Chapter 5/Final chapter

As soon as Seiji and Ataru returned to 21st century Tomobiki, Ataru started ranting about how Seiji was Lum's son from the future this whole time and didn't tell him. "Well if you remember correctly" said Seiji, trying hard not to lose his patience, "I can't disclose any information about the future, including my parentage. I only told Mom who I was so she would stop beating the crap out of me." Ataru immediately started laughing at the idea, and even cracked a joke about Lum putting Seiji over her knee and spanking him silly, which only irritated Seiji further. "But wait! none of this makes any sense" continued Ataru; "if Zira wanted to kill Lum, why didn't she just go back to when she was baby and smother her in her crib?" Seiji was obviously disgusted by Ataru's morbid words, but he had to begrudgingly admit that he somewhat had a point.

"There are a few reasons why Zira won't do that," he answered: "1, not even Zira is evil enough to kill a baby. 2, these watches only allow the user to travel through time not space, and Zira doesn't have the patience to travel all the way from Earth and Oniboshi. 3, Mom's a princess of the Oniboshi royal family, which means she would be under the watchful protection of Grandpa's royal guards for most of her childhood. Zira's best shot at her would be when she moved in with you. And 4, she knows killing the heir of a royal family is an act of war; by killing Mom here, Earth will be blamed instead of Dissimulare. All the more reason why we must get to Mom before Zira does." By now Ataru knew the deal, so he got on Seiji's back and the two began their search for Lum.

Not even a minute into their search, Ataru decided to ask another question. "So, if Lum is your mother, then who knocked her up. I mean, who's your dad?" "What do you care?" Seiji shot back shrewdly; "you're always running around trying to bone every other girl that isn't Lum." Most of the time, biting remarks such as this didn't faze Ataru at all. But for some reason he actually cared about what this boy thought of him, so hearing those all-too-common words come out his mouth hurt worse than being electrocuted by Lum. "Besides, you already know too much about me already, you don't need to know who my dad is." "Don't give me that crap!" Ataru retorted; "if that rule against leaking future info held any weight, the space time continuum would've been torn asunder by now. So, you might as well tell me anyway, the only excuse you have now is being a dick!" That finally pushed Seiji over the edge, he stopped dead in the middle of the air and ripped Ataru off his back so he could look him straight in the eyes. "You don't really care who my father is, so long as it's you. That's what you really want to know, isn't it?" Ataru tried to deny this, but by now Seiji was completely fed up with his BS. "You're so pathetic!" He said with an angry chuckle. "You so desperately want to know if Mom will spend the rest of her life with you. You're hoping and praying that she never actually wises up and throws you into the garbage for good. Even though you're a stupid, lecherous, unfaithful pig, who constantly takes her for granted; you still want to keep her around, and play with her emotions. Oh sure, you eventually mature into a decent human being, but I am forever baffled that she was able to hold out hope for that long; that you would finally see what a good thing you have with her and stop being a bastard. Because the truth of the matter is, and you probably hear this all the time, but you don't deserve Lum at all!" Once again, Ataru was deeply wounded by Seiji's harsh words; what hurt him the most was knowing that they were true. However Seiji seemed to regret getting so angry, especially when he noticed his future father hanging his head in shame. "Look" he sighed, "I'm sorry for losing my temper, it was counterproductive and uncalled for." "No you're right" said Ataru, "I do take Lum for granted. And maybe deep down I want us to be together someday, once I had sowed my wild oats and was ready to settle down." Seiji grimaced at that last comment, but he knew that his future father was genuinely remorseful. "Well, you obviously care about Mom enough that you don't want her to die," he conceded; "now let's find Zira before she kills my mom and erases me from history."

However, it turns out Lum didn't need saving. For just as the two boys had finished their reconciliation, both of them heard the all too familiar sound of a thunderclap. When Seiji looked up, and Ataru looked behind him, they saw Lum in full attack mode chasing after Zira, who was wearing a jet pack along with some other gadgets that Seiji couldn't identify. You'll remember in the last chapter that Zira had tricked Lum into thinking she was Ataru and was about to stab her in the back. Luckily Lum was able to catch the blade between the palms of her hands just in time. Zira tried to wrap her other noodle-like arm around Lum's neck to try and choke her into submission, but Lum emitted an electric charge that shocked Zira off of her. However, Zira remained conscious. "Is that all you got?" She said; laughing a little though clearly in a lot of pain. She didn't wait around to hear Lum's retort; she ducked out of the computer room with her elongated arms still trailing behind her.

Lum was shooting lightning bolts at her, but by the time the two alien girls were out of the ship and flying through the air, Zira had fully recovered and was dodging each bolt thrown at her. "Seems like she's doing just fine to me" said Ataru dryly. But Seiji remained uneasy. "Still, we should go and give Mom some backup. Zira definitely didn't have that jet pack and utility belt on her when she first jumped to this time; she has a plan, and Mom is probably playing right into her hands!" Ataru quickly grasped the severity of the situation, and the two boys trailed after the girls. Zira led the chase to a tall building that was halfway through construction. Naturally, Lum reached the site first, so while Seiji was certain of what floor they had landed on, he was uncertain of where exactly they were on said floor. "Stay close to me at all times" he warned as both he and Ataru touched down on the incomplete floor near the top. "Zira isn't above setting up boobytraps or ambushing her enemies. And with her shapeshifting abilities, she could jump out from anywhere." Ataru, now thoroughly paranoid, clung to Seiji's shirt; all the while looking behind him constantly. Eventually, the deadly silence grew too much for him, so he decided to ask Seiji (in a whisper) what his plan was to defeat Zira. In response, Seiji reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out what looked like a glass ball about the size of a half-dollar coin that was metal at its top and bottom. "I know this little marble doesn't look like much, but it's actually a containment unit designed for holding any kind of sentient alien in the known universe. All I have to do is press this button on top, throw it into Zira's general direction, and she'll be disintegrated and reassembled inside the sphere." "Wow, that's pretty cool" Ataru admitted, but before he could ask further questions, both boys heard a scream that they both knew came from Lum. They ran around the corner and saw that Zira had Lum completely bound between two columns with metal wiring. They wrapped so tightly around her wrists, her ankles, her thighs, her neck, her chest, her belly, and even her horns; that you could tell instantly that she was in great pain. While Ataru was horrified, Seiji was furious; he might've rushed Zira if she wasn't also holding a sharpened metal pipe to Lum's throat. "Your dumb bitch of a mother walked right into my steel web bomb" sneered Zira; "now walk that containment sphere over to me nice and easy, or she's dead!" Having to bend the knee to Zira made Seiji even angrier, but he knew she had the upper hand. The best he could do now was negotiate for Lum's release. "I'll give you the sphere, if you promise to let Mom go in return" he said, holding the sphere up in his right hand. "Oh please Sweetie I'm not stupid" she answered; "if I untie your mommy the first thing she'll do is fry me to cinders with her lightning. That's why I initially aimed to kill Ataru, easier target." "Why do you want to kill me?" Asked Ataru, "what did I ever do to you?" At this point Zira's mocking smile turned into an expression of annoyance. "Seriously? Did Sweetie not tell you, or are you really too stupid to figure it out?" Ataru just stood there silently for a minute, but eventually all the pieces began to fall into place.

"So, I'm Seiji's dad?" He asked as it slowly dawned on him. "Well who the hell did you think it was? Kyle Reese!?" Said Zira, now back to her mocking sarcasm. Ataru looked first to Seiji and then to Lum to confirm this revaluation. Lum simply nodded while Seiji shrugged as if it was obvious from the start. "Sorry dad, but like I said earlier, knowledge of the future is strictly need-to-know. And now that you know, I might as well tell you that Zira's plan was to kill either you or mom just to prevent me from ever being born." "It's true Darling" Lum added. "But wait, this doesn't make any sense!" Said Ataru hysterically; "if she killed one of us before Seiji could be conceived then he'd never exist. Which means she'd never meet him and thus would have no reason to go back in time in the first place." Both Zira and Seiji raised an eyebrow; genuinely stunned and puzzled by Ataru's rambling. "Also, erasing Seiji from history means erasing the memory of him too. Thus robing you of the satisfaction you might've had by just killing him in the present." "True" Zira admitted, "but I'll still remember killing you, and that will be satisfying enough. You see, I have another reason to target you instead of Lum; because I knew you wouldn't be missed." Hearing this also hurt Ataru deeply, because he knew that she was from the future and what she said was probably the truth. "I'd miss Darling!" cried Lum. "Yeah, you're pretty much the only person who would miss this loser" mocked Zira; "why even his own son doesn't respect him." Lum turned and look at Seiji with disappointment, while Ataru looked at him with betrayal in his eyes. "Don't listen to her dad!" Seiji said desperately; "You have a great life and tons of friends in the future. And yes, I strongly disapprove of your past behavior, but that's not who you are in my time. You'll be a good father and a good man someday, trust me." "Oh please Sweetie" interjected Zira; "you never gave a rat's ass about your daddy until now. You were always partial to Maho's father, the martial arts movie star." She quickly shape shifted into a 40-year-old version of Ranma, and spun the pipe in her hands like a bow-staff a few times. She reverted back to her true form and continued; "do you want to know what you do for living Ataru?" Zira taunted; "you're a janitor at a local museum! That's right, you never amount to anything, you're just some nobody that most people ignore in their day-to-day lives. Sweetie didn't travel back in time to save you; he came back to save your sperm. Your only worthwhile contribution to this planet." Zira laughed again when she saw the look of despair on Ataru's face. "Is all that true?" He asked his future son, desperately hoping that Zira was lying. "Yeah, it's true" said Seiji sheepishly.

With that, Ataru fell to his knees completely defeated. For Lum, seeing her future lover so utterly broken drove her to tears. She wanted so badly to hold him in her arms, but she was still restrained. Seiji felt terrible; he realized that by confirming Zira's words, he might've destroyed his own father's will to live. Most would consider it bad enough that they're destined to work a seemingly dead-end job, but knowing that your own child has a low opinion of you would definitely break what little spirit they might have left. However, Seiji remembered he was in the past, and something that might be considered trivial in 2045 might be considered incredibly cool to someone living in 2020. "Dad listen," he pleaded; kneeling down beside him and turning him to face his gaze. "Zira may have spoken the truth, but she didn't tell you all of it. In my time the natural history museum is mostly kept up by robots. As janitor, your job is to make sure that each robot does its task properly and to fix them when they break down. Sure it may not be as glamorous as being a world-famous martial arts master, but it pays well, and you're always home in time to make dinner because we both know Mom's cooking could gag the dead" he said with a wink and chuckle. Normally Lum would be offended by such an insult, but she allowed it this one time because it seemed to be working. Zira noticed this too, only she wasn't happy about it. "But if I am your father and you respect me, then why did you say all that mean stuff?" Asked Ataru; "and don't tell me you didn't mean a word of it, or that you only said what you said to keep me from figuring it out. I could feel the disdain behind your little tirade." That last line gave Seiji pause, as if he had legitimately forgotten the harsh dressing-down he gave earlier. Then he sighed and said; "when I was a kid, I would ask people what my parents were like when they were young, as kids often do. And all I heard about you was that you were a dim-witted horn dog that even his parents didn't want. It's part of the reason why I couldn't make friends for so long. So I guess I kind of resented you for that, and I took for granted all the good things you did, (or will do,) for me and Mom in the future. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you until I almost lost you Dad. You're not worthless, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, not even me." Both Ataru and Lum were moved to tears, and Ataru even hugged his future son. However Zira, while not happy Seiji had reconciled with his dad, expressed boredom instead of anger like you might've guessed.

"I'm like super happy that you were able to patch things up with your future daddy" she said sarcastically, "but can you please redirect your focus on me holding your mommy hostage?!" Instantly! Seiji snapped back to the matter at hand; once again, placing the containment sphere in plain view. "Do what you want with me Zira, but leave my parents alone" he said firmly. "That's exactly why I want that sphere," said Zira. "I'm gonna make you a trophy, so that you'll belong to only me, forever!" "Don't you think your parents will disapprove of that?" Said Seiji, still defiant. "You'd be surprised how much I've hidden from daddy throughout my life" she reassured him. Lum pleaded with her future son not to give in to Zira, even Ataru insisted that there had to be another way. Seiji sadly assured them both that there wasn't, and he reluctantly placed the containment sphere into Zira's outstretched hand. Ataru waited for Zira to use the device as Seiji explained it, but for some reason, she couldn't seem to get it to work. "Would you like a little help?" Asked Seiji; a smug smile growing on his face. "No!" Zira barked back, clearly frustrated. She became so frustrated that she dropped the pipe to use both hands to futilely fiddle about with the sphere; just what Seiji was waiting for. With blinding speed, he leaped upon Zira, causing them both to bounce off the metal web holding Lum, and rolling a few feet past Ataru, who looked on in shock. He had half a mind to help his son subdue his shape-shifting nemesis (despite having no combat experience), but Seiji assured him that he could defeat her on his own. "Just focus on freeing Mom and get out of here; I'll find you guys afterwards" he said, currently wrestling with Zira in the form of a porcupine/grizzly bear. Ataru didn't have to be told twice, and he immediately got to work trying desperately to free Lum. At first his efforts seemed to be in vain, but then he noticed that the cables in the top right section of the web had been loosened a little when Seiji and Zira hit them. So he decided to focus on pulling those out first, while Lum split her attention between encouraging him, and watching and worrying about Seiji as he fought Zira.

Speaking of which, despite the many forms Zira took, Seiji refused to let her go; seamlessly adapting to each form so that the fight was mostly in his favor; even managing to swipe back his containment sphere. But Zira, while partially blinded by rage, was no fool either. Early in the battle, she pulled a can from her belt, and sprayed some kind of gum-like material at his mouth so he couldn't use his lightning breath. Shortly after that, she released a small alien spider that quickly bound his hands together with silk; the silk was so thick and strangely cold, that it would take him a long time to burn through it. Even then, Seiji was still holding his own; until Zira morphed into a bucking bronco and bucked him into a nearby pillar. This caused the containment sphere to fall out his pocket, in addition to a second sphere from his other pocket. "Clever trick Sweetie" Zira reluctantly admitted, "giving me a fake sphere while you kept the real one." "It's not fake, just busted" Seiji replied, (having wiped the slime off his mouth by this point). "Jasmina advised me to keep it just in case. But I'm not telling you which one works and which one doesn't." "Fine," said Zira, "I'll just take both." She then lunged for the two spheres, completely forgetting that Seiji's mouth was now ungummed. He took a deep breath, and before she could reach for something on her belt, Seiji blasted her with a bolt of lightning that sent her into a fit of writhing pain. Unfortunately, Seiji was still trying to burn through the icy webbing on his hands, so he couldn't pick up either of the containment spheres. All he could do was keep Zira at bay with his lightning breath until his hands were free.

Ataru on the other hand was having slightly better luck in trying to get Lum free of Zira's metal web. But each cable took a herculean effort to dislodge it from the concrete pillars, and Ataru was starting to weaken. Lum could see the traces of blood on the last three cables Ataru had pulled out, so she looked around for anything that might make his job easier. "Darling, I think I saw a handheld buzz-saw somewhere on this floor. Go get it and use that to cut me loose" she said once she had his attention. He quickly did as he was told; just as Lum hoped the buzz-saw was strong enough to cut through the cables, but there were so many of them she still had to wait awhile before she was free. Meanwhile, Seiji was successfully keeping Zira out of reach of his containment sphere, (the one that actually worked). However, it was apparent that Zira had gotten better at dodging his lightning breath. Every now and then he had to hold onto the lightning in his mouth so he wouldn't accidentally hit Lum and/or Ataru; something he was certain Zira was trying to trick him into doing. Eventually he got the idea to use his lightning breath to burn through the icy webbing on his hands. He would have to be quick about it though; couldn't allow Zira to get any kind of advantage in this battle. Carefully he parted his lips as if to whistle, and a thin stream of electricity shot out and quickly cut a line right down the middle of the webs, instantly freeing his hands which were still a little numb. Now that he had the use of his hands again and the pyrokinesis therein, fighting Zira was a lot easier. He could temporarily wall her from his parents with fire, so he didn't have to worry so much about their safety and focus on taking back his containment spheres. At this point Zira knew she was losing; she only had one of each gadget on the utility belt she brought with her, and the two items that could've helped her against Seiji (the metal web & gum spray) were already spent. Technically she could have her frost spider web him up again, but that mostly worked because he wasn't expecting it; the chances of that working again were very slim now. On top of all that, she was starting to tire of dodging Seiji's lightning & fire attacks, and he knew it too. "It's over Zira!" Said Seiji, stern and triumphant. "Surrender and come back with me to Saucer!" Zira had reclaimed her makeshift spear, but she was so tired she could barely lift it up to threaten him. "You've never beaten me in direct combat before, and I'm especially not going to let you beat me now." Zira briefly glanced over at Lum and Ataru; he had cut through enough cables to free her left arm, and was busy trying to free her left leg. "Maybe I can't beat you Sweetie" said Zira, a psychotic smile curling her lips. "But I can still kill your mommy!" She screamed as she chucked her spear to her left, into Lum and Ataru's direction! "No!" Cried Seiji as he leaped in an effort to catch the spear mid-air, only to fall short.

Seiji's "No!" alerted Ataru and Lum, but Lum was still too restrained to even dodge. Terrified, she closed her eyes and braced for the stabbing pain to hit her right in the chest. Instead, she felt Ataru wrap his arms around her and press his body against hers. Then there was a terrible sound of metal piercing flesh and a short gasp from Ataru in her ear. She opened her eyes even though she really didn't want to. Sure enough, there was Ataru with the sharpened pipe lodged in his back. "You, ok?" He asked weakly before he fell to the floor at her feet. "No! Darling!" Cried Lum as she wasn't even able to cradle her possibly dying love. Seiji however wasn't helpless, he immediately flew to his father's side and tried desperately to revive him. Ataru did wake up for a moment; he looked up at his future son and gave a little smile. "You see, I'm not such a selfish pervert after all, '' he said in a weak voice. Zira looked on with smug satisfaction: Lum sobbing like a baby, Ataru impaled, and Seiji cradling his critically wounded father. But then she got the feeling that something wasn't right; "why aren't you fading away?" She asked, frustrated. With a sudden burst of hope, Seiji realized there was still time to save his father's life. But he couldn't spare a single second to even finish cutting Lum loose; he picked up Ataru in his arms and took off like a turbojet to get him to the nearest hospital. "Fly Sweetie fly!" Zira called out after him. "I actually hope he makes it," she said, turning to face Lum. "You see, I snagged his containment spheres while he was distracted. So if he manages to save slime-ball of a father, I'll simply sneak into the hospital disguised as a nurse and trap him! And if he fails, I'll be rid of him forever; either way, I win!" Zira might've been talking to Lum, but she wasn't really paying attention to her. And let me tell you folks, once her tears were spent, Lum's despair gave way to burning white hot righteous anger. So while Zira walked away to grab her jet pack, Lum began to fight against her restraints again. Zira heard her struggling but was confident that she couldn't break free. However, Lum was now fueled by the kind of rage that comes over female bears when their cubs are under threat, and was now actually succeeding in pulling the remaining cables out of the pillars. By the time Zira noticed this, it was too late. Lum had completely wrenched herself free of the remaining metal web, and when Zira saw her eyes glow white and her body crackle with electricity, she knew she was in deep trouble.

Before Zira could even think about running, Lum suddenly appeared behind her; scaring her so badly she fell over and started to beg for mercy. "Please, I'm just a girl in love; I can't be held responsible for my actions." "You don't love my son" said Lum, having none of her cowardly groveling. "Like you said earlier, you were planning to hold him captive like a trophy regardless of his feelings. Meanwhile, Darling took a spear in the back to save me; that's real love you psycho bitch!" Zira turned on here jet pack and for a moment, it looked she might actually escape. But Lum's mama-bear rage had not only increased her strength, but her speed as well. Once again, she seemed to teleport right in front of Zira, and caught her by the neck before she could change direction. "Oh, and word of advice for the future" said Lum with a stern icy stare, "never mess with a mother's child." She then placed her other hand over Zira's face, and gave off such massive discharge of electricity, you could see it from three miles away. Lum released her and Zira's limp and charred body fell like a shot goose. She landed on the roof of a nearby building. After checking to make sure she was still alive, Lum removed both containment spheres from Zira's pocket. Uncertain of which one would work; she turned on both, dropped them over Zira, and stepped back. Turns out it was the one from her left hand that did the trick, and with Zira now safely contained, Lum gathered up both spheres and took off for the hospital; desperately hoping that Seiji and Ataru got there in time.

It took several agonizingly suspenseful minutes of signing paperwork, but eventually Lum was permitted to visit Ataru's hospital room. Before she reached the room, she saw Seiji coming out of it and nearly knocked him over with a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!" She cried, "because that means Darling's alive too." "Yeah, luckily his right shoulder blade took most of the impact. But I was worried when I handed him over to the doctors. I forgot just how lacking healthcare was in this decade. He's stable now, but sedated. You can still go to see him if you want." Suddenly his eyes widened as if he just remembered something important. "Where's Zira? And where are my containment sphere?" He asked in a panic. "It's okay Seiji, I've got them both'' she said reassuringly. She held out the glass ball (now swollen to the size of an orange) in her hands. Sure enough, there was a miniature version of Zira beating her fists against the glass. "I even brought the other one even though it doesn't work, '' said Lum as she pulled the smaller sphere out of her cleavage (much to Seiji's embarrassment). "So what are you going to do with her?" She asked as she handed both over to her future son. "Well at first I was simply going to hand her back over to Saucer custody. But they're partly to blame for this whole fiasco. Instead I'll do what they should've done from the start, and give her to her parents. They'll make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble, especially when I tell them what she tried to do." Although no sound could escape from the sphere, Zira could apparently hear everything they were talking about. Because she got down on her knees and repeatedly mouthed the word "no," as if begging Seiji not to do that. But Seiji just spun the ball in his hand which of course spun Zira too, leaving her so dizzy she fell over. The two laughed at this site, which felt good after the terrible scare Zira gave them. "Come on, let's go see dad" said Seiji, and the two quietly entered Ataru's hospital room. Lum gently sat down next to him on his bed, then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you Darling" she whispered in his ear as she held his hand. Seiji stood off in a corner of the room and silently watched his parents for a long time. "Well," he said finally, getting his mother's attention; "I think it's time for me to go home." Lum was understandably sad upon hearing this, even though some part of her knew it was inevitable. "But before I go, I have to give you this," he then pulled out the syringe you read about way back in chapter 2. "This syringe contains nanobots that erases memories of the past 24 hours. I've already given Dad his dose, now it's your turn." Lum was shocked and kind of disturbed by this. "But that means I won't remember you" she said unhappily. "Mom, I'm from the future. From your perspective I don't even exist yet. And no one in this time can know I exist, until I exist." "I won't tell anyone, not even Darling" she said trying to reassure him. "I can't take that risk Mom. Leaking future info to the past could lead to disastrous far-reaching consequences; even info as seemingly harmless and personal as this." "But, it's…" Lum tried to finish her thought, but she started to get choked up. Seiji felt awful about what he had to do, even though he knew it would all turn out fine in the end. "This isn't goodbye forever" he said lifting up her chin; "we'll see each other again. Only I'll be a baby if everything goes right." Lum knew there was truth in what he said, but she couldn't help shedding a few bittersweet tears. "Alright but can I say one last thing before you do what you have to do?" She asked, wiping away her final tear. Seiji agreed; "I love you son" she said as she pulled him in for a tight squeeze. "I know I love you too, and Dad" he said back, tears beginning to form in his own eyes. He then stuck the needle in the side of Lum's neck, and injected the nanobots into her bloodstream. The nanobots also contained a tranquilizing agent to help with the process of erasing memories. So Seiji laid Lum down next to Ataru, took one last look at his parents to be, set his watch to his present, and jumped through the portal that would send him home.

When he landed on the other side, he was back at Saucer headquarters where Jasmina and Jovie were there to greet him. Much to his surprise he found out that his whole misadventure only took 3 seconds from their perspective. "You were right Seiji, we should've handed over Zira to her parents from the start" Jasmina admitted. "I'll be sure to take care of the matter myself" said Seiji, "but first, I'm gonna take some time off to spend with my dad."

Epilogue: True to his word, Lum and Ataru did meet Seiji again, on April 10th 2028. In the maternity ward of the very same hospital that our hero left them eight years prior. Happy Father's Day