Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species

Part 4: Hunger

Chapter 51: Competition

by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)

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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!

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Priss paused in the doorway to the training room to find her other active teammates preparing for a training session with Mackey's help.

The exercise equipment and special virtual simulators were ignored as everyone gathered in the middle of the vast room on the practice mats that had been laid out on the floor.

Nene was dressed in a gi with a green belt, with Mackey helping her put on weird looking thin, blue mittens that matched the socks on her feet.

Dressed in a white-belted gi, Sylvie stood quietly by and watched the couple prepare. She looked deceptively unthreatening with her passive shop-girl pose, her hands clasped together and her head tilted despite an otherwise straight posture.

Sylia, who had apparently decided to spend the day in her bathrobe with her hair in a simple ponytail, sat on a nearby chair with a datapad in her hand.

"Hello, Priss," Sylia greeted, "I wasn't sure if you were going to join us."

"I'm not sure yet," Priss admitted as she leaned against the doorway, "the details were a little vague. So what kind of special training is this?"

"There are special sensors built into these gloves and socks," Mackey explained as he made sure Nene's were firmly sealed at the wrist. "They're thin enough that they shouldn't feel any different than regular training gear, but they should register contact hits with Sylvie. They've also got enhanced padding for protection since Sylvie's a little harder than your usual opponent."

Priss barely suppressed a smirk as she folded her arms and said, "So it'll be Nene versus Sylvie? Shouldn't there be headgear involved?"

"Sylvie is going to be defending herself only," Sylia explained. "And she obviously won't have to worry about sustaining permanent damage. The point is to give you and Nene a taste of what it's really like to fight a boomer of her skill level, which as you can imagine is quite different than fighting rogue boomers who aren't programmed to fight, especially with human combat techniques. Even though your reflexes are considerably enhanced in your hardsuits, I think you'll still learn a lot in this set up. Plus, since we're all a little rusty, I think this provides some needed variety in the combat training that should help us get up to speed as quickly as possible. And Sylvie graciously offered to do this."

The boomer in question merely bowed to Priss in acknowledgement as her pleased smile widened a bit. Priss smiled back and the two of them stared at each other for a bit, which Sylia pretended not to notice as she scanned her datapad and pressed some remote control buttons on it.

"How does it feel?" Mackey asked his girlfriend.

Nene testingly flexed her fingers and feet. "They feel a little stiff, but no different than other training gloves."

"Remember, you'll register a hit if you make contact with her. The training program is sophisticated enough to be able to register the difference between a scored hit and her blocking you. You don't have to pull your punches at all with her."

Nene just smiled at the thought.

"Sylvie, are you ready?" Mackey asked.

She nodded, "Whenever Nene is ready."

"Can I at least get you a headband or something to keep your hair out of the way?" he offered, which caused Nene to seethe as she stood right behind him.

As if suddenly realizing that her loose hair would indeed be a distraction, Sylvie nodded, "That would be nice. Thank you."

"Then hurry up and go get her one so we can begin!" Nene blurted as she shoved him into the direction of the locker room.

"Mackey, stay. Sylvie, use this," Sylia said, offering the ribbon from her own hair.

Priss, deciding this was going to be too good to pass up watching, walked in and sat down on the edge of the mat beside Sylia.

After a moment, the main area of the mat was cleared as the two opponents faced each other.

Sylvie bowed in greeting and said, "Thank you for this opportunity to help, Nene."

Nene smacked her hands together and grinned evilly, "Oh, I'm looking forward to this!"

Sylia cleared her throat and announced, "Begin whenever you're ready."

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Approximately thirty-seven minutes later, Nene collapsed on the mat on her hands and knees, covered in sweat and wheezing for air after a frustrating bout of blocked punches and kicks.

Sylvie, meanwhile, stood quietly by, straightening her gi and fixing her hair. It took only a couple of seconds before she reverted to her passive shop-girl pose, which was clearly quite contradictory to that of her exhausted opponent.

The three onlookers were each waiting silently, trying not to bring up the fact that despite the decent display of sparring, not one aggressive hit on Nene's behalf was registered in the training program.

"Um, Nene, do you want to continue, or do you want to take a break?" Sylia prompted gently.

As much as she wanted land at least one punch, even on Sylvie's ankles, Nene was too tired and worn. "I - I need a short break," she gasped as she wearily got to her feet.

Mackey rushed up and give her a towel and a bottle of water. "That was a really incredible attempt, Nene! You really can't expect too much when you compare your skill level to Sylvie's!"

"Thanks a lot, jerk!" she yelled as she snapped the towel at his head, flipping off his headband behind him. She then stormed in the direction of the locker room.

Mackey looked after her in bewilderment as both Sylia and Priss made a motion to get to their feet and go after her.

Sylvie stayed them with a hand and said, "Sylia, I think I'm the one who needs to deal with this."

Sylia opened her mouth to say something, but then relented with a nod.

Once Sylvie and Nene were out of the room, Mackey looked at the two remaining women and said, "What did I say wrong?"

Priss merely smirked and said, "Your only crime is that you proved you're a guy after all."

Mackey looked even more confused as Sylia pretended to focus more on the read outs of her datapad.

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Sylvie walked into the locker room just in time to see Nene angrily throwing the training socks at the nearby wall.

Nene, whose eyes were brimming with tears, noticed her presence and stared at her. "What do you want?"

"To see if you were all right. And to see what I can do to help if you're not."

Nene looked as if she wanted to say something, anything hurtful to the other woman, but then realized there was nothing that wanted to come out. She shook her head in frustration, wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her gi, and slumped down on the nearby bench. She muttered, "It's not your fault that you're tall and gorgeous and a boomer."

Sylvie gingerly sat down on the bench next to her and said softly, "Nene, he's not attracted to me."

Nene's face turned red at the frank statement but frowned. "Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"Because what everyone has been politely ignoring is the fact that while I'm a combat boomer, I am also programmed for recreational purposes," Sylvie pointed out. "Even though I've had no experience in that area, I am programmed to be able to read signs of emotional and physical attraction. And Mackey exhibits nothing out of the ordinary for someone who just wants to be a friend and to help. Yes, he feels a certain kinship and responsibility for me because we're both boomers. I'm certain his overt excitement right now is that I'm new, and I'm a sentient machine in development; he is a mechanic after all. Once he's used to me being around, the enthusiasm will wear off. In the meantime, however, I don't think he will ever tire of you, or start to take you for granted as he's destined to with me. Even during this initial introduction phase, I am not the one he wants to hold hands with."

Nene's face remained red but for a different reason as she stared at her own hands in response to Sylvie's words. Then she gave her a narrow look and said, "You promise me you're not interested in him?"

"I guarantee he's not the one that I want," she answered simply.

Nene broke out into an apologetic smile and held out her hand for a shake. "Then I'm sorry for having fantasies about crushing your core."

Sylvie smiled back and shook her hand. "As long as the fantasies stop, that's all I care about."

-- End Chapter 51 --

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