flames of his

gas range caught fire! First screaming and running around

for a half-a-minute, he tossed it into the sink. Hurrying

over, he turned on the tap. Only when the fire was

doused, did he notice what it was a brochure of:

"Tomobiki Marchenland. Japan's 1st Fairy Tale Amusement

Park".

Tsubame Ozuno cried, "It's an omen!" He immediately

headed back for his conjuring room. For the thousandth

time, he repeated aloud what had led him to be doing his

special project. The wizard in him felt the need to speak, to

give the events even more significance, "The owners of

"Marchenland" are American. I was commissioned by them

since I am the ONLY practitioner of Western-style

exorcism in Japan. Their customers all said the magic had

gone after the first day. Everything had become as dull

as ordinary life.

"I was able to use my mystic powers to trace the lack

of disturbance to the "Mirror House". Once there I could

have cast my spells, but I waited, for the witching hour.

And then..." he opened the door to his conjuring room. It

was a darkened room anybody familiar with the arcane

props of European magic would be familiar with, complete

to the cauldron in the large hearth. "...THEY appeared.

Only I, in all of Greater Tokyo, could possibly

recognize them for what they truly were."

Ozuno went back to the pentagram and its occult

symbols woven into the black tablecloth. On it, were

pieces of what looked like glass. Most of them had

already been assembled into a globe shape. Ozuno sat down

and picked up the bottle of glue again, "I am SURE this

is no ordinary crystal ball. It has enough magic in it

to..." he chuckled at what could be no more than wishful

thinking, "...to do more than just PREDICT fortunes?" But

then, as a wizard, he believed in the power of wishing

thinking.

He had to. It was what kept his hope alive, "Sakura, I

do this for us. I will use my magic to accomplish a great

feat, and then...THEN we can become man and wife."

The next day, in Tomobiki High School:

"Sakura! Sakura!!" the all too familiar and irritating

voice of Ataru Moroboshi called out to beautiful Shinto

priestess and school nurse above the din of the crowded

room.

At the moment she was in the infirmary, and so in

the white full-length lab coat of the nurse, "Leave me

ALONE, Moroboshi!!"

"But every minute we waste, we waste of our fleeting

youth, that can never--" Ataru found out again. Sakura was

also a black belt martial artist. Rather than let him

grab her, she threw the homely teen in the plebe uniform.

Nothing unusual about that.

But she was so stressed by the day, she let the body

hit somebody. That somebody was another Tomobiki High

student, Megane. The teen with the thick glasses did not

fall because his minion wide Kakugari was standing behind

him. But it wasn't really Kakugari's idea to save his leader

from a fall. There was no room for him to back up.

Shoving Ataru down from himself, Megane cried, "Miss

Sakura! Why did you do that!?!"

She pointed at all of the school boys crowded in the

school infirmary, "Because there's no room to toss even a

cat!! Look at you all! None of you are here because you

are sick!"

Megane's associates, Perm, Chibi, and Kakugari, and

the few others paying attention went into a lousy job of

acting sick. "Of course we're sick! Can't you see how bad

we are by looking at us?"

The only teen in the white plebe uniform got in front of

them, "You are well known for being bad, Miscreants! We

of the Shadow Scholastic Life Leaders have a complete

dossier on each of you."

Ataru yelled from under him, "Mendou!!" and threw him

off of him.

Sakura had only gotten angrier, "You're all here ONLY

because of Lum! I'm keeping this hospital screen around

my patient so NOBODY can see her!" This scene was typical

of the chaos that happened around the green-haired alien

Oni. But Sakura didn't blame her, really. She blamed her

blind love of that chaos-magnet, and lecher Ataru

Moroboshi!

Mendou was on his feet and by the nurses side,

offering, "Sakura-sensei, the Mendou estate has the

finest hospital facilities in the world. My fleet of

ambulance helicopters is at your disposal."

There were objections from the others in the room, led

by Ataru, "You just want to get Lum away from us, and to

yourself, Mendou!!"

Megane, who spent all of his spare allowance on Lum

souvenirs (and "Star Trek" and Nazi memorabilia) cried,

"Miss Sakura, don't let Mendou BUY Lum!!"

Sakura threw off her lab coat and instantly went from

the wearing the smart blue dress and jewelry she had

under it to the white coat and red, plaited, skirt-like

hakama pants typical of Shinto exorcists. "Enough!! I've

determined that Lum does not suffer from an illness! She

is under a spell! And if I'm to find out what it is and how to

remove it, I need privacy: OUT!!"

They all saw that the magic wielder was serious.

Deadly serious?

The squat, English teacher Onsen-Mark chose that

moment to open the infirmary door, "Classes have started!!

Get back to your--" He was trampled by the stampede of

students.

In his red-lined opera cape, Wizard Tsubame Ozuno had

moved the table and everything on it out into his

spacious back yard, to pick up the unfiltered moonlight.

The crystal had several shards and splinters missing and

looked as badly cracked as it was. But it was clearly

recognizable as a ball. Enchanted knife and rod in his

hands, he began to chant over it.

An ember flickered inside the crystal ball, then

glowed. The brighter it became, the more the cracks began

to fuse together. Just when it looked like the crystal

was about to become one, the glow ignited to become a

small flame. The missing pieces flew in on the wind from

out of the night to merge with the creation of both

alien-science and magic.

Bathed in his own sweat from the exertion it took to

control the terrible forces he was using, the Wizard

looked at the result. He was impressed with himself.

Never had one of his spells gone so well since he had

returned to Japan. (In fact, none of his spells had gone

well. The Buddhist monk Cherry, Sakura's uncle and the

man whose blessing he needed to marry her, had said it

was because Japan used a different system of magic. But

Ozuno KNEW one day he would prove him, and everybody

else, wrong! HE was part of the van guard that would

unite the world under ONE system!)

"Ahem! Yes. Now is not the time for this. Now is the

time to complete the spell, to make my wish, to claim my

fortune, to change the future, to--"

Sakura's indignant voice interrupted him, "Tsubame! I

follow the disturbance and I find YOU at the end of it!?"

"Sakura! Now is not the time to distract me! I must

maintain my concentration!"

She came over to him and swatted the hand that held

the knife with her wand with the zigzags of paper tied to it.

"This is the PERFECT time! This accursed object is tied

to Lum! By putting it back together, you endangered MORE

than just her health!!"

Tsubame was confused, "What??"

"I saw that this object was broken. As it established

its connection with her, Lum's life force ALSO developed

the same fractures!"

Tsubame looked at it. "But now it is whole. That means

that Lum is alright...."

Sakura nodded her head, "Lum's life force is now

whole, again--But that's only because the CURSE is now

joined to her!! WE must destroy this object before it can

fulfill its dreadful purpose!"

Tsubame laid his hand on what he had invested a month

to salvaging. The object he was certain had more magic

potential than any he had ever come across before.

Sakura, his love, wanted him now to waste all of that.

He lifted it up over his head, and--

Sakura stopped him, "I SAID it was tied to Lum's life

force! WE cannot simply destroy it without harming her!!

Only the person CURSED has the key to nullifying it! We

must find out what that key is!"

Tsubame was abashed. "Of, of course. I know that."

Rather than look at his love, he looked at the flames

inside the crystal ball. Until a few minutes ago, they

hadn't been there. He got an idea, "It WAS destroyed! The

proper spell might have it tell us HOW!"

Sakura said, "If there IS a proper spell! It WOULD

have to be Western. Crystal balls are outside of Eastern

magic."

After nearly an hour, Sakura had give up. But Tsubame

was determined to prove to his future-wife that his

Western magic was just as good as her Eastern magic. If

he couldn't do it with an object more Western than--

Sakura said in wonder, "An image! I see an image

inside the globe!"

Tsubame blinked, "You do?"

On closer inspection the odd shapes resolved

themselves into letters. Sakura had seen similar ones

before, thanks to Lum and her fellow aliens. Still, there

was only one symbol that she thought she could

understand: She ran her finger along what looked like a

switch.

"Universal Translator Activated: If found, drop in the

nearest Galactic Mail Service box, care of the Milky Way

"Curses R Us" Management Organization."

Sakura had to ask, "What in outer space??" But she

remembered she was a professional exorcist, and had

responsibilities, "Tell us what the curse is!"

"...If found, drop in the..."

Angry, she raised her wand and started waving at it

and chanting with her already hoarsening voice.

Tsubame was in competition. If Sakura WAS able to get

this thing to reveal the curse, she could NEVER learn to

respect him. He made a fist and hit the crystal ball.

An image of what in the West would see as an old

crone witch appeared, and spoke: "How dare they invite

everyone EXCEPT me, the Old Woman of the Oak Forest

over for a birth celebration!..."

Sakura asked, "How??!"

Tsubame smiled, relieved and proud, "My time in the

West HAS proven useful. Since I now know that technology,

as well as magic, is involved in this crystal I just did

what those in America do when they want something to

work. They hit it."

"...The newborn was a girl, was it not? Thus shall the

curse be fulfilled: When the babe becomes a woman, her

fate shall be such that she and her beloved man will be

forever separated! No matter how much she may love him,

the love won't be mutual. No matter how much she may

fall in love, the love will be shattered and her dreams

shall never come true!

"Thus it shall be! Her destiny is now determined!"

The revealed truth made Sakura feel quite ill, "You

didn't bring a chair out here, did you?"

Tsubame could understand her reaction, "That IS Lum's

fate. Moroboshi is incapable of loving her."

Sakura grew angry at the thought of that boy,

"Moroboshi is incapable of loving anybody but Moroboshi!"

Tsubame wondered, "Then he, too, is cursed?"

Sakura grunted, "Of course. Uncle Cherry calls him the

Most Unfortunate Boy Alive."

Ozuno was inspired. As he stared at the crystal ball,

its red and yellow flames flickered in his eyes.

Just as his magic had difficulty dealing with things

Japanese, Tsubame was able to convince Sakura, for the

time being, any way, that Japanese magic would have

difficulty dealing with this alien object. Since his

Western magic seemed more compatible, HE was the one who

could best guard it.

But when his love had left, he started on his new

plan. He had three days and nights that could count as a

full moon. As an exorcist, he knew very well about

getting the ghost or demon to leave the host and entering

into a substitute. It was a very old tradition in the

West. It was called "finding a scapegoat".

He would transfer the curse onto Ataru Moroboshi.

Since he was part of the curse, it would be relatively

easy. It wasn't entirely ethical. But if it was a choice,

why did it Lum have to be the one to suffer? Besides,

everybody cursed Moroboshi and agreed he was as bad as a

curse.

Moroboshi was infamous, making National,

International, and Galactic news. And like the Living

Embodiment of Chaos Theory he was, whatever happened, he

always managed to survive. Things could not possibly

become any worse by him becoming more cursed. Right?

Meanwhile, Sakura decided to apply her own magic. The

object may be alien, but if its curse HAD been working

and, non-Eastern or not, IN Japan. She might not know how to

effect the glass globe, yet, but she DID know how to effect the

immediate environment it acted in.

Tsubame had told her about the "Mirror House" at

"Marchenland". That was where she would start as soon as

her duties allowed.

Sixteen years ago the crystal ball had been sent, but

had never reached "Curses R Us". If it had, they could

have managed it through their knowledge of the Laws of

Probability. Instead, it had laid lost for 300 years into

the future.

During the centuries, the curse's unfulfilled

resentment would grow deeper and stronger, until its

potential would become wild, unpredictable. It grew even

beyond the ability of "Curses R Us" to direct. The Rules

of Science and Logic no longer could contain it.

It was destined to find one of Lum's descendants.

Using its ability to perform wonders, it enchanted the

ten-year-old Ruu to travel back in time and trap Lum

inside the crystal ball. If Ruu's tutor, Miss Lahla,

hadn't gotten Ataru inside to rescue Lum, time itself

would have been altered. Lum would never have had

children. Ruu would never have been born. And the paradox

would have destroyed the future.

Sakura was chasing after signs of an alternative

reality. It was a past a month old that had happened,

but, now, had not happen. But it was also a present that

could not happen, but was about to happen. The insanity

of the curse had the potential to destroy the future once

again.

Unable to find the free time, and against her own

better judgment, Sakura got the school's official

permission to take her class on "a field trip".

Tall Perm again marveled at the beautiful woman's

power, "I don't know what an Amusement park has to do

with "Health & Hygiene"."

Small Chibi speculated, "Perhaps it's full of examples

of what NOT to do?"

Big Kakugari said, "Most of what I find amusing isn't

very clean."

Handsome Ryuunosuke, in her boys' blue plebe uniform,

frowned, "I worked all my life at my Old Man's little

beach-side food stand. I know how important it is to keep

things clean. Clean is NOT fun."

Homely Ataru told them, "So who CARES what the reason

is! We're in a place dedicated to everything school

ISN'T: FUN!"

The green-haired Lum, in her girls' sailor uniform,

told him, "Darling! School IS fun, with the right

attitude!"

Samurai Mendou, in his white plebe uniform, told them,

"If Miss Sakura brought us here, it can only be to

further our education in some way." Shinobu, Ataru's former

girlfriend, hung onto his arm.

Ignoring them for the most part, Megane adjusted his

thick glasses, "I suspect the truth is somewhere between

those extremes." He had a book he kept glancing at.

Ataru yelled, "Megane!! That book of yours is an

insult to the Spirit of Field Trips! May the kami break

your glasses in divine retribution!"

Perm said, "I agree. It isn't like you to read a

school book when you don't have to."

Megan yelled, "I'm NOT reading a school book!! I'm

reading "The Science of Star Trek"!!"

Ataru accused, "See! "Science" is a school subject!

Traitor!" Others voiced their agreement.

Mendou said, "I seriously doubt the "Science of Star

Trek" can be taken as anything to do with REAL science."

Now it was Megane's turn to be indignant, " "Star

Trek" is SCIENCE fiction! Take subspace. Under one

scientific theory, since it underlies space-and-time, it

is able to change...." Gradually the Trekkie became aware

that he was alone. Everybody had gone off to see if they

could find something better to do in the park. Anything

better.

Everybody but one. Sakura said, "Something tells me

that subspace explanation has something to do with the real

reason I'm here."

Lum asked, "Darling! Don't you want to go on a ride

like the Ferris Wheel or Tunnel of Love with me? Why do

you want to go to the "Mirror House"?"

Ataru told her, "Why do you think I'd go into a place

with mirrors?"

"Darling, I love you, but you're not that handsome."

"Not me! I'm going to look at girls in the mirrors!

And one definite WOMAN. That's where Sakura went."

Lum lifted her feet off the ground and floated beside

him, "You know those mirrors will distort what she looks

like."

"They won't DARE!! Sakura's beauty is classic! It

would be sacrilege to not reflect her true..."

Lum rolled her eyes and sighed.

As they were about to enter the "Mirror House", an icy

chill went up the spine of the hot-blooded space

princess. "Darling! Let's not go in! I have a terrible

feeling something terrible has--will--oh, my Oni sense of

time is confused! We must be near a subspace portal!"

Ataru sneered, "Humh! I didn't know you were a

Trekkie, too."

She pulled at his arm, "I'm serious, Darling!"

Ataru yanked his arm out of hers, "Lum!! Not in

public!" And as he entered, "And not at home, either."

Then he put his mind to somebody more important, "Sakura!

Miss Sakura! Sakura-sensei, where did you disappear to?!

Help, I'm lost!"

Lum's dread held her back, letting her "husband" get

well ahead of her.

Inside, only the wood floor wasn't one large piece of

multi-facetted crystal. Ataru felt cheated: "This doesn't

look like any house of mirrors I ever heard of! Where are

the ones that make other people look silly and stupid!"

Recovering from dashed expectations (something he was used

to), he realized, "The mirrors go to the floor. (Heh,

yeh, heh!) That means I can look under girls' skirts!" He

pulled out a small mirror he kept for just such

occasions.

A short, bald and ugly man said, "Haven't you learned

anything?"

Ataru cried, "CHERRY!!?! Where'd you come from!?!!"

Ignoring the question that usually greeted his

appearance, the man in the Buddhist monk's outfit said,

"Remember the last time you looked into a mirror through

a mirror at the stroke of midnight?" A little imp had

appeared and couldn't get back to the other side.

Ataru struck him on the head, "This isn't midnight!!"

His hand on the bruise, Cherry told him, "Time is

broken in here. It is always midnight, under a full

moon." At the moment when Ataru and Lum had shattered the

crystal ball the first time out of time.

Ataru didn't believe the little troll, "If time stands

still, YOU would be standing still. And--"

Cherry was standing as still as a statue. Ataru

screamed, "Stop that!!" as he punted him out of his

sight.

Snorting, Ataru looked down at the crystal facets down

near the floor through his little mirror. "Hmf! As if I'm

going to let a curse keep me from girl-watching."

But what he saw was only himself. Reflected many times

over. Again and again. There were so many, coming at him

or away from, back and forth, in so many directions, he

felt like he was going to be split apart.

He did.

When he regained consciousness he was together again.

But he was no longer in the "Mirror House". He was

looking up at space, and the Milky Way. Sitting up, he

found he was in a huge pink and white hall filled with

Roman columns that went as far as eye could see! But

scattered all about were high marble, stone, rock and

wooden stages. Some had props and a minimum of

decorations on them; some had backgrounds (Mt. Fuji, a

rugged moonlit sea shore, a jungle, etc.); half hidden

between some were complete tableaus. As large as a stage

was a frosted cake and other deserts. There were tables

and chairs of every sort (marble and lounges, Formica and

padded, rustic wooden, etc.) While cushions were strewn

about on the floor, in some places in piles, beside trays

filled with goodies. And off to one side was a bathing pool

the size of a lake, with a wall of shower sprays.

Everywhere, there were costumes of every sort

(leotards, geisha kimonos, stewardesses, grass skirts,

nurses, harem outfits, tennis, bunnies, cowgirl, bikinis,

normal dresses, and--Sailor suits! There were schoolgirl

uniforms of every kind he'd ever seen.) There were

thousands of them scattered about everywhere. And they

were ALL obviously meant for girls with great figures.

"But where are the bodies that are supposed to be in

them?? They didn't all decide to go bathing at the same

time, did they?" He rushed over to the pool, "Come on

out! Come out and play! You can't hold your breaths

forever!!" He stopped and looked down into the clear

water. "No body is there, nude or otherwise."

He looked around, "Nobody is here! Is this a pleasure

palace or not!?!! Where's the pleasure! Bring me the

women!!"

No reply. No voice from the sky. No guy in a turban

telling him his wish granted. No robot trundling out to

process his order. Not even a cockroach. He was the only

thing that moved in this vast, empty--

He heard a groan. A girl's groan!! He ran for where he

thought it came from.

He almost immediately tripped over her. Down on the

floor, he turned around to see, "LUM!!" The girl with the

horns was laying unconscious in her tiger-striped, fur

bikini.

Getting up on his knees, Ataru snorted, "Hmf! I was

right. This ISN'T a pleasure palace." He crossed his

arms, "It's a trap to keep me AWAY from girls with only

Lum around!" He bent forward, and yelled, "Wake up, Lum!!

Wake up, it's not going to work!! You can NEVER have me

all to yourself!!"

She groaned again as she responded to the noise next

to her. She felt very strange (and half dressed).

Something must have gone wrong --She sat up, looking

around for, "The crystal ball!! Where's the crystal

ball?!!" Then she looked down. She had cleavage, and

thighs, and HIPS! She never had hips like these before!!

Or those other parts. She tried to get up, but found

herself disoriented and dizzy. "Must find...crystal...."

Ataru was suspicious. "You're telling me you have

nothing to do with why we're here?"

"Oh, no!!" she realized. "I AM responsible!" Then she

took the boy by his coat sleeves, "Moroboshi! Only I

know what spells I tried on the crystal! Without ME

removing them, we might NEVER get out of here." Even the

simplest movements made her aware of her physical

condition. "And out of this body!"

Ataru freed himself with a jerk and stood up, "I don't

want you out that body. That body is the only thing I

really like about you. And the bikini, of course." It

wasn't quite true, but he was used to insulting her. He

looked at the table with the black cloth with gold

scribbles woven into it. "Is this the crystal ball you

were looking for?"

She got to her knees and held onto the table edge,

"Yes!! It came with us! There's hope I can undo whatever

I did!"

Ataru walked away, looking around for something to

relieve his growing boredom, "If you can't, could you at

least bring more people here? And make them all girls!"

Hunh? She didn't zap him. Lum didn't yell at him. He

looked again at her. She was bent over the crystal ball

thing waving her hands and speaking words that might be

alien for all he understood of them. He sighed. Even in

this unsexy pose (well, not intentionally, anyway), she

looked tempting.

He shook his head to clear it. She ALWAYS looked

tempting! And it wasn't as if she hadn't offered him

chance after chance with her. She lived in his bedroom

closet! But if he gave in to her, she would've won! It would

be like consummating their so-called marriage. And he wasn't

READY to be tied down! Not while he still had his youth!

He wouldn't waste what little time he had left to be

irresponsible to take on the responsibilities of a wife,

and (Gulp!) a family! He didn't WANT to be like his wage

slave father! He was CONSTANTLY worried about their

mortgage! He cared more about that than him, his own son!

Shoulders back, he turned his back on her, and--Bumped

up against the back of what definitely felt like a half-

dressed girl! Cackling silently, he was thinking about

how nice her ass was when he sucked green hair into his

drooling mouth.

Spitting it out, he at last cried, "Lum!?!! What

technology did you use to get ahead of me like that!!?!"

But all the girl could do, with her arms and legs out

and bent, was flex her fingers uselessly as she sputtered

at swear words that couldn't seem to come out.

Ataru challenged her, "You KNOW I'm a master at

escaping your traps! You can play teleport all you want,

I won't--"

Now his arm bumped into the FRONT of a half-dressed

girl. Lum was now staring down at herself saying, "I'm

taller. I'm taller. I'm a girl. But I'm taller." For some

reason, she sounded a little like Chibi.

The Lum behind her said, "And I'm smaller, and

thinner. I don't know if I LIKE being smaller and

thinner." And this one Kakugari.

Yet another Lum said, "What do you MEAN you don't know

if you like it!!? We're girls!" Perm? What was wrong with

Lum's voices?

Lums??? Lum had surrounded him!!

Kakugari-Lum could almost smile at the thought of,

"We're not any girls. We're Lums."

The most traumatized girl stopped her finger flexing

and sputtering and screamed, "Nghaaa!! No!! There is only

ONE LUM!! No one ELSE can replace her!! Any cheap copy of

our idol makes her common!!!" And that one sounded TOO

much like Megane.

Looking around at the growing number of Lums, Perm-Lum

said, "Common? I'd say Lum is just about all there is."

Kakugari-Lum said, "Lum is the standard."

Chibi-Lum reminded, "Aren't those the things you're

always saying about her, Megane?"

A sixth bikini-clad Lum identified herself by leaping

over a table as she attacked, "MO-RO-BO-SHI!!!"

Definitely Mendou, Ataru thought as the horned girl

knocked him to the floor and tried to strangle him. "How

dare you not only pervert the heir of the Mendou clan and

fortune, but make a mockery of Miss Lum at the SAME

time!!"

Ataru tickled her hairless armpits, exposed by the

strapless bikini top. Mendou squirmed, trying desperately

to maintain his samurai determination and finish the job

of, at long last, killing his mortal enemy. It was very

difficult to concentrate while in somebody else's body.

Especially one of the opposite gender.

Ataru, too, was finding it hard to concentrate. The

hot, nude skin of this Lum felt every bit as good as the

real one's. His hand started moving down towards her

breasts.

Mendou yelled, "Only a CAD would do that!!"

"Or a husband." He shouldn't have said that. Ataru

stopped himself. No!! Real or not, she LOOKED like Lum.

He would NOT give her any satisfaction!

With what air he had remaining, Ataru said,

"Touching... You're touching...a girl."

The thought planted in her pretty head, one of

Mendou's phobias kicked in: Squawking, he could no longer

keep his grip as chicken-bumps crawled up and down her

sensuous body.

She was still straddling him. Ataru told her, "Quick!

There's a pool you can get clean in over there!" Mendou-

Lum wasted no time getting to it.

(Of course, trying to wash the girl-body she was in

just made her phobia worse. Ataru liked the idea that

Mendou would be making herself crazier and crazier.

(For the first time Ataru noticed that their real

names in Japanese characters were floating over the

heads of each Lum. He thought it must be the same idea

as the "prime mark" that had gone over the heads of each

of the Ataru-clones Lum and Ran had zapped of him.)

A Lum marked as "Shinobu" ran for the pool, "Mendou??

That IS you, isn't it?" She had VERY mixed emotions over

anybody who looked like Lum.

Ataru called, "Shinobu!!" That was GREAT news: There

WERE real girls here. Even if they all looked like Lum.

"It's better to make out with girls who KNOWS how to be

a girl."

"MO-RO-BO-SHI!" hard voices said, surrounding him.

Ataru judged they were all classmates of his. Though

which were guys and which were girls he couldn't tell

without reading their names. They ALL looked like the

horned, green-haired Oni in her tiger-striped fur bikini.

Exactly.

Time for a bluff. Ataru said, "Since I'm the only one

who is who HASN'T changed, that means I'M the only one

who's important here!" He tried not to act too smug as he

got up. "Anything happens to me, and you'll all be stuck

this way."

Megane-Lum said, "I think it's the other way around!

Get rid of the only one ABNORMAL, and we'll all return to

normal!"

(Chibi said, "But I don't know if I want to return to

being short.)

A Lum that spoke with the voice of authority parted

the mob by her mere presence, "Unfortunately, Moroboshi

is correct. We will not escape this crystal prison by

destroying him. (However tempting that is.)" It was

Sakura.

A Lum with a short fuse a loud voice yelled, "And who

are YOU to give us advice and!!?!"

The regal Lum looked at the other through critical

eyes. "You haven't read my name!? I'm Sakura! And you're

Onsen-Mark."

The once stocky English teacher glowered, her red

going all the way to her cleavage. Stupidly, she tried to

deny she'd been identified, "How did I GET here!?!"

Sakura-Lum said, "It is worse than I feared. Onsen-

Mark wasn't with the field trip. Is there anybody else

here that wasn't in "Marchenland"?!!"

An embarrassed cough, and one shy Lum raised her hand.

"I was, er, taking the day off, and, uh, was home, just

reading the paper, and, well...."

It could only be, "Father!?!" Ataru cried. Why didn't

he have a name? All his characters said was "Ataru's-

Dad".

She said, rubbing the back of his head while cringing,

"Ataru, Mother's here, too. Somewhere. I lost her among

all the, heh, heh, other women."

Sakura-Lum nodded her head somberly, her hypothesis

confirmed. "As long as Moroboshi is not satisfied with

this fantasy world, his desire will reach out and draw in

others. He has started with those he knows. There is no

telling how many more will be brought here to fill his

void."

Megane-Lum cried, "We have to fulfill MOROBOSHI'S

fantasies!?!!"

Perm-Lum said, "That bottomless pit of depravity!!?!"

Single-minded Onsen-Mark-Lum refused, "I will NOT give

in to one of my students!"

Chibi-Lum said, "But he's a guy!" She was disturbed

that she wasn't as disturbed as she SHOULD be at the

thought. Did a girl's brain go with a girl's body?

Her hands fists, her stomach turning, the girl raised as

a boy, Ryuunosuke-Lum swore, "If that's the price I have to

pay, I DON'T want to be a girl."

Momoe-Lum, voted the second most attractive girl

before Lum had joined the class, said, "Not even a real girl

would have anything to do with him!"

Shinobu-Lum, third most attractive, protested, "I once

dated Ataru." It wasn't something she was proud of. But

love was like that. At least for her.

Ataru's-Dad-Lum lamented, "I should never have had

him."

In the bathing pool, Mendou-Lum screamed, "I refuse!!

I will die the honorable death of the samurai: Seppuku!!"

Her skin was visibly crawling, now.

Sakura-Lum informed her, and the rest, "This is

subspace, below the reality where death exists. The only

ones who can decide this existence are Lum and Ataru."

Ataru cackled, "Yee! Hee! Heh, heh! Everybody has to

do what I say? I get my revenge AND the girls?"

Sakura-Lum coldly told him, "Idiot! You get ONE girl:

Lum. This curse has shifted onto YOU, Moroboshi! But it STILL

exists because of Lum. Since she's not here, we are all

made her substitute."

Trying to find the positive of what would otherwise be

a wet dream come true, Ataru kept his smile. "But you're

NOT really her! And all of those costumes say you can

look different. Put those on, and I can IMAGINE you all

to be different girls." He looked around, "Aren't their

any wigs? Hair dye??"

Perm-Lum said, "I want a girl! I don't want to BE

one!"

Shinobu looked at the choices of clothes, "Most of

them are almost as bad as Lum's outfit."

Onsen-Mark-Lum crossed her arms, "I REFUSE to wear--"

She uncrossed them because they crossed her breasts.

Ataru moved to a chair with a high back. It was the

best thing to a throne he could see, "That is what your

sheik wants!"

Megane-Lum cried, "I will not be part of a harem!!

Especially MOROBOSHI'S!!!"

Sakura-Lum quieted them down before the riot started.

Then told them, "Put them on! They make us less

confusing. Except for the names over our heads, we ALL

look the same now! They will give us SOME individuality."

The girl-Lums had ways of telling who had always been

girls by the way they moved and the sounds they made;

they were even able to tell who their girl friends were.

They quickly organized things. They divided up and took

charge of the guy-Lums. They stripped them and themselves

(it helped THEM to know that this wasn't THEIR female

body). Any Lum they caught staring at their bodies, they

made look at their OWN (identical) body. They then

dressed in the first sensible outfit they could find. Not

so for the guy-Lums. Those that had given them trouble,

they punished by putting on the sexiest or stupidest

(sometimes the same thing) outfit they found. Those

guy-Lums that refused to cooperate were teamed up on

by the girls. If they didn't respond to the guy-motivations

they still possessed, they would subject them the techniques

girls had developed over the millennia to torment their own

gender.

Perm-Lum looked down at her pink nurse (with a mini)

costume. "I'm glad this isn't reality. I would be

severely traumatized by now."

Kakugari-Lum was a waitress (were the strap of her

short skirt went around her blouse's bust), "I should be

taking this out on Chibi. But I don't feel that mad."

Masako-Lum, in a sexy stewardess uniform, said, "So

should I. But I don't seem to mind being in a body better

built than my own." SHE had been voted only fifth most

attractive.

Chibi-Lum looked down at her hose-covered long legs,

revealed by her French maid's uniform, "I almost like

being a tall girl. What about you, Megane?"

Megane-Lum could say nothing. She had collapsed from

exhaustion in a pile of cushions. She was still in her

tiger-striped fur bikini because nobody could get her to

stop running about. She had been fanatically trying to

defend Lum's honor, by ordering the Lum clones to keep

their eyes closed and covered up. She did her best to at

trying to keep everybody in this little world from seeing

what her goddess princess looked like naked. She had had

wanted THAT pleasure for herself alone!!

Ryuunosuke-Lum was smiling down at her school fuku

uniform like somebody in love, "This can't be real. I'm

actually wearing a sailor suit." To this girl raised as a

guy, this was the ULTIMATE in femininity. It was her

fetish.

Her domineering father, who had spent his entire

life at the beach, was nearby in string bikini, searching,

"Ryuunosuke!! Where are you?!! Don't forget, you're a

man!! I better find you in something butch!! -- Something

with pants!!"

Onsen-Mark-Lum WAS having more trouble than most of

the others wearing girls' attire. Slightly green around

the gills, the Lum in a tight Gibson Girl costume told

herself, "I'm the one who found something old-fashioned

and covering! I will not let this corset bother me. I will not

let these high button shoes bother me. I will not let..."

He had once taken it upon himself to teach

Ryuunosuke how to be a lady. This "Henry Higgins" had

taken "My Fair Lady" WAY too seriously and had her dress

similarly to this, the way they did in the movie.

In her kimono, Mendou-Lum, too, was having similar

difficulties, "This obi is pressing against the breasts." His

sister was only allowed to wear VERY old-fashioned clothes,

nothing that dated after the Meiji age, Japanese, though

sometimes Western. And since Mendou was now a girl, she

felt honor bound to follow the tradition set by the clan for

their females. (Meanwhile, Ryoko was in a leg-revealing

circus ring-mistress outfit looking for a whip.)

Ataru's-Dad-Lum looked down at her cowgirl one (with

cutoffs and chaps). "It WAS a fantasy of mine to be a

cowboy. But perhaps I should have chosen a costume were I

could just sit and read the paper." And he went looking

for a bathrobe.

Meanwhile there was a Lum that with the characters for

"Ataru's-Mom" over her head running around giggling in a

green teddy, "I'm YOUNG and irresponsible again!

Everybody ignore what that silly sign says! No stretch

marks mean I never HAD a child!!"

Sakura-Lum in a strapless, backless gown asked the Lum

in the pink, metallic one-piece, "Shinobu, why are you

dressed like Ran?" Ran was Lum's childhood girl friend.

The other green-haired girl with horns said, "Because

I'm tired of all the overexposed alien girls getting all

of the attention. Ataru will notice me more like this."

Sakura-Lum shook her head, "I HAD hoped you had gotten

over your unfortunate attachment to him. I...." her voice

trailed off when she saw a Lum in the standard mock-

tuxedo costume (with fishnet stockings) that the female

magician wore. "Excuse me. I think I finally found the

baka I am looking for. I just have to take off her top

hat and read her name."

While Sakura-Lum went to confront Tsubame-Lum,

Shinobu-Lum went to Ataru. They had played house since

their childhood. And she HAD been Ataru's girlfriend. She

even offered to marry him. Then Lum came between them. On

the rebound, Shinobu became the girl of rich, handsome

Mendou. But even there she knew Mendou was using her to

stay close to Lum.

She had once had some influence over Ataru. If she

could re-establish that, then she could maybe get him to

give up this fantasy world of his. (It would prove he

liked HER better than Lum!) "Ataru..." she said in her

most sultry voice, "I wore this specially for you. I can

be sexier than everybody else, now." At least until they

decide they have to get into some kind of dumb

competition with each other. "Well? Do you like?" When

she got no reply, she took the gag out of his mouth.

Still blindfolded and hogtied, Ataru yelled, "You guys

don't think I've never seen Lum naked before!! She tries

to seduce me all of the time!! You think seeing a sea of

naked Lums is going to be any different!?!! I am a sailor

on the stormy sea! Aye, I eye..." While he ranted,

Shinobu knelt down and untied him.

When he was sitting up on the floor, Shinobu said,

"NOW will you look at me?!"

A sudden burst of ball lightning made him push them

apart. The real Lum appeared within, "Darling! I'm in my

UFO! I'm using it to open this subspace portal. Quick!

Come out while you still can!!"

Ataru yelled, "Never!! This is MY fantasy world!! All

of my wishes get to come true!! I have hundreds of women

here, and they're all MINE!! ( Ha! Ha, ha!) I have every

variation imaginable!!" Of course they were variations on

the Lum theme. But at least THEY were fake Lums.

The real Lum told him, "Darling, don't be stupid! I

can't maintain this subspace entrance. Something beyond

my science keeps closing the way up! I don't know how

many chances I have at getting you out!!"

Ataru told her, "You have NO chances!! I'm going to

spend the rest of eternity swimming in women! And because

they have no where else to go..." The ball of electricity

disappeared, and he raised his voice even louder, "--

They'll all learn to LOVE me!!! I'm the only MAN

around!!"

Leaping, Megane-Lum made a desperate grab, "Lum-

chan!!"

As the Lum who looked the most like Lum landed on

Ataru, Shinobu screamed in frustration, "We'll LEARN to

love YOU!!?! Start with THIS one!!!" And she used her

mighty adrenalin-powered strength to push the two faces

together.

But they refused to kiss. They kept as much of their

bodies as far apart as they could. "You say a sea of Lums

won't affect you!?!!" She took the long cord that had

tied Ataru up, and bound the half-naked Lum to him.

Megane-Lum pleaded, "No, Shinobu: Not this!! Even if

it WASN'T Moroboshi!! He's a guy!! Where's you humanity!!?!

Have MERCY!!"

Shinobu said, " "Mercy"? For a guy who proudly calls

himself a "Storm Trooper"!?" And she stuffed the gag in

her mouth before walking away.

Shinobu wasn't looking where she was going, and bumped

into a couple of Lums, "Excuse me, I didn't see--??"

Black, transparent veils covered them from head to

ankles that left little of Lum's body to the imagination.

The first of the veiled girls bowed her bikinied Lum

puppet and said in her male voice, "Come! You are invited

to the party being organized by Lady Ryoko."

Shinobu now knew why the girls were wearing black

veils, "You're Mendou's sister's kuroko!" While Shuutaro

had his secret service (and private army), Ryoko had her

OWN Men-in-Black. Up to now they always wore the

traditional costume of the Japanese puppeteer that was

supposed to make them all but invisible to the audience.

And they WERE treated as if they couldn't be seen. The

Japanese were raised and conditioned to ignore the

puppeteer.

The one with "2nd Kuroko" written over her head said

with her Lum puppet and male voice, "It is a masked ball,

but Lady Ryoko considers anyone who doesn't look like

themselves as being in masks."

Shinobu said, "Yes. It does help that we look like

everybody else, not ourselves." But then she realized,

"You don't mean a masked BRAWL, do you!?!"

Puppet Lum one threw up her hand in delight, "Kamen

butoukai can mean either. It is up to guests!"

Shinobu didn't buy that, "You mean the "hostess"!" She

looked around for some sign of which of the now hundreds

of Lums was Mendou's respectable (but evil) sister, "Who

gave HER the right to be the hostess!? This is Ataru's

world!" Of course, if Ryoko asked, Ataru was idiot enough to

say she could do just about whatever she wanted. So did

that mean she even HAD to ask?

It was too late. The "party" had already begun, with

everybody eager to do SOMETHING to help take their

minds off of what had happened to them:

On a traditional Japanese wooden stage, Geisha Lums

were fighting with martial arts fans, while two shaminsen

players were dueling with more than just the music of

their three-stringed guitars.

Up on a Greco-Roman marble stage a women's mud-

wrestling match was going on. It was hard to tell if the

gathered around the ring were spectators or tag-team

members. "Gymnos" was Greek for naked.

On an American stage, long-legged Lums dressed up like

Rockettes were kickboxing. Down below, majorettes were

twirling, tossing and throwing flaming batons back and

forth at each other.

On an opera stage, Lum Valkyries with Nazi armbands

were going at it, Wagnerian style, with swords, spears

and shields. But their real weapons were their wailing

voices.

Green-haired Ballywood dancers were doing energetic

Indian variations against one another, while others were

teaching robed Lums yoga the hard way. Stewardesses were

giving airplane rides without planes. Harem Lums were

using the veils they tore off other Lums to make whirling

dervishes. Horned cowgirls were roping and hogtying any

strays they came across. High-heeled Bunny girls had to

hop to avoid flying serving trays. Lums in colorful pieces of

African cloths were jumping up-and-down while bouncing

against each other. Girls in short gym bloomers were

spiking and dodging balls. Mayan Lums were tickling

savagely with large, colorful feathers.

And among them all were black-veiled kuroko whispering

reasons for the fights, providing props and propping up

those that could no longer stand on their own.

And standing in a cage above it all was Ryoko-Lum in

her circus ring-mistress costume and whip.

Shinobu-Lum gritted her teeth, "Only in a fantasy

could things get out of hand SO quickly. Well, I guess it was

either violence of sex." She hefted the nearest restaurant table.

Swinging it, she yelled, "Doesn't ANYBODY have anything better

to do!!?!" as she tried to stop the senseless action

single-handedly

Of course, she had no idea how she was going to handle

giant, transparent riding-robots. Asuka-Lum, Mendou's

official fiancée, was dressed up like Wonder Woman and

was battling a Lum in a Fantastic Four costume! At least

they were staying in the area reserved for heavy

machinery and motocross bikes.

Meanwhile, Shuutaro Mendou-Lum in her kimono and obi

had found a samurai sword. "Where's Moroboshi!!?! I don't

CARE if we're be trapped in here for eternity! It won't be with

HIM!!!"

His righteous vengeance was interrupted by a Lum in a

skirted baseball uniform with a quiver of bats and mitts

challenging, "Shuu-chan! Our match can no longer be

delayed!"

Mendou-Lum looked at the Lum with stars in her eyes,

"Ton-chan??" By ritual rather than desire, she stood

erect, and said the prescribed words, "I won't run, and I

won't hide. I accept the challenge, face to face!" She

called out, "Mendou Assault Force! I order you to come

stand beside me!!" This being baseball, it really didn't

matter what anybody was wearing.

Tobimaro Mizunoukoji called on his all-female security

force (and still girls), "For the honor of the

Mizunoukoji Sporting Goods Empire!! I swear on all that

is sacred in the competition (Gha, gag!)" She found it

hard to get a baseball up from her gut through Lum's

small mouth. He had a habit of swallowing them.

Ignoring the fights, (and the marble columns) all

around and between them, they quickly got in their

positions for the competition to see WHO would be the

dominant one.

Not far away, waitress Kakugari-Lum wasn't happy

serving spectators at tables, "This stinks! I don't WANT

to be the one serving food."

Maid Chibi-Lum, picking things up, "At least YOU don't

have to clean up messes!"

Kakugari-Lum told her, "Clean THIS up!" and threw her

tray. Chibi-Lum tossed the food from the table next to

her. When Kakugari-Lum ducked, the people sitting behind

her got hit. They threw THEIR meal...It wasn't long

before food was flying everywhere. And the baseball

players were batting and catching rice balls, buttery

escargot, watermelons, etc. Soon everybody needed a bath.

(But only rain would delay the ball game.)

Still bound to Megane-Lum, Ataru had the perfect view

of all the Lums getting under the wall of showers before

entering the bathing pool. Most didn't take their

costumes off. But once in the pool, they found out it WAS

a good idea to get out of them. There were hundreds of

stripping or naked green-haired girls.

Ataru screamed with frustration, "This place IS a

curse!! It's a NIGHTMARE! Even if I DID have my hands

free, I couldn't touch any of them!!"

Megane-Lum spit her gag into Moroboshi's face, "You've

got that right, Moroboshi! If I had MY hands free, I'd

break your arms."

Ataru yelled at him, "That's NOT what I mean!! Girls

have tried to do worse to me! That's never stopped me

before! That's price you have to pay for loving!"

Megane-Lum, "Bastard!!" But her attempt at attacking

his groin only stimulated it. She could feel it growing

between their bodies.

Ataru almost smiled, "See? I know the moves to protect

what's important in life. Now stop it before I do

something I don't WANT to do!"

Bikinied Megane-Lum was suspicious. "You don't WANT to

have your evil way with me?"

Ataru glared at her, "Of course not! I could've gotten

out of these ropes, if I wanted to. Without thinking,

I've escaped just about everything! But I'm not STUPID

enough to want to be free. I'm surrounded by nothing but

women wherever I look--But their all LUMS!! Why would I

want to have my evil ways with HER!?!"

Megane-Lum snapped, "You're SCUM, Moroboshi!! WORSE

than scum!!! Thanks to the sweet and beautiful, perfect

Lum-chan you could raise higher than ANY human before--To

the top of Galactic society!! But do you appreciate that

warm and loving, exotic woman!!?!" Their bond tightened

around them; and STILL she struggled on, "I will

PERSONALLY save the universe by killing you! I will

sacrifice my happiness, by saving Lum-chan from her life

of misery!! She'll hate me, but she will no longer cry

herself..."

As Megane-Lum ranted on, Ataru yelled, "Stop it,

Megane!! Stop it!! You're cutting off the blood

everywhere but where I WANT it to be!! You're TURNING me

on!!!" Even as he pleaded, his hands acted on their own,

finding some bare flesh to fondle and squeeze.

Sakura-Lum finally caught up with the Lum in the

magician's tux, top hat and fishnet stockings. Tsubame-

Lum and her crystal ball had found a coven of naked Lums

and, besides hiding in their number, was hoping they were

more than just enthusiastic amateurs playing at being

witches. (At least they had non-Japanese names.) She was

trying to explain the ritual she wanted them to help her

with when Sakura-Lum subtracted the required thirteenth

member with her martial arts. The twelve others got the

message and went to hold their sabat elsewhere.

Sakura-Lum's voice was low but filled with rage,

"Tsubame, you great IDIOT!! This is totally unforgivable.

You are the only man I've ever loved, but there is a

limit to the incompetence I can tolerate. Your venture

into magic that is far beyond your skills is not only

threatening to empty the world, and leave it open for

alien colonization, but it has effected my OWN ability to

set things right! This is a world unlike the Japan I'm

familiar with! It has it's own rules of enchantment! I'm

going to have to waste months if not years studying HOW

to free us from this prison..."

Every word she spoke, every syllable was a stab into

Tsubame's heart. She could no longer feel like a fraction

of a man. It was because of Sakura that he had BECOME a

wizard. Everything in his life was done to please her.

But now...Tsubame-Lum's eyes were cast down in utter

shame and defeat. She looked down at the crystal ball she

held. What had given her the idea that this accursed

object could.... "Sakura. Sakura! Look!! Look at the

ball!!!"

Sakura-Lum told her, "Don't try and change the

subject, Fool!! I don't care that that globe...." The

yellow-and-red flames inside the crystal were just

embers, about to be extinguished. "The curse, the curse

that condemned Lum to a life without love is, is burning

itself out."

Megane-Lum ordered Ataru to, "Get your hand off of my

butt!!!"

Ataru did. "It's not your butt. It's Lum's. I was

fooling with Lum's body, and I was thinking of her--Just

like I was AFRAID I was going to do!"

Megane-Lum said, "Only YOU could caress Lum and not

like it, you insensitive lecher!!"

Ataru said, "I DON'T hate it! Don't you understand, I

NEVER hated Lum's body! It is ALWAYS a temptation! It's

ALWAYS something I want. But it's got LUM inside!"

Megane-Lum cried, "Well, she's not in THIS body!!"

Ataru said, "No. She isn't." Not thinking of how to

escape, he jumped free of the ropes. Desperately,

uncharacteristically, he attacked every girl he could reach.

Every Lum that did not run, slapped, kicked, hit, bit, punched,

beat and pummeled him. He was pushed into the bathing pool,

where he squeezed, kissed and slobbered on naked Lums. He

was nearly drowned by every one of them. There was nothing

new here. Girls had always done that to him.

Barely holding onto the edge of the pool, waterlogged,

bruised, bleeding, Ataru looked again at all of the Lums

around him. "I'm the only guy here! They're all for me. All

mine to wear down. I will be able to have Lum's body, all I

want. ...But I won't have...her." His voice became hollow,

"She's won. I know now there is something more important

to me than the simple pleasures of the flesh." It was enough

to make him weep.

Only one ember remained in the crystal.

Suddenly a fire ignited in it. It grew to a blaze. These

flames were blue-and-violet. The curse had been reversed:

The curse was now a blessing!

The light from the crystal grew brighter and brighter,

expanding to fill every corner of this little world.

"Darling!!" The first, bleary sight Ataru had was of

Lum in her fur, tiger-striped bikini. His head was in her

lap. For some reason he didn't remember, he had to ask

himself, is it really Lum?

Ran in one of her pink, frilly Earth dresses was looking

down at him, "I could give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

Her alien power was the ability to suck the youth out of

people. And she had a severe grudge against Lum.

Oyuki in her Neptunian kimono suggested, "Perhaps a

cold compress? The charge will be minimal." She deserved

her title "Ice Queen".

Benten the space biker chick of the alien God race

said, "Just smack him!"

Little preschooler, and Ataru's chief alien nemesis,

Ten said, "I just want to give him a hot foot." His power

was blowing flames

Lum's mother in her fur, tiger-striped dress said

something unintelligible.

Lum's giant father, Mr. Invader, exasperated, had to

ask his wife, "Then WHY did we come all the way out to

Earth, if we weren't needed!?! You had me bring my fleet

of warships!"

Rei, Lum's very handsome ex-fiancé, took her hand,

"Lum!"

Lum protested, "No! I love Darling!"

Ataru rose and took the hand away from his alien

rival, "Keep your hands off of Lum! She belongs to ME!!"

Lum's eyes crossed, "What??"

Ataru continued to hold onto her hand, "I love you,

Lum."

Crow-goblin princess Kurama fell back, "It's a trick!

While Lum is stunned, he's going to go steal kisses!"

Ataru went up on one knee, "Lum, will you become my

wife in more than just name?"

Megane, back in his plebe uniform, looked on.

"Moroboshi. He, he...." The one who had always thought

that nobody could love Lum-chan as much as himself could

not say it.

Perm told him, "Don't watch, Megane. Come on! Look at

all of the aliens! It's like every one who's ever known Lum has

come to this amusement park!"

Megane did look. Besides ones that looked like walking

fish, octopi, millipedes, crows, Oni, Wookies, Huts,

Klingons, rugby ball aliens, and blobs where those that

looked like catgirls, vamps, beegirls, fairies with

dragonfly wings, elves riding butterflies, centaurs,

mermaids, satyrs, nymphs, and every other mythological

humanoid. Not to mention a Japanese mountain god and

peach spirit, umbrella demon, pool monster, water

vampires, giant ghost cat, red cloak ghost, the Great

Water Melon, phantasms and figments.

There was even the beautiful flower seller and her

giant, talking chrysanthemum.

Megane saw them. But they held no interest for him.

Chibi said, "Wow, he's got it bad."

Kakugari suggested, "Perhaps a ride? Look! Perhaps

that giant robot will give you a lift like in "Robot

Carnival"."

The fifteen foot tall armored robot stopped its

aimless wondering to asked, "Do you like mechas?"

Megane found something to take his mind off of his

loss. Bragging. "I built my OWN Heavy-Duty Mobile Suit.

It took me days!"

"Days!?!" The torso of the riding machine with legs

opened. A shy, starry-eyed girl smiled down on him. "I've

met so FEW boys in my life. And none seem to know much

about any kind of mobile suits."

Tobimaro with his quiver of baseball equipment came

running. It was hard to believe the guy with the uncut

hair and tattered clothes was heir to one of the greatest

fortunes in Japan. Swinging practice bats, he cried,

"Leave my sister alone!!"

Mendou with his sword was beside him, "I will defend

your honor, Lady Asuka!!" Both the Mendou private army

and the Mizunokoji all-girl security force joined forces

on a common mission with their commanders. Tanks, armored

personnel carriers, helicopters, fighters and bombers

would soon arrive, not to mention pro athletes with top

secret training equipment.

Asuka hesitated, but, then, pushed a button on her

controls. As in certain kinds of anime, a body-sized

mobile suit assembled around Megane: The battle had

begun!

...Perm, Kakugari, and Chibi abandoned Megane and

rushed to find some girls to hide behind. Girls were

usually safer than the guys in Tomobiki...

...The teachers, the abrasive Onsen-Mark and

idealistic Hanawa, found themselves in the middle, trying

to get their students under control. They failed in this,

of course. But it did win them compliments from some of

the female security personnel...

...The Oni and God races found another excuse to

resume their ages-old friendly war. Other aliens who were

interested chose up sides...

...Despite her martial arts skills, Ryuunosuke was hit

by what she thought was one of the many stray alien beams.

But it turned out it was from a teleporter meant to clear

the field of battle. She ended up far from her father, in

a high mountain valley called Juusenkyo...

In one of the islands of calm, Ataru's father blinked,

"How did we get to the amusement park? The last thing I

remember was being at home reading the paper."

Ataru's mother said, "The last I remember, I was shop-

--You were HOME!?!"

Trying to save himself from a nagging, he said, "Er,

now that we're here, let's take in the sights! It'll, uh,

be like a date!"

She smiled, "A date?" She leaned against his arm as

she hugged it, "We haven't been out for a long time,

Dear."

Across their path ran an oddly dressed little man and

his nightmare-eating tapir chasing Mendou's sister, Ryoko

in her kimono. "Come back! You can supply the hungry

little glutton all the bad dreams he could want! We can

team up: You MAKE nightmares!!" Her squad of kuroko

were already asleep...

At a carnival booth, Shinobu watched Natsuko's face

become contorted as the captain of the girl's volleyball

team lost all control as she knocked over the lead

bottles with her baseballs. Poor girl. She was cute until

her need to compete made her ugly from all-out effort.

But there was a masked, green-skinned guy in muscle-

revealing spandex who said admiringly, "Doesn't she look

super when she's like that! You HAVE to admire her

spirit."

A teen's voice called her name, "Shinobu!" A cute

blonde in a stupid-looking, baggy, white rabbit suit with

the alarm clock around his neck came running up to her,

"I was working in Destiny Management when I heard the

news! Isn't it wonderful?!!" He took hold of her hands,

"We don't HAVE to wait to meet! All the old destinies

have been thrown out!"...

The first person Sakura saw was Tsubame. "Are we

free!?! Are we truly free, or is this ANOTHER false

reality?!" She assured herself that, at least, HE was

real.

Tsubame looked around at "Fairy Tale Land". It was

filled with thousands of human and alien couples mixing

together, all free to have a good time, each in their own

way. Some through combat, others through more peaceful

means. "I don't know; this doesn't look like the reality

I remember."

The Western managers of Marchenland rushed up to him,

"You've done it, Ozuno!! You've brought back the magic

the customers demanded!"

The businesswoman said, "AND the aliens! It means we

don't have to limit our marketing to Earth!"

As they rushed off to see to keeping the festive

atmosphere going, they said, "You're getting a bonus,

Ozuno!!"

The other agreed, "The curse is gone!!"

Cherry startled them when he announced from behind

Tsubame and his niece, "The curse IS gone, Ozuno. I see

you have exceeded anything Sakura or even I could do

with our talents." He did not look pleased. But, then,

but the squinting frog face seldom did, "THAT was the

condition for your marrying my niece, Sakura, was it

not?"

Tsubame Ozuno hung his handsome head, "But...." He was

not proud; he knew the truth. "I did it by not KNOWING

what I was doing: It could have been the biggest foul up of all

time! What was just a curse on two people, could've resulted in

a curse on everybody. Nobody could have ever known love. I

am a menace."

Cherry nodded gravely. "All the more reason for Sakura

to be able to keep her eye on you ALL of the time."

Sakura dared not smile, dare not hope, "You mean...?!"

Cherry nodded his huge head, "I give you my permission

to wed."

The two lovers fell into each others arms, embracing,

holding each other as tightly as if they COULD become

one. When Tsubame broke from his long kiss of his beloved

Sakura, he said, "If this is just a fantasy, then I don't

wish to wake up."

Sakura smiled, "Do not disturb." And they returned to

expressing their love.

Cherry looked discretely away. His eyes fell on Ataru

doing the same with Lum. He noted, "There is no longer an

ominous shadow over that boy's face. Quite the opposite."

The managers had the theme music start. Even that man

and woman with their MBAs could feel the meaning of those

words:

"Rock the Planet!

"We'll be rockin' the planet, baby!

"Rock the Planet for EVERYONE!..."

The age of Ataru and Lum, the god and goddess of love,

had begun. A little chaos can be a good thing.

The End