Chapter 4
Seiji wasn't as afraid as you might think, and definitely nowhere near as afraid as his father. "Get on my back Ataru" said Seiji firmly, I can easily handle these monsters if I don't have to worry about you too." Ataru quickly did as he was told, and no sooner that he did so, Seiji took off into the air with incredible speed. Then much to Ataru's amazement, Seiji shot out four bolts of lightning from his mouth. Each hit their target, and after two seconds of high-pitched shrieking, all four of mantis demons fell to the ground like axed trees. "That wasn't enough to kill them" said Seiji with cough,"but they'll be stunned long enough for us to get away," and he quickly flew off with Ataru still holding on for dear life.
Tapping into his experience of playing hide & seek with Zira, he headed for the nearest large city he could find. That's how he was able to determine that they had jumped back to the feudal era of Japan. Once they landed, Ataru decided it was finally time to get some real answers about who this boy was, and what his animosity with that turquoise skinned psycho chick had to do with him. "Seriously, who are you?!" He asked sternly as they walked. "You're clearly not a full-blooded Oni, but you can still fly, and even breathe freaking lightning!""I'm someone who has your best interest at heart; that's all you need to know for now" Seiji replied. Naturally, Seiji's height and horns in addition to his and Ataru's contemporary clothing made them stand out to the locals. He knew it was futile to ask around if they've seen Zira, because she no-doubt had blended into her surroundings by now. To make matters harder, he had to keep a firm grip on Ataru, so he didn't get into more trouble by trying to hit on every pretty young woman he saw. "Focus Ataru!" Seiji grumbled; "remember, as long we're in this time-period our lives are in danger" (which was true, but for reasons Seiji could not disclose. He already broke rule#1 by telling his mom who he was). After about an hour of searching, several men suddenly leapt upon him and his father, binding them both. He could've easily fought them off, but he figured Zira was behind this attack, so he let the men tie him up without much of a fight. Ataru put up more of a fight, but it was to no avail. "Calm down Ataru! This is a good thing. I'll wager that these guys will take us directly to Zira. Then I'll take back my watch and get us back to your present" said Seiji.
They were taken to the largest building in town; Ataru correctly assumed that whoever lived there was someone of great significance. Seiji could tell from the faint scent of Zira's favorite perfume that they were heading in the right direction, but he still hadn't solidified a plan to expose Zira, or get his watch back. Both he and Ataru wear quickly informed that they would soon be sharing an audience with Lord Yūsaku, so they would have to show the utmost respect to him and his daughter. Seiji shot a concerned look at his young father, knowing he couldn't control himself around pretty girls. A moment later, a man who looked about 50 years old entered the room dressed in his finest kimono, accompanied by a girl around Ataru and Seiji's age. Seiji knew instantly that she was Zira in disguise, now all he had to do was figure out a way to expose her for the fraud she was. But first he had to hold Ataru back with his teeth, so he couldn't throw himself upon Lord Yūsaku's "daughter." "So my daughter's accusations are true!" Lord Yūsaku bellowed. "This lecherous pig sought to deflower my only child, and hired a demon to kidnap her!" With that, all the pieces began to fall into place; it was clear now that Zira had most likely stashed the real daughter somewhere, and assumed her identity to frame Seiji and his father. He had to think quickly though; Lord Yūsaku was already pretty angry, and Ataru was only making the situation worse. After pulling his father back, Seiji quickly scanned Zira's disguised form for anything that didn't belong in feudal Japan. There was only subtle things like glittery nail polish and lip gloss, she had even removed her signature giraffe earrings. Then he remembered that one song Zira liked to sing, so when Lord Yūsaku asked Seiji what he had to say for himself, he started to sing a few lyrics. By the time he reached the chorus of the song, Zira was standing up and belting it out herself. It wasn't until she finished the chorus that she caught herself and tried to get back into character. "I don't know what came over me father" she said in a voice that was not her own. "That handsome demon boy must've put a spell on me." But Lord Yūsaku wasn't buying it anymore, "my daughter has many talents but singing is not one of them" he said, now sounding more shocked than angry. "Because she's not your daughter your lordship" Seiji replied.
While Zira was trying to maintain her deception to no avail, Ataru began to notice the faint vibrations of giant footsteps approaching. He tried to warn his future son, but he was to busy exposing his nemesis. "Where is my daughter! What have you done with her!" Cried Lord Yūsaku as he gripped Zira by the collar. "Calm down, your daughter is in a safe place" Zira explained. "I dumped her in a abandoned shrine, but I promised I would come back for her once Seiji agreed to marry me like he promised." At this, Lord Yūsaku's temper softened and he even casted a disappointed look at Seiji. But Seiji quickly informed him that was another lie, and that he didn't owe her anything. Suddenly one of Lord Yūsaku's servants came running into the room, looking very frightened. "Lord Yūsaku! Three giant mantis demons are approaching the city!" He sputtered in a panic. Seiji immediately suspected that they were the same monsters that attacked him and Ataru earlier that day. "But wait a minute" he thought to himself; "there were four demons the first time, what happened to the fourth one? Did I slay it? Or was it injured so severely that it couldn't keep up with the others?"
Before he could begin to piece together how they managed to follow him here, a massive green claw sliced into the room like a knife and miraculously caught up Zira without harming her. And once Seiji saw the giant insect pull her up to its hideous face, and take a long whiff, it all became clear. "These creatures are drawn to the scent of Zira's perfume" he said, as he pulled both Ataru and Lord Yūsaku to safety. He easily snapped his bounds as soon as the demons began their attack. "I think I know where I can find your real daughter; I trust that my friend and I will be pardoned if we bring her back alive?" Seiji said with a wink. "Yes of course!" Lord Yūsaku replied; just rescue my daughter, she's the only family I have left." "But what about Zira?l" Ataru asked with the bare minimum of concern. "Oh, she can take care of herself. Right now my concern is saving that girl and keeping you safe" Seiji replied. He then tucked his future father into the crook of his arm, and flew up & out of the hole in the roof the mantis demon created. As they flew, Seiji pointed out that Zira shapeshifting into a python to fight back, just to ease Ataru's peace of mind. While one of demons tried to help its cohort restrain Zira, the third one apparently remembered the zapping it received from Seiji earlier. It reached out with its long scissor like claws to try and chop both Seiji and Ataru in half. But Seiji was too fast for the monster, as he loop de looped his way past the range of its claws and continued towards the south, with Ataru trying with all his might not to vomit.
It took Seiji 5 minutes to fly to the shrine where Lord Yūsaku's daughter was being held, and just as he predicted, the fourth mantis demon was there. What he hadn't counted on was the kaiju being distracted by what looked like three girls around his age. Both he and Ataru realized immediately that these girls were no ordinary girls; for on thing, the smallest of them was riding atop a giant flying tanuki in a turtle shell. While the other two were running to and fro on the mantis' arms, looking for a chink in the demon's armor. They seemed to be holding their own alright, so Seiji kept his focus on finding Lord Yūsaku's daughter first. After touching down beneath the notice of the mantis demon, Seiji began to look around the half destroyed shrine all the while keeping a hold on Ataru so he couldn't get into more danger. Following his nose, he eventually found the girl tied up in a cellar. As soon as she was untied, Ataru offered to take her out on a date once the demons were taken care of. But Seiji nonchalantly pulled him back and hoisted him up by his hair, apologizing on behalf of his father. Lord Yūsaku's daughter however was patient and forgiving, and even introduced herself as Rumiko. She explained that while she was out riding her horse, she was suddenly attacked by a shapeshifting demon posing as a hungry orphan. "She killed my bodyguards, tied me up, and locked me away in this pitch black cellar. Despite saying she would eventually come back to set me free, I feared I might never see my father or the light of day again" said Rumiko, clearly traumatized by the ordeal. Seiji reassured her that he had been sent by her father to rescue her, and once he had his left arm wrapped around Rumiko's waist, and Ataru tucked into the crook of his right, Seiji once again took to the skies like an rocket. Unfortunately, the giant insect noticed them this time; if Ataru wasn't facing backwards as they flew, he wouldn't have been able to warn his future son that the kaiju had shaken off it's three assailants and was now in hot pursuit. Seiji saw the brute coming, and rapidly shot fireballs from his free hand. "You can breathe lightning and throw fireballs!" Ataru shouted with amazement. "Yeah," Seiji replied, "lucky for me I took after my mom more than my dad." Seiji paused mentally for a moment, fearing he had accidentally let slip too much information about who he really was. And indeed, Ataru was beginning to piece together a profile in his mind, but was still a long way off for uncovering the truth.
When they returned to the city, Zira wasn't holding her own as well as before. In fact, one of them flung her into the wall of a nearby building; that gave Seiji the opportunity he needed to take back his time-warp watch. "Great! You got your watch back. Now let's get the hell out of here!" Said Ataru. "Not yet" replied Seiji; "first we've got to stop those rampaging bugs, then we have to get Rumiko safely back to her father, and finally we need to make sure that we take Zira with us out of this time so she can't cause anymore harm." Luckily by now, the three girls from earlier had caught up, and were ready to offer their assistance to the fight. With their combined efforts, Seiji and the girls made quick work of the monsters; Seiji used his lightning breath to stun them while the girl with short white hair used her blue energy sword to cut off their heads. Now that the threat of the mantis demons was disposed of, Seiji could safely return Rumiko to her father. He also made sure to thank the girls for their assistance in taking the demons down. "My name's Towa" said the girl with short white hair. "And this is my twin sister Setsuna, and my little cousin Moroha." Seiji wondered if there would be any harm in just giving these girls his first name; he had already told Lum too much about the future, and even Ataru was starting to get suspicious. Although he did take a brief moment to try and hit on Setsuna, only to have Seiji grip his hand and twist his wrist into a painful position. Once again, Seiji had to apologize for his father, and decided to give the three girls his name after all.
"So, you're name is Seiji" said Ataru smugly. However Seiji remained unworried; even if his first name could theoretically lead to an epiphany about his true identity, he knew that his father wasn't the brightest candle on the cake. "Well, I thinks it's about time that my friend and I went home" he said setting the time destination on his watch. "But what about the villainous shape-shifter who kidnapped my daughter to begin with?" Asked Lord Yūsaku. "Leave her to me your lordship" answered Seiji, "she and I come from the same world, and I'll be sure she held responsible for her crimes." "Still the adorkable little hero I fell in love with" said Zira, having clearly recovered from being knocked unconscious. "You're outnumbered Zira" said Seiji pointing back to his three new allies. "There's no way you can harm Ataru now, so just surrender and come back home with me." "Oh I'd love for you to take me to your house sweetie" said Zira, licking her lips suggestively. "But first, I think I'll pay a visit to your dear old mommy." Seiji quickly realized with horror what Zira meant, but the distance between him and her was too far for him to close before Zira used her time-warp watch to teleport away, while laughing maniacally. "Come on Ataru! We have to get back to your present to save Lum!" Gasped Seiji as he abruptly grabbed his future father and opened his own time portal. "But that turquoise psycho said she was going after your mom" responded Ataru. "And how do you know who Lum is anyway? Unless… Lum is," Ataru was unable to finish his thought, because in the blink of an eye, he was being pulled into swirling portal by Seiji.
Now the whole this was happening, Lum was in present using her spaceship's computer to scan all of Japan's historical records to see if there was any sign of Ataru or her son. So far her frantic searching produced no results, but then she got an idea. She figured that a flying boy with oni horns would probably not show up in any official historical record. So she did a search on Japanese mythology, and after an agonizing 5 minutes, she eventually found story from the feudal era featuring a hero who sounded strangely familiar to Seiji. It was even accompanied by an old-timey painting depicting a young man throwing fireballs and breathing lighting at a giant praying mantis. "Our son sure is amazing isn't he?" Said a voice that Lum was greatly relieved to hear. "Darling! You're alive!" She shouted with delight as she flew over to Ataru and hugged him. But after the initial flood of ecstasy had succeeded, Lum couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. "Wait, where is Seiji anyway?" She asked her one true love. "Oh, he vanquished that devious yet beautiful shape-shifter, and return to his own time" answered Ataru, (with a noticeable pause, as if he had to think about it). "He didn't even say goodbye?" Lum asked a little sad; "I didn't raise him to be that way, or at least I'm not going to when we have him." "Don't worry sweetie" said Ataru, pulling her back into the hug. "You'll see Seiji again, in oblivion." Those last two worlds whispered into Lum's ear, put her on edge. She then heard a faint noise that sounded like stretching rubber. Lum had just enough time to notice that "Ataru's" right arm seemed to be growing; she quickly turned and noticed that said arm looming over her, and holding a very sharp dagger!
Author's note: You're probably on the edge of your seat right now. Wondering If Seiji and Ataru will reach Lum in time to save her. Well, this and any other questions you might have will be answered in the fifth and final chapter. So stick around.