The Usual Shopper, The Unusual Hero
by ECW
DISCLAIMER
Taiho Shichauzo / You're Under Arrest copyright Fujishima Kousuke, Kodansha, Bandai Visual, TBS, Marubeni
This fanfic is purely the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to any other fanfic is entirely coincidental. All characters appeared in this fanfic is designed and owned by Fujishima Kousuke. Anyone think otherwise should contact Fujishima-sama directly via the Goddess Helpline. Just dial your local take-away shop until you get the wrong number.
Teaser: The Scooter Lady and Strikeman formed an unusual alliance against a group of shoppers who don't usually pay for what they take.
It was a sunny day in March. The prefect time of the year for stores to clear out old stocks before the end of the financial year. And a prefect time for shoppers to grab a bargain. Amid all the shoppers, one lady was already carrying a handful of shopping bags.
"Hurry up." A lady complained about the slow elevator.
"Thankyou for shopping with Mitsukoshi." The elevator attendant smiled reluctantly. As soon as the doors opened, the lady charged out like a mad bull. Finally, the last customer had left.
Meanwhile, somewhere in an underground car park, a dark figure appeared. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a scooter parked in front of the stairway.
The figure was outraged, "How could anyone illegally park a scooter here? It could be very dangerous. What if someone tripped over it coming out of the stairway?"
Just as he was cursing the scooter, a lady came out of the stairway and almost tripped over the scooter. "Oh, here you are." The Scooter Lady secured her shopping bags to the scooter, not realising that someone was nearby. Just as she was about to start the engine, the dark figure cut in. She looked up and saw a man dressed in a caped baseball outfit. His face was covered with a mask with the letter 'S' inscribed on his forehead.
"Who are you?" The Scooter Lady demanded.
"I am Strikeman. And you have parked your scooter illegally."
"I don't care. I'm late." The lady pointed at her watch... or rather, where the watch used to be. "Oh, my God. Where is my watch??"
Strikeman was distracted by this sudden turn of events as the Scooter Lady searched frantically for her watch. Finally she rushed to hit the 'up' button on the elevator. Meanwhile, Strikeman was dumbfounded. But he followed the Scooter Lady into the elevator.
As they approached the third floor, the lift suddenly stopped.
"Ah... power failure." Strikeman said, annoyed, "Stand back, I'll force the door open." The Scooter Lady obediently stepped asides as Strikeman slid the door open effortlessly.
Wondering behind Strikeman, the Scooter Lady searched under the dim lights provided by lamppost outside. As they approached the jewellery department, Strikeman heard some noises, and stopped in his track. The Scooter Lady just banged right into him.
"What..." She was stopped as Strikeman dragged her into a corner.
"Shh..." Strikeman whispered, "I think we are in the middle of a night time robbery."
"Really?" The Scooter Lady said, somewhat frightened.
For once, Strikeman was thinking like a normal person. "See the stairs there? Take them. Call the cops." The Scooter Lady quietly headed for the stairs. She quickly ran down the stair for her scooter, afraid that it might be stolen.
"Thank God it's still here." No sooner than her words, she saw a figure coming towards her. Without hesitation, she started the engine. When she got on the scooter, she was once again the fearsome Scooter Lady.
"Out of my way!!!!" Surprised, the dark figure was caught off guard. A loud scream could be heard as the scooter hit him head on, throwing him to one side. The scooter suffered little damage, and the occupant suffered even less, except for her sanity. The Scooter Lady continued to the next level as two men inspected the accident. Then they quickly chased after the scooter.
Being on the lowest level of the underground car park, the journey to the top seemed an eternity. As the Scooter Lady approached the closed gate on the ground level, her beloved scooter started to chock. Sooner after, black smoke was visible from the back, and the scooter slowly came to a halt.
"You can't die on me now!" She exclaimed. As she tried unsuccessfully to restart the engine, she heard footsteps coming from behind.
"C'mon, they are coming. Quick. Start." But the scooter remained motionless. Without any alternative, the Scooter Lady deserted her little scooter and hid behind a pole. Soon after, the two men came across the scooter.
One of the men said, "Where is that fat lady?"
"I don't know." Said the other, "Let's check out her stuff."
Being a shopper who constantly care for her prized procession, the Scooter Lady could only watch as the men search through her shopping bags... until...
"Look what I found." One of the men said, holding up an object.
"What?"
"That's my watch!" The Scooter Lady thought.
"Looks expensive."
"Take it, it might worth something."
"Okay." The man slipped the watch into his pocket, and continued searching.
The Scooter Lady could not stand to see her watch being taken. She burst out from behind the pole and jumped onto the men. But before she could reach them, they fell down without a fight. When the Scooter Lady got back on her feet, she found a baseball rolling to a stop nearby. From a distance, she saw Strikeman in front of the closed entrance.
Knowing that he had successfully apprehended the suspects, Strikeman laughed hysterically. "HAHAHAHA..." As he continued to celebrate his own victory, the gate behind him opened gradually, revealing a troop of police cars. Floodlight was shinning brightly into the dark car park, blinding the Scooter Lady.
"Alright. Game over. Come out with your hands up." Strikeman stopped laughing as the familiar voice registered in his head. He turned slowly.
"Homerun Woman!"
"Strikeman?" Natsumi said through the loud speaker.
"Don't you worry, all the suspects have been apprehended by me, the creator of the super-fast-invisible-unbeatable curve ball." With that, Strikeman threw his curve ball at the police. Natsumi grabbed the nearest bat-like object and hit the ball away effortlessly. However, Strikeman had already escaped.
"Stop. I will get you this time." Natsumi quickly ran after Strikeman, and so did half of the police, leaving the Scooter Lady with her battered scooter in the car park.
It was a clear night in March. And it was just another day in the busy metropolis known as Tokyo.
O S H I M A I
Author's note:
Please review.
Original ideas copyright Ed Wong 2003
