Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo: 2033
A BGC Fanfiction: Urban Discord
by Daniel Power
Prologue:
(Somewhere on the coast of British Columbia)
"What do you mean, escaped?" Jason Lighter, director and operator of BioCite Industries, slammed his fist down on his desk, spilling coffee and assorted books.
"Well...uh...you see sir," A lone lab technician struggled to explain the company's loss and ultimately, "Sir, it wasn't my fault! I swear!"
BioCite had been on the technological battlefield against Genom Corporations for the last year since they had finally recieved a long overdue grant from the comically acclaimed government at the time. One week into the production of a new technology that would surely guarantee them a postion on the global playing field with the winning score, and they had lost the first test subject!
Jason listened to the over glorified excuse put to him by the technician, trying to keep his temper in check.
Light reflected off of the employee's sweat soaked skin as he finished, "...and that was how it happened, sir."
"I really haven't the time for this," Jason leaned forward over his desk,"just find the damnable thing and terminate it. That thing is dangerous and who knows what it could do."
"Y-yes sir...right away, sir."
"Oh, and before you go, I just thought that you'd work more efficiently knowing that your job is on the line."
The technician left in a flurry of bows.
Chapter One: Sympathy for the Devil
(MegaTokyo: year 2033)
Meet Ashley Asakiri, the man with that special, optimistic sparkle in his eyes and quality to his voice. You would think that any decent guy with a good natured personality could find a friend, even a date, in a place in MegaTokyo. Not a chance in hell.
You see, people are scared shitless of him. The guy is, well, different. Standing at six feet and two inches, he's a regular giant compared to everyone else. His medium build only slightly lessens the effect that his height has on others. Having skin that's always been perfectly white doesn't help in the least, either. Just a simple skin condition he says. Yeah, whatever.
Haunting blue eyes and shoulder length black hair the color of a winter midnight both served in making most people stay clear of him, but we know there's nothing to be afraid of...within reason.
* * * * * *
Pulling his coat close about him, Ashley strode solemnly towards the ever prominent ADP headquarters located in central MegaTokyo.
"Why's it have to be so bloody cold?" he said, fingering his bounty hunter license.
:::They'd better pay in full, up front, this time.:::
It had been one week since he'd gotten to Tokyo, and he'd wasted no time in applying for a bounty hunter license and had advertised his services as a mercenary right away.
:::It's decent work, but the pay sucks.:::
Strolling into the headquarters, Ashley immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. No problem, that was normal.
"I'd like to see Leon McNicholas, please." Ashley said in a customarily pleasant tone of voice.
The secretary tore her eyes away from his face, "One moment, sir."
Leon came to stand next to the secretary only moments later. "Ashley, what can I do for you?"
Ashley liked Leon. He was a guy who had a good head on his shoulders and he emenated good will and intent from every pore. They'd already met several time during the week to conduct "business".
"Mr. Richard Kato made the wanted list yesterday and now he's sitting uncomfortably in a warehouse in the Timex City district." Ashley pulled a scrap of paper from his jacket and laid it on the front desk.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."
"Yeah, well, time is money and I have neither at the moment."
Pocketing the paper, Leon began to stroll away. "You'll be paid in full when we get the guy. Law enforcement officers don't like dealing with your kind, but it works all the same."
"Like hell. That money pays the bills y'know! I need it quite badly, and I need it now."
Leon didn't even look back, "Sorry. Later."
"Maybe the guy won't be there when you get there."
He stopped at that, turned and gave Ashley a disdainful look. "Fine, have it your way."
Money exchanged hands and the bounty hunter was on his way out the door, followed by stares and a thunder of murmurs.
As he left, Ashley spoke over his shoulder to no one in particular, "It's not mannerly to talk about someone behind their back", and he was gone.
* * * * * *
Leon sat, legs on his desk, talking to his faithful partner Daley. The topic of discussion? Take a guess.
"I've seen bounty hunters before, all the time actually, but that Ashley character is altogether different."
"I know. He's been a legitimate hunter for only a week now and already he's bagged two assholes!" came Daley's response.
"He seems to be a nice person- weird, but a nice guy."
"Person? He's a boomer. The white skin is a dead giveaway." Daley said matter-of-factly.
"Nope. A scan of him shows he's human and carrying an unknown weapon of unknown origin."
Several officers, fully loaded for action, dashed passed the two.
Daley slipped his gun into its holster. "He gives me the creeps."
Leon rolled his eyes while reaching for his jacket. "Boomers! Who needs'em?" he said in disgust.
* * * * * *
Ashley sneezed as he made his way across town towards Timex City and Raven's garage. The night time cold peppered him with shivers.
Suddenly, on a street ahead of him, a building erupted into flames. Smoke plumed into the night sky. It was on his way to the garage, so it couldn't hurt to check it out.
Rounding the corner, Ashley was met by a metallic creature of huge proportions, and little rationale it seemed. The thing was walking about, destroying everything in sight as people fled in every direction. It was a war zone.
The thing picked up some poor fellows car and totalled it.
:::Hope you're insured, mister.:::
He quietly walked towards the monstrosity.
* * * * * *
"Target sighted," Priss ran lithely across the road, readying her knuckle bomber to commence the carnage.
"What the hell?!" Priss magnified her viewscan. Some idiot was walking towards the rogue boomer!
Nene, Linna, and Sylia landed their hard suits on buildings adjacent to the chaos.
The Knight Sabers readied their attack, then they stopped suddenly.
"There's some psycho in the way!" Priss fumed as she reached the attack area.
Then the strangest thing happened.
When the guy got within attacking range of the boomer, instead of tearing him apart, it just stood there, eyeing him. Once he reached the side of the boomer, Mr. anonymous calmly laid his hand on its leg, for it was twice the height of him.
The boomer gave a high pitched shriek which made Priss wince. The light died from its eyes and it hit the pavement with a sickening "Crack!".
Priss stood there, stone stiff, confusion and disbelief threatening to overwhelm her. She then looked up and saw that her friends were in the same state as she.
Sylia scanned the stranger with her optical sensors. "Human! Impossible!"
The guy shoved his hands into his pockets, began whistling a tune, and started away from the scene, apparently having not the slightest clue that he was being watched.
Sylia landed right in front of the guy, effectively blocking his way. "Hold it right there! Where do you think you're going?"
The man stopped, studied her a moment, then spoke. "I don't believe I've ever met a lady in battle armor before. Tell me, do all the ladies of the night dress that way here. You're never going to attract potential customers with something that has absolutely no appeal whatsoever."
* * * * * *
By this time the other Knight Sabers had come to stand behind the blue suit, the obvious leader of the group.
Ashley sighed in contempt.
The blue hard suit in front of him repeated the question. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Why does it matter?" He gave her a slight smile. "Very well. I'm on my way over to Raven's garage to pick up my bike. Then I'm headed home to my sleazy apartment in the slums of Tokyo to kick back, have an uneventful dinner of macaronni and cheese (TM) while I watch television, satisfied?"
When neither of them moved. He reached into his jacket pocket.
In an instant, a hard suit the color of purple flew at him with blinding speed, catching him in the stomach with a punch that flushed the breath out of him.
Moving at the same speed, Ashley backhanded the suit in the helmet, shattering the visor. The suited woman hit the ground several feet away.
No one moved.
Ashley was speaking to them again, "I see we have at least three excellent judges of character", and then he tossed something at the feet of the blue one.
This caused each suit to step back a few paces.
"It's an EMP shock pad," Ashley indicated, "it emits a very high frequency electro-magnetic pulse which shuts down any electronic devices within a two meter radius. That's what I used on your metallic friend back there."
Tentatively, the blue one picked it up and studied it for a moment.
"Power gauge is low. We gotta' go!"
The blue one turned and nodded to a pink one, while a green suit ran to pick up the nefarious purple one.
All together they turned to address the white stranger, who wasn't there anymore. They turned and launched themselves into the night sky in unison, blackness enveloping them.
* * * * * *
Sylia studied the ground below as she flew, "That was too weird."
"You're telling me!" Linna flew carrying Priss, who was out cold at the moment.
The Lady633 building then came into view.
:::This we'll have to look into.:::
* * * * * *
"Nene, once your out of your suit see what you can dig up on our white friend." Sylia puzzled over their encouter, while Nene set about completing her task.
:::How was he able to knock Priss, as thickheaded as she can be, flat cold with just one blow? No human could smash through a hard suit's armor. Most boomers couldn't do that!:::
Several quiet, somber hours later Priss woke up with a headache that she said bordered on the fatal.
:::EMP? Sure, everyone knew what it was. Electromagnetic Pulse. Its discovery was ancient. They knew how it could be used and had developed several technologies using it, but never as something to be thrown around like a toy. What would someone like him be doing with that level of technology? He doesn't look to be anything more than a common street ruffian. An EMP shock pad he had called it.:::
"Sylia! I found all I could on him, but it was hard, and boy was it strange."
"Thanks, Nene."
"Well, I have to be going now...work tomorrow." The idea of work certainly didn't appeal to her.
Sylia called out a quick "bye!" over her shoulder and brought up Nene's findings on her console.
"Who are you?" Sylia said to herself as she sifted through several screens of text. Nothing.
:::Nothing but a bounty hunter license request and several mercenary service advertisements.:::
"Who are you?" She repeated.
Turning on the television, Sylia was shocked by the picture that greeted her.
"It's him!" She turned it up so she could hear without mistake.
"Have you seen this man?" came the announcement, "...this man is incredibly dangerous and should be considered a top priority threat. A reward of eight million yen is being offered for the capture of Ashley Asakiri."
"Eight million yen! What on earth could he have done to get a bounty that big?!" Sylia considered what she had learned.
:::He's definitely dangerous. Having seen what he had done to Priss made that much clear. Ashley Asakiri, so that was his name...unusual one at that.:::
(Some time later...)
Sylia sat staring in thought out the glass doors of the famous Silky Doll, her owned and personally operated women's lingerie store, when movement on the outside sidewalk caught her eye. The movement hadn't alerted her, but the glimpse of an all too familiar man, at the moment, had.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was, indeed, Ashley, making his way along the sidewalk outside the Silky Doll.
:::I guess he doesn't watch the news.:::
He was slouched over and staring pointedly at something he held in his hand. Just when she thought he was gone, he turned and entered the store. She put on a business-like smile with her skills of sales professionalism written all over it.
He walked inside, looked around, and almost turned to leave again when he realized that he was in a women's underwear store.
"What can I do for you, sir?" Sylia saw his face turn crimson.
:::So the idiot has a conscience. Score one point.:::
Still he said nothing.
After several drawn out moments, he spoke. "No, nothing like that. I'm looking for something that I loaned to a friend, that's all. I thought it might be in here, silly really."
Sylia's pulse quickened. She knew what he was talking about.
Suddenly, after hearing her voice as if for the first time, he gained his composure and looked as much like a shadow as ever. All trace of the insecure, embarassed little boy was gone.
"Tell me, miss, what do you think about this terrible Ashley Asakiri character? The one that has the pricey bounty on his head. The one who's so conniving and dangerous." He slowly slipped the device he'd been handling into his pocket. "He must be as bad as they say since he captures so many criminals for his own profit and destroys rogue boomers simply to lighten the load on society." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Why do you suppose he destroys boomers?" Sylia couldn't help but ask the question once she decided to play along with his little game.
He then gave her a curious glare and then his features softened. His face broke into a broad grin. This took Sylia by surprise.
:::What's he smiling about?:::
"I knew you'd look even more stunning without that dreadful battle armor on!"
Sylia's legs felt like lead. Her eyes opened wide. She couldn't move as if she were frozen to the spot, but she quickly regained her composure. "W-what in the world are you talking about?"
"Don't play that game with me, my dear." He came to stand next to her. Only then did she get a good look at him and realized that the guy was huge. He towered over her, yet his body remained supple and agile looking. This probably meant that he wasn't Japanese, Chinese, or Asian of any kind. He certainly didn't portray or look the part anyway. And his skin, it was the most pale in complexion that she'd ever seen.
"I do believe, miss, that you've slipped up." He patted the desk in front of him before continuing. "You're voice; it matches the one that I heard last night from a Knight Saber in blue. Don't believe me?" He flipped an audio recorder out of his pocket, Sylia's voice being reproduced perfectly through its single speaker. "Continuing on...no one but the iron ladies I met would have known about any incident that I've had with a boomer, that boomer being the only one I've ever had the chance to meet as of yet. Secondly, the EMP Shock Pad I gave the blue iron lady had a tracking device in it, and, according to my homing device," he patted his pocket, "it's right here." He slide open the top drawer of the front counter and, sure enough, there it was, right where Sylia had left it. "You already know what curiousity did to the cat, yet you took the bait anyway. You must have been asleep to let this happen."
He stood, staring at the counter top, while Sylia swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Did you find what you were looking for? I shouldn't think so." He placed his index finger on the license registry in front of her.
:::He's good. How could have I let this happen?::: Sylia thought for a moment, searching for an excuse for her slip up, but could only come up with this man's ability as one.
Sylia heard herself confessing to his accusations, though she couldn't understand why.
"Well mister Asakiri, now that you know my little secret, what are you going to do?" Sylia, who was normally in control of the situation, was now completely lost.
"Nothing." He had an innocent look on his face, "After my little display last night I knew you weren't going to leave me alone. I just want to be left alone, that's all. And besides, I was curious. I mean, that suit had enough hooks on it to catch any man's attention..." He coughed suddenly. "...minus the `ladies of the night joke', of course." He gave her an open, boyish grin.
Without warning, he spun around, coat flying in the air, and produced two large pistols from his coat in the blink of an eye. The multiple retorts of gunfire echoed around the large shop. A wall at the far side of the store buckled as if something massive and heavy had hit it, but nothing had! Blood, bright red and flowing, covered the wall.
Sylia caught her breath; a man lay on the floor hunched against the wall. Only, he hadn't been there before. In fact, the only people in the store had been herself and Ashley...or so she had thought.
He wore a green suit to which all sorts of gadgets were attached. A helmet sat on his head, blook leaking out through a grisly yellow visor. A large automatic rifle lay on the ground next to him.
"Dammit! The bastards found me! So, they do have brains underneath all that whatchamakallit technobabble, who knew?" Remembering himself, Ashley turned to Sylia and placed something on the desk, "For allowing me to experience your beautiful visage."
He then turned to leave.
"It's easy to see that you're in danger. You could stay here if you like." Why she had offered to help, she didn't know. It simply came out of its own accord.
:::Sylia.::: She told herself. :::You don't even know the guy.:::
He turned and gave her playful grin. "A wise man once said `If man had just one wish, the results of that one wish would bring about more trouble than we already have!' I wish I could stay, but I don't need any more trouble." He grabbed the corpse by the collar and started out of the store, dead man in tow. "Besides, where would the fun in hiding be?"
* * * * * *
Ashley sped down a highway lit by streetlights and the occasional passing vehicle while on his most favored mode of transportation, his black sports racer. His hair and trench coat were askew and flying as they blew in midnight winds.
:::The city that never sleeps...and here it is, all tuckered out and snoring soundly.:::
Ashley eyed MegaTokyo through goggles via red tinted lenses.
He opened up the throttle on the bike and careened down the silent strip of never ending black. He loved the speed and feel of the wheels caressing the road, even if the occasional bug in the face was a slight turn-off.
Suddenly, a red sports racer sped up the highway along side of him and evened out to match his pace. The rider wore red as well and glared at him from behind a black helmet visor. She wasn't bad looking either, that much was obvious.
:::It's that bastard from before!:::
Priss' anger sizzled. A human and he had gotten the best of her in her hard suit! Dammit, and he was a man of all things!
Ashley eyed her curiously and then smiled. "Good evening, pretty lady," he shouted.
"Put your motor where your mouth is, jerk!" She shot back at him. "Show me what that excuse for a machine between your legs can do."
"Please, enough with the intimacies, we've only just met." Ashley roared with laughter and whizzed on ahead of her.
Priss changed gear and sailed after him. The race was on.
Both riders dodged vehicles, narrowly missing traffic and giving every driver met a reason to be cautious on the highway this night.
"Wuhoo!" Ashley shouted as the world flew by him in multi-colored blur.
Priss smiled, but then caught herself. She was angry with him...wasn't she? Although, he seemed to be enjoying himself, so why couldn't she?
Sirens then accompanied the sounds of passing cars. More distinguishable was the monotone whir of propellors as two helicoptors slipped passed the bikers.
"What the...?" Priss didn't understand this. Since when did helicoptors become part of the highway patrol? There were no boomers about, because she would have known.
:::Ah, the cavalry has arrived. Took them long enough.::: Thought Ashley.
Despite her confusion, Priss continued along side Ashley at a constant speed.
"Ashley Asakiri. Dismount your vehicle. You are under arrest and any force used will be retaliated against!" A loudspeaker on one of the helicoptors blared.
Ashley looked up at on of the coptors defiantly, "Sure," he hollered, "but you gotta' catch me first!"
Having said that, he sped up and began to dodge cars again in earnest, the coptors in close pursuit.
:::They want my racing opponent? Ashley? Why? She had been speeding as well.:::
After about five minutes of this `cat and mouse' routine, Priss saw what she knew had been coming.
Ashley seemed to voice her next thoughts aloud, "Curses, a road block." He then swore against all people that used common sense in doing their job.
:::What are you going to do now, Ashley?:::
Priss slowed her bike to a stop at the side of the road, while Ashley soared towards a wall of weaponry, metal, and human bodies.
*End Chapter One*
A BGC Fanfiction: Urban Discord
by Daniel Power
Prologue:
(Somewhere on the coast of British Columbia)
"What do you mean, escaped?" Jason Lighter, director and operator of BioCite Industries, slammed his fist down on his desk, spilling coffee and assorted books.
"Well...uh...you see sir," A lone lab technician struggled to explain the company's loss and ultimately, "Sir, it wasn't my fault! I swear!"
BioCite had been on the technological battlefield against Genom Corporations for the last year since they had finally recieved a long overdue grant from the comically acclaimed government at the time. One week into the production of a new technology that would surely guarantee them a postion on the global playing field with the winning score, and they had lost the first test subject!
Jason listened to the over glorified excuse put to him by the technician, trying to keep his temper in check.
Light reflected off of the employee's sweat soaked skin as he finished, "...and that was how it happened, sir."
"I really haven't the time for this," Jason leaned forward over his desk,"just find the damnable thing and terminate it. That thing is dangerous and who knows what it could do."
"Y-yes sir...right away, sir."
"Oh, and before you go, I just thought that you'd work more efficiently knowing that your job is on the line."
The technician left in a flurry of bows.
Chapter One: Sympathy for the Devil
(MegaTokyo: year 2033)
Meet Ashley Asakiri, the man with that special, optimistic sparkle in his eyes and quality to his voice. You would think that any decent guy with a good natured personality could find a friend, even a date, in a place in MegaTokyo. Not a chance in hell.
You see, people are scared shitless of him. The guy is, well, different. Standing at six feet and two inches, he's a regular giant compared to everyone else. His medium build only slightly lessens the effect that his height has on others. Having skin that's always been perfectly white doesn't help in the least, either. Just a simple skin condition he says. Yeah, whatever.
Haunting blue eyes and shoulder length black hair the color of a winter midnight both served in making most people stay clear of him, but we know there's nothing to be afraid of...within reason.
* * * * * *
Pulling his coat close about him, Ashley strode solemnly towards the ever prominent ADP headquarters located in central MegaTokyo.
"Why's it have to be so bloody cold?" he said, fingering his bounty hunter license.
:::They'd better pay in full, up front, this time.:::
It had been one week since he'd gotten to Tokyo, and he'd wasted no time in applying for a bounty hunter license and had advertised his services as a mercenary right away.
:::It's decent work, but the pay sucks.:::
Strolling into the headquarters, Ashley immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. No problem, that was normal.
"I'd like to see Leon McNicholas, please." Ashley said in a customarily pleasant tone of voice.
The secretary tore her eyes away from his face, "One moment, sir."
Leon came to stand next to the secretary only moments later. "Ashley, what can I do for you?"
Ashley liked Leon. He was a guy who had a good head on his shoulders and he emenated good will and intent from every pore. They'd already met several time during the week to conduct "business".
"Mr. Richard Kato made the wanted list yesterday and now he's sitting uncomfortably in a warehouse in the Timex City district." Ashley pulled a scrap of paper from his jacket and laid it on the front desk.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."
"Yeah, well, time is money and I have neither at the moment."
Pocketing the paper, Leon began to stroll away. "You'll be paid in full when we get the guy. Law enforcement officers don't like dealing with your kind, but it works all the same."
"Like hell. That money pays the bills y'know! I need it quite badly, and I need it now."
Leon didn't even look back, "Sorry. Later."
"Maybe the guy won't be there when you get there."
He stopped at that, turned and gave Ashley a disdainful look. "Fine, have it your way."
Money exchanged hands and the bounty hunter was on his way out the door, followed by stares and a thunder of murmurs.
As he left, Ashley spoke over his shoulder to no one in particular, "It's not mannerly to talk about someone behind their back", and he was gone.
* * * * * *
Leon sat, legs on his desk, talking to his faithful partner Daley. The topic of discussion? Take a guess.
"I've seen bounty hunters before, all the time actually, but that Ashley character is altogether different."
"I know. He's been a legitimate hunter for only a week now and already he's bagged two assholes!" came Daley's response.
"He seems to be a nice person- weird, but a nice guy."
"Person? He's a boomer. The white skin is a dead giveaway." Daley said matter-of-factly.
"Nope. A scan of him shows he's human and carrying an unknown weapon of unknown origin."
Several officers, fully loaded for action, dashed passed the two.
Daley slipped his gun into its holster. "He gives me the creeps."
Leon rolled his eyes while reaching for his jacket. "Boomers! Who needs'em?" he said in disgust.
* * * * * *
Ashley sneezed as he made his way across town towards Timex City and Raven's garage. The night time cold peppered him with shivers.
Suddenly, on a street ahead of him, a building erupted into flames. Smoke plumed into the night sky. It was on his way to the garage, so it couldn't hurt to check it out.
Rounding the corner, Ashley was met by a metallic creature of huge proportions, and little rationale it seemed. The thing was walking about, destroying everything in sight as people fled in every direction. It was a war zone.
The thing picked up some poor fellows car and totalled it.
:::Hope you're insured, mister.:::
He quietly walked towards the monstrosity.
* * * * * *
"Target sighted," Priss ran lithely across the road, readying her knuckle bomber to commence the carnage.
"What the hell?!" Priss magnified her viewscan. Some idiot was walking towards the rogue boomer!
Nene, Linna, and Sylia landed their hard suits on buildings adjacent to the chaos.
The Knight Sabers readied their attack, then they stopped suddenly.
"There's some psycho in the way!" Priss fumed as she reached the attack area.
Then the strangest thing happened.
When the guy got within attacking range of the boomer, instead of tearing him apart, it just stood there, eyeing him. Once he reached the side of the boomer, Mr. anonymous calmly laid his hand on its leg, for it was twice the height of him.
The boomer gave a high pitched shriek which made Priss wince. The light died from its eyes and it hit the pavement with a sickening "Crack!".
Priss stood there, stone stiff, confusion and disbelief threatening to overwhelm her. She then looked up and saw that her friends were in the same state as she.
Sylia scanned the stranger with her optical sensors. "Human! Impossible!"
The guy shoved his hands into his pockets, began whistling a tune, and started away from the scene, apparently having not the slightest clue that he was being watched.
Sylia landed right in front of the guy, effectively blocking his way. "Hold it right there! Where do you think you're going?"
The man stopped, studied her a moment, then spoke. "I don't believe I've ever met a lady in battle armor before. Tell me, do all the ladies of the night dress that way here. You're never going to attract potential customers with something that has absolutely no appeal whatsoever."
* * * * * *
By this time the other Knight Sabers had come to stand behind the blue suit, the obvious leader of the group.
Ashley sighed in contempt.
The blue hard suit in front of him repeated the question. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Why does it matter?" He gave her a slight smile. "Very well. I'm on my way over to Raven's garage to pick up my bike. Then I'm headed home to my sleazy apartment in the slums of Tokyo to kick back, have an uneventful dinner of macaronni and cheese (TM) while I watch television, satisfied?"
When neither of them moved. He reached into his jacket pocket.
In an instant, a hard suit the color of purple flew at him with blinding speed, catching him in the stomach with a punch that flushed the breath out of him.
Moving at the same speed, Ashley backhanded the suit in the helmet, shattering the visor. The suited woman hit the ground several feet away.
No one moved.
Ashley was speaking to them again, "I see we have at least three excellent judges of character", and then he tossed something at the feet of the blue one.
This caused each suit to step back a few paces.
"It's an EMP shock pad," Ashley indicated, "it emits a very high frequency electro-magnetic pulse which shuts down any electronic devices within a two meter radius. That's what I used on your metallic friend back there."
Tentatively, the blue one picked it up and studied it for a moment.
"Power gauge is low. We gotta' go!"
The blue one turned and nodded to a pink one, while a green suit ran to pick up the nefarious purple one.
All together they turned to address the white stranger, who wasn't there anymore. They turned and launched themselves into the night sky in unison, blackness enveloping them.
* * * * * *
Sylia studied the ground below as she flew, "That was too weird."
"You're telling me!" Linna flew carrying Priss, who was out cold at the moment.
The Lady633 building then came into view.
:::This we'll have to look into.:::
* * * * * *
"Nene, once your out of your suit see what you can dig up on our white friend." Sylia puzzled over their encouter, while Nene set about completing her task.
:::How was he able to knock Priss, as thickheaded as she can be, flat cold with just one blow? No human could smash through a hard suit's armor. Most boomers couldn't do that!:::
Several quiet, somber hours later Priss woke up with a headache that she said bordered on the fatal.
:::EMP? Sure, everyone knew what it was. Electromagnetic Pulse. Its discovery was ancient. They knew how it could be used and had developed several technologies using it, but never as something to be thrown around like a toy. What would someone like him be doing with that level of technology? He doesn't look to be anything more than a common street ruffian. An EMP shock pad he had called it.:::
"Sylia! I found all I could on him, but it was hard, and boy was it strange."
"Thanks, Nene."
"Well, I have to be going now...work tomorrow." The idea of work certainly didn't appeal to her.
Sylia called out a quick "bye!" over her shoulder and brought up Nene's findings on her console.
"Who are you?" Sylia said to herself as she sifted through several screens of text. Nothing.
:::Nothing but a bounty hunter license request and several mercenary service advertisements.:::
"Who are you?" She repeated.
Turning on the television, Sylia was shocked by the picture that greeted her.
"It's him!" She turned it up so she could hear without mistake.
"Have you seen this man?" came the announcement, "...this man is incredibly dangerous and should be considered a top priority threat. A reward of eight million yen is being offered for the capture of Ashley Asakiri."
"Eight million yen! What on earth could he have done to get a bounty that big?!" Sylia considered what she had learned.
:::He's definitely dangerous. Having seen what he had done to Priss made that much clear. Ashley Asakiri, so that was his name...unusual one at that.:::
(Some time later...)
Sylia sat staring in thought out the glass doors of the famous Silky Doll, her owned and personally operated women's lingerie store, when movement on the outside sidewalk caught her eye. The movement hadn't alerted her, but the glimpse of an all too familiar man, at the moment, had.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was, indeed, Ashley, making his way along the sidewalk outside the Silky Doll.
:::I guess he doesn't watch the news.:::
He was slouched over and staring pointedly at something he held in his hand. Just when she thought he was gone, he turned and entered the store. She put on a business-like smile with her skills of sales professionalism written all over it.
He walked inside, looked around, and almost turned to leave again when he realized that he was in a women's underwear store.
"What can I do for you, sir?" Sylia saw his face turn crimson.
:::So the idiot has a conscience. Score one point.:::
Still he said nothing.
After several drawn out moments, he spoke. "No, nothing like that. I'm looking for something that I loaned to a friend, that's all. I thought it might be in here, silly really."
Sylia's pulse quickened. She knew what he was talking about.
Suddenly, after hearing her voice as if for the first time, he gained his composure and looked as much like a shadow as ever. All trace of the insecure, embarassed little boy was gone.
"Tell me, miss, what do you think about this terrible Ashley Asakiri character? The one that has the pricey bounty on his head. The one who's so conniving and dangerous." He slowly slipped the device he'd been handling into his pocket. "He must be as bad as they say since he captures so many criminals for his own profit and destroys rogue boomers simply to lighten the load on society." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Why do you suppose he destroys boomers?" Sylia couldn't help but ask the question once she decided to play along with his little game.
He then gave her a curious glare and then his features softened. His face broke into a broad grin. This took Sylia by surprise.
:::What's he smiling about?:::
"I knew you'd look even more stunning without that dreadful battle armor on!"
Sylia's legs felt like lead. Her eyes opened wide. She couldn't move as if she were frozen to the spot, but she quickly regained her composure. "W-what in the world are you talking about?"
"Don't play that game with me, my dear." He came to stand next to her. Only then did she get a good look at him and realized that the guy was huge. He towered over her, yet his body remained supple and agile looking. This probably meant that he wasn't Japanese, Chinese, or Asian of any kind. He certainly didn't portray or look the part anyway. And his skin, it was the most pale in complexion that she'd ever seen.
"I do believe, miss, that you've slipped up." He patted the desk in front of him before continuing. "You're voice; it matches the one that I heard last night from a Knight Saber in blue. Don't believe me?" He flipped an audio recorder out of his pocket, Sylia's voice being reproduced perfectly through its single speaker. "Continuing on...no one but the iron ladies I met would have known about any incident that I've had with a boomer, that boomer being the only one I've ever had the chance to meet as of yet. Secondly, the EMP Shock Pad I gave the blue iron lady had a tracking device in it, and, according to my homing device," he patted his pocket, "it's right here." He slide open the top drawer of the front counter and, sure enough, there it was, right where Sylia had left it. "You already know what curiousity did to the cat, yet you took the bait anyway. You must have been asleep to let this happen."
He stood, staring at the counter top, while Sylia swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Did you find what you were looking for? I shouldn't think so." He placed his index finger on the license registry in front of her.
:::He's good. How could have I let this happen?::: Sylia thought for a moment, searching for an excuse for her slip up, but could only come up with this man's ability as one.
Sylia heard herself confessing to his accusations, though she couldn't understand why.
"Well mister Asakiri, now that you know my little secret, what are you going to do?" Sylia, who was normally in control of the situation, was now completely lost.
"Nothing." He had an innocent look on his face, "After my little display last night I knew you weren't going to leave me alone. I just want to be left alone, that's all. And besides, I was curious. I mean, that suit had enough hooks on it to catch any man's attention..." He coughed suddenly. "...minus the `ladies of the night joke', of course." He gave her an open, boyish grin.
Without warning, he spun around, coat flying in the air, and produced two large pistols from his coat in the blink of an eye. The multiple retorts of gunfire echoed around the large shop. A wall at the far side of the store buckled as if something massive and heavy had hit it, but nothing had! Blood, bright red and flowing, covered the wall.
Sylia caught her breath; a man lay on the floor hunched against the wall. Only, he hadn't been there before. In fact, the only people in the store had been herself and Ashley...or so she had thought.
He wore a green suit to which all sorts of gadgets were attached. A helmet sat on his head, blook leaking out through a grisly yellow visor. A large automatic rifle lay on the ground next to him.
"Dammit! The bastards found me! So, they do have brains underneath all that whatchamakallit technobabble, who knew?" Remembering himself, Ashley turned to Sylia and placed something on the desk, "For allowing me to experience your beautiful visage."
He then turned to leave.
"It's easy to see that you're in danger. You could stay here if you like." Why she had offered to help, she didn't know. It simply came out of its own accord.
:::Sylia.::: She told herself. :::You don't even know the guy.:::
He turned and gave her playful grin. "A wise man once said `If man had just one wish, the results of that one wish would bring about more trouble than we already have!' I wish I could stay, but I don't need any more trouble." He grabbed the corpse by the collar and started out of the store, dead man in tow. "Besides, where would the fun in hiding be?"
* * * * * *
Ashley sped down a highway lit by streetlights and the occasional passing vehicle while on his most favored mode of transportation, his black sports racer. His hair and trench coat were askew and flying as they blew in midnight winds.
:::The city that never sleeps...and here it is, all tuckered out and snoring soundly.:::
Ashley eyed MegaTokyo through goggles via red tinted lenses.
He opened up the throttle on the bike and careened down the silent strip of never ending black. He loved the speed and feel of the wheels caressing the road, even if the occasional bug in the face was a slight turn-off.
Suddenly, a red sports racer sped up the highway along side of him and evened out to match his pace. The rider wore red as well and glared at him from behind a black helmet visor. She wasn't bad looking either, that much was obvious.
:::It's that bastard from before!:::
Priss' anger sizzled. A human and he had gotten the best of her in her hard suit! Dammit, and he was a man of all things!
Ashley eyed her curiously and then smiled. "Good evening, pretty lady," he shouted.
"Put your motor where your mouth is, jerk!" She shot back at him. "Show me what that excuse for a machine between your legs can do."
"Please, enough with the intimacies, we've only just met." Ashley roared with laughter and whizzed on ahead of her.
Priss changed gear and sailed after him. The race was on.
Both riders dodged vehicles, narrowly missing traffic and giving every driver met a reason to be cautious on the highway this night.
"Wuhoo!" Ashley shouted as the world flew by him in multi-colored blur.
Priss smiled, but then caught herself. She was angry with him...wasn't she? Although, he seemed to be enjoying himself, so why couldn't she?
Sirens then accompanied the sounds of passing cars. More distinguishable was the monotone whir of propellors as two helicoptors slipped passed the bikers.
"What the...?" Priss didn't understand this. Since when did helicoptors become part of the highway patrol? There were no boomers about, because she would have known.
:::Ah, the cavalry has arrived. Took them long enough.::: Thought Ashley.
Despite her confusion, Priss continued along side Ashley at a constant speed.
"Ashley Asakiri. Dismount your vehicle. You are under arrest and any force used will be retaliated against!" A loudspeaker on one of the helicoptors blared.
Ashley looked up at on of the coptors defiantly, "Sure," he hollered, "but you gotta' catch me first!"
Having said that, he sped up and began to dodge cars again in earnest, the coptors in close pursuit.
:::They want my racing opponent? Ashley? Why? She had been speeding as well.:::
After about five minutes of this `cat and mouse' routine, Priss saw what she knew had been coming.
Ashley seemed to voice her next thoughts aloud, "Curses, a road block." He then swore against all people that used common sense in doing their job.
:::What are you going to do now, Ashley?:::
Priss slowed her bike to a stop at the side of the road, while Ashley soared towards a wall of weaponry, metal, and human bodies.
*End Chapter One*