Hello.

This is the first chapter of a sequel I am writing. The first story in this
series, "Black Knights, Steel Hearts", is currently appearing on raac, and is
archived at the raac archive site. I hope to continue these stories under the
heading "Bubble Gum Crucible" (Assuming it hasn't been used already). The
third story in the series, "Storm Warning" is also being written at this time,
and is a BGC/Highlander Crossover. Please read and enjoy!

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Bubble Gum Crisis is copyrighted Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am
just borrowing the characters for a little while, and promise not to
bend, fold, or staple them - unless I can come up with a good reason
to do so. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be
accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent
after you.

Please, enjoy my take on the Bubble Gum Crisis universe......
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VIGILANTE'S RUN
A BGC Fanfic

Chapter 1

Area between Piers 234 and 235
District 9
Febuary 10, 2036
3:48am

     The hard faced man stopped to light a cigarette. Taking a
long drag, he stared out into the darkness. He readjusted the
assault rifle sling to a more comfortable position, and silently
cursed his luck. The warehouses nearby were the only witnesses to
the man's anger.

     The shoreline warehouse district was deserted at this time
of the night. No one came down here after dark, not even the
street people. Even the normal police didn't patrol this area too
tightly, and the only thing that would get the AD Police down
here this time of night would be a runaway Boomer.  

     But the boss was adamant that the area be heavily guarded
while the cargo was unloaded from the ship. The man snorted in
disgust at his boss's caution. No one would be stupid enough to
attack a warehouse owned by the Sleeping Dragon Yakuza, not even
the AD Police. 

     But the boss wouldn't listen. If the rumors were right this
time, he might have reason to overreact. There were stories
circulating among the men about disasters on the US West Coast.
Several important operations had supposedly been wiped out by an
unknown strikeforce. And the Boss did look and sound agitated
tonight when he'd addressed the men before he sent them out to
patrol the area. 

     The guard shrugged. Maybe there was something going on. All
he knew for certain that here he was, walking a guard post on the
edge of the security perimeter. <All because Kenichi owes me
three thousand yen from last week's card game.> He took another
drag from his cigarette. <This way, if the police try a surprise
raid, I'm dead, or in prison, and Kenichi doesn't have to pay me
ANYTHING.>

     He was so wrapped up in his anger, he failed to hear the
scraping sound at first. When he did, he stood there, trying to
place the sound. It sounded like metal scraping against concrete,
coming from between two warehouses twenty meters away. 

     He unslung his rifle, reached for the radio, then hesitated.
<The boss has us spooked,> he thought. <He sees police everwhere,
and now he's got us jumping at shadows.> He dropped his
cigarette, and crushed it out with his shoe. He cocked the rifle
and slowly moved towards the sound.

     He was ten meters from the nearest warehouse when he saw
something move towards him. He raised his rifle and -

     Something hard and pointed slammed into his chest,
staggering him. He dropped the rifle, and stared down at the
metal spike planted deep in his chest. Moving slowly, he reached
up to pull it out, only to have his knees give way. With a look
of shock on his face, he fell onto his side. The last thing he
saw before the darkness took him was the night sky.

     A shadow detached itself from the blackness, stared down at
the dead guard for several seconds, then moved on, leaving the
dead man in a growing pool of blood.

     **********          **********          **********

Pier 234
District 9
Febuary 10, 2036
3:56 am

     The pier was lit up brightly for this time of night. Most of
the lights were directed at an aging cargo ship docked alongside
the pier. One hundred forty meters long, the rust streaked sides
gave the hull an unhealthy look, and the ship's superstructure
looked ill and unkept. Forward of the ship's bridge, a single
large cargo hatch was open in the ship's hull. The small army of
trucks on the pier could drive directly onto the ship to receive
the cargo. 

     For this delivery, the ship was called _Akagi Maru_, but
names ment nothing to the ship's captain, or his crew. Its cargo
also ment little more then earning a huge profit. This time it
was a load of weapons bound for an insurgent movement somewhere
in southeast Asia. Tomorrow, it would be another cargo for
another destination.

     On the pier itself, Hoshi, the man in charge of the
unloading of the weapons watched the operation nervously. Tall
and thin, he looked more like an undertaker then an underboss in
the Yakuza. The look was deceiving, for Hoshi was ruthless when
he had to be. It was this combination of looks and merciless
where needed that marked him as an up and comer in the
organization. Tonight was an important step towards securing his
future. 

     But Hoshi was still nervous. The Oyabun's orders were clear
and precise when Hoshi was informed of the responsibility of
guarding the shipment that afternoon. <"You can not let anyone
interfere with this operation."> the Oyabun said to him. <"Our
recent setbacks in the United States have come close to crippling
us. The entire organization is at risk. Do not fail us."> The
Oyabun did not elaborate on the setbacks in the US, and that
worried Hoshi.

     He motioned to one of his lieutenants standing nearby, a
moon faced man by the name of Kenichi. As the man rushed over,
Hoshi thought again of the security he'd arranged for this
operation. He commanded forty of the organization's soldiers
tonight, bolstered by two dozen of the best prospects from the
local gangs. All were armed with assault rifles or machine guns,
and all were well versed in extreme violence. A full dozen
soldiers were arrayed in a perimeter guard, ready to raise the
alarm at the first sign of trouble. The rest stayed close to the
ship, ready to react to any threat as Hoshi saw fit. 

     Kenichi came to a stop next to Hoshi. "Yes Hoshi-sama?"

     "I want the perimeter guard to start checking in every five
minutes from here on out, instead of every fifteen minutes."

     Kenichi looked puzzled, but nodded. He spoke into a hand
held communicator, and listen for several seconds. He frowned and
spoke into the communicator again. He looked up, and Hoshi saw
the look of fear. "Hoshi-sama?"

     Hoshi stared at him. "What is it?"

     "Sir, Wantebe has failed to respond to the new orders."

     "What is his post?"

     "Sector seven," replied Kenichi, pointing off towards pier
235. "Permission to send a team to investigate?"

     "Yes. Tell them -"

     A loud hissing sound announced the arrival of Hoshi's worse
fears. A dozen missiles flew out of the night, and struck a trio
of trucks parked near the unloading ship. The explosions tore
open the night sky with brilliant light, turning the trucks and
their cargo into piles of burning wrecks. Shouts and screams
echoed along with smaller explosions and the cracking of flames.

     Hoshi grabbed Kenichi and yelled, "Take five men and get the
rest of the trucks off this pier!" As the startled hardman dashed
off into the night, Hoshi quietly pulled out a pistol and knelt
behind a small pile of packing crates. He saw two of his
lieutenants start to rally the surviving soldiers. Several of
them headed in Hoshi's direction, and he waved them over to the
safety of the crates.

     The leader, a thin man by the name of Usago told Hoshi,
"Sir, Fujahema wanted us to try to pin down the bastards while he
and Tanaka flank them."

     Hoshi pointed to the dark outline of pier's warehouse "The
missiles came from there."

     "Right." 

     Hoshi grabbed a hand communicator from his pocket. "Hoshi to 
_Akagi Maru_. When I give the word, I want you to shine your
searchlights at the warehouse."

     "_Akagi Maru_ to Hoshi." The voice sounded panicked. "We're
getting out of here -"

     "If you value your life, or your business dealings with us,"
snarled Hoshi. "You will do as I order. Understand?"

     The voice sounded resigned. "_Akagi Maru_ understands. We're
manning the searchlights now."

     Usago and his men opened fire where Hoshi had pointed. From
other parts of the pier, more soldiers opened fire at the
warehouse, and for twenty seconds there was nothing but the
ripping of automatic weapons. Hoshi watched as a couple dozen
lines of fire converged on the darken warehouse. As the fire
continued, Hoshi saw two groups of men make a short dash towards
the warehouse, careful to stay out of their comrade's fire.

     Then came silence, as the street soldiers exchanged empty
magazines in their weapons for full ones. The two groups reached
the warehouse, and Hoshi saw both Tanaka and Fujahema motion
their readiness. Hoshi turned and waved to the ship. Several
beams of light reached out from the ship, and focused in on the
large squat building. Without hesitating, the soldiers charged
through the open doors into the warehouse.

     The high pitched whine of a minigun starting up alerted
Hoshi that something was wrong. For thirty seconds, there was
nothing but the rattle of two dozen automatic weapons,
accentuated with the minigun's reply, and several screams of pain
and terror. Hoshi looked at Usago in worry.

     From inside the warehouse, there were several shouted orders
to retreat. The minigun stopped firing. Half a dozen mobsters
stumbled out of the warehouse. Several of the mobsters turned and
fired backed into the warehouse. The minigun opened up again, and
all the retreating gangsters were cut down in a matter of
seconds. 

     The minigun stopped long enough to retarget, then opened up
on the _Akagi Maru_, sending several hundred rounds through the
ship's searchlights. The lights shattered, plunging the warehouse
into darkness again. The minigun then moved onto the lights
surrounding the pier, and destroyed them in a shower of
explosions.

     In the meantime, Kenichi and his men reached the remaining
trucks. In a matter of seconds, the trucks were driving off into
the darkness. After the sounds of the trucks faded, there was
silence for several seconds.

     Hoshi hands were clammy as he spoke into the communicator.
"Tanaka, Fujahema, report! What happened?" Silence answered him.
"This is Hoshi! Tanaka, answer me! Fujahema, report! What
happened?"

     A electronic hiss was followed by a cold voice that chilled
Hoshi to the bone. "They can't answer, Hoshi," the voice answered
in perfect Japanese. "None of your men you sent in here can
answer you now."

     "Who is this?" the Yakuza leader demanded, his gut burning
with anger and fear.

     "You can call me Nemesis," the voice replied.

     "Who do you work for?"

     "I work for no one, Hoshi, save Justice." 

     Another volley of missiles flew out of the surrounding
darkness and slammed into the _Akagi Maru_'s hull. The missiles
tore through the metal and added their explosions to the symphony
of destruction already present on the pier.

     The graveyard voice said, "Tell your Oyabun that the days of
the Sleeping Dragon Yakuza are numbered. I am here to collect a
debt that can only be paid in blood - his blood." 

     Out of the darkness, Hoshi saw a shadow moving. Was it one
of his men? No, it moved too calmly, too assured, as if it owned
the battlefield. Shouting to the men near him to open fire, Hoshi
raised his pistol to fire at the shadow. 

     But something slammed into his shoulder, knocking him over. 
He screamed in pain, but the scream was drowned out by the
minigun's whine. The crates that he and his men had been used as
a shield offered no protection against the minigun's fire. The
rounds cut through the crates, and stabbed into the men shielding
behind them. After several seconds, the minigin's whine died
away.

     Hoshi got up slowly, and stared at the spike sticking out of
his shoulder. Blood streamed from around the wound, spreading
slowly across his shirt. The pistol dropped from his now lifeless
hand, and clattered to the ground. A charge of pain shot through
his body, crumpling him to his knees. He gritted his teeth,
fighting hard to prevent the wave of unconsciousness from
claiming him.

     He heard something moving towards him, and he looked up. A
large black figure strode up to him and stared down at him. It
stood a meter taller then him, its black metal skin gleaming in
the flames. A large, multibarreled minigun was attached to the
right arm, wisps of smoke still coming from the barrels. 

     At first, he thought it was a Boomer, but after looking
closer, he saw it was a hardsuit of some type. A white stylized
skull was painted where the face would be. No other markings
marred it surface, and with sick certainty, Hoshi knew that this
enemy was the one who had avoided the tremendous firepower
unleashed against the warehouse, and killed his men.

     "You will live long enough to tell the Oyabun I am here,"
the harsuited figure said, the voice still cold and unforgiving.

     "You...will...die," replied Hoshi through gritted teeth. "I
swear it."

     "Never make promises you can't keep, Hoshi." The hard suited
figure turned towards the ship. "ATTENTION, ALL CREW MEMBERS OF
THE AKAGI MARU!" the figure boomed. "MY NAME IS NEMESIS. YOU HAVE
THREE MINUTES TO ABANDON SHIP BEFORE THE MINES I SET AGAINST THE
HULL DETONATE!"

     A small group of Hoshi's men decided to make their attack at
that moment. They charged at Nemesis from the other side of the
pier, guns blazing. Hoshi flinched as his men bullets richeted
off the hardsuit's armor, and flew off into the night. Nemesis
turned slowly and watch them for several seconds before he raised
the minigun and opened fire. The entire group reacted as if they
hit an invisible wall. After the minigun stopped firing, none of
the soldiers were standing.

     Hoshi stared at their bodies. "You killed them!" he blurted
out.

     "This is a war, Hoshi-san," replied Nemesis calmly. "They
knew the risks, they had their chance to walk away. They didn't
take it." With that, Nemesis turned and walked away into the
smoke.

     A number of explosions some distance away made Nemesis turn
and look at Hoshi. In the smoke, he looked like a demon "That was
Kenichi and the trucks he was escorting. I took the opportunity
to mine the main road against the possibility. You better have
someone help you, Hoshi. You have only two minutes and thirty
seconds before the mines go off."

     With that, the figure disappeared into the night, leaving
Hoshi in the ruins of his failure.


Craig A. Reed Jr.
trboturtle@aol.com