Alternate Reality

4th Urusei Yatsura fanfiction story by Jeff Judkins

Raoh@hotmail.com
July 99

Disclaimer: None of this is my fault.

Ataru couldn't bring himself to leave the house today.  It wasn't due to any feelings of love or loyalty to Lum.  It
definitely wasn't because of any desire to stay home.  Ataru was firmly convinced the reason he couldn't leave was due
to the alien device that he located quietly beeping to itself in the living room.  Each time he attempted to leave the area
surrounding the house, he could feel some unknown force literally dragging him back.  One hundred feet seemed to be
the point when he could consciously notice its effects.  One hundred fifty was the maximum walking distance til he lost
his balance. 

Lum stood suspiciously close to his return point. "What's wrong, Darling?" she asked with wide eyed innocence.  Ataru
saw through this instantly.  The fact that she was making notes on a clipboard and smirking kind of gave it away.  He
quietly stood and repressed an urge to snarl a response.

He braced himself and ran full speed at the 'barrier'.  This time, he gained an extra twenty feet.  It was comparable to
running up a steep hill that got steeper and steeper.  He diverted towards a telephone pole and was ten feet away before
the force multiplied itself and he found himself flying through the air screaming towards the house, where he slammed
into the front door.

Ataru got to his feet.  This time, he headed directly for the telephone pole, pushing for everything he was worth.  He
didn't notice Lum as she opened the front door and went inside.  When she returned, Ataru had a death grip on the pole
where he hung parallel to the ground.  He was trying to pull himself closer to get a better handhold.

Lum sighed and flew closer.  As she approached, the force lessened.  Ataru assumed this was due to his own force of
will overcoming the device at last.  He wrapped both arms and legs around the pole and took the opportunity to catch
his breath.

She peered at him.  "You can let go of that now.  I'm here."

Ataru glared at her with suspicion and didn't relaxed his grip.  "What's going on, Lum?  What have you done to me?"

"I haven't done anything to you, Darling.  In short, you can't leave the house without me or my permission.  The greater
the distance you manage to get, the greater the response.  If you had gotten much further, it could have hurt you."

"What exactly is 'it'"?

"We use them on my homeworld to contain zoo animals.  Its used as a backup system."

"So I'm a zoo animal now?"

"Of course not!  I've turned off the pain inducers and increased the safeties, so when you bounce back you won't
damage the house.  It should slow you down so you won't feel a thing."

"The fact of the matter is that I'm a prisoner!"

"It won't even affect you if I'm here!  What's so terrible about that?"

"I know where you plugged it in.  All I have to do is unplug it!"

She smiled.  "Won't work.  The same force that keeps you closeby also keeps you away from it.  You won't be able to
get within five feet.  Why don't you just give up?"

"Never!  I'll never give up!  I'll find a way around this!"

"Oh, really?"  Lum flew straight up into the air.  Ataru's gravity suddenly shifted around from the earth to his house, and
he nearly lost his hold.

"Don't underestimate me!" Ataru said between clenched teeth.  He braced himself to use the pole as a base, gathered his
strength, and then leapt for the top of a nearby wall.  He never even got close.  As he sailed through the air screaming
toward the house, the force pulling him seemed to suddenly lose interest in him.  He dropped, bouncing and skidding
along the ground until finally slamming into the front door.

"I'll have to make some adjustments.  It should slow him down before then." Lum thought to herself.  She flew inside
the house through an open window.

Ataru got to his feet and dusted himself off.  He darted inside the house, emerging a few moments later with climbing
gear.  "I cannot be defeated by something like this!" he declared aloud.  Once he reached the perimeter of the yard, he
started hammering in spikes and used rope to scale his way across the street, only backtracking for the occasional car. 
When Lum returned to check on him, she was astonished to find him gone.

She did a quick search of the area, ignoring the spikes which would have led her directly to him.  Angrily, she flew back
to the house and checked on the device.  It was functioning normally on its second to lowest setting.

There was the possibility Darling was hiding from her somewhere in the house.  If she went out to search for him, all he
needed to do was quietly follow her.  Once outside the area of influence, he would be completely free.

Lum spent the next ten minutes searching the house before coming to the conclusion that he had indeed escaped.  She
flew back to the machine, which was still functioning normally.  All she had to do was turn up the power.  Darling would
lose his grip on whatever he was clinging to.  She was confident she could hear him coming, since he would likely be
screaming all the way.  She would wait patiently for another ten minutes, and give it time to work.  Lum looked at the
clock.  In ten minutes, she would steadily increase the power until her Darling was back in her arms again.  Ten minutes,
and that's it.

Thirty seconds later...

"He is NOT getting away from me this time!"  Lum reached out and pulled the lever to the top to its maximum setting of
fifty.  

*

Ataru hung suspended from his lifeline.  The winds were fiercer here due to traffic.  His goal was only across the street,
where several cute girls were eating lunch at an outdoor cafÇ.  If he took the time he needed to scale his way across the
face of 34th street to them, lunch could be over.  He needed a faster method, so was debating whether to use the rope he
had to swing across the street to a group of tables further 'downstream'.  He could use the tables in place of the spikes
to get closer.  Anything that weighed more than he did could serve as an anchor to hold him.

When the traffic was clear, he was off, sacrificing the distance from the house he had gained to increase the velocity of
his swing.  It wasn't enough.  As he swung back to his starting point, he swung harder.  He reached out and this time, he
was successful.  Ataru quickly secured his lifeline to the table.  Once securely tied, he threw the rope to the next table,
pulling himself closer and closer.

He had just secured the rope to the fourth table when the unknown force suddenly gripped Ataru and yanked.  He lost
his grip with a shriek, flying back to the end of his rope with a snap.  The rope held.  This wasn't necessarily a fortunate
thing.

Ataru watched in growing horror as the tables were each pulled from their base in concrete one by one.  Each one in
turn flew directly at Ataru, but he was spared being hit since he was yanked back each time one of the tables was freed. 
When the last one was torn free, Ataru flew through the air with the four tables in tow.  

The weight of them kept his speed down and prevented him from gaining any sort of altitude.  He slowed his progress by
grabbing at anything nearby.  This included trees, parked cars, and any people who couldn't get away in time.

He got fifty feet before his anchors found a base.  Since his rate of progress away from the house was slow at best and
since going back up this street was pretty much unusable due to the amount of angry people in his wake (who had
decided it was now safe to approach him and complain and/or beat him senseless), he decided another tactic was in
order.  He would cut his losses and try again with another method once back at the house.  His decision made, he began
to cut himself free.

Once two lines were cut, the others snapped on their own.  Ataru hit the occasional tree before gaining enough altitude. 
He had stopped screaming a long time ago, which was kind of bad since Lum was relying on this as an early warning to
go out and catch him and prevent his fall from being fatal. Instead, he kind of whimpered each time he was hit.

Ataru gradually became more aware of his surroundings as they blurred past, and did notice the force acting to slow him
down as he approached the house.  He came to a stop in mid air.  Normal gravity suddenly took an interest in him and he
dropped like a stone.  The ground rushed up to meet him.

Through his pain fogged vision, he was vaguely alarmed by this.

*WHAM!*

Inside the house, Lum jumped in surprise.  "Oh, no!  Darling!"

Ataru got painfully to his feet as Lum flew to his side.  "That wasn't...so bad...OW!"

She flew to his side.  "Are you alright, Darling?"

"Never better." he replied, wincing.  

"Are you ready to give up yet?"

Ataru looked at her in surprise.  "Surely you know me better than that!  All I need to do is catch my breath."  He paused
to breathe.  "I'll find a way out of this trap!"

"Haven't you learned ANYTHING yet?  You could have been hurt!  Why don't you just give in for once?"

Ataru began slowly walking toward the house, dragging ropes and bits of debris.  "The more I'm frustrated by
something, the greater my resolve to overcome it.  I cannot let myself be defeated.  Not by you.  Not by anyone!  I'm
going to overcome this, find a cute girl and date her, and there isn't anything you can do to stop me!  All you can do is
slow me down."

"I won't permit it!"

"You can try.  All your efforts to prevent me only make other girls seem more desirable.  I can't stop now.  You might
as well ask me to stop breathing."

"That can be arranged!" Lum snarled.

Ataru stopped at the doorway and looked at her.  "You won't kill me.  You always give me a chance to escape."

"I'm doing everything I can to stop you!"

"Which makes the other girls out of reach.  That's what I want."

"Why can't you want ME?"

"You're not out of reach.  You're right here.  You threw yourself into my life, and I never, ever had to chase you."

"You'll never get away from me, Darling..." she warned.

"You make me want to try."

Ataru opened the door and went inside.  Lum followed a few seconds later in stunned silence.

"How can you say that?" she asked quietly.  "You really want to be free of me?"

Ataru sighed.  "Only when you're trying to run my life.  Sometimes I want to run away.  Sometimes not.  All I know is
what I want at the moment, and that's to get out of here!"

He stopped at the device and extended a hand.  It brushed against something physically in his way that gave a few inches
when he pressed.  He tapped at it.  "So that's what an invisible barrier looks like." he mused.

Ataru gathered the rope and tossed it around the machine.  The rope went through the barrier effortlessly, just as he had
hoped it would do.  Once securely tied, he pulled the machine free, dragging it toward the door and Freedom.  "As long
as I have this thing with me, I can go anywhere I want.  I don't NEED to touch it.  I'm going to drag this thing off a cliff
and send it over.  Then I'll be free of it."

"And just hope that it IS disabled when it hits or it'll drag you in with it!  Any drop that will smash it will smash you,
too!"

Ataru frowned and thought about this.  "I can tie myself down to the ground before I give it a push.  It won't pull me
in."

"And if it isn't disabled, you'll be tied down forever!"

Ataru laughed.  "Well, I definitely need to avoid that!  Let's see..  I could ask or pay someone to smash it for me.  That
would work."

"I guess that would." Lum replied sadly.  She brightened.  "What about the bomb?"

"What bomb?"

"The whole thing will explode if you tamper with it!  Ha!  How are you going to get around THAT?"

"It's really a bomb?  Honestly?"

"Well, no.  Wish I HAD thought of that."  She turned away and glared.  "Fine.  You win.  For now.  Take it and go."

"You're just letting me go?"

"Apparently I can't stop you.  Just go.  See if I care.  Go out girl hunting and die."

Ataru was suspicious.  "You're hiding something.  What's the catch?"

"There ISN'T any catch!" screamed Lum in a sudden fury.  "Get OUT of here!  You obviously don't want to BE
HERE, so GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Stop trying to MAKE me leave!  If I decide I want to stay, I'll stay!  I'll stay here if I want to, whether you like it or
not!" Ataru yelled back.

"Really?" Lum asked sweetly.

Ataru swallowed and quickly backed away.  "No.  Changed my mind.  See you later."

Lum screamed in frustration.  Ataru fled, dragging the machine with him.  He never noticed that the machine was
unplugged and lifeless from when he pulled it free.

Lum spent the next few minutes stomping around the house.  "Stupid Darling!  Maybe I SHOULD leave!  Then he
might actually come after me!  Why does he act this way?"

The phone rang.  Lum ignored it.

"Maybe if I made him jealous, and allowed one of the other boys to get closer to me, then he might fight for me.  But I
don't want to hurt them by just using them.  Afterwards, they would be crushed.  I just need to be out of reach for a
little while.  Then he would come after me."

The phone continued to ring.  Lum continued to ignore it.

"I couldn't risk him actually CATCHING another girl while I'm playing games with someone anyway.  That would just
be too painful, not to mention FATAL when I RIP HER THROAT OUT!"

The phone continued to ring.  Lum stomped over to it, paused, and gently picked it up.

"Yesss?" she hissed politely.

"Lum-chan?"

"Yesss?"

"Hi, Lum-chan!  It's me!  Since we're friends and all, I've decided to call you and give you advanced notice that I'm
going to be taking Darling away from you."

"Fine.  He's yours."  Lum slammed down the phone.

Ran stared at the phone in shock.  "You're so MEAN, Lum-chan!  You didn't even let me finish!  You didn't even let
me tell you how I was going to do it, or why!"  She got up from her chair and began pacing.  "And what the hell was
that 'He's yours' crap anyway?  You think you can cheat me of my revenge by just giving in?  Think again!  You think
you can ruin all my plans for revenge just like that?  Why would you just give up on Darling, anyway?"

She stopped at considered this.  "She's giving up Darling?  If she is, she's probably doing it just to frustrate me!  She
must hate me!  Ruin my plans, will she?  She thinks if I think she doesn't want him, I won't try to take him away.  Well,
then, I'll just take Darling and she'll never see him again!  She'll want him back eventually.  I'll make her change her
mind!  We'll have FUN together, and Lum will be so jealous."

Ran smiled and danced over to the mirror.  She peered at her image and made minor adjustments..  "You're so cute! 
Now let's go get Darling!" she laughed.

As she closed the airlock door and went down the stairs, she continued thinking of Lum's plan in this.  "If she doesn't
want Darling, what is she after?  She couldn't be after..Rei.  Could she?"

She stopped for a second, then shook her head and continued on. "No, she wouldn't do that.  Would she?  She says she
doesn't even like him anymore. If she starts going after him, I'll find out."

*

Lum had come across a solution for her problems.  There was a compelling game she used to play on her homeworld
called Alternate Reality.  The players would literally leave their world behind for days at a time and enjoy new
experiences, free from any risk of permanent harm.  Normally all the players would have their own personalities intact. 
This time, she would be the only one with her memories, plus few extra powers to make it interesting.  For the other
players, she would substitute their normal memories with those of natives to the game, and they would enjoy all the
benefits of true players as well. 

Her plan was to make herself unavailable to Darling.  Since putting obstacles in his path seemed to make him more
persistent, she would make it nearly impossible.  If she steered him toward her at the same time, she could give him the
chase he had been searching for.  When the game was over, he would realize what he had done, and she would finally
have him.  With no risk to anyone involved, she could be as unavailable as she wanted.

Alternate Reality was a programmable persistent world run by computer.  This was the common view held by the
players.  Unfortunately, creating a believable persistent world that others could enjoy took time and effort.  The creators
of Alternate Reality found a better way to do the same thing, and they disguised it all as an elaborate computer game to
avoid prosecution.

Since the creators had an infinite number of parallel worlds at their disposal and they had more than enough power to
reach them all, they decided it would be much simpler to invade.  The Oni were very good at that.  The computer would
be given parameters for the new world by the game players.  It would search and search the dimensions until it found a
world that both matched specifics, and was sufficiently technologically deficient to allow for it to get past the residents.  

Once the game had started, the players would pretend they were residents and had always been residents.  They would
be gifted with 'memories' of the land, typically stolen or copied from the inhabitants.  They received an understanding of
the local language, including basic skills and talents.  Most importantly, they could not be permanently killed.

In fact, game players were killed quite frequently by each other and the inhabitants.  It just never seemed to take. 
Players always showed up within a few hours or the next day, occasionally taking revenge on whoever killed them,
denying or ignoring their own tragic death all the while.

The actual bodies of the players would lie unharmed in a special containment area (in this case Lum's UFO).  Their
minds would roam in new disposable bodies while they dreamed the shared dream.  Once killed, the bodies on the new
world would automatically self destruct.  Players could end their life at any time through an act of will, should they be
captured, transformed into something unusual, or simply want to quit for the day.  Leaving on your own power meant
you were allowed to keep whatever you found when you came back.

In these other invaded dimensions, this had a profound effect on the inhabitants.  Not all of them were mentally changed
outright to fit the parameters of the game.  Most treated player as undead immortal sorcerers, whose battle religion
centered on conflict and the acquisition of magical power.  Some considered players to be demons or gods pretending to
be mortal, waging war or causing trouble on the mortal realm.  A distinct minority was even more accurate:  They were
noisy aliens that the natives wished would just shut up and go home.

Normally, the players thought this was a really neat game that paid extra special attention to detail.  The game was a way
to relax, have fun, or take out your frustrations on whatever was handy, with no risk to yourself or inconvenient jail
time.  What Lum was doing could potentially screw up in two ways.  First, none of the players besides herself knew that
this was a game.  They wouldn't have a reason to adapt, role play, or otherwise blend in.  Two, this wasn't a parallel
dimension of Lum's homeworld, and thus it was unfamiliar to the computer.  Things were bound to be radically
different, and mistakes were bound to occur.

All she needed were some more players.  She could round up most of them when they went back to school the next day,
but she was anxious to prepare.

*

Ran was simply walking along, minding her own business, enjoying the day and keeping an eye out for Darling.  Lum
landed just in front of her, taking her by surprise.  "Lum-chan!" she exclaimed.

"Hello.  I was looking for Rei.  Have you seen him today?"

Ran blinked.  "Huh?"

"I was looking around for Rei.  Have you seen him?"

Ran stared back at her.  Her left eye twitched.

Lum looked disappointed.  "No?  Well, I'll just keep looking."  She took to the air and flew away.

Ran continued to stare straight ahead in shock.  "No.  This can't be happening."

*

Chapter One:

Mendo was bored.  All day long he was stuck in this drafty castle, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something just
wasn't right.  Everything was the way he remembered it.  He knew the locations of each of the rooms.  He knew most of
the guards, which was normal.  Throughout the day, he couldn't shake the annoying feeling that something was changed
in some way.

For a good part of the morning, he spend the time reexploring his own castle, trying to isolate the problem.  It persisted,
like a splinter at the back of his mind, slowly driving him mad.  Eventually he gave up and sat down for lunch, resolving
to ignore it.  He could deal with it.  Things would look clearer after he had some food.

"I have succeeded in discovering more information about Ataru Moroboshi." said Cherry.  The monk took advantage of
Mendo's shock of his sudden appearance on his table by casually stealing a chicken leg off Mendo's plate.  He took a
bite quickly to insure Mendo would not want it back.  His hand darted for Mendo's rice bowl.  He quickly snatched it
back and jumped free of the table as Mendo smashed it in half with a giant mallet.

"What are you doing here!" he demanded.

"You asked me to gather information.  I have done so." replied Cherry (1)

"What are you talking about?  I.."  Mendo blinked and suddenly remembered.  His mind quickly reviewed his past
experiences and background information.  "TEN YEARS!  You've been my trusted spiritual advisor for TEN YEARS?! 
And for some reason I haven't killed you yet?  How could you possible be a trusted advisor?  What was I thinking?"  He
paused.  "Who?"

"I have succeeded in discovering more information about Ataru Moroboshi." (2) repeated Cherry, who now had a
puzzled expression on his face.  "You are to prevent Ataru Moroboshi from..." he paused.  "To prevent him from doing
something.  He is in some way bound by fate to Lum."

"Who?"

"Miss Lum." prompted Cherry.  "Your fiancÇ?  Remember?"

Mendo glared at him.  "I have no idea what your talking about."  In the next instant, the memories came to him and he
Remembered.  Lum was a wealthy sorceress to whom he was engaged.  Rumors were unclear as to whether she was a
demon or not, but she was definitely regarded as powerful and dangerous.  She had multiple powerful and/or annoying
suitors that specifically wanted him dead.  He could recall her face but for some reason he couldn't remember how the
engagement took place, or if he had ever even talked to her.  He
quickly assumed he had.  As for the suitors, he got the impression he was at war with several of them.  It was very
unclear.

As for Cherry, he had memories that said he was a cannibalistic savage from the plains.  He had a detailed history as a
protector of his homelands, killing invaders and making meals of them.  This was back when he called himself Stinks, the
wind of death.  He changed his name to Cherry when he became Mendo's spiritual advisor.

In ten years time, he still only knew a few words of the common language of the city.  The name Stinks was taken from a
word the invaders said from time to time when he listened to their conversation before he attacked.  They would gaze
around, fearful that a terrible monster from out of their legends called Stinks was about to find them and devour them. 
He thought himself worthy of bearing the name of this mythological creature.

Since Mendo had grown silent, Cherry spoke up.  "You asked me to discover more about the rogue Moroboshi."  He
held out a full color picture of Ataru, which Mendo snatched from his hand.  "He is mentioned as the one who will free
Lum from her captivity. (3) Prophecy also refers to him, saying that he may destroy the world and Life as We Know It."
(4)

"He's mentioned in prophecy?  And what captivity?" demanded Mendo.

"He is mentioned frequently.  I am certain that he is the one that prophecy indicated.  As for her 'captivity', this is very
unclear, and may be a future event.  This is the reason why you asked me to discover information on him."

"I did?" asked Mendo.  He had no knowledge of this whatsoever until he thought about it.  Suddenly he did have
knowledge of it.  In fact, he knew about it a week ago.  He didn't forget it, so why did he ask? (5)

"He is mentioned in prophecy?" Mendo repeated with astonishment.  

"Several times.  This is the prophecy I am certain refers to him.  There could be more."

"I'll just have to deal with him, then."  He drew his katana and swung it in an arc, striking a pose.  Cherry quickly
jumped further out of range.  "This person must not be allowed to roam free!" he continued. "Have him brought here as
a guest, and throw him in the guestroom!"  Mendo glared at the picture, then casually tossed it away.  Cherry caught it
as it fell and quickly ate it.
 
(1)  This was merely an excuse.  Cherry could smell food from miles away, and had a mutant ability to teleport directly
to the source.

(2) Ataru's description was written by Lum, and everyone except Ataru had her description of him as part of their
memory.  Since it was a flattering description written by a girl that loved him, everyone avoided describing Ataru lest
others question their sexual orientation.

(3)  This bit of information was by Lum's design, created to give Mendo a reason to use force to prevent Ataru from
completing his own mission.  This was Lum's way of forcing Ataru to cooperate in the future.  Ataru was completely
unaware of this, which was the reason why fate was involved.

(4)  This particular prophecy was written by one of the natives of this world years ago.  Cherry was given this
knowledge when the computer scanned the minds of the natives, and the information was considered information that
Cherry should have as a 'spiritual advisor'.  The story Lum designed was basic background information.  The
engagement to Mendo seemed like a good conflict and obstacle for Ataru to overcome.  Cherry combined the
background information story with the actual background information.  

(5)   The memory in question was programmed to have never been forgotten.  Since Mendo did not remember it, he
needed to believe he had not forgotten it.  The safest way around these memory blocks was to dodge or accept it. 
Fighting it was not a good idea.  

*

Ataru Moroboshi found himself in a tavern, trying to get over the sense that something was wrong with the world.  He
was dressed in dark grey and black.  He carried a sword and at least a dozen knives, which were so well hidden he
couldn't consciously find them.  He knew exactly how much money he had down to the last coin, and the two large
sacks he carried were in case he should find more.

This annoying feeling persisted.  In Ataru's case, he felt there was something, some driving force, that he had forgotten. 
He just couldn't think of what it was. (1)

Two burly, well armed men walked in.  "We're looking for someone!" one of them announced.

Instantly, four of the patrons jumped out of their chairs and scrambled for the back exit.  It was that kind of tavern. After
the two men scanned the area, they walked straight over to Ataru's table.  One of them glanced at the picture in his
hand.  "Are you Ataru Moroboshi?"

"Nope.  Never heard of him."

"You are requested by the Lord Mendo to be a guest at his estate!" said the one with the picture.

The other one brought a mallet crashing down on Ataru's head. (2)

(1)   This was of course Ataru's life quest to establish a harem.  He literally couldn't think about it, due to mental blocks
placed there by Lum.  

(2)   The guards were originally little better than hired killers by the former lord of Mendo's new castle.  They now had
new personalities and a new master, courtesy of Lum's game.  This was the nicest method they had for bringing in
people alive.

*

The guards brought Ataru to Mendo's castle, took him to the deepest pits of the Guestroom, and threw him in.  Ataru
regained consciousness within a few hours, but was for some reason free from pain.  He got to his feet and examined his
surroundings.  All three feet of them.

"I wouldn't call this a guestroom." Ataru complained out loud. (1)

They had taken all of his money, his sword, and nearly all of his knives.  He was just beginning to work on picking the
lock when he heard two guards stomping their way down the stairs.  One waited with a loaded crossbow while the other
opened the door to Ataru's cell.  He silently handed Ataru a serving tray complete
 with hideously expensive dinner and a bell should Ataru require anything further.  Ataru was astonished.

"Thank you." he said with utmost courtesy.

"Will you be requiring anything else, sir?"

"Could I get out of this cell?"

The guard's expression shifted, and he punched Ataru as hard as he could, followed by a second punch when Ataru
didn't fall down instantly.

"No." he replied pleasantly.  The guard kicked Ataru's prone form and slammed the door shut.  He could hear them
stomping back up the stairs.  Once again, Ataru was completely free of pain, and he recovered instantly.

"WHAT is going ON here?!" Ataru yelled after them.

He was halfway through his dinner when he realized someone had poisoned it. (2)   He passed out minutes later, with the
serving bell still clutched in one hand.  

(1) No one would normally call this a guestroom.  Mendo had no actual dungeons at his own home in Tomobiki, so the
concept translated over to a place you send people to when they're annoying people, and you don't want to deal with
them.

(2)   The chef in charge of the prisoners was very skilled at creating poisons and other drugs, and he would experiment
on the slop meant for the prisoners.  After cooking an entire meal for the first time in his life, it took a supreme act of
will to force himself to do the right thing and poison it.  His new personality was slowly gaining control, which was why
he now talked with a dull monotone and giggled constantly.

*

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into trouble." said a female voice.

Ataru woke instantly.  He was standing in the middle of a grassland next to an old tree.  The sky was deeply overcast,
and he could hear nothing of anything else.  He felt as if he and this girl he heard were the only living things for miles
around.  The girl in question was about his age, seated on one of the lower branches, looking down on him with a
curiously blank expression.   She was dressed in leather armor.  The fact that she had green hair didn't strike him as
unusual.

Ataru gaped at her.

"I've...heard about you." she continued.

"I didn't do it!"

She frowned.  "Aren't you even going to ask me my name?"

He turned in a full circle.  "Where am I?  Am I dead?" he asked.

"You're in a dreamworld that I created.  And no, not yet."

"What?"

"The food that was prepared for you was poisoned.  You're dreaming right now, but not for long.  You'll be dead in..",
she consulted her watch. "..about 30 minutes."  Ataru was certain she didn't have a watch before.  He didn't think about
how he knew exactly what a watch was, when he had never seen one.

"So you're the one." stated Ataru, smiling.

"Huh?"

"I keep up to date on what fate has in store for me.  Its always best to be prepared.  My horoscope today said that I
would meet someone who would save me.  It didn't say that she would be so beautiful."

Lum blinked.  She felt that she was losing control of the conversation.  If she didn't get back in character, the game
would end just like that.  She had to stay away from him this time.

"How would YOU know what fate has in store for you?" she demanded. (1)

"There are local fortune tellers and astrologers that I normally go to."

"And they told you that you would meet me?"

"Not in so many words, but yes.  I believe you are the one they meant."

"Well, I've got a bit of skill in fortune telling, myself.  I know a bit of magic.  What I'VE found out is that you're bound
to me in some way, and I want nothing to do with you!"

"I'm shocked! You've only just met me!  How could you say such a thing?"

"You haven't got a chance with me.  If you try to find me or get near me, I'll stop you.  You should give up now, and
find someone else to love!"

"Fate says all that?"

"I'M the one saying it!"  Lum paused while she consulted her notes.  The notes in question were on the branch near her,
out of Ataru's sight.  "I'm saying there is no way your future is going to be with me, so why don't you give up now, and
save yourself lots of pain!"

"I don't EVER give up!"

Lum grinned back.  "We'll just have to see, won't we?  I'm not going to be that easy to catch.  Just stay away from me." 
She grabbed her notes and took to the air.

Ataru started to run to catch her.  He stopped in astonishment when she didn't fall.

"Of course she can fly.  It's her dreamworld." he said to himself.  He suddenly remembered the poison and his imminent
death.  "WAIT!"

She turned and looked back.  "What?"

"I have a proposal for you." he began.

Lum sighed.  There he goes, proposing again.  This time she wouldn't just accept it.  She'd make him go on a few dates
first, at least.

"You do something about the poison, and I'll stay away from you for awhile." he said

"What kind of a proposal is that!"

"So just cure me, then!  And tell me your name!"

"My name is Lum.  I've dealt with the poison, and you're free of the castle.  It's the least I could do.  Goodbye,
Darling."  Lum turned and flew away.

Ataru stared after her.  "Darling??"  Suddenly he felt himself jolted awake.

(1)   After all, she had only set it up half a day ago.

*

Ataru woke up in a swamp, with no money or weapons. (1) The day was certainly one of the strangest of his life, but it
wasn't the worst day yet.  There were a few more hours of daylight,  so Ataru cleaned off the swamp water in a nearby
lake and headed back to town.  He had money secured in several locations, hidden safely away should something happen
and he lose it all.  By the end of the day, he should be back up to full strength.

Very subtly, he began asking around about Lum.  The results were curiously similar.  All agreed she was gifted with
beauty, intelligence, and lots of power.  Rumor had it that she was a sorceress and a romantic looking for true love,
which is where the dozens of suitors came in.  One of the more notable was the Lord Shutaro Mendo.  Running a close
second was a cursed nobleman named Rei, who was supposed to turn into a hideous tiger-cow when the moon was full

Word on the street said that Mendo's soldiers were looking for him (2).  Since he was on the lookout for them, he was
taken completely by surprise when someone clapped a hand on his shoulder.  "I heard you're asking around about Miss
Lum."

Ataru relaxed.  Megane was an old associate of his.  He wasn't a friend, but he definitely was not an enemy.  He and his
friends served in a church as Holy Knights for some god or goddess or something.  He couldn't seem to remember any
details about his faith or what they were supposed to be doing. (3)

"You've made some powerful enemies, Ataru.  They don't like the way you've been going.  I'm here to warn you to
drop it."

Ataru put down his drink.  "What are you saying, Megane?"  He put on a hurt expression.  With practiced ease, Ataru
reached out and took Megane's money pouch.

"I'm saying that if you do not stop your pursuit of Lum, we may be forced to stop you."

"Who said I was pursuing her?  And what business is it of yours if I do?"

"I'm on your side, Ataru!  There is someone who doesn't like the way you've been asking around about her.  All I'm
doing is warning you about it.  If things go much further..."

"Yes?"

"...It would be bad..?" he guessed.

"I wouldn't worry about it.  Tell this person that there's nothing to worry about.  Who is it, anyway?"

"You're not going to get a name out of me! (4)  Just know that someone doesn't like it, and be a little careful from now
on."

"Ok, fine.  She does seem a bit out of reach, doesn't she?"  He stared out into space with a thoughtful expression, and
didn't notice Mendo's soldiers until they were right up on him.

"Ataru Moroboshi!" one of them yelled, grabbing his shoulder.  "Since you have refused the Lord Mendo's hospitality
and used sorcery to leave early, thus proving yourself to be a VERY poor houseguest, you have angered the Lord
Mendo!  Such behavior will not be tolerated!  We will return you to the guestroom and feed you and you will ENJOY
the Lord Mendo's hospitality, or you'll STAY in the guestroom for the rest of your life!"  He motioned to the other
guard.

 The other guard, on cue, slammed his mallet mercilessly down on Ataru's head.

(1)  Players returned from death in what was called a 'respawning pool'.  In this world, the respawning pool was a
swamp.  Ataru had been killed by the poison, and been respawned afterward.  Lum simply let the poison take its course
and took credit for freeing him at the same time.

(2)  No one believed the chef's story about a new 'super poison' that destroys the body utterly and leaves scorch marks
on the floor.  Sorcery used to escape seemed a more logical explanation. (5)

(3)  Neither could Megane.  He was hoping no one would ask him about it, or that someone would volunteer the
information.

(4)  Megane was given a letter in the street by a messenger.  It was signed 'The high priest', and he wasn't certain if it
looked official or not.  It just said that Ataru was getting too close to Lum, and the high priest had a friend who wanted
him stopped.  Permanently if need be.  It didn't sound very religious to him.  Since he had his doubts, he had been
hoping Ataru would provide answers.

(5)  In a world where magic worked reliably even if the source was questionable, you could still just say 'They used
magic.' as the explanation for something you didn't understand.  Just don't say it around sorcerers.  Blaming the gods
was even worse, since thousands of years of practice with lightning bolts makes for perfect aim.

*

Ataru awoke in the dungeons again.  No one had cleaned up his dinner where it had scattered about the floor.  Ataru
spent a few minutes dumping the remaining food through the bars of his cell, including the six dead rats who had also
enjoyed Mendo's hospitality. 

That night the guards watched him, waiting for him to use some evil, dark magic to escape again.  
Ataru quickly grew bored watching them watch him.  "Do you treat all your guests this way?"

"Shut up!"

"I haven't done anything!" (1)

"You're the Lord Mendo's guest, and we are required to be civil." he began in a normal tone.  "So shut up!"  The guard
got to his feet, reached through the bars, grabbed a fistful of Ataru's shirt, and pulled him toward him into the bars as
hard as he could.  He released him and Ataru dropped.

"At least let me talk to him.." managed Ataru.

"Hey!  That's a good idea!" said the second guard.

The guard opened the door, picked Ataru up, and slammed him into the bars.

"Ack!" protested Ataru.

"If he's out for the night, he can't use magic to escape!"

*WHAM!*   *WHAM!*    *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*

They were silent for a bit.

"Hey.  I think you killed him."

Ataru remained perfectly still.  Eventually he had to breathe.

"Ha!  I knew he was faking!"

*WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*

The guard released him.  Ataru fell as lifelessly as he could, breathing very shallow breaths to feign unconsciousness.  It
wasn't difficult at this point.

"Better make sure."  One of them picked him up again.

*WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*     *WHAM!*

"Good enough.  Lets go get some food."  He was released.  One of them kicked him once for good measure, then they
closed and locked the door and went upstairs.

"Don't underestimate Ataru Moroboshi." whispered Ataru before passing out. (3)

(1) At least, not in this city, anyway. (2)

(2) Ataru's new personality quirks and past history were influenced in part by Lum, and in part by the computer who
needed to make him blend in.  If he thought about it, Ataru could trace back over a hundred years of past history with
hundreds of names, stealing from every nation on Earth and doing heroic things.  All of this happened approximately five
years ago.  

(3) Although he was immune to pain, once a player reached a certain point of stress, they passed out.  It made the game
seem a bit more real to the players.  Getting injured was more like someone splashing paint on you.  You were aware of
it but at worst it would slow you down.  Instead of saying "I can't believe you splashed paint on me!" you would say, "I
can't believe you stabbed me!"

*

Megane returned to the temple he regarded as home, where he had served for at least 10 years as one of their warrior
priests.  (1)  When he got there, there were a dozen priests gathered about the entrance that he didn't know.  They were
loudly arguing with the rest of the Gang of Four.  Both sides looked angry.

"What's going on?" 

"Who are you?" demanded one of the priests.

"My name is Megane.  I'm a Holy Knight of ..  This city!  And who are you?"

"I am Garain.  This is our temple, and we want it back!"

"What do you mean, YOUR temple?  I've lived here for ten years, and I've never seen you before!"

"LIAR!  Only the priests of the great goddess Darissana live in her temple.  Only her priests can summon her servants to
deal with heretics like you!"  The priest turned his back to Megane and went to join his allies.

Megane walked over to his friends.  "What is he talking about?"

"I don't know." began Pama.  "He's been talking about how he was here the night before.  He says he fell asleep and he
and the others were suddenly transported to another city.  They just got back this afternoon."

The other priests in question began chanting softly in perfect unison.

"He said he could summon servants?  He didn't mean literally summon them, did he?"

Pama shrugged.  They continued to watch the priests.  The rest of the crowd was also watching at a safer distance.

In a few minutes, the question was answered.  To the Gang of Four, it seemed as if the air suddenly got heavy.  There
was a TWISTING of reality and a flare of light.  Standing in mid air ten feet above the priests stood a human male in
painfully bright white robes.  The light seemed to gather around him.  He spread his wings and glared down the Gang of
Four.  The priests hurriedly backed away.

As he swept down toward the group, he was suddenly holding a burning sword.  He pointed it directly at Megane. 
"What ARE you?" he whispered.  Although he spoke softly, his voice carried to everyone within sight

Megane found courage from somewhere. (2) He held up his hand.  "Now, hold on a second.."

"You're not supposed to be here." said the angel.  Without another word, the angel swung the sword in an arc. 
Megane's arm dropped to the ground beside him.  He blinked at it, then glared up at him.  "That was my ARM, you
bastard!"

This wasn't the reaction the angel was hoping for.  Terror was the usual reaction.  Perhaps dropping to the ground or
showing some expression of pain.

Megane pointed at him with his remaining arm.  "Now you listen to me!"

The angel swung again.  The other arm dropped to the other side.  Again, Megane was completely free of 
pain.  He did say "Ow!" because he felt it should be expected of him.  He blinked.  "You jerk!  Who the hell do you-"
Megane was cut short in more ways than one.  Part of him fell this way, part of him fell that way.  His expression as he
collapsed was that of surprise.  It matched the angel's expression and the expressions of rest of the gang of four when
Megane's entire body suddenly exploded.

The rest of them attacked.  They did have a good measure of implanted skill, but their opponent simply flew out of reach
and took them on one at a time.  They never screamed in pain when injured.  They never even tried to get away.  Each of
their deaths were followed by detonations of their remains.

When the last of them were slain, the angel shimmered and vanished.

Garain slowly walked forward with the others close behind.  He knelt and brushed at the ground where the Gang of Four
had disappeared.  "Who were these people?  What were they?  Demons?"  He sounded genuinely afraid.

"I don't know." whispered one of the others.

(1)   Given his current appearance of seventeen years, last year was a long 10 years. 

(2)   Since Megane was thinking that this couldn't be happening, which is a natural reaction to imminent death, he was
closer to being an actual player than any of the others.  His new personality had an abundance of courage, and it was
fighting Megane's natural survival instincts, which were telling him to run away as quickly as possible.  Once he had a
few deaths under his belt, he'd start treating the threat of death casually, only acting scared if he felt like role playing.

*

Ataru awoke on the empty field again, standing next to the tree.  Nothing had changed since the last time.  Lum
'jumped' down from branch to branch, coming to rest three feet above the ground.  "Got captured again, huh?" she
grinned.

"I was distracted."

"Oh?  What were you thinking about?"

He didn't answer.  Instead, he made a sudden grab for her and missed her as she flew out of reach.

"Oh, no you don't!  You don't get me that easily!  When I told you to stay away, I didn't mean for you to stop moving
entirely."

"So why do you keep bringing me to this place?"

"Umm.. Curiosity?  I want to see how far you'd get before you gave up."

"I told you.  I don't give up.  Besides, it seems there are others who are trying to get to you."

"Oh?  Are you in the race, too?"

"Maybe I am.  Maybe I'm not."

"What are you going to do, if I get you out of that cell?"

"You're not going to dump me into the swamp again, are you?"

"Not this time."  She looked thoughtful.  "I could just open the door.  You'll have to escape on your own.  Of course,
you have to get past the guards.."

"Not a problem." replied Ataru.

"Are you sure you want to risk it?  They'll just beat you up and throw you back if they catch you."

"Obviously you don't know me.  Hello.  My name is Ataru Moroboshi.  I can get in and out of anyplace in the world."

"Everyplace but your cell.."

"I'll get out!  Of course, with your help, I'll get out faster."

"Hmm.."  Lum looked thoughtful.  "I'll see what I can do."

Ataru woke up.  It was still the middle of the night.  His gaze was instantly drawn to the door of his cell, which was
slightly open.  He quietly slipped out.

The castle was huge.  Ataru easily avoided the guards at first, but eventually he started to have problems.  The ever
growing sack of valuables that he was collecting on the way was awfully bulky, but he couldn't make himself leave any
of it behind.

"THERE HE IS!"

"Oh, bloody hell."

A dozen guards came out of nowhere to beat him with whatever was handy.  "How dare you spurn the Lord Mendo's
hospitality by escaping!"

"Jerk!"

"Insolent houseguest!"

"Um..  Take this!"

"And this!"

"And this!"

Ataru feigned loss of consciousness once again.  Once they grew tired, he was dragged through the castle, bounced
down the stairs, and thrown into the guestroom headfirst.  "Stay here and rot!  Breakfast will be served in a few hours. 
Goodnight and sweet dreams!"

The guard slammed the door on his way out.

Ataru held up the set of keys he had lifted from the guard.  "Heh."

He quickly unlocked his cell.  "This time, I've learned my lesson!"  He swung open the door and softly closed it.

He struck a pose.  "This time, I won't try to take so much!"

There was the sound of another prisoner losing his balance and crashing into the floor.

The prisoner quickly recovered.  "Why don't you free some of your fellow prisoners as a diversion?"

"Why should I?"  Ataru looked in the other cell.  A middle aged man in expensive clothing peered back at him.  "Can
you make it worth my while?"

"Oh, definitely.  My name is Ardiss.  I'm the 'former' owner of this castle, before this Mendo took it from me!"

*

Megane, Kakugari, Chibi, and Pama crawled out from the swamp a few hours later.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was an angel, I think.  A servant of the goddess Darissana, cutting us down with sword made of fire. Obviously a
case of mistaken identity."  He examined his arm.  "Obviously it didn't take."

"I didn't know they could make you explode like that." said Pama

"What do you mean?" asked Megane.

"I mean you DIED, Megane.  He cut you into pieces, and then you went up in flames and there was nothing left of you." 
The others nodded in agreement.

"How could I have died?  I feel fine!"

A teenage girl with red hair stepped into view.  "Maybe I had something to do with it!" she called, smiling at them.

They turned as one to face her.  "Who are you?"

"My name is Ran.  You are Pama, Megane, Chibi, and Kakugari.  You've lost bits of your memory?  Everything seems
strange to you?"

"How do you know our names?"

"I know her!  She sells flowers!"

"Oh, that's just my cover for while I'm here.  But you have noticed things about the world around you that are strange?"

They looked at each other.  "Yes.  I've noticed some things that don't fit." ventured Megane.

"I saw your fight today.  You were pretty good.  Even if you did die at the end."

"How did you-?"

"You said you were Holy Warriors-"

"Holy Knights." corrected Megane.

"Whatever.  Holy Knights, but you couldn't remember what goddess you serve, could you?  Well, that's me.  Ran.  The
goddess of beauty, cuteness...and vengeance."

"What kind of religion is that!"

"The DO WHAT I SAY religion!" yelled Ran.  Her anger vanished and she smiled.  "Now then.  You've been in my
service for years, but only recently, an evil sorceress named Lum took your memories from you, erasing all memories of
your devotion to me.  I was the one who resurrected you.  As long as you serve me, death will have no lasting hold over
you.  Pain will be a distant memory."   Ran paused for dramatic effect.

"She is plotting something, and I require your assistance in stopping it." she continued.

"Do you have any proof?" asked Chibi, who was by far the stupidest of them all.

"Certainly."  Ran made a quick series of gestures.  She was a veteran of the Alternate Reality game.  Since she had
played a few of the magic using types before, she had a few pattern memorized.  If you were playing a character with
magical talent, you could see the images of magic in front of you.  She couldn't see them since Lum hadn't bothered to
give her this ability, but she had a pretty good memory.  

To activate them, you reached out to each rune of magic, saying its corresponding syllable at the same time.  As each
one was touched, it would vanish.  The next symbol would appear closeby.  Depending on what spell you wanted, you
picked the correct rune pattern in the correct order.  In this manner, spellcasters had to wave their arms around and
chant to throw spells.  Some were easier than others.  Generally, the greater the effect, the more symbols it required.

A column of fire from the heavens engulfed Chibi. (1) He never got a chance to get over his surprise.  He just 
burned to ash within half a second.

"Boom." said Ran, laughing.  "Don't worry about him.  He'll be coming out of the swamp in a minute or two.  Now do
you believe me?"

"We believe!  We believe!" the remaining three yelled in unison.

"Since that's established, lets see about getting you some weapons that are worthy of my devoted servants..."

(1) Once Ran realized that she was in the game, she tested what she could access.  This particular spell was a link to the
orbital laser killer satellite.  It was good for taking out individuals you don't like, or annoying parts of the city you don't
like.

*

"If you're the owner of this castle," Ataru began, "do you know a secret way out of this place?"

"Yes.  I'm not sure what happened to my men, but I can get us past them to the exit.'

"How exactly did Mendo steal the entire castle from you?"

"My men aren't themselves.  They don't even recognize me.  This morning I found myself transported a hundred miles
north of here, and I used a favor from a sorcerer I know to get back here.  When I walked in, I found out this Lord
Mendo had taken my place.  My men called me a liar and said they didn't know me, and they threw me in the
'guestroom'.

"I've lived in this city for several years.  I've known about Mendo for several years.  I don't know YOU!"

"As far as I can figure out, someone has placed a spell over the entire area, leaving him in charge of MY castle!  I can
prove it.  I can get you out of here.  Only the owner of the castle would know where all the exits are."

Ataru thought for a moment.  "I'm not sure if I believe your story, since it would mean that I was changed, too, but I
have noticed something strange about how people are acting...  If I free you, I assume the reward will be great?"

"Well, more wealth than you can imagine!"

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit!"

Ardiss opened his mouth to respond, then stopped.  "Open the door and get me out.  I'll give you 10 gold crowns. 
That's worth more than you could carry off in stolen silverware and jewelry."

"30."

"15.  More than you'll see in your lifetime."

"I had more than that when I was captured.  25."

"18."

"25!"

"Ok, fine.  25.  Now open the door!"

Ataru silently unlocked the door.  "Lead the way."

*

Ardiss definitely seemed to know the place inside and out.  He seemed intent to take as many twists and turns as possible
to confuse his ally, but Ataru never had a chance of becoming lost. (1)  They made their way to the library by means of a
secret passage.  Ardiss looked out two small holes set in the wall.

"Looks like the way is clear.  I'll get your money, then we'll get out of here."  He pushed at the wall and it silently slid
open.

They made their way to the far wall.  Ardiss removed a set of books and took down the iron box that was set behind it. 
Just as they were walking out, the main door silently opened.  Ran and the Gang of Four stealthily walked in.  They were
dressed in black from head to toe, and Kakugari was effortlessly carrying a sack of loot half his size.

They stopped and stared at Ataru and Ardiss.

"YOU!" said everyone.

"Shhh!  Everyone be quiet!" hissed Ran.  She turned to Ataru.  "Darling!  It's me, Ran!  We're here to rescue you!"

Ataru looked astonished.  So did Megane, Kakugari, Chibi, and Pama.

"Why are you dressed like thieves?" asked Ataru.

"That's just our cover, in case we're caught.  We're really here to rescue you!"

"Why are you stealing things, then?" demanded Ardiss.

"I just SAID, that's our cover!"  Ran rolled her eyes.  "We can't pose as convincing thieves unless we actually have a
real bag of treasure now, can we?"

"But I thought.." began Chibi.

"Shut up!" hissed Megane.

"I thought you'd be trying to escape on your own!" said Ran.  "Why are you in the library?  Do you need help carrying
that big old box?"

"I'm just fine, thank you."

"You're not here to rescue anyone!" Ardiss accused.  "When I met you before, you wanted my help in getting into my
own castle.  Instead, you found these thieves to help you!"

"How rude!  I wanted in so I could rescue Darling!"

"Why are you calling me that?  I've never met you before!" Ataru protested. (2)

"I've known you for years!  You've forgotten everything?"

"I think I would have remembered you."

"You know who Lum is, don't you?"

"Yes.  What does she have to do with this?"

"I don't know yet.  I'm not sure what her evil plans are, but I'm going to find out!"

"She's the one responsible for all this?" demanded Ardiss.

"I TOLD you before!  But you didn't want to listen to me!  You didn't think I could help!  You said the guards would
remember you, when I told you they wouldn't!" (3) 

"True enough." he admitted.

Ataru was insistent.  "Why would Lum do something like that?"

"I don't know.  She's always doing mean things."  She stared deeply into Ataru's eyes.  "Have you really 
forgotten me?  And all the times we shared? (4)

"As far as I know, this is the first time I've ever seen you."

"You're so sweet!  So, you'll help me?"  She leaned forward.

"Of course!"  Ataru also leaned forward.

Ran abruptly backed up.  Ataru fell forward and slammed into the ground.  "We can talk about old times later.  For now,
we need to get out of here."  (5)

Ataru recovered quickly.  "Ardiss here needs help to escape.  He's offered to pay us two golden crowns each."

He looked outraged.  "No, I didn't!"

"Damn.  That's a lot a money." said a nearby guard.  His friend nodded in agreement.

"So, what do you say?"

"Make it 5 each, and you've got a deal." said Ran.

Ardiss staggered, clutching a hand to his chest.  He took a deep breath.  "Are you MAD!?"  He turned to Ataru.  "This
will cut into your own money!"

"I have nothing to do with them.  You'll pay me what you owe me."

"We could just take it now." suggested Ran.  "We don't really need him, do we?"

"Actually, we might."

"Oh.  Pity.  Even at 6 each, I think that you're getting a bargain."

"You said five!"

"Did I?  You must have imagined it."

"I NEED this money to hire an army to take back my castle!  I don't have that much, anyway!"

"We could always come back and get more, couldn't we?  Just show us where you keep the rest of your 
money, and we'll leave. Nobody has to be hurt." (6)

Mendo walked in, flanked by a dozen guards.  He gestured angrily with his sword.  The others stared back at them in
shock.

Ran recovered first.  "Oh, goodie!  Combat!" Ran exclaimed.

Mendo blinked and completely forgot what he was going to say.

"Here, Darling!" said Ran, tossing Ataru a sword.  "Now, while you're butchering these guards, don't forget to take the
time to dodge occasionally.  You need to save your strength for the next group.  Go get 'em!"

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Ran.  She stared back in alarm.

"Oh, no!  What do I do?  My loyal followers have turned against me!"  She started to cry.

"Umm.." began Megane.

Tears shimmered in her eyes.  "You're not going to let them get me, are you?"

"Of course not!"

"Put DOWN your weapons, DROP the bag, and get back to your rooms!" yelled Mendo.

"You SEE?  He wants to take our money!  That's OUR money!  He's a mean person!"

Nobody moved.  Ran switched tactics.

"You're not going to kill us, are you?  We didn't do anything!" she complained to Mendo with tears in her eyes.

Mendo looked shocked.  "I'm not going to kill anyone!" (7)

"We're only trying to help, and in return, you scare us and threaten us with those nasty swords and try to kill us!" Ran
protested.

"What are you talking about!"

Ran suddenly looked surprised.  "Wait a moment!  You're Mendo, right?  We've been looking for you!"

"Huh?"

"We were here to see our friend Ataru, and we ran across this thief!" she said, giving Ardiss a kick forward into the
guards.  "And he had this, too!"  She took the bag from Kakugari and threw it to a guard, who caught it.  "You see? 
We caught a thief for you, and we even turned in everything he stole from you!  Since its late, I need to get back home. 
You can always thank me later!"

Ardiss recovered his balanced and desperately tried to avoid the guards.  The other guards converged on him.  "Let me
go, damn you!" he shrieked.

"You have the money?" hissed Ran to Ataru.

"Yes."

"Let's go!"  The remaining six ran out the door.

Mendo blinked.

"Umm..  After them, boss?" asked one of the guards.

Mendo nodded.  The guards swarmed after them.

(1)  Like all the other players, Ataru had the ability to automatically make accurate maps of any place he had traveled. 
Other abilities included knowing the exact amount of money in a pile at a glance, knowing exactly how much weight he
was carrying (and what penalties there were from the weight in his ability to dodge), and knowing exactly how much
damage he could take before he would fall over dead.  Etc.

(2) Ataru was protesting being called Darling by Ran, a cute girl he had only just met.  His subconscious was screaming
'What are you DOING!?'

(3) Ran knew the game.  Having one or two people complain about invaders was a standard part of the game, and it
made everything seem more realistic.  She could almost imagine that they were real people mentally altered to fit with
the background, or transported away when it was more convenient.  It couldn't possibly be real, because who would do
such a thing?

(4) Ran would do nearly anything to annoy Lum.  This would definitely annoy Lum.

(5) While getting closer to Ataru would irritate Lum, Ran had no intention of letting him actually catch her.  I mean, get
real.

(6)  Of course, this suggested that someone COULD be hurt if certain people persisted in being unreasonable.  

(7)  That's what the guards were for.

*

They quickly made their escape.  Ataru took advantage of his superior knowledge of the maze and hid himself after
leading the others close to the exit.  He assumed they could find their way out from here, and he never planned to share
any of his money.  He did note that Ran made a slight effort to look for him, then shrugged, loudly assumed he was
dead, and continued on without a second glance.  It was kind of irritating.

After giving them enough time to get clear, he continued with his own escape.  He was nearly clear of the Mendo estate
when his luck took a sudden turn and he heard the sounds of a rabbit caught in a trap.

It was near a clearing, with overgrown grass and a stream nearby.  The rabbit was hanging by its foot from the clearing's
only tree.  Since the hunter who had set the trap was nowhere in sight, then obviously he must have abandoned the trap,
and it was fortunate that someone else came along to reset the trap again for another, fresher rabbit.  Ataru reached out
and picked it up.  Once satisfied that it could make no sudden break for freedom, he started unbinding the rope.  His
eyes gleamed with hunger.

"Put down the rabbit." said a heavily accented voice in the common trade language. 

Ataru turned around slowly, raising his hands slightly.  Standing ten feet away was a three foot tall savage from the
plains.  He was carrying a longbow that was as large as he was, with an arrow drawn and ready to fire at a moments
notice.

Since Ataru's life was now threatened by a savage, he began reviewing all the information he knew about them.  It was
very extensive, and it surprised him that one would be out this far from the plains.

Judging by the feathers decorating the bow and the fact that he was dressed in bits and pieces of a merchant's clothing,
this particular savage could only be one of a cannibalistic tribe.  The merchant's clothing was probably from a previous
meal.  The clothing was as filthy as the person who wore it.  The odor that reached Ataru told him that he probably
hadn't been moderately clean since the last time it rained.

Ataru laughed nervously.  "I can explain!" he began.

The savage peered at him closely.  "You have the mark of death upon you." he remarked in his own language.

"Death?"

"Death follows you around like a cloud!  What are you?"

"I'm Ataru Moroboshi."

Cherry gaped at him.  "The one who will destroy the world?"

"What?"

"What an unlucky person you are!  I will free you from your cursed fate."

Cherry released the arrow, which sped into Ataru's throat.  Ataru flinched a second too late, blinked and exploded. 
Cherry threw himself aside in sudden panic.

When the dust cleared, he picked himself up.  He walked over to the blackened spot where Ataru used to be standing. 
There was no trail leading away.  There was no blood.  He could hear or see nothing of his prey.  He had escaped him. 
This was a rare event. 

It was puzzling how one person could have more than one mark of death.  Ataru had at least ten.  What exactly was this
Moroboshi?  And where was he going to find supper?

His thoughts were interrupted when an iron box filled with gold bounced off his head. (1)  

Ataru crawled out of the swamp.  This was getting irritating.  If this was Lum saving him again, she could have picked a
better spot.

(1)   When you're hit on the head by a iron box filled with gold, is that a lucky event or an unlucky event?

*

It wasn't long before the group realized that Ataru was no longer among them.  All except Ran assumed the worst. 
They assumed that Ataru was a self-centered bastard that cared nothing for them, and he fled like the 
coward that he was, hoping to keep all the money for himself.  Megane was the most outraged, since he believed Ataru
had taken his money pouch for the second time that day. (1)

The traveled through the city for half the day before Ran finally announced what she planned to do.  Here was the source
of their problems.  Within the stone fortress before them was a magical device.  It would be guarded by one or two puny
Guardians and maybe a couple (2) wimpy little monsters scattered about.  They were standing before Lum's castle.

Since her rival had doubtless set up physical and magical traps specifically designed for Ran, then sadly, Ran could not
come with them.  Her valiant warriors need not worry, however!  Ran would be with them in spirit, and remember, you
can try again and again, for death has no hold on you!   Remember that your patron goddess Ran has every faith in you. 
Remember that she expects results, and it would break her heart if you were to lose faith in her and fail in this most
simplest of tasks.

With a "Do Your Best!" and a wink from Ran, the four valiant holy knights of a self-declared cute, vengeful goddess
reluctantly ventured forth into the castle under the cover of darkness.  Moral was questionable, since old personalities
were making themselves known.  They remembered a life completely free from fear, but as of right now, fear was their
constant companion.

Although they were trying to be stealthy, the occasional confrontation with the guards was inevitable.  Each of their
opponents fought in the same combat style, and vanished when they were defeated.  The black dashes hovering above
their heads supported Megane's theory that they were nothing but magical constructs.

They were beginning to relax until Chibi opened up a side door and was ripped to pieces by a waiting pack of wolves. 
The others reacted instantly with battle honed reflexes, fleeing in unreasoning panic down random corridors, the terror
filled and short lived screams of Chibi inspiring them to new levels of speed.

The pack fed quickly, which was why more than half of them were injured and in serious pain from internal explosions
when they searched and finally found Pama whimpering quietly to himself in a corner.  He was forced to fight for his life
and surprised himself by defeating them easily. 

They discovered Lum's inner sanctum almost by accident.  Lum herself was currently seated a mere fifty feet away, close
to a bookshelf set into the far wall.  She did not notice the intrusion, as her attention was 
currently fixed on a crystal ball set amid other sorcerous devices. (3)   Megane and the others quickly hid
themselves behind a few of the more cluttered tables.

"So what do we do?" whispered Pama.

"I'm thinking.."

The machine that Ran wanted was only twenty feet away, but whoever tried to get it would have to cross twenty feet of
open area.  Lum would be certain to spot them.  Ran had described the device as delicate, intricate, bulky, and very
heavy, with twenty switches and more than twice as many levers and dials.  They were certain they were looking at it
now.  It was easily large enough to contain four people.  Ran was assuming Lum moved it about by manipulating
gravity, so one of them should be able to literally carry it off by dragging it along with a rope.

As for Lum herself, Ran had cautioned them against fighting her.  Her message had been confusing, however.  Lum was
a dear childhood friend that Ran didn't want to hurt, but if they saw the opportunity to 'take her out', go ahead and take
it.  Caution was in order, as Lum was supposed to be very powerful and resourceful.

Unfortunately for the others, Lum had heard them.  Without appearing alarmed and without turning around, she worked
to shift the displayed picture in the crystal ball to get a look at what was behind her.  She knew it wasn't Darling here
ahead of schedule, and she couldn't think of anyone she knew who would try to sneak in past her defenses.  Now that
she thought of it, she still hadn't turned her defenses back on since she got back, and it could be anyone, including a
random encounter from the natives. (4)

Once she saw who it was, she relaxed.  When she realized Kakugari had loaded a crossbow and was aiming it at her, she
stopped relaxing and instead felt an icy cold wave of fear and alarm.  She blinked at the image, got up, and quickly began
a personal shielding spell.

The instant Kakugari realized she was on to them, he fired, and at that instant Lum finished her spell.  The bolt sailed
through the air toward her.  A freshly conjured demon (5) at Lum's feet leapt up into the bolt's path with arms
outstretched, taking the shot meant for her.  It flew back from the impact, hitting the bookshelf.  The body sizzled for an
instant then detonated.  Two other demons took to the air, hovering close to her and glaring at the intruders.

She began another spell.  What a bunch of jerks! The instant they get into the game, they become a bunch of power
hungry casual killers!

Kakugari rushed out, screaming a battle cry with sword raised overhead.  He made it about twenty feet before Lum
completed her spell and Kakugari turned into a very surprised looking chicken.

"Get the device!  I'll distract her!" hissed Megane to Pama, thinking only of the mission.  An instant later, he was back
to thinking about self preservation, but it was too late to change anything now.  He looked at Lum with genuine sorrow. 
It seemed a shame to him that he would be involved in such actions.  She was so beautiful.  How could he ever think
badly of such a beautiful girl?

"Akagiyama Missiles!" yelled Lum, extending a hand toward him.

That's right!  She was trying to kill him!

Megane dodged like mad, running just ahead of a line of explosions that followed him around the room.  He dove under
a table and scrambled around a corner of the wall.  The noise of the destruction stopped.  He was safe for now.

"Fireball!"

Or maybe not.  Megane threw himself to the floor.

*BOOM!*

The wave of fire rushed over him.  Fortunately, Megane avoided the worst of it.  Now more angry than afraid, he got to
his feet and drew his sword.

Pama had taken advantage of the distraction.  He had reached the device, threw several coils of rope around it, and was
halfway to the door with the machine following behind before Lum noticed him.  Instead of firing a flamebolt into his
back as she was tempted to do, she directed the attack into the archway of the door, hoping to shatter it and bar his way
to freedom.  She missed and hit Pama with a glancing shot to his shoulder, which staggered him enough to make him
miss the doorway and hit the wall instead.

"Oops."  She shrugged.  A lucky shot.

Megane saw nothing of this, as his position was still obscured by smoke.  He took in the scene instantly as he rounded
the corner, seeing his comrade on the edge of consciousness, lying on the floor next to the device.

A surge of courage rushed over him.  Dropping his sword, Megane sprinted forward, heroically scooping up both ally
and the end of the rope, all while simultaneously dodging around firebolts.  He jumped through the open doorway,
discovering too late and to his horror that this was not the doorway from before.  It was an open window set some 500
feet above the ground.  Megane's initial war cry of determination increased in volume and changed in pitch.

As for the machine, the antigravity effects were excellent at keeping it a foot above the floor, but it didn't have nearly
the same effect at 500 feet.  Eventually Megane let go of the rope in a desperate last chance to somehow learn to fly
(and he was certain he would need both arms for this).  Once not being dragged along, the machine slowed its decent
until it was falling with the speed of a feather.

The rush of wind was enough to wake Pama.  He quickly got over his shock and went right to panic.  The two were
closely followed out the window by a chicken and more than two dozen guardsmen with orders from Lum to 'Go after
them!'  Fortunately, these were duplicates of the original guardsmen.  He would never miss them.  This didn't make the
duplicates feel any better about things, however.

The combined screams of terror of more than twenty men was enough to get the attention of Ran and Chibi in the streets
below.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Ran.

Chibi winced and said nothing.  As far as he was concerned, this was going to be messy.  They only thing they could do
on this end was get out of their way.

Ran figured out what to do just in time, significantly changing the outcome for half of them.  The wind gust spell she
threw steered some of them into Lum's tower, where they made desperate grabs for whatever they could reach.  The
others that weren't included hit the ground with lethal force, disintegrating instantly.  Since they were traveling so fast,
the overall effect was that they passed into the earth with no resistance.  A dozen voices, cried out in terror, were
suddenly silenced.

The ones scraping against the tower continued to bounce along.  When they finally reached ground level, they were
sufficiently slowed down enough for the waters of the moat to cushion the shock of landing.  They recovered just in time
to fully appreciate the shark frenzy.

Ran again saved the day by stunning the sharks with bolts of lightning from the heavens.  It only took three or four blasts
before nothing was moving and everything was floating to the surface.  Since their deaths would have left no corpses,
the two assumed Megane, Pama, and the guards were still alive, so they pulled them out.

Meanwhile, the chicken had taken advantage of the wind spell to slow itself down and land safely.  Ran and Chibi only
noticed it because it was following them around.

"What do you suppose it wants?" asked Chibi.

"Food, maybe?"

They stared at the chicken.  Since it finally had their attention, it jumped around and flapped its wings.  It was very
unusual chicken behavior.

"What can you make of it?"

"Hmm...How about lunch?" said Ran brightly.

The chicken froze in mid-flap.  It stared at them in horror.

Ran was suddenly holding a knife and fork.  "Here, chicken!  You're so cute!  Come here!" she cooed.

"I think this chicken understands us!" said Chibi.

"Then get it before it gets away!"

The chicken immediately turned and fled.  Chibi chased it for a while but was unable to catch it.  Ran only watched,
since she believed she was far too cute to go chasing after a bird.  The two went back to waking the others, watching
occasionally as the chicken peered out from around the corner to glare at them.

(1)   Which was true.  In fact, no one realized it yet, but Ataru had robbed all of them before vanishing.

(2)   Ok, maybe more like fifty.

(3) Only a few of the items that Lum had in her possession were truly magical in nature, since the Oni race was so more
powerful using technology.  In the game, her collection duplicated magic items and their effects, frequently requiring key
words or gestures to activate them.  The crystal ball, for example, was linked to the satellite system and other robots
posing as birds or other wildlife.  It used multiple images from the required sources to assemble three dimensional
images that Lum could control. The actual inner workings of Alternate Reality were unimportant to Lum, since all she
really needed to know was that it worked.

(4)   Once you've set yourself up with a castle in a new world as a local power, it was amazing how many locals and
players alike would invade, hoping to acquire treasure.  Home security was definitely a necessity.

(5)   The freshly conjured demon being in reality a freshly pre-programmed robot that looks like a demon just now
teleporting in.  This particular one used to be a cleaning robot.

*

The machine floated gently down to earth.  Ran seated herself inside, searched and quickly found a large book under the
seat.  The machine was described on page 159, complete with all its abilities.  Ran began throwing switches and pulling
levers.  She paused to smile at the others who were silently watching.  "I'll be back soon!"  

She turned a dial and vanished, waking up a few seconds later in the real world.  She blinked.  Lum was already there,
waiting patiently nearby, watching her.  This was more or less what Ran had been expecting, but she had hoped to gain
access to the computer without her interfering.  Since Lum was here, then she would have to play by the rules.  She had
hoped to change the ones she didn't like.

Lum helped her climb out of the containment field.  Ran slowly stretched and took a deep breath, staring back at her.

Ran quickly grew tired of waiting.  "Aren't you going to say anything?  An apology for hooking me up to the game
against my will?  For not even telling me anything?  For not even giving me equal access?

Lum looked embarrassed.

"You must have known I'd catch on!" Ran concluded.

"I thought you might figure it out, but I was hoping you wouldn't care.  I take it you didn't like what I had set up for
you?"

"The last thing I wanted was to leave you in control of the world.  Who knows what you'd do!"

"I only made a few minor changes!  I didn't have full control!" Lum protested.

"Oh, REALLY?"

"Of course not!"

Ran quoted part of her description of her.  "A poor, helpless, defenseless, excessively rich, excessively powerful
sorceress with at least 10 suitors, ONE OF WHICH IS REI!, who has nothing whatsoever to do with her time but try to
keep entertained by playing with the weather and summon demon servants to wash the floor and do the dishes!" (1)

Lum frowned.  "Its not as if anyone cared!  So I had a bit of fun!  Who cares?  And HOW did you know about that,
anyway!"

"I know you, Lum!  Just what are you trying to do, anyway?  You're supposed to have limits in some way, or the game
has no challenge!  You must be PLANNING something, and I want to know what it is!"

"I gave myself limits!  I made myself as killable as anyone else!  And at least I didn't proclaim myself to be a goddess!"

"That's different!  I had no real power of my own!  I was reduced to scrounging!"

"Scrounging...  The Goddess of 'beauty, cuteness, and vengeance?'   That's bound to make me relax!  Nothing to worry
about there!  I'm sure its just revenge in a general sort of way."

"I just thought of it off the top of my head."

"Instead of scrounging, how about scavenging?  You were always good at that!  I build an army, and everyone starts
leaving because Ran is scavenging again, stealing creatures rather than fighting like we're supposed to fight!"

"Don't blame me!  It's all part of the game!  You could do the same thing if you wanted.  Instead, you toss lightning
bolts at my imps all day long!"

She shrugged.  "Had to do something."

"Or starting the game, going right for creating ogres, and sending a dozen of them charging in to MY village to
slaughter MY peasants!"

"It's a good tactic!  You should be honored that I think you're the one whose the greatest threat!"

"But I never get to get anywhere because you're doing a tank rush!"

"Ogre rush."

"Whatever."

"Anyway, those were games from when we were just kids!"

"It's always the same!  I'm out gathering resources, along comes Lum.  Pow.  She kills me."

Lum rolled her eyes.  "Oh, waaah.  Deal with it."

"In this game, no resource gathering.  I don't want to have to fight over it or mess with it.  The money and magical
power regenerate over time."

"Fine by me.  No directly controlling anyone.  We use dreams, letters, and personal contact."

"And if you can't hold on to your own players, you don't deserve them."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Lum demanded.

"Don't be angry!  It's all a game.  Right?"

Lum was silent for a moment.  "Right.  No scavenging or complaining afterwards."

Ran let that one go.  "Unlimited respawning.  Standard safeties.  No lasting effects."

"No mass destruction spells that will wreck the city."

Ran pouted.  "You're no fun.  I still want bombs and other high explosives.  They're too much fun to ignore."

"I mean the plagues, volcanoes, and tidal waves that you like so much.  If we lost half the world's population, someone
would be bound to notice."

"Fine.  No pausing or restarting the game."

"Agreed.  No camping!"

"Definitely.  Campers are the lowest form of life.  Full access to magic, and we pick specialties?"

"You're still planning on being a goddess?" asked Lum, smiling.

"It IS kind of fun." Ran admitted.  She shifted into her cute mode. "Oh, what shall I do?  Won't you please go slaughter
those nasty heathens?  For me?"

Lum laughed.

"I think I'll keep it.  I wouldn't want to disappoint them now, would I?"

"They DO seem devoted when they try."

"Speaking of devotion..." Ran voice trailed off.  "I think I know what you're doing."

"You do?"

"Its obvious!  You were treating Darling badly in the game.  I even found out you've been threatening him, and trying to
distance yourself from him.  Having him locked up like an animal and even telling the guards when he escaped!"

"There was a reason for that, actually.." Lum began. 

"You even let him die of poison!"

"He was a player in the game!  It's not as if it hurt him or anything!"

"I must admit that at first I thought you were trying to fool me.  If Darling has no value to you, why should I get
revenge on you by going after him?  It might have worked, but you're not just keeping your distance, you're also killing
him every other day!  I figured it out!  You're after Rei, aren't you!"

Lum facefaulted.  She jumped back up in a rage.  "Of COURSE NOT!  Why would I be after him!  You can have him!"

"That's the SAME thing you said about DARLING!  'He's yours!', you said.  Well, maybe I don't want him, either!  He
was all mine before you started this game.  He said how cruel you were.  Then the game started, and my victory was
torn from me!  You must have done something to him, because he didn't even recognize me!"

"Hold on.  Back up.  What do you mean, he was all yours?"  Lum tone was deadly.

"He was dragging around a machine all around town.  What was that, Lum?  One of those invisible fence machines they
use at the zoo?  You didn't use it on him, did you?  No wonder he was upset!" Ran grinned.

Lum said nothing.

"You should have seen him." Ran continued.  "But don't worry.  I managed to disable that mean, nasty pain-giving
device that you forced on him.  He never even realized it wasn't plugged in.  He cried on my shoulder and told me how
terrible you were.  He belongs to me, now.  I said exactly that.  'Lum's given up on you. You belong to me, now, and
I'll treat you better and NEVER let you go!'"  Ran smiled at the memory.

"Then what happened...?" asked Lum.

"Umm.  He ran off.  Said he had to go somewhere."

Lum laughed.  Ran stomped her foot angrily.

"What's so funny?  Your Darling is MINE now!  MINE!  You can't change that!"

"I thought you didn't want him."

"You need to make up your mind, Lum!  Is he of value to you, or not?  If he is, I'll take him from you and stomp on
your castle and you'll lose both Darling AND the game!"

"Maybe I am after Rei.  Are you going after him, too?"

"None of your business!  And you'd better NOT be after Rei!"

Lum backed up a step.  "I'm NOT!  You can relax, Ran-chan.  Why don't you devote your efforts to Rei, and leave
Darling to me?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I have something special planned.  Darling isn't normally very romantic, but he isn't his old self right now.  When the
game is over, he'll realize this."

"How sweet.  You're just being romantic.  Be still, my beating stomach."

"I'm trying to make him realize there's more to life than girl-hunting!"

"I think you overdid it a bit.  I barely recognized him."

"I'm TRYING to be helpful!  We can still kill each other like civilized people once we're back in the game, but I want
you to leave Darling alone!"

"Then lets get back to the game and settle this.  If you're hiding anything, I'll find out."

"Fine."

They shook hands.

The two girls selected individual powers and abilities for themselves that were roughly equivalent to each other.  Lum's
power was reduced, and Ran's was increased.  Once a certain number of magic items were claimed, the rest were
scattered throughout the game world.  Some lucky natives would get a boost in power, but their luck would change
soon enough.

Lum and Ran would both be searching for these items to increase the power of the players they were influencing.  If the
natives used this new power to draw attention to themselves, they would last half as long.

Since Lum initially wanted a lot of magical power, the computer found a world with its own magic system in place.  The
native system operated using long, complex rituals.  Lum added her own magic system based on Oni technology, which
doesn't have any set limits.  It not only occasionally uses true magic, it even boosts the effects of magic and makes it
available to anyone.  Sorcerers no longer had all the fun.(2) 

The items also included the ability to summon and control elementals, demons or other horrors, all based on the
Alternate Reality system.  These creatures were actually custom made robots designed to mimic the form and
mannerisms of the specific legendary creatures.  Both Lum and Ran tended to avoid this type of magic, since the idea of
it was distasteful.  Also, it was irritating and embarrassing to lose control and have a demon rip you in half.  By the time
you respawned and got back to your castle, the whole place would be on fire and you would have a lot of castle servants
standing around outside glaring at you.

Ran tended to go with boosting up a selected few players.  They would be near unstoppable and unkillable, and would
do more than their share of damage.  Lum preferred the large armies and attacking from several directions.  The Oni
magic system changed to fit the legends and effects of the current world, so Lum and Ran both had access to new
abilities they hadn't every tried before.

Both now had individual castles they called home.  This was the source of their power. Once enough of the castle was
destroyed, the other castle owner would be the winner, and the game would end.  For this reason, Ran and Lum took at
least an hour to respawn from their death, while other players respawned in minutes.

(1)   One of the reasons why demons hate humanity: Housework.

(2) No longer was magic in the hands of sorcerers and other trained professionals who jealously guarded their secrets
and made certain to train only a few specially selected apprentices.  Now everyone had access to powerful and
dangerous magic.  Of course, Oni technology was also considered unpredictable and dangerous, so there wasn't much of
a change. 

*

Megane and the others waited patiently for an hour before Ran and Lum suddenly appeared sitting next to each other in
the machine.  Instead of being dressed as before, Lum was now in her usual tiger-stripped bikini.  Since the two girls
acted like they knew each other, no one made any move to interfere.

"Remember, you agreed to give me at least a day to make preparations, and that includes everything of mine, including
them!" said Ran, waving her hand at the Gang of Four. (1)

"Fine, and no stealing any of the creatures I'll be creating.  You can use your vast scavenging talents on the others from
back home, and that's it!"

Lum turned to Megane.  "No hard feelings, right?"  She smiled and extended her hand.

"Gahhh!" said Megane.  His heartbeat went into overdrive. 

"Now who's scavenging, Lum-chan?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Gahhh!" said Megane.

"Oh.  The uniform."  Lum cast a short spell.  When she finished, a thousand fairies zoomed in from everywhere, knitted
Lum a copy of her 'sorceress clothes' onto her, and zipped away.  The entire process took slightly more than a second.

"What the HELL was that?" demanded Ran.

Lum looked almost as surprised as Ran.  "An interpretation of the instant change spell for this world setting, I would
guess.  Kind of different.  I think those were fairies."  She peered in the direction they had flown off.

Ran shrugged.  It seemed as good an explanation as any.

"See you later."  Lum closed her eyes and vanished with a flare of light.

Ran turned to the others and smiled.  "Guess what I brought!"

(1)   They were still currently a gang of three, as one of their numbers was a chicken, currently absent and bitter.

*

Lum reappeared in her laboratory.  The manner concerning Ran was worked out, and she had at least a day to make
preparations.  Since she already had a small army gathered from before, it would be a simple manner to assemble more. 
The second army would be the one to use for fighting.  If Ran believed she held the advantage, she would certainly
attack.  Since Lum never planned on going on the offensive, it made things easier.  Winning the game would be a bonus,
but Lum achieved her goal with Darling, the game didn't matter.

As for building an army, this new art of necromancy seemed easy enough.  It had the virtue of never having been tried. 
How hard could it be?

*

Megane, Chibi and Pama were now dressed in an assortment of 'enchanted' armor.  This equipment was a special order
from Ran.  Since she wanted so many features already built in, the Alternate Reality game made a special order of its
own.(1)  The armor was shipped in from the Galactic Home Shopping Center.  The bill would go to the Mendo
Conglomerate.  The computer would make a backup of itself and hide in a Tomobiki bank computer (just in case) and
the backup would get the blame.

The particular suits that were ordered were manufactured by the Zeiran Empire.  The Zeiran were among the best
warriors the galaxy had to offer.  Zeiran body armor was designed first and foremost to keep its user alive, so the user
could accumulate experience.  They definitely needed the extra time, since mastery of the 
armor took years of practice in combat conditions. 

Since the weaponry and abilities of the armor didn't match the background for the Alternate Reality setting, limitations
were added to make it seem more like sorcery.  Powers were modified to fit the current version of magic.  The
instruction manual was now useless except for the detailed description of what just weapon was fired purely by accident
when the user scratched his head in confusion.

They now had access to the magic system in the form of links to the orbiting satellite 'gods'.  Given time and experience,
they would develop speed, skill, and confidence in casting spells.  Ran felt the best way to teach was to throw them
headfirst into combat.  Experience would accumulate whether or not they survived, and skill would automatically follow.

The armor was assorted.  It didn't look anything like any sort of armor they were used to seeing.  It seemed like it would
fit someone nearly twice their size, but they were told from Ran they would grow used to it (2).  When it adapted itself
to fit, they were told it was magic.  Don't worry about it.  You'll grow used to the smell.  Those extra arms are in case
one is damaged.  No, that isn't acid damage.  It's only a small tear.  Stop complaining or I'll fry you.

Ran also supplied them with notes on what they could do, and how to do it.  Since this was a list of highlights from the
instruction book, it was a bit less than complete.  Ran left out the unnecessary parts like the warnings, disclaimers, and
other safety features that may have alarmed them.

The new version of Zeiran armor was actually a bit more suited to humans now than it was before.  Given time, the
Gang of Four could actually come to appreciate some of the benefits (3).  

The greatest practitioner of the art of necromancy didn't know it yet, but he now had an extensive history of ten years,
including rumors about that history.  His previous reputation as a unmarried shoe maker was taken from the minds of the
villagers.  His named changed from Sizar to Lord Sizar.  After realizing his destiny, he took over the entire village
(population 23, including all the chickens and cows) and moved into the largest house, resolving to build his undead
army back to full strength, and take back his homeland from which he was banished. (5)

His undead army was unique in the universe, since they were actually robots with actual rotting flesh.  Limits on their
intellect and speed were strictly enforced.  They walked with a well balanced computer controlled
stagger.  Besides the humans, the army also included over two hundred undead cows, horses, cats, dogs, and chickens. 
In fact, the barnyard animals outnumbered the humans five to one.  Considering their combat restrictions for their form,
the limitations imposed upon them were less than their human counterparts.

Lum spent the day chasing rumors, and quickly discovered the rumors about the existence of Lord Sizar.  She decided to
send Mendo to track him down.  Her only condition was a copy of his spellbook.

Simply having Lum ask him was a good reason, but he found a few more beyond the first.  The second reason was to
help destroy this source of evil while it was still relatively small and containable.  The third reason was that Lord Sizar's
entire village was part of Mendo's territory, and they owed him in back taxes.  Since it was in his territory, the reward
for the removal of this necromancer would need to be paid by Mendo, but he felt it was within his duty to handle it
himself.  There was a reward notice, although he couldn't remember posting one.

The lady Sakura was here for similar reasons.  She had heard the rumors of a new demonic invasion, and she was here to
confirm or deny the story.  Destroying undead and evil spirits was her specialty, and no one else could possibly handle it. 
It was said she was a skilled sorceress who also dabbled in telling the future, and her art had pointed to something big on
the horizon.  The reward money would be nice, too.

Since Mendo and a fourth of his guard force were here, Ataru wasn't here.  Instead, he was at this moment robbing
Mendo's castle.  It wasn't that he needed the money.  It was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

(1)   'Oni Computer Programming' is when the Oni in question tells the computer what they would like to have done,
and the computer writes its own programs to do it.  Both Lum and Ran typically followed her programming sessions
with a death threat for the computer, whether one was needed or not (5).  The computer was understandably concerned
with its fate and didn't want to fail, so extreme measures were necessary. 

(2)   More specifically, they would grow INTO it, if they were ever injured and allowed to regenerate.  They would not
necessarily appreciate their new form, however, but the whole idea was moot since the armor wasn't designed to come
off, except for the helmet.  Ever.  Still, you were bound to notice when you picked up the use of an additional tail.

(3)   Assuming they liked living an additional 500 years in the game as a nearly unkillable and exceptionally powerful
cross between a human and a giant crocodile.

(4)   This homeland didn't exist.  On the off chance that Lord Sizar managed to gather enough power and make an
actual quest back to this homeland, the homeland would be created.

(5)   The main difference in their method was that Ran also occasionally said 'Please and Thank You'.  Newly installed
successor computer would never be told anything, but they would still get the hints Ran left lying around.  One couldn't
help but notice an axe left in plain sight that was partially covered with bits of wire from Ran's last programming session.

*

The group was followed by a caravan of food and cooking supplies.  This was guarded by Lord Mendo's soldiers against
theft from Cherry or bandits.  They were given conflicting orders to not interfere, unless the situation called for it.  

Mendo's method for gathering information was similar to Sakura's method.  Rather than pursue rumors or gather
evidence, they would head out to the village with a force of men.  If there was something going on, they would be sure
to be attacked, and they would have no choice but to defend themselves.  If nothing attacked them, they would poke
around until they provoked an attack.

The group was walking into the outskirts of the village in question when things started to go wrong.

Three warriors on horseback rode in behind them.  Each dressed in black armor that obscured their features.  They
arranged themselves in a semi-circle around the caravan.  One of them gestured with a lance at Mendo.

"Ggffhk nex baxog theis hgx r'fragaateah. Nos ystdodpar vasit agafnd yetsmd sayr yjod  tcho'eh bas grignr."

"What?"

"Ggffhk nex baxog.  Nos sayr yjod  tcho'eh bas grignr."

"I am Lord Mendo.  Do you speak the trade language?"

"Tcho'eh?" (1)

Mendo cleared his throat.  He spoke slowly and loudly.  "I am Lord Mendo!  Do you speak the trade language?!"

The leader of the group tried to remove his helmet for ten seconds before giving up.  He now seemed angry.  He pointed
at his own men, then waved his hand at the village.  Several things happened at once.

By gesturing to his men, he activated a telekinetic weapon system.  This particular weapon system was designed to allow
the user to pick up items from a distance for a variety of uses.  For example, if you lost your favorite weapon, you could
'call' it to your outstretched hand.  You could pick up large objects to smash your opponent, or interpose something
heavy between yourself and incoming attacks.  You could even crush anything from a tank to a person's throat.  Skill
would come over time.

The further the distance, the less the control.  If you seized control of a far away object, this object was immediately
brought closer to the user until fine control was established.  This also depended on the weight of the object.  A heavy
object would need to be brought closer to establish full control.

Megane's casual gesture was directed at Chibi and Pama.  Since they were wearing their own Zieran armor, they had
defenses against this type of attack.  When Chibi found himself seized by an unknown force, he waved his arms around
wildly to reestablish balance.  This was also interpreted as a signal of consent by the armor, and he flew off with the
horses.  The three suddenly found themselves sailing through the air toward the village.

Pama found his balance easily and jumped clear.  Thanks to his enhanced level of strength, he jumped clear just over ten
miles away.  To onlookers, it seemed as if he had vanished.

Megane looked at his hand as if it had bitten him.  He flexed his fingers, narrowly avoiding accidentally triggering an
energy blast attack to his head. 

Sakura had just about had enough.  She began a spell.

Mendo continued to speak slowly and distinctly.  "Perhaps we could come to a diplomatic--"

"Fireball!" yelled Sakura.  The fireball flew from Sakura's hand and hit Megane dead on.  He dropped the lance he was
carrying as the area exploded in flame.  It threw him back amid the minor fires.  His armor burned bright red but
appeared undamaged. 

Megane's horse blinked in surprise.  It slowly edged away.

"--a DIPLOMATIC means of setting our differences!  You are not our enemy!  We are--" continued Mendo.

"Flare Arrow!"  This attack hit Megane in the shoulder.  He barely noticed it, since his armor was now compensating for
the heat of the previous attack.  He shook his head to clear it.

"Lunka ka nawinseko!" he yelled, getting to his feet.

"--here on a mission to destroy a necromancer that--"

"Buster BEAM!" screamed Sakura. (2)  Megane dodged this.  Barely.  The attack tore through the landscape behind
him, leaving a fifteen foot wide trench.

"Will you STOP IT!" Mendo raged to Sakura.  "You are not HELPING!"

"YOU'RE the one who isn't helping!  The fight is over HERE!"

Frost began to form on Megane's armor.  It quickly expanded over his suit.  He froze in mid gesture.

There was a sudden crash in the middle of the village.  Pama was trying to leap back to the others, and had overshot his
mark by a half mile.

As for Chibi, he had regained control just short of hitting the ground.  The horses were also spared the crash since his
field of anti-gravity contained them as well.  He landed gently on his feet.

Just as he turned around to get back to the others, he found himself suddenly under attack by Bessie the Hell Cow and
half a dozen undead chickens.

"MOOO!" the Hell Cow bellowed.

"AAAHHH!" he shrieked.

Megane watched in his prison of ice, all but forgotten, as Sakura and Mendo argued loudly over the fight.  As he
struggled, he managed to free one hand.  He gestured toward a tree fifty feet away, hoping to grab it as easily as he had
the horses.  The tree was torn from its roots and flew directly at him.

Since he couldn't steer it and this was definitely not what he was expecting, the tree was suddenly released 
from his control.  It continued on course and landed on him.  It did have the benefit of breaking Megane's shell of ice.
Sakura and Mendo stopped arguing.

"Is someone helping us?" asked Sakura, looking around.

Megane stood up, lifting the tree overhead.  Yelling a battle cry, he threw it at the pair with all his strength.  Sakura
threw herself aside, but Mendo was not so fortunate.

The guards by the caravan watched.  Several of them were munching on popcorn.

"That's gotta hurt!"

"Yep."

There was no sign of movement under the tree.  It seemed like Lord Mendo was out for a while.

"Think we should help?"

"Not til they make a move for the food."

"Right."

Sakura landed in an undignified heap.  She took a quick moment to catch her breath, rolled around, and Megane was
there.  He was standing five feet away, pointing at her.  "Nawinseko deistan!"

"Go away!"

(1)   The Zeiran took very few chances when it came to allowing their senses to be overwhelmed in combat situations. 
Everything was screened before being allowed through, including sight, smell, touch, hearing (3), taste and telepathy. 
Their eyes were covered, yet they saw with better clarity than before.  Everything possible was monitored, and language
was instantly translated.  Megane and the others understood everything that Mendo was saying.  Everything Megane
said was translated and broadcast in Zeiran.  Megane, Chibi and Pama understood each other through instantaneous
translations.  

(2)  This spell was one of the few ones that required extra effort to cast.  In addition to voice activation, if you didn't
yell the name of the attack loudly enough, it would be considered miscast and nothing would happen.

(3)   The Zeiran were taking no chances when it came to rumors of entire, battle-hardened alien fleets being taken down
by a cheerful song sung by some annoying female from a primitive planet.

*

Bessie the Hell Cow reared back and struck savagely with her front hooves.  Her eyes burned like coals.  Chibi hurriedly
backed away, tripping over the chickens thrashing at him from behind.  As he fell, the other chickens pecked and clawed
at him from all angles.  The air was heavy with feathers the stench of death.  Bessie loomed over him, snarling.  Her
shadow blocked out the sun. Her teeth were yellow and black from filth and decay.

"MOOO!" shrieked the hell cow.  Again, she reared up.  Chibi held up his hands defensively.  Bessie brought her full
weight down upon him.  His armor absorbed most of the impact, and he rolled away before Bessie could land on him
again.  The chickens kept up a merciless and ineffective barrage of wing buffets.  He got to his feet and drew his sword. 
He kicked away one of the chickens.  Now it was his turn!

Chibi shrieked a war cry that completely failed to intimidate the chickens. (1)  Bessie circled him warily as he slaughtered
the chickens one after another.  Each death was followed by an explosion which damaged Chibi more than the combined
damage the chickens had inflicted.  The noise also blocked the low growling from behind.  As the feathers and bits of
flesh settled to the ground, Bessie struck.  Chibi was taken by surprise.

It was over in a few minutes.  Bessie reared back again and again, driving Chibi deeper and deeper into the earth.  For
long moments there was only the sound of the dull ringing of her cow bell over the thumps of her ceaseless attack.  Chibi
couldn't move since several bones were broken, but he was fully aware when Bessie began to feed...

Pama found him like this.  His mouth gaped as he stared in horrified silence.

Bessie turned to him and hissed.

"Nooooo!  Get away from him, you bitch!" he howled.

"MOOO!"  She remained motionless. Bessie's cow bell rang slowly and evilly.   Her left eye twitched as she glared right
back at him, head low to the ground, daring him to make the first move.

Pama charged forward, making the classic mistake.  He never saw the other cow charging him from the side until it was
right on top of him. (2)

(1)   It might have startled a cat, if it had been asleep at the time.  Chibi was never known for his aura of overwhelming
presence and intimidation.  He just wasn't a scary person.  In fact, it may be more accurate to say he looked as vicious as
a Disney chipmunk.

(2)   Very few people realize that a cow's vision acuity is not based on movement.  This normally is not a problem,
however.  You also very rarely see them as pack hunters.

*

Megane was uncertain what to do.  The act of pointing at her activated the armor in another unexpected way.  His hand
was now glowing a fiery red.  He froze, not wanting to set it off and incinerate her.  Sakura also froze, thinking she was
about to die.  

"Get out of the way!" he whispered.

The message 'translated' itself automatically.  Not understanding, Sakura's hands shot into the air.  "I give up!"

The soldiers watching nearby were starting to reach a conclusion.  Their employer was missing, they were out of
popcorn, and the hot looking babe in the leather armor was about get her head blown off by a definite Bad Guy.  The
situation called for a rescue attempt.

Plus, half the food was hers, so she was kind of their employer, too.  

Most of them were fairly accurate with crossbows and longbows.  With a coordinated strike, they could take him down
instantly.  He wouldn't get a chance to fight back.  This was The Plan.

"Fire!" yelled the self-appointed leader.

A few shots went wild.  Three of them effectively pinned Sakura to the ground, but most of them went on target into
Megane's back.  Megane staggered a few feet from the multiple impacts.  The flamebolt gathering in his hand went off
next to Sakura's head.  She shrieked.

Megane turned around.

"Second wave, ATTACK!" yelled the leader.  The second wave was a selected group of men volunteered to go rush up
and defeat the enemy heroically sword to sword, should the arrow attack fail.  The leader looked around wildly. 
"Second wave, GET BACK HERE NOW!"

Unfortunately, the second wave was fleeing down the street as fast as they could go.

"First wave!  Cut down the second wave!"

Hearing this, the swordsmen redoubled their efforts to run away.  The archers completely ignored the command.  Their
terrified gazes were locked with the Thing in the Black Armor as they hurriedly fumbled with their bows.  The arrows
sailed in on target one after the other.

The armor's AI (artificial intelligence) deemed this to be a stressful situation.  In situations such as this, Zeiran Warriors
needed to be fully alert and relatively calm.  Since they were a race that breathed methane gas, pure methane was
pumped into Megane's helmet.

"Urk!"  He clutched at his helmet, bent over and fell to the ground.

"I got him!  I got him!"

"No, you didn't!  That was MY shot!" 

An instant later, the armor countermanded itself, shutting off the gas.  Pure oxygen replaced it, while the armor
simultaneously started up the Zeiran CPR procedure.  One of his hearts had stopped, his other heartbeat was much too
fast, his blood pressure was way off, and it wasn't even proper blood, anyway.

New drugs were injected, followed closely by antidotes for the drugs.  Each command was countermanded seconds after
it began.  Megane continuously thrashed around and clawed at the air. 

"Wow.  Where the hell did you hit him, anyway?"  

"We'll have to write that spot down."

Eventually the new IA of the armor caught up with the original AI of the armor and did the computer program
equivalent of hitting it in the head from complete surprise, wrestling it to the floor, beating it senseless, and tying it up. 
A decision was made to leave this place.  Things were Going Badly.  They were Not Going Well.

It reached out and seized complete control.  Barely conscious, Megane got to his feet, braced, and jumped back towards
home.  The original AI tried to struggle out of its bindings.  The new AI took a moment to mallet him into nonexistence.

To Sakura and the other soldiers watching, Megane had simply vanished in a puff of smoke

As for Chibi and Pama, they too found themselves lifted into the air and pulled screaming back towards home.  The
cows shrieked in frustration and rage.

Sakura casually tore free the crossbow bolts and arrows holding her and used a minor healing spell to repair the damage. 
She attributed the complete lack of pain to adrenaline.  She was swarmed by the remaining guards, all to eager to help
her to her feet.

Once they remembered, they pulled away the tree that had buried the Lord Mendo.

The roused him.  "Wake up, Lord Mendo!  You missed the fight!"

"I'm awake!  Stop kicking me!"  Mendo jumped to his feet.

He looked around.  The enemy and half his men were gone.  He turned to Sakura for an explanation.

"So.  The demonic invasion is real." Sakura mused.

"What?"

"Those three could only have been demons."

"This necromancer has his own demons?"

"Nobody OWNS demons!  I've been trying to trace down a particular prophecy that indicates a demonic invasion.  Its all
centered around one person, and it isn't this necromancer."

"You're certain of this?"

"Considering the powers they used, their resistance to fire, and the language they spoke, I'm certain of it.  I had hoped
that the rumors weren't true, but they are.  They must be spreading out.  I believe the one was challenging me when he
sent the others away."  She crossed her arms.  "My price just went up."

He blinked. "I'm paying you?  Since when?"

"When we met!  You said you would do anything for Miss Lum, when she sent you out here!  You said no price was too
great!"

"I wasn't talking about you!  I was talking to myself!" he yelled back.  "Why do you think I made a personal
appearance?  As far as I'm concerned, you volunteered!"

"A sorceress of my skill and power doesn't volunteer for anything!"

"You'll claim your share of the reward money, won't you?"

"Naturally, but what about the reward for saving your life and banishing the demon?"

"HEY!  I'M the one who killed the demon!" protested one of the guards.

"No, you didn't, liar!  I was the one that took him down!"

"He got up afterwards, didn't he?" Sakura pointed out.

The guards were silent for a moment.

"Fine.  We should ALL get a reward for allowing you the time you needed to banish him."

"Didn't he just leave on his own?" whispered another guard.

"One of us deserves a reward for this, so he DIDN'T just leave!  You got that?"  He pulled a knife out from nowhere.

"Sure.  Right."  The second guard held up his hands and backed away.

Mendo glared at Sakura.  "I'll hand out a bonus for that particular fight.  But as for the rest, we're also feeding you,
aren't we?  It wasn't MY idea to bring this huge caravan for this perilous day and a half journey into the countryside!"

Sakura opened her mouth, then closed it.  He did have a point there.  It was a lot of food.

"If I want you for anything else, I'll hire you." he continued.

Mendo turned.  The group suddenly noticed for the first time the undead army thirty feet away that had them surrounded
on all sides.  The human part of the army was armed with mostly pitchforks, but there was the occasional one with a
sword.  These looked normal in comparison to the animals.

Those with teeth had them bared.  The horses glared at them, pawing at the earth.  The chickens clucked evilly in a
parody of laughter.  The growling from the dogs was matched by the growling cows.  All showed various signs of decay
and rot.  Their eyes were burning with inner fire.

Mendo never looked away from the horde.  "You're hired."

"My price went WAY up."

"You're still hired."

*

Now that initial purchases were out of the way, Ran began the new day setting up her new castle to her specifications. 
Lum would be expecting an attack in a few days, but it would be against her nature to strike out at her unless it was in
retaliation for something.  If Lum had something special planned for Darling, then she would have to do her best to
make those plans fail.

She reasoned that Lum couldn't do anything with Darling if Darling was always respawning.  Ran spent the rest of the
afternoon tracking down and employing the services of the local Assassin's Guild.  Eventually they took her very
seriously.  They found themselves to be very open and honest despite years of conditioning against it.  When this was
matched with Ran's attitude of cute while she openly planned someone's death, it threw most of the assassins completely
off balance.

"You may have a bit of difficulty tracking him down, but I'm sure you and your men can do it if you try!  You'll do it for
me, won't you?  10 gold crowns is enough for each time?"

"We can do it.  But you said you want us to 'keep killing him'?"

"Yes.  Is that a problem?"

"You mean torture?"

"NO!" Ran cried.  "I don't want you to HURT him!  I just want you to kill him!"

"More than once?"

"Yes!  You got it!"  She sat back in her chair and smiled.

"When we kill someone, he stays dead!" the assassin stated.

"You may have a problem with that." Ran said sadly. "He shouldn't stay dead no matter what you do."

"Do you want the body as proof?"

"No."  Ran looked annoyed.  "I want you to KILL him!  There won't be a body."

The assassin switched tactics.

"Is there a time limit?"

Ran thought about this  "The next day.  Usually within a few hours.  And no camping!  That's a Condition!"

He blinked. "What?"

"I mean that!"  She pointed at him in warning.  "You won't be able to cheat!"

"The payment?"  He was getting desperate.  The assassin had already asked this before, but he was having trouble
coming up with new questions that wouldn't confuse him.

"Ten gold crowns.  Don't worry.  I trust you.  I'll even pay you for the next ten days in advance.  If you miss a day or
are lucky more often, let me know."

She emptied out a pouch onto the desk between them.  Nearly a hundred gold crowns spilled out.  It was almost enough
to purchase half the city.  She winked at him.

"What exactly is this Ataru Moroboshi?" he demanded.

"He's someone's treasure, and I'm going to bury him.  Whatever you do, never let him find out about me.  He still
remembers our time together, and the news about my involvement might make him upset."  Ran suddenly smiled.  "As a
matter of fact, if I paid you a bit more, could you let slip that someone named Lum was behind this?"

"Princess Lum?"

"That's her!  Won't she be surprised?" she laughed.

As she started to leave, the assassins stayed out of her way.  She whistled a merry tune and happily skipped out of the
assassin's guild.  Darling was the focus for everything Lum had set up.  Repairing the damage she could cause would eat
up more time than Lum could afford.

She returned to her new home for a leisurely dinner.  All she had to do now was wait.  In a few days, her wealth would
regenerate, and she would purchase weapons of destruction to match the armor her loyal worshipers now possessed. 
Her followers wouldn't just be invincible.  They would be unstoppable!

She paused, then looked up.  She heard the sounds of three distinct screaming voices, steadily getting louder.  "What?"  

"..aaaaaaaAAAAHHHHH!"

*CRASH!*

The three worshipers in question dropped into Ran's courtyard at her feet.  She jumped back in surprise.

The three began picking themselves up, grumbling.  From their condition, it looked as if they had been in a serious fight.

Ran looked on in concern.  "What happened?"

"Cows..." whispered Pama.

Ran began to smoulder.  A red aura flared up around her.  "Excuse me?" she hissed.

"Cows!  Horrible cows!"

She reached down and effortlessly dragged Pama up with one hand.  "Did you say COWS!?  Harmless barnyard animals? 
They eat grass?  Cows!?"

"Chickens, too!" said Chibi from his place on the floor.  This was the wrong thing to say.  Ran glared at him, dropped
Pama, walked over to Chibi and pounded him into the floor with a mallet as hard as she could.  

"Did he say CHICKENS!" Ran demanded.

"I didn't fight any chickens or cows!" protested Megane.  "I was fighting Mendo, his guards, and a sorceress.  This
ARMOR tried to KILL me!"

Ran blinked.  The red aura disappeared.  "Oh!  That's different!  I was expecting one or two minor problems.  I'm glad
you came back here before something bad happened.  If it had hurt you, I don't know what I'd do!  You'll tell me what
happened, won't you?"

Megane swallowed.  "Sure."

"Yay!"  Ran clapped her hands together in delight.

She turned and ran back the way she had come.  "Bring him along too, won't you?" she called over her shoulder,
indicating the unconscious Chibi.

Megane looked over at Pama.

"She scares me."

*

Sakura and Mendo crawled out of the swamp.  Both of them were confused, but only Mendo was openly confused.

Mendo got to his feet, looking around.  "Why did you transport us to a swamp?"

Sakura laughed nervously.

"The way that fight was going, I thought for sure that was it.  I didn't think we were going to make it!" Mendo
continued.

"Yes." began Sakura slowly.  "I must have gotten that...'transport' spell wrong.  I did have to cast it in a hurry, and it
dumped us...in a swamp."  She risked a bewildered glance around when Mendo wasn't watching.

"Do you think my people are ok?"  Mendo asked, displaying a hint of implanted concern.

"They got a good head start.  I'm sure most of them made it."

"It seems to me like that transport spell should have gotten some of the enemy as well.  Why aren't they here, too?"

Sakura shrugged and said nothing.  She mentally started going though the spell process again.  Transport spells weren't
even similar to the mass destruction spell she had attempted!

"It seemed like you were aiming it right at them!"

"I was!  You think I was aiming to miss them?" she demanded.

"Then where are they?" he asked, waving his arms around.

Sakura didn't have the faintest idea.  "Stop asking me stupid questions!  I got us out of there in one piece, didn't I?"

"You even healed me, too.  Transport spells do all that?"

"Of course they do!  At least, my spell did!  That's obvious!  Right?!  It must have happened that way!  What else could
it possibly be?  It wasn't as if I was trying to blast them, and accidentally caught us both in my own spell and obliterated
us both!  Who would make a mistake like that?  Not me!  And then I dumped us down here in a place I've never been to,
just to prove I could do it!"  She laughed again, a bit more maniacally.

Her laugh trailed off.  "I must be better than I thought!" she concluded, trying to convince herself.

Mendo frowned.  "The way it was tearing through those zombies and buildings, it seemed like a awfully destructive
transport spell, if you ask me."

"Drop it!" Sakura snapped.

They were silent as the walked away from the swamp towards the city. Both noticed the large NO CAMPING sign
someone had posted nearby.

*

Lum was waiting for them in the road once they were clear of the swamp.  Sakura's transport spell hadn't included their
weapons, and Lum handed them new ones as if she already knew they would be missing them.  "Guess you didn't make
it.  What are you going to do now?  Go back and try again?"

Mendo struck a pose.  He gripped the sword tightly and held it up to catch the light.  He thought about what she asked,
frowned, and put the sword away.  "Perhaps later."

"Later is good." confirmed Sakura.

"Only a few hours have gone by.  You could still catch him and surprise him. (1)

"I have something else to do, in light of the new situation." said Sakura.  She held her head up with noble purpose. 
"Something for my specific, specialized talents."

"What new situation?"

"The rumors about the demons are true.  I need to put a stop to it."

"And you want to stop these rumors because..." prompted Lum.

"Not the rumors!  The demons!"

"I thought this necromancer was supposed to have walking dead things, not demons!"

"The demons were first.  The undead were second." Mendo replied.  "I personally thought the undead were far worse. 
The way they snarled and howled and shrieked.  They seemed to delight in fighting." 

Sakura nodded.  Those cows were definitely scary and hard to kill.

"But these demons are only the first.  The fate of the entire world is at stake." continued Sakura, anxious to drive this
point home.  "One or two of them we can fight, but I fear their numbers will increase.  We cannot afford to waste time
to deal with this necromancer when we have this to contend with instead."

"What exactly are these demons supposed to do which is so threatening that you need to get sidetracked?  I think you're
just afraid since you're last encounter with this sorcerer got you killed!" she accused.

"Killed?" asked Sakura and Mendo simultaneously.  Both wore identical expressions of surprise.

Lum frowned for a second, then she smiled.  "Perhaps you'd better tell me what happened to you." she said brightly.  It
never hurt to have a bit of truth to build a base of lies on, she thought.  Besides, it was role playing, not lying.

They went through the story, leaving out parts that seemed too embarrassing to mention.  The descriptions of the
animals took half the time, in an effort to capture how dangerous a horde of barnyard animals could be when they were
shrieking for blood.  Lum's impression of the demons were that they were common bad tempered demons, like the
messengers and dish washers, not as alien battle suits worn by fellow players.  

When the story was over, Lum wanted her own undead horde even more.  Her eyes were alight with greed.  While she
was anxious to send them back, these two were even more convinced to find something else to do.

"I was the one who saved you." Lum lied with only a twinge of conscience.  "I happen to know a spell that acted the
moment you were in danger of dying.  It healed you of your injuries, and transported you to the swamp, minus whatever
equipment you were carrying except for the armor you were wearing."

"Why a swamp?" asked Sakura.

"It requires a large body of water.  The swamp works, and its out of the way."

"Why is there a 'No Camping' sign there?" asked Mendo

"To warn people not to camp there, ever.  It's a Condition."  Lum eyes narrowed.  "You're not a...Camper, are you?" 
Lum's voice was full of scorn and disgust.  It suggested a camper was a disgusting thing you found on the bottom of
your shoe.

"No!"

"Good.  You do realize that you're never going to gather any experience if you avoid the encounters.  You'll stay at
your current level forever.  Chasing rumors isn't going to help you get stronger."

"Stronger?  What are you talking about?"

"Aren't you at all motivated to go after this necromancer?  To avenge yourself?"

"Not interested."                                          

"You lost the fight and he won.  You were beaten like stepchildren!  Isn't it a manner of pride, now?  Or honor?  Or
something?  What if word of your crushing defeat gets out?"

"If he starts to be a real problem, we'll deal with him then."

"What about for all the treasure he's gathered?  Doesn't that inspire you?"

"Nope."

"For power?  Fame?  Desire for justice?  Desire for adventure?  Desire for ANYTHING?"

They continued to shake their heads in answer.

"What's WRONG with you people?" she yelled in frustration.  "Don't you have any LIFE at ALL?  It's a minor little
encounter with no basis on the plot with flashing lights that say 'Here I am!  Free experience points!', and you're just
going to IGNORE IT?"

"Well..."

"Why did you do it before?" Lum demanded.

"You asked me." said Mendo.

"But you're not going to go back."

"You know I'd like to.."

"Yes?"

"...but I'm not going to.  Not without a good reason."

Her eyes narrowed.  "I guess I'll have to find a reason, won't I?"

Lum turned and failed to fly away.  She stumbled half a step and nearly lost her balance.  A few seconds passed.  

"That ruined a good exit." she grumbled.  She turned to glare at Mendo and Sakura.  She held up her hand, tapping the
appropriate combination for her spell.  "Raywing." she muttered.

A transparent sphere surrounded Lum.  She glided into the air and flew off toward the city.

"She talks like this is a story or something."

Lum was more than a little angry as she flew back to her castle.  This minor setback could cost her the game.  She
needed leverage on them.  If she didn't have players working for her, Ran would wear down her defenses through
constant attack.  She'd crush her without even trying.  Darling had disappeared somewhere, her self-appointed
stormtroopers were working for Ran, she was ignoring Shinobu just because Shinobu was hard to work with, (2) and
there was no way whatsoever she was going to work with Rei.  If it came to that, she'd rather lose the game.

It all came down to what could possibly motivate Mendo and Sakura.  Sakura had mentioned rumors?  She could
influence those...

(1)   It's very easy to surprise people when you've just come back from the dead.  Its even more surprising after they
personally saw you die.

(2)   EVERYONE was ignoring Shinobu.  Even the author.

*

The next day, Ran was in high spirits.  After hours of patient teaching and intimidation, her loyal followers had mastered
some of the basic sorcery skills.  Ran used a combination of her stored magic and wealth to 'pay' for access to new
weapons, and her side now had access to them.  The main advantage was that they 
were not linked to the armor.  They had tested them in the practice fields, in the halls, and on each other, (1) and now
they were respawned and ready to go out into the city and earn some honest experience points!  They certainly
intimidated the cleaning staff.

There were only a few minor problems to resolve, and these were swiftly dealt with.

The first problem was the armor.  The translations from the 'demonic' language to the common trading language would
now be handled by a summoned demon that Ran forcefully bound into each set of armor.  This translated to an 'upgrade'
to a combat computer.  Ran didn't know the specifics of what was changed, since results were all that counted.

This particular demon could translate all spoken languages.  As it was with everything that was summoned and bound to
service, it remembered having free will.  It resented being commanded to do anything it didn't want to do.  For now,
however, it was behaving itself.

As they ate lunch in the dining hall, they discussed the problem of Chibi's mindless fear of a shapechanging curse.  He
had heard the rumors of the hideously ugly tiger-cow that was driven by overwhelming hunger when the moon was full,
and since he had survived a cow attack, did this mean this was going to be his fate?  Was he cursed to become a tiger-
cow?

"Perhaps you could see an exorcist if you're so concerned about this." said Megane as the voice of reason.  "I think
you're overreacting.  Whoever heard of a tiger-cow curse?"

"I heard it, too!" said Pama.  "But he got the story wrong.  It's supposed to be about some brainless nobleman and his
PET tiger-cow.  You know how sorcerers will sometimes keep a small animal as a familiar?  Well, when he tried to
establish a mind-link with the tiger-cow to give it commands and directions, it took control of HIM, and now he's the
cow's mindless slave!

The tiger-cow is supposed to be as large as a building.  It guards his castle, eats trespassers, and occasionally knocks
down walls and messes up the carpet."

Chibi glared at him.  "Well I'VE heard that he only changes into a tiger-cow when the moon is full!  When his curse is
upon him, he's forced to go out hunting in a mindless quest for food.  You can sometimes hear him howling.  If you're
ever out after dark, you need to be sure to take food with you, because if he ever FINDS you, the only way to distract
him is to throw the food one way and run the other way!"

"What does he do if you don't have any food?"

"You don't want to know." said Chibi, who didn't have any idea.  It must be horrible, though.

No one noticed Ran who had walked in a few moments before.  She stood there and glared at them and smouldered.

"He sounds kind of stupid to be fooled by something like that."

"That's what I heard!" he said defensively.

"That's what I heard, too." supplied Pama.  "There isn't a brain in his head.  All it does is eat and look for new things to
eat.  The tiger-cow's owner is just as stupid, but I've heard he PAYS for the food."

Ran began loading high-explosive anti-tank shells into her bazooka.  Again, no one noticed.

"No, he doesn't!  He's usually followed around by a dozen women that pay for everything!"

Ran silently walked away, well out of the estimated blast radius.  She turned, braced herself for the recoil, and took
careful aim.

"Why would anyone do that?"

"No idea.  He must use some evil sorcery or something to enslave them to his will.  He definitely doesn't fight them off. 
Rumor has it that he's actually engaged to some rich sorceress.  She's supposed to be really beautiful, and he only wants
her when he can't get food.  He ignores all the other girls.  When he does find her, he follows her around until something
distracts him again.  What a moron!"

"DIE!" Ran screamed.  "Die die die DIE!"  Ran kept firing until her weapon clicked on empty.

On their way back from the swamp, they resolved to avoid this topic in the future.  

Ran's dining hall was a mess.  The hired help had heard the explosions, and suddenly found other things to do.  Those
who weren't found and told to clean this mess up immediately decided enough was enough.  Without stopping to discuss
the matter with each other, each picked their own escape route and made a desperate attempt for freedom.

Some were captured when they were found clawing at the locked doors.  These were only too happy to go back to work
when the guards found them.  They smiled and laughed and pasted on stupid grins whenever Ran was in the room.

The ones who got away scattered.  Once they were out, they reinforced the rumors about Ran and the demons she
allowed to run free in her castle.  Ran was unaware of this.  If she had known, she wouldn't have cared, anyway.

Instead, she made plans that centered around her followers. Tomorrow, she would send them in on an exploratory
suicide mission into Lum's castle to invade, test defenses, and cause as much damage as they could.

Since this was a straightforward attack plan that could conceivably win the game immediately, she needed to have them
get into a fight or two to boost up their combat ability.  When the Game decided they had reached the next level, they
would receive new implanted skills.  They would become more accurate, they would pick up speed, receive increased
endurance, and hopefully they would stop whining so much.

(1)   Ran didn't need to test things herself.  First, she was already familiar with the weapons.  Second, she was far too
cute to get into actual combat situations.

*

Kakugari was still a chicken. (1)  Ataru found him wandering in the streets and something compelled him to
take him with him. (2) The chicken spent the next ten minutes trying everything he could think of to communicate to
Ataru.  Ataru ignored him.  Suddenly the bird hopped out of his arms, darted to the mouth of an alley, and pointed with
outstretched wing at something in the shadows.  The shadow suddenly moved.  There was a flash of a glint of steel.

Ataru ducked.  A knife went sailing over his head.  The shadow paused to kick the chicken, then soundlessly drew
another knife.  Ataru drew and threw four of his own knives back toward the assassin before his attacker's second knife
reached him.  Ataru easily caught that knife and threw it back.                  

His attacker staggered.  Ataru wasn't a killer in this or any other world, and he possessed enough skill to bring someone
down without getting close to ever killing him.  The assassin finally went down when Ataru ran forward and pummeled
him with his trusty mallet.

He swiftly checked him for valuables and recovered his knives.  He turned to the chicken.  "You saved my life."

The chicken looked embarrassed.

An hour later...

"I'm telling you, this chicken saved my life!  He's gotta be worth at least 10 gold crowns!" Ataru yelled to the pet-shop
owner.  The chicken in question sat in silence and glared at Ataru.

"If he's worth that much, why don't you keep him?

"What am I supposed to do with a chicken?  I travel a lot!  It's dangerous out there, and a chicken will slow me down!"

"If you're an adventurer, don't you NEED some sort of animal to steal keys or untie your hands or distract guards or
something?

"Who ever heard of someone with a chicken companion?"

"So you'll be the first!  Sell him to someone else, then.  Besides, I only have a few gold pence.." 

Ataru's eyes suddenly lit up with greed.

*POW!*

The shop keeper's eyes crossed.  He dropped in an unconscious heap.

Ataru blinked in surprise. "Guess I shouldn't have done that."  He fought a brief battle with his sense of greed.  He
turned and swiftly left the store.

Kakugari watched him go.  He peered over the edge of the counter to watch the shopkeeper for signs of movement. 
Ataru walked back inside the store and grabbed him by the throat.

"Rawk!"  The chicken's eyes bugged out.

"You're coming with me, bird."

(1)   Ok, so he was a chicken before, but he was now REALLY a chicken.

(2)   In some games, this is referred to as a 'player character glow'.  This force is what binds players together to work as
a group, when they would normally have nothing to do with each other.  Players usually find a good role-playing reason
to join other players, but if this fails, the player character glow kicks in and they join the party regardless.

*

Megane, Chibi and Pama quickly returned to the city by jumping most of the way there.  Once inside, they slowed to a
walk to avoid attracting attention.  They only succeeded in attracting less attention.  News of their arrival spread quickly,
and they were quickly intercepted by the same group of priests from before.  With them were twenty city guardsmen. 
Half of them had crossbows loaded and ready to fire.

"You think they're upset about something?" asked Chibi

No one bothered to respond.

Although the priests had no real power of their own that worked with less than an hours preparation, they could and
often did summon angels that DID have an abundance of power.  They didn't have to worry about magic to control
them, since they were all working for the same side.

Anything summoned onto the mortal realm could not be permanently killed.  'Killing' them merely sent them back to
their plane of origin. Since it required an effort of will for a summoned creature stay in the mortal realm, knocking them
out also worked.  

In order to actually kill one of them permanently, it required extreme measures.  You needed to go to their home
dimension and kill them there.  In that respect, they shared the same overconfident arrogance that most players had.  The
only difference was that they could not be summoned again for years if they were sent back by force.

"Maybe we should reason with them?" asked Chibi.

Megane stepped forward.  He raised his hands.  "Fellow citizens!"

"Pathetic lifeforms!" the armor translated.

"Why do you bar our path?"

"You seek to challenge ME?"

"Our journey is peaceful.  We are holy knights in the service of the goddess, Ran.  We have no grudge against you.  Let
us pass."

"Your journey is ended.  We are death come amongst you in the service of the goddess, Ran.  You irritate me.  Start
running.  Now."

The audience drew back in fear while the priests hurriedly began their summoning ritual.

"Please, don't be afraid!  We're not going to hurt you!"

"You're all going to DIE!"

Megane stopped talking.  The armor continued.  "Worship me and you will live on as slaves in my service!  Resist, and
your tortured screams will entertain me throughout eternity!"

"Megane, what the hell are you doing?" demanded Pama.

"I'm not doing anything!"

"You seek to challenge my authority?" shrieked Megane's armor.

"You've ruled the hells long enough!  It's time for new rulership!" cried Pama's armor, which was catching on.

"As soon as we devour the souls of these insolent mortals!" promised Chibi's armor.  Chibi himself was backing away
and shaking his head in denial and growing horror.

The air pressure increased.  Reality twisted and just as suddenly reasserted itself.  Standing in the air were three angels,
each carrying burning swords.

"Attack!  Kill them!" screamed the armor, eager for battle.

Megane made a quick gesture.  He was suddenly holding one of Ran's new weapons in a tightly clenched
fist. (1) The only reason it was unfamiliar to him was because of his overriding new personality's memories.  He thought
of it as a magical, holy weapon, used to crush enemies. (2)  He raised the weapon and fired without conscious thought in
the way Ran had shown him..

The first angel was hit dead center.  He exploded.  The air was filled with angel feathers.

This reminded Chibi of his fight with the undead chickens.  He began to giggle uncontrollably, dropping to his knees in
laughter.

The other angels didn't get over their shock in time.  Pama clicked off the safety and filled one of them full of lead.  The
instant he stopped firing, the angel recovered.  His wounds closed and vanished in the blink of an eye.  The angel flicked
his hand.  A bolt of white fire tore through Pama's left leg, burning it severely.  He ignored it.

His armor didn't.  "Oh!  You'll pay for that!"

Chibi laughed harder.

"Get up!  Get up!" shrieked Chibi's armor.  "What's the matter with you?!  You stupid human, get up!"

The third swept forward, swinging an open hand into Megane's chest, intending to rip out his heart.  It would have
easily gotten through something of lesser strength, but never got though this armor.  The impact threw him across the
street into a nearby  house, leaving the angel standing there staring at his broken hand.  He smiled and glided after his
prey.

Pama backed away, dropping his expended weapon in favor of the grenade launcher.  The angel easily dodged his first
shot, then turned in surprise when the building behind him exploded.  He never saw the second shot, and didn't recover
in time to dodge the third.  He shimmered and vanished.

"Who's better than Daddy, now?  Huh?  WHO'S BETTER THAN DADDY NOW!" Pama's armor taunted.

Megane was slow to recover.  When he woke, the angel was already on the ground.  Ataru Moroboshi was holding it
down, gleefully ripping out handfuls of feathers.

Angel feathers!  Ataru couldn't believe his luck, sneaking up on an angel like that.  Angel feathers were worth about 5
golden crowns each to an alchemist.  He laughed continuously as he ripped and stuffed feathers in his clothing, stopping
only to occasionally mallet the angel back to the dazed level.  Eventually the angel had enough and gave up.  He faded
and disappeared.  Ataru didn't stop laughing for at least a minute.

Megane got to his feet.  Ataru turned in alarm.  He seemed to notice him for the first time.

"No!  It's all MINE!  Mine!  Mine!" Ataru shrieked.  He grabbed the last feather from mid air, turned, and fled.

As Megane turned to survey the damage, he noticed a man staring back at him in shock.  The man looked at the remains
of his house.  Megane had certainly made a mess when he crashed through the wall.  He looked back at Megane, still in
shock. 

Feeling genuinely sorry for him, he fished out a few silver coins.  He handed them to him.  "Sorry."

"Tell your children of this day, when you faced me and lived." the armor translated with grave seriousness.

Megane turned and walked away.  A few minutes went past.  The man slowly looked down to stare at the coins in his
hand.

A second later, Ataru jumped in through the hole in the wall.  He wrested the coins from him.

"Gimme it!  Gimme it!"  He punched him for good measure and was halfway out the door when his conscious finally
regained control.  He turned back and handed him a gold coin, worth four hundred times as much as a single silver.

"Sorry.  I lost control for a bit." 

(1)   Accessing hammerspace is usually accomplished by an act of will.  This was a game of sorcery and magic rather
than technology, which meant a user needed to act the part of the sorcerer.  This included hand gestures according to the
correct magical pattern, and/or chanting a few magic words. Only then could you reach into hammerspace and pull out
an item based in a high tech world.  The rocket launcher Megane summoned is an example.  More common items, such
as mallets, were easy by comparison.

(2)   Ran's definition of a holy item was specific to her own religion.  It only worked on those unfortunates who were
not in Ran's favor.  At this time, that was everyone.


*

Lum spent most of the day gathering information.  The rumors Sakura referred to were based on local legend, which had
nothing to do with the legends Lum had designed.  The worlds of Alternate Reality each had their own history.  Part of
the game was the thrill of discovery.  These local legends, however, were interfering with what she wanted.

Every legend had a source.  Lum traced them to a man named Delmar who was called the prophet.  At any time in this
world's history, there were only one or two of these prophets worldwide.  He was currently the only one.  Apparently,
prophets were the people's spiritual leaders.  He dreamed up things and looked at the stars, then went out and told
people what they would be doing.

Whatever he said eventually came to pass, so he must have the people's respect.  As leaders go, his methods were very
cryptic.  His instructions were left wide open for multiple interpretations by the people, but they always came true in one
form or another.  Occasionally by accident.

He lived in the mountains to the east.  Lum found it before nightfall.

The house wasn't much to look at.  She had been expecting better.  Spiritual leaders usually had a temple or something,
but this was just a run down shack.  Lum was not impressed.

She knocked politely.  There was a noise like someone dropping something.  She stopped to listen.

Apparently she had nearly missed him.  Fortunately, she heard him sprinting out the back door.  

"I only want to talk to you!" she called.  'He must be a bit hard of hearing.' she thought.  He kept running at full speed. 
Lum darted after him.  Eventually Lum caught up with him and tackled him to the ground.

"Uhhh!"  The prophet coughed and clawed at the dirt, trying to push himself up while Lum held him down.

"I've come all this way to talk to you!"

"Go away, demon!"

"I'm sorry I interrupted your training exercises, but that wasn't very nice.  What kind of prophet are you?"

"I'm THE prophet!  Let me up!"

Lum released him and pulled him to his feet.

The prophet was an old man of around 200.  He had bright clear eyes and a scraggly grey beard that apparently doubled
as a shirt.  For someone older than the hills, he had remarkable energy.  The instant he caught his breath, he was off
again.

Lum sighed and ran after him.  She tackled him again.  This was getting tiresome.

"Let me go!  Let me go!" he howled.

"You can exercise later!"

He relaxed.  "Fine.  You win.  I give up."

"You're not going to run again?" she asked dubiously.

"Nope.  Learned my lesson.  I've had enough.  You got me."

Lum let him up.  The prophet took off.  This time Lum fried him with a ready lightning bolt spell.

"AHHHH!"  He dropped to the ground shrieking.

"You going to try again?"

"You..You...You.." he gasped.  He tried to push himself up, but was shaking too badly.

"I warned you.  Several times.  Now are you going to talk of your own free will, or talk while you're tied to a chair?"

"What kind of a choice is that!"

"The only one you're going to get!"

Lum escorted him back to his house.  He calmed down once she barred the doors.  She sat down opposite him.

"I must say, you're not what I was expecting for a demon."

"Why do you keep calling me a demon?"

"It's what you are.  I happen to know a few things.  I knew you were coming here, as a matter of fact.  I just didn't
know when.  I even made preparations."  He gestured to a loaded crossbow.

Lum glanced around and said nothing.  If he had cleaned up the place to prepare for her arrival, it sure didn't show it.  It
was filthy.  She never noticed the weapon.

She fell into character.  "I'm a sorceress, not a demon.  My name is Lum."

"My name is Delmar.  I can't say I'm pleased to meet you, since you're not even a part of this world.  You can't fool me
the way you fooled everyone else."  He sat back and looked smug.

Lum hid her astonishment.  "How would you know that?  Did Ran bring you in?"

"Ahh.  The other great manipulator finally has a name."

"Tell me!"

"You want to know what's going on?  Fine.  You only recently arrived here, dragging with you more than half a dozen
friends and enemies from wherever you came from.  You changed the memories of the people AND your friends.  You
made up your own past histories, so all of you could hide here without attracting attention.  You even changed MY
memories and gave me an apprentice!  But now I remember how it was before!"

"How could you change your own history?"

"You GAVE me a history that wasn't mine!  Fortunately, I wrote it all down.  On that wall, as a matter of fact."  He
paused to point.  The entire wall was covered in markings in a language unfamiliar to Lum.

"It says in my own handwriting that if I ever walked in and forgot why some fool wrote on the wall, I was to check my
notes.  The notes foretold my own memory loss and how a bunch of irresponsible invaders would show up one day and
brainwash half the civilized world.  They'd play their silly games and cause no end of trouble until another group of
invaders arrive, and then another group.  One will try to enslave the world.  The others will try to end it.

Fortunately, I'm a prophet.  Once I threw off your story that you wrote for me, everything came back to me.  I gave my
new apprentice instructions, since I couldn't have her near me since she's one of you.  Sakura also has access to your
magic, and I've made her useful, unlike the rest of you. I suspect you already know her name? Anyway, she's currently
trying to trace down who's responsible for all this."

He pointed at her.  "Why don't you go back where you came from, and play somewhere else?"

Lum shot to her feet.  "I'm not going to be told what to do by some part of the game that managed to figure things out! 
You're not in control here!  I am!"

"You think this is a game?"

"OF COURSE!  I'm the one who set it up!  I set the conditions!  You're just some spiritual leader that figured things
out!"

"Maybe you should tell me how you managed to set up my world." he stated.

Lum sat back down.  "I'm not going to start explaining the game to another part of the game.  It happens sometimes,
when one or two of us are called invaders.  You don't even exist.  You only imagine that you exist.  Instead, I have
some new instructions for you.  You're in a position to alter events that I can't touch anymore.

First, I want you to call off this general warning about this 'demonic invasion.'  All of us have histories that fit in the
game.  There is no invasion."

"Yes, there is!" yelled Delmar.  "If you take no action against them when they appear, they'll destroy half the world and
enslave the rest!"

Lum sighed. "Fine.  We'll do your stupid invasion, if it's all part of the game anyway."

"Good!"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"There's someone out there with the mark of death on him.  Several marks, in fact, which is normally impossible, but
we'll ignore that since he's one of the invaders.  He's the one who's going to end the world."

"It will only end the game, not the world!  I suppose from your perspective, that might seem like the world suddenly
ends, but it isn't that dramatic!"

"You're saying that the notorious End of The World Prophecy just means you go back to where you came from?"

"Unless we decide to come back.  We could get used to it."

"Well, don't.  We don't want you here!  When your 'game' is ended, don't come back!  Any of you!  Everything was
fine until you got here."

Lum looked astonished.  "You know, I've never been told by a character from the game to go away and never come
back.  Ever.  Usually they run around and wave their fists and yell a lot, but being actually told face to face from one of
the natives that the players specifically were not wanted...  I've definitely got to tell Ran about this!  She has to know
this!"

"I know it  may seem rude, but you just don't belong here.  I'm sorry that I have to be the one to say it, but it would be
better if you just left.  You do understand the importance of this?" he pleaded.

Lum got to her feet.  "I'm definitely impressed!  Wait til I tell Ran!"

"Good.  I'm glad I got through to you.  Now lets talk about getting all of you back to where you came from."

"This is the most realistic game I've ever played!" she exclaimed.

The room suddenly exploded.  The prophet could be heard shrieking above the noise.

The smoke quickly cleared.  Lum remained standing in the exact place she was before, still smiling, gaze locked in place
as if the explosion had never happened.  Other than bits of roof that periodically rained down and a layer of soot over
Lum and Delmar, the room appeared undamaged.

The prophet remained where the explosion had thrown him.  He rolled to a sitting position.  "I'm vaguely certain the
rooms never used to explode when someone said something completely different than what others were expecting to
hear.  Quite certain, in fact."

He peered at Lum.  "I notice it didn't seem to bother you."

"What didn't?"

"Ah."

"So all I need to do is finish what I've started?  This invasion is just a way that makes certain Darling finds me.  He joins
up with me, and together we can save the world.  I can work with this!"

"I think your missing the point." said Delmar, shaking his head.

"But it isn't working!  He's not going where he's supposed to go!  All he's been doing is gathering money!"

"That's because you changed his personality!  He still has overwhelming drive, but you've taken something away from
him and he's completely focused on money, now.  He quite literally doesn't have time for anything else.  I suggest you
fix the damage before it gets worse."

"I can't leave him with free will of his own!"  She paused, frowning.  "That didn't sound right."

"It sounds pretty accurate to me!" 

"What do YOU know about it!" she raged.

"I'm the PROPHET!  I'm the one with all the information!  Haven't you been listening?"

"If I change him back, he'll have no reason to listen to what fate has in store for him.  I'll just be someone else!"

"He won't have a choice!  That's fate!  It means you don't have a choice!"

"That kind of a thing isn't really binding..." she began

"Of course it is!  I'm the prophet, dammit!  If I say something is going to happen, then sooner or later, it happens!"

"You're saying that Darling and I are going to be together?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?  I WILL tell you that he could end everything.  I'm willing to bet half the
spiritualists out there with any hint of ability are completely focused on killing him as many times as it takes to get rid of
him.  I, on the other hand, can see alternatives, such as the second and third invasion which you and your friends are
going to cause.  I happen to know we'll need him around and kicking in order to prevent the third invasion.  That's also
where you come in."

"But what about when the game is over?  Will we be together forever?"

"I'm not telling.  Now, if you don't do anything to the invaders in the second invasion, they'll enslave us and kill us all. 
If you fight them like you're supposed to do, we can proceed to the NEXT invasion..."

"But what about Darling?"

"I'm getting to that!  You need the guy with all the death marks alive, more or less, because the two of you need to
work together to find the one who will devour the heart of the invader's power.  Remember.  This is the third group, not
the second.  If your Darling doesn't end the world, the third group certainly will.  They'll extract a terrible price before it
ends, too, and we definitely want to avoid that.  Either way, you people are out of here when it ends."

"What are you talking about?  What heart?"

"THAT is prophecy, my dear!  NOBODY knows what I'm talking about, and I'm sure as hell not going to explain it to
you!  You have to stumble along blindly until you find something that clicks, and then it all falls into place if you
remember to act.  Fight the second group, keep the one guy alive, and together find the one to devour the heart of the
invader's power.  Everything else is bad.  What more do you need?"

"You're not going to help?"

"I HAVE helped!  I've given you all the information you need!  Now get out of my house!  I have other things that
concern me!  Go on!"

"This isn't over."  Lum got to her feet.

"I know.  I'll be waiting for you."

Lum walked out the door and began her long flight home.  She wasn't giving up yet.

End of part one