CHAPTER 4 - Hot In The City Tonight
In what passed for a mind in the boomer, electronic pathways carried
different thoughts as the boomer `pondered' various things. For
instance, its current mission. Its `charge' appeared to be a complete
unknown, and not very skilled in survival techniques either. Yet for
some reason, he was important to the boomer's masters.
Its orders had been _very_ specific; observe this man, and protect
him from getting killed. The boomer didn't know _why_; it didn't
_need_ to know. It had also been told to expect orders to bring him
in. The boomer didn't foresee much of a problem in that.
The surveillance had been rather profitable though. It had seen a
new, unknown type of hardsuit that hadn't registered in its database;
it had had to create a completely new entry for it. It had also got
some detailed combat info, at the cost of some of its own structural
integrity. And at the cost of its cover.
The boomer suspected that it would be attacked very soon now. It
had been discovered only a few minutes ago, and already its enhanced
audio senses were picking up and identifying sirens and the drone of
helicopters. Maybe if it was lucky, it would have a chance to
complete its secondary objective: destroying any targets of
opportunity.
A Knight Saber would fit perfectly into that category.
In some crude way, the boomer was looking forward to the next thirty
minutes.
--**************--
Ian was nervous. Very nervous. The atmosphere in this place was
palpable, and it was rife with tension. He was _sure_ he was being
watched.
He still had twenty-five minutes to waste.
The people around here seemed different to those he'd noticed around
ADP headquarters. Far more alert, for one thing. Everyone looking
out for themselves.
/Next time,/ Ian thought, /I'll get a map./
--**************--
Max sighed. Up ahead, just visible, a group of police cars had set
up a roadblock. Something was going on, and Max would have bet ten
dollars that it had something to do with that boomer they saw.
"How do we get through that, Max?" asked Ford. He sounded nervous,
but then, he always was.
"We don't," Max replied. "We bust through them, we're going to have
ADP down on us like a ton of bricks. We've lost too many tonight.
And I've never lost one of mine before."
"So what do we do now?"
"I guess we go back to Chronos. As I said, he owes us for what we
went through tonight."
The gang weren't entirely impressed with that idea. They'd had
enough of Chronos for their entire lives. Max noticed this.
"It can't be helped. I want that bugger dead, and the only way
we're going to get a chance of doing that is to his dirty work."
"What," Ford asked nervously, "you mean, sorta distract him?"
Max smiled. "Maybe. Thing is, he looks like the type to gloat.
And buggers like that only gloat when they've got their enemy in front
of them."
He looked past the barricade deep into Shinjuku. "Next time, Ian."
--**************--
Leon McNichol, inspector for the ADPolice, pulled up just outside
the Shinjuku district. Climbing out of the car, he approached the
cordoned off area.
"What's going on?" he asked the nearest police officer.
"Rogue boomer in the Shinjuku district. Got a report that it's
stalking someone, so we're keeping anyone from coming in. We're
trying to find it by chopper."
"Fine," Leon replied. "Pull back some of the cars; Daley and I are
going in. I want to see this boomer for myself."
"But sir...."
"Just do it. And get some backup in there. I'd like to get that
boomer _before_ it goes crazy."
"Yes sir."
--**************--
Ian started to worry when he noticed that a number of people were
leaving the area he had just entered. Everyone seemed to be vanishing
into the woodwork.
He started to worry more when he noticed that there were some people
who _hadn't_ vanished. They were looking nonchalantly at him.
Ian slowed down his pace, and came to a stop. He took a step back,
and turned.
He didn't get very far. In fact, right behind him, he found a
large, well-muscled torso. It was wearing a black T-shirt with a
burning skull on it. He looked up. About a foot above him was a
bearded face, grinning down at him. This was impressive, since Ian
himself was around 5'9".
He wondered if they could hear him swallow.
As he backed away from the guy, he became vaguely aware of a ring of
similar people surrounding him.
He wondered what would happen if he drew his pistol.
The unmistakable click of a gun being cocked answered his question.
"Uh, hi guys," he managed weakly. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm
kind of running away at the moment, so I really shouldn't...."
"Stay right where you are," came a low voice behind him. Ian
stopped backing away and groaned. The voice was feminine.
Ian turned without haste, occupying his mind with various curses
about female gang leaders.
This female gang leader in question had jet black hair, which
perfectly matched her jet black outfit. Black boots paired it off;
amazingly, they _didn't_ have high heels. Ian wondered who it was who
had started this fashion trend, if only so that he could do the entire
industry a favour and kill the little bugger.
She was handling a knife in her right hand, turning it over as if
contemplating what to do with it. However, her eyes were fixed firmly
on him.
"Would it help if I said I surrender," ventured Ian, wondering
whether Fate had another nasty surprise for him.
"No," she replied flippantly. "Not really."
"Are you going to tell me what you want?"
She smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I suppose I could grant that
as a last request."
/Oh,/ Ian mouthed.
"Living on the streets is tough," she resumed, "wouldn't you agree?
We have to find a way to make ends meet. I'm sure we can find some
interesting stuff on you, especially with you carrying that big heavy
pack on your back."
He licked his lips. "Um, how about I just _give_ you my pack."
"Oh, you'll give it to us alright. Just not the way _you_ mean it."
/Ah,/ thought Ian in understanding. "I suppose there's no use in me
trying to make a run for it, then."
The man standing to her right brandished what looked like an assault
rifle. Ian's heart sank. It was times like this where he _really_
missed his shield generator.
"Now," continued the leader pleasantly, "if you'll just...."
There was a scream from behind and to the left of Ian. /Not
again..../
Even so, as soon as they were distracted, Ian darted through a gap
to his right, drawing his gun in the process.
He was not obstructed. His potential muggers had greater problems.
A boomer had just ripped one of their heads off.
--**************--
Ian fled down the main street, not looking back. One reason not to
was wind resistance, and the importance of watching where you were
going. The other was that Ian was sure it would not be a nice view.
The ADPolice car pulling up in front of him changed his mind. He'd
had enough of those guys for one day, and he really didn't want to
have to explain what he was doing here.
He turned and ran the other way. Only to find the boomer finishing
off the last of the gang who hadn't been quick enough to get away. It
gazed at him with its red baleful eyes.
Behind him, the two detectives had vacated the police vehicle, and
were drawing their weapons, watching the boomer over the car roof.
It hadn't yet occurred to Ian that if a fight broke out between the
boomer and the police officers, he would be in the line of fire.
In metaphorical terms, the match was hovering over the fuel.
And from the sky, four females in hardsuits came to light it.
--**************--
Behind his car, Leon looked at the bloody mess the boomer had
caused. Despite the fact that the boomer had just effectively
dispersed a gang MegaTokyo Police badly wanted dealt with, it had
killed to do it. In a very sadistic manner. There was no way ADP was
going to delay this any longer. Not if he had anything to say about
it.
He wondered a little about the guy just in front of him, looking
like a trapped rat. Why didn't he just run towards the police line?
What was stopping him? Was he scared of ADP? Why wouldn't he get out
of his bloody line of sight?!
All answers were academic as four hardsuits flew down to engage the
boomer.
Leon's partner, Daley Wong, cried out. "It's the Knight Sabers!"
--**************--
"It's the Knight Sabers!"
/Who?/ Ian looked up as four coloured suits flashed by and landed
between him and the boomer. /Knight Sabers? Who the hell are..../
And then it happened. That feeling he got every time he
successfully identified which book he'd landed in. Sometimes it was a
feeling of elation, sometimes one of thankfulness, sometimes even one
of depression. This time, it was one of sickness.
The Knight Sabers. Four vigilantes fighting robots in the near
future. Ian wasn't a fanatic about manga, but he'd been introduced to
it well enough to finally recognise "Bubblegum Crisis".
Megacorporations battling for control. Individuals became pawns for
use. On a piece of paper somewhere, Ian had said he was a scientist
working on Matter Transportation. He now thought he had an inkling on
just why so many people were after him.
The realisation just made getting out of here a more urgent
objective.
--**************--
"It's the Knight Sabers!"
The boomer watched as four different coloured hardsuits touched down
before it - white, pink, blue and green.
Boomers, theoretically, shouldn't have emotional feelings.
Even so, this boomer seemed significantly more cheerful.
Weapons spun out and engaged themselves as various orifices and
armaments revealed themselves. There was a pause as some of the
weapons began to glow, powering up.
Barely twenty feet down the road, Ian fervently wished he was
somewhere else.
--**************--
As the Knight Sabers closed in to attack, the boomer fired every bit
of arsenal it had. Most were way off mark; the boomer's targeting
systems had been one of the damaged modules. Some were dodged as the
agile vigilantes side-stepped, rolled and generally worked to avoid
the projectiles. The rest were unfortunate enough to be turned by the
powered armour.
Behind them, Ian merely threw himself at the ground and put both
hands on his head, wincing as explosive ammunition hammered the ground
around him.
Further back, Leon and Daley ran from their car as a stray missile
turned it into a fireball.
The pink hardsuit launched itself towards a nearby building; Nene
was here only to observe. In the white hardsuit, Sylia also backed
off; although she was immensely capable of hand-to-hand combat, she
also wanted to be able to observe the boomer. For some reason, it had
been adapted for surveillance. Sylia wanted to know why.
On the other hand, the remaining Knight Sabers charged right at the
C-55; Linna with her monomolecular streamers and knuckle bombers, and
Priss a second behind with her railgun.
The boomer rose to meet them, with its fists; although it normally
needed no other weapons, there was a faint hum of energy firearms
charging up in the background.
They clashed.
--**************--
A sudden beeping brought Ian out of his startled shock. His gaze
swung around to his left wrist, where his digital watch flashed
00:00:00. Almost immediately, a flash of blue light appeared, fading
to reveal a fiery portal on the other side of the street.
Now, he had a choice. Either stay here and be picked up by the ADP,
the Knight Sabers, Chronos or any number of corporations who could be
controlling that boomer who had been tailing him.
Or he could run twenty feet of battleground through which bullets,
lasers and about a half-ton worth of powered armour were freely flying
around in, and escape into an unknown world with unknown dangers.
In Ian's mind, it was no choice.
Perceived dangers are always more terrifying than the unknown.
--**************--
Leon inched back to the still burning wreck that had once been his
car. The chief would _not_ be pleased; he'd probably chew him out for
taking the car into a warzone in the first place. /Well,/ he thought,
/at least the Knight Sabers got here _before_ the ADP made a fool out
of themselves./
As far as he could tell, it was going badly for the boomer; one of
its arms had been amputated by the green hardsuit's streamers, and the
boomer was currently directing all its firepower in keeping it away,
leaving it open for attack from the blue-coloured hardsuit.
He was about to draw back when he noticed someone running out into
the battlezone. The `trapped rat' from before. /Is he crazy?/ Leon,
against his better inclinations, moved forward to watch the
proceedings.
--**************--
Despite the thrill and exhilaration she got when fighting boomers,
Priss was quickly getting bored with this game. The boomer just
wasn't fun at all; despite being almost loaded down with weapons of
varying type and description, it just didn't seem... competent enough.
She'd tried getting its attention with a couple of near misses, as
well as shooting some of its weapons off; but it just wasn't good
enough.
It could hardly keep up with _one_ opponent; it was pouring all it
had in keeping Linna away, leaving nothing for herself to dodge. It
was getting old, fast. Priss decided to call it a day, aimed her
right arm straight at it, and activated the railgun.
The line of fire had been clear all the way to the boomer when she
fired. Until Ian crossed it.
--**************--
It wasn't winning. It knew that as a cold fact. It also knew that
it wasn't _designed_ to win under these conditions.
It detected rather than heard the railgun firing. It estimated that
a direct hit would cause critical damage to power systems, effectively
causing total shutdown.
And then it detected Ian's presence in the line of fire.
Destroying targets of opportunity was only its secondary objective.
Its primary objective was to follow and watch this man. And protect
him at all costs.
--**************--
Ian heard something, a series of gunshots like machine gun fire,
maybe. He completely ignored it; he was focusing on the portal of
bluefire only ten feet away. Almost close enough to touch.
It was only a couple of milliseconds later, but he found it hard to
ignore two-hundred kilos worth of boomer pushing him to the ground.
--**************--
Nene was in shock. This may have been partly due to the fact that
this was the first time she'd ever seen a boomer _save_ someone. A
renegade combat boomer, to be precise.
However, the reason Nene was in shock was not so much to do with the
boomer, but more to do with the man whom the boomer had saved. The
same man Nene had seen walk out of ADP headquarters not seven hours
ago.
She slowly came out of her startlement. /Where does he fit into all
this?/
--**************--
Ian's first reaction was intense petrifying fear; an emotion he
usually underwent when he thought he was going to die.
The fact he was still alive a few seconds later therefore came as a
surprise for him; a nice surprise, which was a rare thing in Ian's
experience.
He slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, and looked
around for what pushed him.
The two Knight Sabers were not looking at him; they were watching in
amazement at the frozen boomer just behind him. Ian almost yelped as
he hurriedly backed away.
He was in no danger. The boomer looked slowly down at its chest, at
the railgun spikes firmly embedded there. Then it turned its gaze to
Ian. Its eyes seemed to glow brighter for a moment, and then, ever so
slowly, it collapsed.
Ian got to his feet hesitantly, still backing away from the fallen
boomer. From the looks of it, the Knight Sabers had just saved his
life. But then, they'd want to know why it was chasing him in the
first place. And then, when they were gone, the ADP would probably
bring him in for their own questioning.
Ian took a frightened glance at both Knight Sabers, and then, on
impulse, looked up at the pink Knight Saber that seemed to be
examining him intensely.
He needed no other encouragement; he turned and ran straight into
the portal.
--**************--
The boomer was almost dead; it had taken the spikes deep in the
chest, irreparably damaging vital systems. It wasn't even fighting
back, and in its eyes, the light was dimming.
But where had `Ian' gone? And why had the boomer saved him? `Ian'
had simply vanished from the battlescene; one moment he had been
running, the next he was gone. He had obviously been running _to_
something; the way he had sprinted _across_ the battlefield, rather
than away from it, rang too true to idiocy for there to be no reason.
Could he have "Matter Transported" out of there? Nene doubted it.
Even though her sensors had picked up some sort of electrical burst
when he disappeared, there was no _way_ he could have created a device
small enough to be hidden on him. And the burst had been centred on
him; there had been no outside source.
Why had he looked up at her just before he disappeared? He had
seemed frightened of something. Frightened of what?
Who was he working for? And what was this new faction all about?
Nene foresaw a lot of work ahead of her analysing the scraps she'd
found. As well as all the data she'd intercepted from the
surveillance boomer.
She resolved to answer those unanswered questions later. The guy
would turn up somewhere. Nene was sure of it.
--**************--
Blue light, swirling around. All kinds of tints could be seen in
the tunnel that took Ian speeding from one book to the next; if you
could focus on them. The speed at which everything was going made it
become a collage of different blues, until it all mixed together to
form some kind of white.
As always, Ian could feel the acceleration as he just kept on going
faster. The force on him was incredible; Ian wondered if he ever
passed out during these trips.
At that kind of velocity, spotting the light at the end of the
tunnel just wasn't possible. But Ian knew it was there. Any second
now....
--**************--
End Chapter 4
--**************--
PREVIEW
DAY 2
Ian ran full pelt out of the portal, none the worse for wear from
his experience, and skidded to a halt within a large shopping
precinct. With badly hidden frustration, he noticed that the signs
were still in Japanese, but fortunately, it seemed, he was back in the
present day. By the light streaming in from outside, it was early
afternoon. A clock on the other side of the building confirmed it.
It was a little odd, that the portal had brought him inside a mall,
when he had just escaped from the streets.
What was definitely strange, were the amount of people lying on the
floor, seeming... drained, somehow.
And the eight-foot tall monster with the really sharp claws that was
moving around the place laughing as people collapsed around it. It
was standing in a similar place relative to Ian that the boomer had
been. /Oh, so instead of sending me to similar surroundings, it
bloody well sends me to similar circumstances..../ And this time,
there were no Knight Sabers.
Without thinking twice, Ian started to back slowly away from it,
hoping it wouldn't notice him.
He was out of luck. It spun to face him the moment he moved.
Almost out of instinct, Ian whipped out his pistol, aiming in the
monster's general direction and succeeded in blasting it several times
in the chest. The barrage seemed to cause it immense pain, but to
Ian's dismay, it was still moving when the pistol decharged.
/Aw man..../ Ian hurriedly leapt behind a potted plant as the
monster started to flick energy bolts at _him_. He set to work,
feverishly rifling through his belongings searching for....
Ian sprawled on the floor as one of the bolts exploded near his
back. Fortunately, the pot plant had absorbed the main brunt of the
blast, but Ian realised now that perhaps more solid cover would be
marginally safer. He dove behind a bench, narrowly missing being
fried a second time.
He finally retrieved the portable generator - a small humming cube-
like device - which he then proceeded to connect to the pistol's
handle. There was a click and a hum as the two connected.
Meanwhile, he was vaguely aware of the monster stalking him from the
other side of the stall he had now chosen as his new piece of cover.
Hearing a droning sound slowly rising in pitch, Ian sped to the next
possible shelter as the stall was vaporised by another energy bolt.
/Come on, come on!/ he thought urgently to the generator, hoping
that his willpower would somehow speed up the process. He was
rewarded by a short series of beeps, signalling the end of the
recharge. Not even bothering to disconnect the generator, Ian doubled
back, ready to face his adversary.
He dodged out of cover just in time to see that others had at last
responded to the threat. Five teenage girls, to be precise. The
_young_ half of teenage. There was something familiar about them,
that tugged at Ian's mind. He shook it off and started to run towards
the monster, gun upraised. The monster hadn't noticed them yet; it
was still concentrating solely on Ian, a fact that was evident from
the increasing number of energy projectiles that was heading his way.
Trying not to think about what his agility was like most of the time,
Ian continued to dodge the bolts, hoping to survive long enough to get
a hit in. What did those girls think they were doing anyway? At this
rate, they were going to get themselves killed not knowing when to run
and when to....
"JUPITER POWER, MAKE UP!"
/Huh?/
"MERCURY POWER, MAKE UP!"
The girls all had something held up high above their head, and they
were each shouting something different. The monster half-turned to
look at them, pausing its assault on Ian. A couple of laser bolts to
the side of its head brought it snarling back to face the student....
"VENUS POWER, MAKE UP!"
As they each finished their own sentence, blinding light coalesced
around them, and they became hidden from Ian's view....
"MARS POWER, MAKE UP!"
Now, only one of the girls was left. She had a _very_ distinctive
hairstyle. Two balls of hair with a long ponytail dangling down from
each. It made him think of... of... /Meatballs. Like meatballs./
Now where had _that_ come from?
The last girl held some kind of pendant over her head, and shouted:
"MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE UP!"
As the light cleared, Ian found himself watching on the sidelines.
The girls had changed, that much was definite. Each of them were now
wearing some sort of superhero costume; almost like a sailor's uniform
with a short skirt, complete with white gloves and high heels. /A
sailor fuku,/ his mind helpfully came up with. Where had he heard
that before? Fortunately, the monster was no longer paying him any
attention. It spun to face the newcomers.
The one he had recognised with the distinctive hairstyle pointed at
the monster with a scowl on her face. "Even though shopping can be a
chore, it is a neccessary part of life, and often pleasurable. To
interfere with it in such a way is unforgivable. For love and
justice, we are the beautiful Sailor Senshi! In the name of the
moon...."
"...and the planets Jupiter..." interrupted the tall, pony-tailed
girl, who seemed rather tomboyish; almost looking forward to the
fight.
"...Mercury..." continued the shorter, girl with an almost bluish
tint to her short dark hair.
"...Venus..." said the blonde-haired senshi, arguably the prettiest
of the five; at least, Ian thought so. He felt sure the girls
themselves would have other ideas.
"...and Mars..." picked up the one with long, black hair; Ian would
have sworn she was rolling her eyes. As for appearance, she looked an
awful lot like the blonde-haired girl before her; maybe they were
sisters?
"...we will punish you," finished the meatball-haired girl, who
unlike the previous girl, seemed deadly serious about the speech.
Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes widened slightly as he realised
something. Sailor fuku. Meatballs. Senshi. It all fit. Ian
realised just who it was who had replaced the Knight Sabers in this
book.
"Oh no," Ian muttered under his breath.
The speeches finished, the senshi charged the monster. Most of the
fighting appeared to be just energy attacks; none of the girls seemed
willing to close for hand-to-hand which, considering the size of the
monster, was just as well.
"CRESCENT BEAM!"
Long ago, back before all this business with the bookshop had ever
happened, back when the worst Ian had to worry about was homework
being in late, Ian had been `introduced' to Japanese anime by a friend
of his. One of them had been a dubbed series named "Sailor Moon".
"SHABON SPRAY!"
"Oh god, oh man, oh shit...."
Ian, personally, couldn't stand it. The closest thing he had to
compare it with was an American TV programme called "Mighty Morphin'
Power Rangers", a show so corny and stupid that it didn't even merit
watching for the idiotic monsters. The plot of each episode of MMPR
was identical to every other one. New monster goes around causing
chaos. Power Rangers go and trounce new monster. Evil megalomaniac
sorceress controlling operation causes new monster to grow to Godzilla
height. Power Rangers call their dinosaur inspired mechanoids and
trounce Godzilla-size new monster. Admittedly, they didn't then all
go back home and have a round of ginger beer, but the last five
minutes of each episode appeared to be devoted to learning some kind
of moral. Apparently, the show had done really well in the States.
"THUNDER CRASH!"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Ian continued his litany, panic setting in at
the edges of his voice, which had been steadily rising in both pitch
and volume.
Of course, there was no way he could be in the dubbed version. That
was a TV programme. However, his friend had said that the original
Sailor Moon had been Japanese manga....
He was stuck for twenty-four hours in the middle of a book he
neither liked nor cared about. A little girl's book. He believed
`kawaii' was the word his friend had described it. Japanese for
"cute". And that it was. Ian could almost puke.
"FIRE SOUL!"
He was in their reality now. He was bound by their laws of physics
and their way of doing things. He was, to all intents and purposes,
trapped.
"MOON TIARA ACTION!"
The battle had been raging for well over a couple of minutes, and
sadly, it looked like the other buildings had borne most of the
attacks. However, the fight was now coming to an end. And with that
final cry, a tiara whistled through the air from the meatball-haired
girl's hand, and crashed into the badly wounded monster. With a mixed
cry of rage and pain, it collapsed into dust. The golden tiara
continued to spin through the air in a smooth parabola, before
returning back to the girl.
The scene brought reality screaming back to Ian with a crash. There
was no denying it now. He knew exactly where he was, and exactly what
he thought of it.
"Yatta," cried Sailor Moon in exultation.
"NO!" cried Ian in despair.
`Saved' by a bunch of fourteen year-old girls in abbreviated sailor
suits. Things just couldn't get worse.
--**************--
End Preview
Author's Notes: Fourth chapter. It's over, thank god ^_^
And now, of course, after four chapters of BGC, it's time to switch
over to Sailor Moon, where more fun, frolics, and general bad luck
will have Ian being shot at, terrorised, chased and hanging from high
places with no hope of salvation or, as is often the case, dropping
from high places.
Some people might not recognise some of the phrases in the Preview, or
might think that I got the attacks wrong, or something. Actually,
come to think of it, most of the people on the FFML _wouldn't_ think
that, since they already know what I'm talking about. Any which way,
the fact is, since Ian jumps around through books, it's very unlikely
he'd land in a dubbed Anime. No, as hinted at by the fact that the
shop signs are all in Japanese, Ian's landed in the original manga.
No, my Japanese isn't that good - apart from a few choice words, I'm
useless - all my information on the Japanese originals came from a
great FAQ by Hitoshi Doi, and reading too many Sailor Moon 'fics. And
even then, I still don't know a lot about the manga; only the anime
(of which I have 90% of the synopses... <sigh> ...now, what I wouldn't
do to get my hands on the original material.... (Actually, there's a
lot of stuff I wouldn't do; I'm sorta broke at the moment....))
Chances are, I've made mistakes in any part of the fanfic (except the
prologue. No-one can criticise me for that, because that book doesn't
exist!!! ^_^)
Comments & Criticism welcome. Flames are not. If you have a
criticism, don't just tell me, think of some way that I could make it
better. Give me a reason why it doesn't work. "That bit sucked,"
does nothing to help make it better. Neither do the words "You suck."
So please, constructive criticism only, and no abuse.
I'm hoping to have a great many parodies in the upcoming chapters...
including... well, you'll see ^_^
Speaking of parodies, my stuff is littered with both implicit and
explicit quoting, inferences, references and other such stuff ripped,
copied and pasted into my story from various pieces of fiction, fact,
games,... uh, you get the idea. To directly quote another author, a
very _good_ author (read "Mother's Day" sometime, and look out for
some of his latest ones, coming soon...):
"Special Bonus: Find all the references in the 'fic and win a
prize! Well, not really. But it would definately be good grounds
for someone suing me, and I suppose you could make a few bucks that
way."
I take this space to just say that the author who wrote that phrase is
one of the best fanfic authors I know.
I hope he doesn't see this ^_^
I would be interested to see if anyone _can_ find all the references I
made; there _are_ some pretty obscure ones there.
Hope you enjoyed the Preview. You'll see it again as the prologue to
the next part of "Boomers and Youmas", `Kawaii Just Doesn't Cut It'!