Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.
Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the actual cataclysm then it will return to the actual events before the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the Aftermath which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!
Yes, this is Ban/Shido (and vice versa), Kazuki/Juubei/Toshiki (in various combinations of), Masaki/Teshimine, a fluffy Ginji/Makubex, Akabane/Kagami and a kinda stalkery one sided Akabane/Ginji (everyone loves Ginji hehheheheh) Don't flame me for it, this story is written for someone who asked for it.
I know that I am taking some liberties with the effects of the bomb I tried to research it but didn't get much so here is my best shot.
Now presenting:
Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath
Chapter 3: A Normal Job
Part One: Mugenjou Sept. 17 12:40 p.m.
Makubex was thrown off his feet by the sheer sound shock of the bomb exploding. Masaki caught the young man by the shoulders keeping him from falling roughly to the ground. The walls of Mugenjou itself deflected the surge of heat that followed the initial explosion though it tried to stream in through the door that was left open. Juubei, Toshiki, Teshimine, and Kanou were holding up large slabs of the toughest metal that Mugenjou could manufacture to redirect the offending radiant heat into the air. The initial force lacked the strength to come back down upon them as the second wave promised too, the blast wave. After a few seconds, the wave ceased its intensity. Makubex fidgeted. They could not hold off the blast wave nor could they leave the doors open to let it in. Without the walls of Mugenjou to take the brunt of the damage, their fortifications would be useless. If they stayed, they might die from the pressure.
"Close the doors! Everyone get below, hurry!"
It was too late to wait anymore. He had to think of the people he was protecting. Juubei and the others began to push on the heavy doors to shut them when a large van suddenly flew into the small space between the doors. There was a clang as the doors shut and locked. Seconds. Seconds! Makubex heard the car empty and Ban shouting. They all raced to the edge of a hole that had been made. It led straight down to the Core. Few hesitated before jumping as the angry roar of the blast wave came across the city. They were falling, someone screamed. Makubex pulled out a switch and pressed the button. On every floor that they passed, a large slab of metal covered the hole. Soon the ground came into view. The people below screamed and moved out of the way.
"Who's stupid idea was this!" Ban's voice yelled.
Their rapid descent was stopped as Kanou using the limits of his power created an opposite force of air cushioning their fall just enough to slow them down. They landed roughly but no one was hurt badly. Makubex who at the last minute had closed his eyes in instinctual fear though his mind had already told him the outcome opened them to realize that the fall had not hurt at all. Feeling arms around him, Makubex looked up to see that Ginji was holding on to him. In fact, they were currently attached to a wall. He smiled; it was just like the last time he had fallen so far. Ginji released his electricity and they fell to the floor lightly. Only then did Ginji let go of him.
"Smooth move, Ginji. Save the computer brat but not the rest of us." Ban shot snidely.
"Sorry, Ban-chan. I was so scared I forgot everything else."
"Sorry nothing, you had better at least remember me next time!" Ban grabbed Ginji's neck and began to rub his knuckles across his hair painfully.
"Baaan-chaaaaaaaaaan!"
Ban let him go after a few moments of torture. He turned a look to Makubex, "A little warning would have been nice."
"I'm sorry, Ban-kun. I had other things on my mind and besides, an explanation would have taken ten seconds more than we had."
"Ch. Whatever."
Part Two: Shinjuku Sept. 13 - 14
In the end, Ban had to drag a wailing tare Ginji away from Mugenjou after breakfast. They returned to the Honky Tonk the next day and it became business as usual or it would have been if they had any business. Ban and Ginji were sitting at the bar waiting for a job to land in their laps. Ginji was moping because Ban had made him leave so early the day before. He had wanted to stay longer. After all, it had almost been a week since they visited last. In Ginji's mind, a week was seven days too long to not visit. Ban was beginning to wonder if Ginji had some other stakes in going to visit than just being with his old friends. Pondering that however was far from his mind at this moment as he was glaring at his cell phone almost as if he could will it to ring. Morning turned into late after noon and Ginji's stomach rumbled angrily demanding sustenance. Ban sighed and reached for cigarette only to realize that his pack was empty.
"Ch." Ban crushed it in his hand.
Just then, the entrance bells jangled as the door to the Honky Tonk was opened. Ban and Ginji turned their heads as they heard the voice that they had been waiting on.
"Hello, boys."
"Hevn, it's about time." Ban grumbled.
"Hevn-chan!"
Hevn took a chair between the both of them and smiled, "I have a job for you."
"Wait just a minute there; we don't just take any job." Ban crossed his arms just as his stomach made its complaint known. He was irritated and trying to put up a prideful front.
"Don't worry, this one pays up front." Hevn put an envelope down in front of Ban, "This is your cut. If you take the job."
Ban glanced down at the envelope. It was thick. He took it casually and weighed it in his hand before opening the flap and looking in. Ban promptly fell out of his chair.
"Ban-chan?" Ginji got up and walked over to Ban worriedly.
Ban got to his feet and slammed the envelope down in front of Hevn, "What the hell kind of job is this?" The amount of payment was more than enough to pay Paul back ten times over and still come out good.
"Well…it's a retrieval." Hevn brushed her hair back from her bare shoulders, "A radio-active substance was stolen from AluTek labs yesterday. They think that the man stole it when he got fired." She lay a folder down before Ban. A mans picture was paper clipped to it, "He's always been a bit mentally unstable they said so he would be grudging enough to commit the theft."
"What exactly is this substance?" Ban opened the folder and took a look at the file inside.
"They didn't specify. But it is in a steel cooler box. They put a picture of the substance and the box in the file. Considering how many 'substances' there are, you can take your pick as to which one you think it is but I've never seen this one before myself. It should be harmless as long as it remains inside of the box. Only a fool would deal with radio-active material with out any protection anyway."
"Hmm." Ban closed the folder and took hold of the envelope, "Shouldn't be too hard as long as we keep it in the box, right? We'll take it."
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Ginji sat back in the chair in which he was currently residing, stuffed. He let out a happy sigh. Twice in three days he had been fed to capacity. He was a happy man. Ginji looked over to Ban who was finishing up his own meal.
"Ne, Ban-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Are we going to pay Paul-san back with some of the money?"
"Ah, we'll get to that later it's not like he's in a hurry."
A thought of an angry Paul kicking them out of the Honky Tonk again crossed Ginji's mind and he grimaced.
"Besides, we have to do the job first but we couldn't go hungry could we. I'm actually quite interested in this. Should be a piece of cake but they gave a lot of money for it." Ban leaned back in his chair, "I'm going to send the picture of that stuff to your friend the computer brat. He'll be able to tell me what it is. They are going through a lot of trouble for this and I want to know why."
"Ban-chan, what do you think is going on?" Ginji sat up.
"Couldn't tell you but I smell a rat and Shido's not around."
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Ban had conned Paul into emailing the picture to Makubex and was currently driving around with Ginji in search of the man who had supposedly stolen the substance. They had asked around and had found some people saying that they had seen a homeless man of that description living around this area. Ban was about to call it a morning and go and get some breakfast when he saw a man resembling the picture dart into an alley.
"There he is Ginji!"
The Lady Bug came to a sudden and terrible halt and the Get backers jumped out. They ran toward the way that the man had disappeared to. Ban heard his cell phone ring. Cursing loudly, he grabbed it from his pocket. CmpBrt it read.
"Ginji!" Ban tossed the phone to him, "Answer it."
Ginji pressed the talk button, "Heeello, this is Giiinjii." His voice was cheery.
"Ginji-san? Where's Ban-kun?"
"Maku-chaaaan!" Ginji sang cheerfully into the phone, "Ban-chan and I are chasing someone right now so he can't answer the phone."
"Ginji-san, that picture Ban-kun sent me is a fake. The components shown look like they are supposed to be crystals of strontium and cesium but they can't possibly be. The box in the picture is open to the air in the lab and there is no protection around it. Strontium oxidizes very rapidly in the air. It darkens and starts to develop a film of white oxide literally within seconds of being exposed. In the picture the strontium is bright silver. Even if they snapped a picture as soon as it was opened there should still be some tarnishing. Cesium is so highly reactive that it ignites spontaneously in air. There is no way that it could possibly be laying there like that. I think someone very good grafted this picture together."
"…" Ginji who was still running had a blank expression on his face, "…um,…so it's not a real picture?"
"No, Ginji-san. It is a fake picture." There was a pause, "Would you tell Ban-kun to call me back?"
"Sure." Ginji smiled to the phone.
There was a light laugh, "Bye Ginji-san."
"Bye Maku-chan!"
Ginji pressed the End button and picked up the pace to catch Ban, "Ban-chan!" He tossed the phone back. He was not allowed to keep it at all in fear of it being fried.
"What did he say?" Ban asked not taking his eyes off of the fleeing figure that had seen them chasing him.
"He wants you to call him back…I got confused." Ginji looked a little embarrassed, "But the picture is not a real one. I got that much."
"Good. That's all I needed to know. You're a good filter you know that Ginji."
"I am?"
Ban stopped running immediately. Ginji did as well.
"Ban-chan, he's getting away!"
"He's not the one who stole the materials." Ban took out a cigarette, "He's a decoy to keep us from finding the real culprit."
"What do you mean?" Ginji looked confused.
"Someone at the lab must have stolen it and paid this guy to make us run around on a wild goose chase while they got away with the real thing. Then they pay us to go looking for him so that the company doesn't hire the real police who might dig him out as the real thief." Ban blew out a breath of smoke, "A real smart man this is."
"Then why did they pay so much if we weren't getting anything back for real?" Ginji blinked.
"To keep us from wondering about the materials." Ban frowned, "Money makes people go blind or so they say."
"So what do we do now, Ban-chan?"
"I say we take our inquiry to AluTek and get back the materials. We do have a 100 success rate to uphold." Ban tossed his cigarette to the ground and rubbed it out with his foot, "I wonder how much trouble this is going to be."
End Chapter 3
