Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species
Part 4: Hunger
Chapter 43: Wild Card
by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)
* * * * *
A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story. Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Yuri warning! Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Special thanks to Greenegret for betaing!
* * * * *
Priss checked to make sure her guitar case was firmly secured on her back as she readied herself for the bike ride ahead. She was about to slip on her helmet when her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket. She turned it on to find a frantic and almost haggard looking Sylia on the screen.
"Priss, there are two rogue construction boomers downtown!" Sylia declared immediately. "They've already caused five injuries and three deaths. So are you in or out?... I'll call us even for the airplane tickets."
Priss froze, immediately distracted by the suddenly wild rhythm of her heartbeat.
Sylia frowned and then said, "Fine, sorry to dis-"
"I'll do it," Priss suddenly blurted. "I'll head over right now."
* * * * *
Sylia sat in the main chair of the command booth overlooking the pit. Dressed in her bathrobe, she tried desperately to fight the leftover grogginess of the medicated sleep she had been awakened from.
Down below, Nigel put the finishing touches on preparing the suit frames for use. Sylvie waited patiently off to the side as she watched the events unfold.
Just then, the elevator door opened and Priss came running in, panting frantically in full biker garb with her guitar case still strapped to her back.
"Nene's not here yet?!" Priss blurted as she pulled off her precious instrument and placed it down on the floor. Then she began to frantically tear off her clothes.
"She should be here any moment now," Sylia answered through the speakerphone. "I don't want you to wait for her. These boomers have already torn up two blocks and killed two more people. Mackey's keeping watch in the monitor room since it's all over every news station in town, if not the world!"
"I'm here! I'm here! -- Priss!" Nene blurted as she came running in. Even though the situation was dire, her happiness and relief was evident.
Now naked and ready for the transformation, Priss ran up the ramp to the nearest suit frame. She was about step back in place when she froze. A wild panicked look contorted her features as her hand clutched at her chest.
"Priss! Are you all right?!" Sylia demanded.
Priss shook her head both in response and to snap back to her senses. "I'm fine!" she blurted angrily.
"Priss, hurry up!" Nene declared as she now ran up the ramp to slip into the other suit frame. "These boomers aren't pulling punches!"
Priss scrunched her face tightly in concentration as she took a deep breath and stepped into the metal contraption.
Once both Knight Sabers emerged, Sylia explained, "These suits are pretty much the Galatea versions with some modifications. The most notable one is that our comm-links have two channels, the default is the one that's audible only by our team, and the other one can be heard by outsiders. They shouldn't feel different otherwise."
"I know! I know!" Nene blurted as she rushed into the launch tube and was gone in a flash.
"Priss! Are you certain you're okay?" Sylia persisted as she noticed how the woman paused a step.
With her visor still up, Priss winked at her and said with surprising calm, "Worried I'm going to go rogue, Sylia?"
Before the stunned woman could make a reply, Priss had already slipped into the launch tube and taken off.
With the two Knight Sabers now on their way, the pit was deathly silent as Nigel stood against the wall and watched Sylia expectantly. Sylvie occupied herself by picking up and folding the discarded clothing.
Meanwhile, Sylia stared at the readings on her screens and frowned. She then looked at the two people below her and said cryptically, "Get ready."
* * * * *
"So much for a low profile," Priss muttered as they descended down into the chaotic street scene.
With their pincer-arms and four legs, the two boomers were each causing their own chaos, apparently focused on doing as much property and people damage as possible. News choppers and police were storming around the parameter of the battle zone, and of course there were pedestrians gathered just beyond the safety lines. The remains of K-suits also littered the sidewalk, some successfully abandoned and some not.
"They look just like regular construction boomers! Are you sure they're rogue?" Priss demanded into the comm-link.
"Rogue or not, they need to be stopped!" Sylia's voice came back in a shot. "It should be a piece of cake, right?"
Priss frowned at the tone and then focused on landing in the middle of the street with a thud. Nene had already landed just seconds before her and hadn't yet figured out what to do.
"Nene, you take that one and I'll go for the other before it grabs that bus!"
"Got it!"
Nene fired at her targeted boomer, sending a barrage of rods at the middle section of the bulky machine. The powerful rods hit the shell, but then bounced off as if they had encountered an impregnable layer beneath. The boomer immediately spun its head at her. With the sudden frenzied speed and agility of a spider, it charged at the red Knight Saber.
"I didn't know construction boomers were built like that!" Nene screamed in amazement as she jumped out of the way to barely avoid being snagged by one of the powerful pincers.
"They aren't!" Sylia's voice came back, her anger clearly evident. "These are obviously special boomers. We were set up, damn it!"
"What?!" Priss blurted just as she snagged the abandoned bus and yanked it out of her boomer's reach. "I'm nobody's plaything!"
The boomer then decided that this new blue figure would be a worthy consolation prize as it decided to go for her instead.
With a run and a somersault, Priss landed on top of her boomer and pulled back her arm to land a knuckle-bomb enhanced punched at its chest. Just as she was about to land her first real blow, her arm froze -- not the hardsuit arm, as had happened four years ago when incomplete upgrades caused the mechanism to lock, but her own arm
"Priss! Kill it already!" Sylia's voice demanded frantically.
Fighting down the sudden feeling of panic that started to distract her, Priss readied her other arm, and then that one locked into place too. In her frozen state, the boomer snagged her, one pincer grabbing her waist and the other her leg, and then threw her into the side of the bus she had just saved.
"PRISS!" Nene screamed.
The distraction was the opening her own boomer needed. It grabbed Nene by the arm and flung her into an already destroyed shop window, lodging her securely into the rubble of steel and concrete of the building.
Priss felt her vision go dim as she stayed wedged in the bus remains, knowing that it was due to the darkness of being surrounded by wreckage. Suddenly, there was the undeniable squeal of metal as the sky became visible. Her boomer peeled apart the debris and started to pummel her as she remained on her back.
"PRISS! Fight back, damn it!" Sylia yelled.
With her arms still locked in their now ludicrous and mocking battle poses, Priss gulped and felt her entire body start to shake with the frantic racing of her heart. The pounding from the boomer was barely noticeable compared to her struggle against her own anxiety attack.
Suddenly the pounding stopped as abruptly as it began. The boomer suddenly disappeared at well.
Priss lifted her head to see the familiar White Knight Saber wrestle with her former attacker, wrenching off one of its pincers in the process as if it was a pretzel.
"Damn it, Sylia! You're not supposed to be here!" Priss yelled angrily. Her fury distracted her from the fact that her arms suddenly unfroze as she scrambled up from the wreckage.
After ripping open the inner protective layer, the other Knight Saber reached in and crushed the boomer's core.
"Was I wrong, Priss, in thinking you were getting your ass kicked?" Sylia's taunting voice remarked.
Before the enraged Priss could reply, the second boomer suddenly tackled her teammate, body-slamming her into a concrete wall.
Letting out a roar of fury, Priss leaped and jumped onto the final boomer.
"Die, damn you!" she cried out as she slammed her fist into the reinforced body shell.
-- End Chapter 43 --
For those of you interested in the more "behind the scenes" perspective with some spoilers and teasers as well as be on notification of updates, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BGCPost2040
