Extremely long wait, and for that I am deeply sorry. However, it has gone into making this the best conclusion to the gunfight it can be. Get ready!
Natsumi swung the rear door of the bus wide open and fed the ammo belt into the big Browning machine gun. Tom yanked the charging handle before he pressed the trigger, letting loose. The .30 MG started chucking out a wall of fire, spraying the street and cutting down two mercenaries who couldn't get to cover fast enough. The rounds cut holes through SUVs, glanced off the tarmac and speared through the gas tank of one of the vehicles.
Once 50 rounds had been fired off, Tom stopped shooting.
"Welcome to Bokuto." He spoke.
The firing started again. The Bokuto officers were invigorated by the new arrival and started shooting back at the mercenaries, matching their fire round for round.
"Miyuki!" Natsumi yelled down the bus.
"Gotcha!" Miyuki replied. She dashed out of the driver's seat and started slinging fire at the mercenaries with her M1 Garand rifle. Her deadly accurate fire finished off one more bad guy as Natsumi picked up a Thompson and gave some fire of her own. Meanwhile, Tom had made his way out of the bus and to the police roadblock.
"So, anything new?" He asked as he fired his M1911 handgun over the hood of a patrol car.
"We rescued Chie." Aoi reported. "She'll make it."
"Well that's..." Tom was cut off by a bullet striking the roof of a car, causing him to duck down.
"What is that?" Chie asked.
Tom, experienced in combat, immediately knew what was up. "We have a sniper guys!" Looking up at the rooftops, he could make out a black-clad merc with an M14 rifle on the roof of one building. He needed to come up with a plan.
"What now Fortnell?" Ken questioned.
"OK Ken, I need you to get up there and take out that sniper!" Tom risked a look over the hood of the car and saw a building he could take cover in. "I'm gonna dash for the garage there, the one with the Zapper sign! The rest of you, we need covering fire!"
"Yes sir!" Yoriko saluted.
"On three! One! Two! THREE!" Ken and Tom leaped over the patrol car and began a mad dash across the no-man's-land. The other officers rose up and fired all they had at the mercenaries, forcing them to take cover from the incoming heavy fire. Ken ran into an alley, while Tom picked up an M4 Carbine from a fallen merc and ran like an Olympic sprinter to the garage.
There was an almighty crash as Tom jumped straight through the closed door, knocking it down as he landed on the floor in the garage. There was a short pause as he groaned.
"Oh, hey there Tom." Daimaru said. He and Sena had been taking cover when they heard the sounds of gunfire outside. "It's been a while since we last saw you. How are you doing?"
"For a guy who's been dead for two years and then jumps through a door?" Tom answered as he got up off the floor. "Yeah, I'm just fine!"
Outside, the battle was still raging. The sniper was standing up on a rooftop, looking through the long-range sight on his rifle. He saw his chance to take out one of the officers and lined up his crosshairs on a black ponytailed female officer with an old rifle. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he heard a yelling behind him. He turned around to find Ken charging at him. He swung around, but before he could bring his M14 to bear, Ken tacked him and they both fell off the rooftop. The two men fell two stories, the sniper landing on a parked car with Ken on top of him. Ken knocked the sniper out with a punch to the head, before getting up and running to the bus.
"You OK?" He asked Miyuki, who was taking cover behind the bus.
"Yeah, I'm good!" Miyuki responded as she loaded another clip in her Garand.
"I could've sworn that sniper was about to take you out!" Ken swore.
"Well, thanks for saving me there."
"Gee, I..." Ken was cut off by a kiss from Miyuki, a kiss interrupted by Natsumi.
"Guys! No time for getting intimate!" She yelled while spraying her Thompson on full-auto.
"Let's get back to the battle, huh?" Miyuki asked the now shocked bike trooper.
"Uh, I guess so." Ken picked up a Type 100 submachine gun and joined the women in shooting at the mercs.
"So where did Tom go anyway?" Natsumi asked, wincing as a bullet struck the bus a little close.
"I think he went into the garage for cover." Ken replied.
"The garage?" Miyuki looked over towards Zapper, Tom now standing in the doorway giving some fire of his own.
"I think he got reacquainted with Ken's father and mother-in-law..." Natsumi commented.
Tom took a little pause from firing to look at the roadblock. There were now ten mercenaries still shooting. However, he could see that the bullets which had impacted a GMC Yukon had caused some holes in the gas tank, which was now leaking fuel onto the tarmac.
"Guys?" He called back to Daimaru and Sena. "I need to rig something up, you got supplies?"
"I think so!" Daimaru shouted from behind a table. "What do you need?"
"Let's try a bottle, some gasoline and a rag..."
The firefight was still raging on. Reinforcements from the other roadblocks had now arrived to push back the mercs. Among those was Detective Tokuno, who had picked up an M3 Grease Gun and was busy suppressing the mercenaries. Even Kachou was joining in the firing.
"Just like the Hachi-Ichi-Go incident, huh?" Tokuno remarked.
"Yeah, but..." Kachou wondered. "Isn't that Tom over there?"
Tom had now reappeared in the doorway. While the police and the mercs were fighting, he'd gone in for supplies and had managed to manufacture a Molotov cocktail, a small improvised incendiary grenade, with Daimaru's help. He took aim and threw the bottle, filled with gasoline and with a flaming rag in the bottleneck, at the fuel spill. However, he missed, but Natsumi noticed the tactic.
"Hey, are the flares these flare guns fire extremely hot?" Natsumi wondered.
"Yes, I'd imagine so. Why?" Miyuki was expecting an explanation, but was shocked when Natsumi yanked out her flare gun, ran out from the bus and fired a flare at the fuel spill. The flare landed on the spill, immediately setting it alight. The flames quickly spread to the gas tank, which still had some fuel left in it, and the SUV exploded. It was tossed up in the air, coming back down on its roof.
"Boom, yeah!" Natsumi celebrated before casting aside the flare gun and beginning to fire with a .357 revolver.
"Well who expected that?" Miyuki said to herself. She looked over at Tom who nodded. She then tapped Natsumi on the shoulder. Both women looked at each other, before they started running towards the mercenary roadblock. Tom ran out from Zapper to join them. They started firing all they had at the mercs, who didn't stand a chance as the fire from the man and two women took down quite a few. By the time they reached the hole once occupied by the wrecked SUV, most of the mercenaries were wounded or dead. Quickly subduing the remaining bad guys, they saw Daisuke Sato, sitting on the tarmac, leaning against a pickup. He had been shot in the stomach, and looked up at the three officers standing over him.
"You may have won this battle..." He coughed. "But you'll never catch the boss." He bowed his head, fully expecting it to all end suddenly. Instead, when the end he expected didn't come, he looked up to find Miyuki and Natsumi pointing their revolvers at him.
"You're under arrest." They said in unison.
Back at the tent, the police officers were congratulating themselves on a job well done. The wounded, such as Chie were now getting medical treatment.
"Hey." Someone tapped Natsumi on the shoulder. She turned around to find Shouji standing there with a smile on his face.
"How did you...?" She asked.
"Well, last night, the mercs ambushed our convoy and killed the other SAT operators. I managed to survive by playing dead until they left, then sneaking out and taking shelter in someone's home."
Shouji did not need to say anything more, as Natsumi jumped up and gave him the biggest hug of his life.
In another part of the command tent, Tom was sitting by himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daichi coming towards him.
"What now?" He said, voice cynical. "What, you gonna file a complaint? Say I'm an idiot for disobeying orders?"
"No." Daichi answered. "If anyone's the idiot, it's me. I heard what you did out there. I was wrong, you're a good cop. You know, the NPA might give you a promotion to Sergeant..."
"No thanks." Tom refused. "If there's anything I'd rather be doing in the police, it's working street patrol in Traffic."
"Can't say I didn't try." Daichi noticed how Tom was looking down at the ground. "Is there anything wrong?"
"I dunno, it's just..." Tom paused and stared out of the tent. "I just can't shake the feeling that we've forgotten something..."
"Like what?"
"Something big..."
Almost exactly on cue, a rev echoed throughout the tent. All conversation stopped and everyone looked outside. Tom got to his feet and started walking out as another rev called the officers out of the tent. It sounded like an American V8, and Tom knew what that sound belonged to even before he was outside and saw the Corvette ZR1 just up the street.
"Fujima..." Tom muttered as the others came outside to see the American supercar. All of a sudden, Fujima floored it and took off, burning out all the way down the street. The tense atmosphere suddenly turned frantic, as officers scrambled to their patrol cars. Tom meanwhile, calmly marched back to the command tent. He took a look at Natsumi and Miyuki before they rushed to their Today to take up pursuit. The sound of police sirens filled the air as the first of many police cruisers rushed out of the precinct to chase the wanted fugitive.
"What are you going to do Tom?" Daichi asked.
"I don't know." Tom replied.
"Well, is there anything you want to say?"
Tom looked over to find his bright red Camaro ZL1 resting in a parking space.
"He's mine."
Moving fast, the Corvette ZR1 attacked the road as it made its way towards the docks. The swarm of police cruisers behind it was barely keeping pace. On the open highway, Fujima could simply floor it and leave the cops eating dust like with the Highway Patrol. However, in the city, he could not get his Chevy Corvette up to speed because he'd have to slow down again because of traffic or corners. Not to mention that the Bokuto officers knew the streets. Fujima swerved to avoid a patrol car that had come screeching in from a side street.
As he swerved into an alley, Miyuki slid her Today in behind the big ZR1. As they shot out of the alley and onto a wide street, she saw her chance and lit up the nitro, sending the tiny mini-pat past 160km/h (100mph). Fujima saw the little Honda come up beside the Chevrolet.
"Oh, so you want to play, huh?" He commented, before slamming the throttle to the floor. Sure, the Today was fast when it was being nitro-boosted, but the Corvette had a lot more power. Miyuki could hardly believe what she was seeing, the Corvette pulling ahead even when she had all of her nitro boosting the little engine. She knew she couldn't go on for much longer before she had to fall back or risk blowing the finely-tuned engine.
All of a sudden, Fujima smirked and eased off on the throttle, causing the Today to get ahead. Miyuki seized the opportunity and slid the mini-pat so that it was perpendicular to the Corvette's front.
"Natsumi!" Miyuki said to her partner. Natsumi knew what was going on and swung the door open before putting her feet on the ground to perform a Tsujimoto foot brake. Suddenly, Miyuki felt a jolt and looked over to see Fujima spearing the Corvette underneath the Today. He floored it, pushing the little mini-pat onto the Chevrolet's hood. Natsumi had to hang on as the vehicle tilted, if she hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, she would've been thrown out of the car.
Miyuki knew that if Fujima pushed harder, he could tip the Today past its center of gravity and cause the car to roll. She tried slamming down the throttle to break free, but the Corvette was still pushing the little Honda along.
"Now what?" Fujima taunted. Miyuki searched around desperately. She found Natsumi's .357 revolver and grabbed it. She pointed it out of the window without looking and squeezed the trigger. Normally, she wouldn't have fired because she couldn't risk hitting Kinoshita. However, the situation was desperate, and fortunately, the gun didn't fire. Fujima, seeing the gun, immediately slammed on the brakes, causing the Today to slide off the hood and back onto its wheels. Fujima immediately peeled out, leaving the Today and its occupants sitting in the road.
Natsumi and Miyuki were both panting after their harrowing experience.
"Oh man..." Natsumi commented. Miyuki simply looked out of the window at the fleeing Corvette.
Fujima now started to relax a bit having dealt with the officers in the tiny Honda. He actually started to chuckle a little.
"What's so funny?" Kinoshita asked from the passenger seat.
"It's funny that the police are pouring all of their resources into stopping me when they have no chance." Fujima explained. "They should've taken the hint and left me alone in Osaka." He started to accelerate again. "Now, by the time they shut down the docks, we'll be on a boat on the river, heading towards international waters. We're home free..."
An almighty crash interrupted Fujima and both occupants of the car were jolted as the Corvette recoiled from a sideswipe.
"What the f..."
Fujima saw that a Victory Red Camaro ZL1 had rammed into the Corvette, and was now sliding as the driver floored it to catch up to the Cyber Gray ZR1.
"You just can't stay dead, can you? If you want a fight, let's go!"
Again, I apologize for the stupid wait. There's now only about two or three chapters to go until the end, plus I have updated the previous chapter. Why don't you check it out? Until next time!