Hello again! This is the final installment of Part 8 of BG Cross for your perusal
and hopefully, enjoyment. At the bottom of this posting I have included some
well-deserved credits. With the completion of this installment, I will now take
a short break to help someone who has helped me, and to keep a promise that
I made to someone. Enjoy!

                                             BubbleGum Cross

                                      Metal Heart - Part 8 - 3 of 3

                                         (c) 1996 by Andy Skuse
                                          askuse@execulink.com 

                 Based on characters copyrighted by Youmex, AIC, Artmic


Part 8 - 3 of 3 - "Avatar"

     From behind her cybernetic opponent, a strange, laser-like glow rose out
of the darkness and came straight towards Linna's face. A blinding slash of
green light separated her from her opponent for a split-second, and then
suddenly, she was free.
     Upon the release of her neck, she began to gasp hungrily for air, while
trying to understand what had just happened. She recalled hearing what
sounded like a painful squeal, and then her opponent had seemingly
disappeared. She checked her backup power readout and then turned her
head quickly from side to side, searching for the boomer that had come so close
to taking her life.
     Approximately fifteen feet away and to the left, Linna's eyes came to rest on a shadowy figure, wearing what looked like a dark colored hard-suit. The
shape and size of the suit's outline distinguished the wearer as a male,
although a long tress of dark hair hung out from the back of the figure's
helmet, drawn loosely into what looked like a pony-tail. The figure was
battling hand-to-hand with what had previously been her attacker, unleashing
high, head-centered kicks, and punctuated, fisted thrusts at a rate that defied
Linna's ability to follow them all. The boomer was defending itself  from the
short-range attack with some difficulty, but was not showing any visible
signs of damage or crippling pain. Swinging from the waist of the armored
figure was what looked to Linna like a broken sword of some kind.
     Linna's appraisal of the unexpected re-enforcement was cut short by a hard, jolting impact to her left shoulder blade. Spinning around to confront the
source of the painful blow, she came face to face with one of the three
remaining boomers. Over its shoulder she could see Priss wrestling with the third boomer, while Nene and Sylia had ganged up on the fourth. A quick estimate of her companion's attacks revealed that they were fighting with a
new energy and verve. Once again, her observation of the battle around her
was interrupted, this time by a steely fist into her torso.
     At such short range, Linna's instinct took charge, and guided her fists and legs in a flurry of powerful jabs and deft kicks that caught the boomer off
guard. Her opponent taken aback for a moment, Linna initiated a charge for a
knuckle-bomb, probably the last that she would get to use, considering her rapidly decreasing backup power supply. The boomer recovered its wits and leapt at the green hard-suit, with an angry flare of crimson in its eyes. Its trip through the air was abruptly halted by a green-armored fist to the chest, followed immediately by a deafening detonation.
     Linna stared down searchingly, through the thin haze of dissipating smoke
at where she thought her opponent should be. Rising suddenly through the vapors to reset for its attack, her enraged opponent now sported a visible scar from Linna's explosive strike. The once gleaming ebony surface on the boomer's chest had turned a mottled silvery blue, the result of intense heat applied at close range. But the structure of the epidermal layer remained intact,
snatching away the brief feeling of victory that Linna had suddenly felt. The
tide of the battle had been turned by the shadowy figure's arrival, but as Linna
checked her backup power supply again, she began to wonder, 'for who'?

     "Leomund . . . call them back to the lab."
     The cold but firm voice on the other end of the line shook Leomund from his stupor. "Call them back sir? But we're just about to-"
     The anonymous investor increased the amount of resolve in his tone by a notch, "Leomund remember- this was just a test. The destruction of the Knight Sabers would have been an added bonus, but as you can see, there is a new factor to the outcome. Without visual contact with the test site, our experiment is of limited value. And this *intruder* has tainted the test results. Call them
back immediately, and make sure no-one sees them leave."
     "Yes sir. Right away sir."
     "Oh, and one more thing Leomund-"
     "Sir?"
     There was a noticeable pause before the faceless voice continued. "I think it's about time I paid a visit to the laboratory to see how my money is being spent. I'd like to see first-hand how the project is proceeding."
     Leomund felt the blood in his veins turn to ice."Are you certain sir? There's so much that still needs to-"
     "Nonsense Leo. This test has been a success! Not only does this prove the capabilities of our offspring, but it solidifies the trust that you and I have
shared so far. I think a personal visit would take this trust to the next level.
Don't you?"
     Leomund hesitated with his answer, his eyes glued to the crippling static
that still rolled across the four multi-vision screens. "Yes . . . yes sir! That it
would sir. I look forward to meeting you here-  sir."
     "Good! I'm pleased to hear that Leo. You can expect me some time tomorrow afternoon. Good-bye Dr. Sholtan."
     Leomund's hand gripped the vidphone handset a little tighter as the line went dead. "Good-bye sir."

     Priss balked with her next attack to look over at her companions. She was still puzzling over why the boomers had suddenly released their locking grip
on them. On her neck, she could feel the tingling irritation of a chafing burn,
caused by two metallic hands that had nearly  choked her to death. She had
been struggling vainly to pry the boomers steel digits away when a sudden
flash of light beside her had momentarily fogged her display. When her visor had cleared her throat had been let go, and her opponent reappeared,
standing a few  feet in front of her looking dazed from the light itself. It occurred to her now, that this was probably the closest she had come to dying while in the line of duty. Even a super-boomer and its three hyper-boomer henchman, hadn't come this close.
     Relinquishing the morbid thought, it took only a quick body-count to realize that there was one extra hard-suited figure engaged in the fight. The dark, probably male, armored figure was fighting its opponent toe-to-toe, not backing off for a second. The boomer was actually backing up an inch or so after every punch and parry. Then to her surprise, the boomer took two quick steps back and then clasped its hands in front of it. The armored man took one step forward to continue his assault, when he suddenly went flying backwards, landing hard and flat against a wall. The figure slumped to the floor, but
quickly began its struggle to get back up.
    A bright flash of light brought her attention back to where she had left her own opponent- but the boomer was gone. In fact, after another quick survey of the entire room, she realized that all four boomers had suddenly vanished.
She was about to question her leader when Sylia's voice ejected an anxious
command to Nene. "Nene! Track them! They may still be in the room."
     Priss became wary again, her knees bending reflexively to await any
surprise attack. But the attack did not come. Several seconds drifted by before
Nene replied with her results.
     "Sylia, I'm not picking up anything in the room. It's like they've just vanished into thin air!"
     "Keep trying Nene, they may have some other trick up their sleeve that we haven't seen yet."
     "Okay!"
     Sylia let her body relax for the first time in what felt like several hours. Her approximation wasn't that far from the truth. But ever cautious, she called out to each Knight Saber in turn, and received three tired replies. That was when she noticed the *fifth* Knight Saber.
     She hadn't really taken the time to inspect their unrequested assistance, but now she turned to observe the temporary recruit more closely.
     From the overall shape of the armor, the wearer was a male. Not overly
tall or bulky, but clearly in good shape, the figure wore a hard-suit that was a
patch-work affair of dark plating with a rough overlay. Various, oval-shaped ports, and a bulky, square device on the suit's back, marked the other wise human shaped outline. The helmet looked to be a modified motorcycle helmet, that sloped away slightly to the back, giving it an aerodynamic appearance. Strands of wire and a small connector protruded from the lower left edge of
the helmet, then snaked under the left shoulder's armor plating, obviously the link between the suit's sensors and the helmet's display- if it had one. The most noticeable difference between this hard-suit and her own design, was something that was not a part of the suit at all, but a dull, silvery colored cylinder, vaguely resembling a sword handle, that swung from a leather loop at the figures side. Extending from one end of the cylinder was something she recognized after a slight confusion. It was the folded over blade of a katana, modified with a strange indentation along the entire cutting edge. Aside from the martial weapon, the suit reminded her strongly of the early prototype designs that she and Macky had worked on, before the Knight Sabers had been assembled. Her suspicions suddenly aroused, she approached the unknown figure, cautiously.

     Outside the now silent Matsumi Military base, Leon was still arguing with
the general about the mysterious armored figure when four distraught looking
hostages suddenly emerged from the front entrance. Two of them were supporting a limping female colleague, while Leon noted that the fourth was holding its left hand in a blood-soaked wrapping of torn cloth. All were dressed in the uniforms of military administrations personnel, identical to the garb of the hostages that had been released earlier. Leon rushed forward to help them to safety, a few of the soldiers and officers following behind to assist.
     "Oh god, please get us away from here! We thought they were going to kill
us when they found us in the office!"
     Leon's face showed grim concern as he helped the frantic group to a nearby ambulance. He turned to stare at the general who's mask of indifference had finally faded into a downcast glare. "Take them to Ikegaki General," he instructed the ambulance driver after the injured hostages had been seated inside, "I'll be there shortly to question them."
     The driver nodded and leapt into the white and red-striped van, and sped off up the military base's driveway, its spinning red lights casting surreal shadows against the nearby buildings. Leon watched the van disappear, until
he could only hear its high-pitched siren in the distance.
     
     "Thank-you for your help," Sylia offered the black hard-suited individual. "Your assistance is greatly appreciated by all of us."
     Priss, Linna and Nene watched as the black hard-suit shifted its stance as if to reply, but Sylia had already turned to walk away. "Uh, well- you're
welcome, but I really- ."
     Sylia abruptly turned back to the figure, raising a gloved hand to interrupt him gently, "I'm sorry if you've come a long way, but we are not hiring."
      The black hard suit stood still for a moment, as if considering her reply, while Sylia turned  away once more to ask Nene over the private intercom channel about the progress of her scans for the boomers.
     "I'm sorry Sylia, I'm still not picking up any sign of the boomers. There was a brief energy pulse just after they disappeared, but no trace of them on my sensors now. And I still can't raise Macky on the intercom."
     Macky. Sylia had forgotten about him after several attempts to reach him when the battle had begun. She tried again to reach him, this time her attempt was successful. "Sis! Are you alright? I tried to reach you but something was jamming the intercom and the video link we were getting from the surveillance cameras!" Sylia looked up into each corner of the hall and spotted the four video cameras, a red light glowing on top of each one.
     "Macky, have you got video now?"
     After a brief pause, Macky replied affirmatively.
     "Have all the hostages been transported away from the base yet?" Sylia queried her brother, with a growing unease in her voice.
     "They are now-  four more hostages just came out of-"
     Sylia didn't wait to hear the rest of Macky's reply. She bolted out the front exit way with the other three Knight Sabers close behind. Suddenly the black hard-suited figure was standing alone in the dark hall. As he began to move towards the hallway where the others had gone, his sharp eye noticed a small pool of dark liquid among the shards of glass in the middle of the floor. Crouching down to investigate, his gloved hand plucked a four inch long, black metallic finger from a puddle of blood. The finger had been severed just below the hand-knuckle by a smooth, straight cut. The exposed bone and tissue had been partially cauterized by what looked like a laser scalpel stroke. The black hard-suited figure wrapped the severed finger in his left fist and stood up. His right hand went instinctively to the silver cylinder at his hip, as he broke into a jog to catch up with the Knight Sabers outside.

     Leon's overwhelming feelings of relief at Linna's appearance in the front entrance of the military base, were short-lived, as he listened to Sylia and the general exchange angry words. He had initially been a little suspicious of the four humans that had come out of the base a few minutes ago. But their
injuries and distressed appearance, as well as their frantic pleas for help, had
squashed any doubts that he may have had about their identities, despite original reports of only thirty-two full-time base employees. Now, from what he could overhear of Sylia's assertions to the general, it looked like his initial suspicions were correct. The boomers had escaped right under their noses. He
took one last glance at Linna as she stood listening to the argument, and then
headed for his car.
     All eyes in the parking lot suddenly turned towards the sound of screeching tires, only to catch a glimpse of an AD Police car speeding up the driveway of the military base. Two of those eyes, hidden behind a dark, plastic visor, remained locked on the disappearing car, wishing the driver had not left so suddenly.
     Sylia finally disengaged from the general in disgust, then spun back on her heels to make a final point. "General, you will be contacted shortly by someone, to collect our fee as we agreed."
     After a thoughtful pause, the general nodded affirmatively.
     As the media swooped in on the general and the police, the black hard- suited figure, unnoticed by nearly everyone, followed the Knight Sabers to their van as they prepared to chase after the ambulance with its cybernetic
cargo. The figure spoke up, momentarily bringing Sylia's discussion of their
next move to a halt, "Uh, I know you're not hiring any-"
     Before anyone else could move, Sylia reached out and grabbed the black hard-suit by its arms and swung it around to slam hard up against the side of the utility van. Its left hand was balled into a fist, but the figure did not attempt to defend itself. Sylia held the figure's arms flat against the metal panel and spoke in a low, calm voice. "No. We are not hiring any new members. But that's not why you're really here, is it?"
     Linna, Nene and Priss exchanged visor-hidden glances as they watched
their leader interrogate the newcomer.
     "No. It's not," the figure divulged. "I'm looking for Sylia Stingray."
     Sylia's grip on the figure's armored forearms tightened. "Who's Sylia Stingray?" she asked calmly, skillfully concealing her alarm.
     The black hard-suit shrugged, "I don't know. I've never met her before."
     The obtuse answer was almost more than Sylia could take. Why was this person--who's voice sounded like a kid's--looking for her? And how had he connected her name with the Knight Sabers?
     By this time, Macky had poked his head out the rear door to see what was holding up their departure. Just in front of him he saw Priss, Linna and Nene standing in a semi-circle, apparently watching something. He followed their mutual gaze to just beside the rear door, where his sister was holding a figure in a black hard-suit up against the van's rear panel. He glanced at the black suit of armor, admiring its economical use of  plating, while maintaining a good overall amount of protection. It looked very similar to something he might
build, if he was strapped for funds. His brief evaluation of the stranger's armor
suddenly took a back seat, as his sister's voice rose into a range of pitch that he had not heard very many times in his life.
     "Why do you want to talk to her?! Tell me, and I'll see that she gets the message!" Sylia spat.
     The stranger simply replied that he couldn't do that. He had to speak with her face to face.
     Macky jumped back away from the door as Sylia suddenly hurled the black hard-suit into the back of the van. She climbed in after her questioner, and slammed the door shut.
     Macky slid into the driver's seat of the van, but cocked an ear to the back area, where the figure sprawled on the floor was now clambering to his knees.
     Sylia was livid. Fatigued by a battle that had nearly seen them all killed, angered by the boomers clever escape; and now this unnerving 'Kid Hero' character wanted to talk to Sylia Stingray. She sat down on the narrow bench beside the computer console with a sigh of frustration. Her instinct was telling her that whatever this person knew about her, she could not reveal her
identity to him. She had to find out who he was first.
     "Tell me who you are first, and then maybe I can arrange a meeting," Sylia cooed, her voice now returning to a calmer tone. The black hard-suit remained kneeling on the floor, his helmet turning to look at Sylia and then
back down at the floor. His hands reached up to the edges of his helmet, as Macky leaned out of his seat to get a better look.
     Sylia gasped as she recognized the face. Macky felt a shiver run over him, feeling as if he were looking into a mirror five years from now.
     The figure sat up and spoke proudly, "I'm Blackie Stingray. I'm looking for
my half-sister. And I *know* that you know where she is."
     Sylia's eyes narrowed sharply behind the dark visor of her helmet. The face of the man sitting across from her, was the grown-up visage of the cyborg-child she had seen in the boomer's "vision-test". 

                                                    ****

     Leon turned the steering wheel of his cruiser sharply to the left, narrowly avoiding a collision with the rear-end of an ambulance that lay on its side in the middle of the road. The rear doors were wide open and flames were visible coming out of the engine compartment. There wasn't much time.
     Leon swung open the police car's door, and then slid out of the seat. He held his revolver in front of him against his chest, and looked to each side of the road, ready for an ambush. He approached the rear doors of the red and white van and stood cautiously to one side, while peeking in through the window of one of the open doors. Empty. Moving stealthily to the front of the vehicle he brought the gun down to gut level and aimed it straight out in front of him. After a quick breath, he stepped quickly in front of the vehicle's windshield,
and sighted down the gun's barrel at the driver's seat.
     Through the cracked windshield, Leon saw the ambulance driver and his assistant laying in a heap on the driver's side, both of their heads tilted at an extreme angle that would not be physically possible if they were still alive. Peering closer he could see bright red hand-prints on their necks where the boomers had strangled them. Smelling leaking gasoline, he relaxed his rigid stance and walked quickly back to his car. As he slumped sideways into the seat of the cruiser, the van exploded, sending a hot breeze to wash over his face. "AD Central- this is Detective McNichol. I'm just off Bay Road number
One and Harumi. I've got an ambulance down and two dead attendants. 
Please send a fire unit-  and tell the coroners to bring their dental I.D. kits."

                                                     ****

     Far to the west of Bay Road number One, the anonymous investor peered out of his penthouse window at the mass of light in the distance that marked MegaTokyo's downtown proper. Night had swallowed the lingering purple hues of the dying sunset, and descended on the city like a thick blanket of sable. He stood for a long moment, considering the height at which he now stood; a height which he had thought he would never descend from. But now his ambition demanded it. 
     The field test had been a success as far as he was concerned. Although his
intended test subject had failed, leaving him with serious doubts about the
future of the project, the evening had not been without surprises. The fifth Knight Saber had been entirely unexpected. All of his research over the past five years had concluded that the Knight Sabers leader had not recruited any new members. And that she never would. So who was this new member who had arrived just before the annoying video loss? Could this be the one he had been seeking all along? It was certainly not out of the realm of possibility, as the image on his data unit portrayed a male and not a female. He had clung to the hope that the gender discrepancy between the image on the master data unit and that of the test subject were due to a very clever disguise, but tonight's test had dispelled that notion. Now he was beginning to wonder if the five years of boomer-free existence had given this new Knight Saber a sense of confidence that he lacked in the past. The anonymous investor began to grin. Had his field test accidentally flushed out his prey?
     It was decided. Tomorrow they would begin the next phase of the project,
and he would personally oversee its initiation. Sholtan would have to be dealt
with sooner or later, but he still had a very important task for him to complete. A task that would insure the project's success.

     The anonymous investor walked towards his desk across a large, faded rug that depicted an ancient Japanese setting; two rival armies stood at either end, frozen forever in the moment before their glory. He fell lazily into a black, high-back, leather chair and stared at the reflective surface of his
massive desk. A smooth piece of smoked glass covered the desk from corner to corner. Just below the glass were hundreds of glowing indicator panels, each accessible by a thermo-sensitive membrane sandwiched between the layers of polished silicon. The investor placed his palm down flat on the glass over an illuminated square section. A few seconds later, a clicking sound came from across the room.
     Rising from his chair, the investor crossed the room again, to confront an inconspicuous looking power outlet panel. The grey four-inch square panel
door was slightly ajar. He stooped down and flipped the door wide open, and
reached inside.
     Withdrawing his hand, he held in his palm an ornately carved wooden box. Inside the wooden box was a metallic object that vaguely resembled a silver cigarette case, its shine slightly tarnished due to frequent handling over the years. On top of the metal case, etched in a delicate script, were the letters O.M.S.

End of Part 8 - 3 of 3

Author's Notes:

It is at the mid-point of this story that I'd like to thank a few generous
individuals who gave up some of their precious time and energy to look over
this humble fanfic with a constructively critical eye. In my opinion, this story
would not have continued this far without their suggestions and advice.

Big "Thank-You's" to :
Jeanne Hedge, Bert Van Vliet, Shawn Kester.

And a tip of the hat to the following fine folks for their expert opinions and
knowledge, direct or indirect :
Ben Cantrick, Shawn Hagen, Michael Ko, Hitomi Ichinohei, Brian Edmonds,
Jon Quirit.

And as they say- Last, but not least-  Thanks to those of you who have read the
story so far and are enjoying it. Truth be known, while I have created a story
in which the plotline bends for few, in the end the tale is really for the telling.
I hope that ultimately, after making myself happy with what I've made, you the
reader will be entertained. After all the discussion about writers and their
egos, it really comes down to a simple truth. Those who write and who have ever wondered what someone else might think of their work, have an ego. But
having an ego does not mean you don't have integrity :)

Chapter 9 "The Enemy Within" will not be finished for a few weeks as I
am taking time off to catch up on fics, do some research and maybe write a
song for an upcoming chapter of BG Cross (I'm kidding Jeanne<g>).

CYA

Andy


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BG Cross
The Dark Traveller
askuse@execulink.com
Co-Maintainer of the Fanfic ML FAQ
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