Hello.

This is the second 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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Chapter 2

Pier 234
District 9
Febuary 10, 2036
6:16 am

     Leon McNichol yawned again. He looked down at the remains of
the breakfast sandwich in his lap, sighed, and picked it up.

     "Well, Doctor," asked Daley Wong. "Professional opinion. Is
it eatable?"

     "Not after what I saw on the main road," replied Leon,
tossing the remnates out the car's window. "I now know why they
banned landmines."

     Daley shrugged as he guided the police car to a stop between
two warehouses. A group of normal police prevented Daley from
going any farther. "Messy, but effective. The few mines that
those trucks didn't hit melted down into a slag of metal before
the normal police arrived on the scene."

     "So, why did the normal police want a couple of AD
inspectors down here at this time of the morning?"

     Daley climbed out of the car. "To give them some of our hard
won experience in warfare?"

     "Funny, Daley," mumbled Leon, as he slammed his door. He
stared at Daley over the roof of the car. "You took the call.
What did they tell you?"

     "They said that the Sleeping Dragon Yakazu fought a battle
here last night, and came up on the short end of the final
score."

     Leon sighed. "Let's go find the officer in charge."

     They walked the rest of the way, passing through the outer
ring of police. They passed several police evidence technicians
performing a search among the cracked concrete slabs for clues.
When they come in sight of the pier, they both stopped and stared
at the scene of carnage. Daley whistled, and Leon muttered, "This
wasn't a battle, it was a fracking WAR."     

     The pier was full of normal police, mostly uniformed,
performing a grisly, but necessary job. They were moving
carefully amongst the shattered remains of burnt out vehicles,
shattered packing crates, and sheet covered forms that had to be
bodies. A worn-looking cargo ship was tied up at the end of the
pier, and even Leon could see that she was sitting too low in the
water.

     "I wonder who's stupid enough to take on the Yakuza," said
Leon quietly.

     "Clearly someone with a death wish," replied Daley.

     "Who the hell are you two?" shouted a voice off to their
right. 

      "Speaking of death wishes," muttered Daley. "Trouble."

     A tall, blonde woman with striking features stalked over to
them. She glared at them, hands on hips. "This is a police
matter, so get the hell off -"

     "Anderson!" bellowed a male voice. A short, beefy man with a
thick neck and eyebrows stormed over to the trio. "What are you
doing?"

     "Ejecting a couple of spectators," she snarled, pointing a
thumb at Leon and Daley.

     "Anderson," said the man in a low rumbling voice. "Those two
`spectators' are from the AD Police. I asked that they be brought
in on this case."

     "Listen, Captain," hissed Anderson. "I don't need the help of
a couple of AD clowns to solve this case. I -"

     "ENOUGH!" bellowed the Captain. "You will work with them, or
you can go on suspension. Your choice."

     "FINE!" the woman said. She shot the two AD inspectors a
venomous glare and stalked off.

     "That women is out to kill me," muttered the Captain. He
stuck out a hand. "Captain Holmes, Ninth District. Sorry for the
reception."

     Leon took the hand. "That's all right, Captain. Inspector
Leon McNichols. My partner, Inspector Daley Wong."

     Holmes eyes widen slightly as he shook Daley's hand. "So the
chief sent us the first team?"

     Leon shrugged. "Business is slow this time of year." He
looked around. What do you have that needs AD police
involvement?"

     "Let's hit the highlights." Holmes pointed to the ship. "The
_Akagi Maru_. It's been on the Custom Patrol's list for the past
five years, under six different names. Somebody planed half a
dozen mines on its hull, and blew out the bottom. Its got enough
illegal weapons still in its cargo holds to start a major war."

     He motioned to the burnt out truck shells. "Somebody hit
those trucks with a missile strike. With the weapons they had
onboard, I'm surprised the entire pier didn't go up. And you saw
what happened to the trucks that managed to get off the pier."

     Leon gave a low whistle. "And the bodies?"

     Holmes gave him a tired smile. "All members of the Sleeping
Dragon Yakuza or allied street gangs. We've got thirty two
confirmed dead, another dozen wounded - of which five may not
make it through the day."

     Daley shrugged. "The Sleeping Dragons having problems with
any of the other gangs?"

     "No. Sato's too smart to leave himself open to a power
struggle. He's set up a non aggression pact with all the other
major gangs - if any of them violated the pact, the others would
crush them."

     "So someone's working under the table," said Leon.

     Holmes shook his head. "I save the best for last. Over
here." He lead them towards one of the warehouses. There was
another grouping of bodies there, as well as something covered
with a clear sheet of plastic. He pointed to what the sheet
covered. "We found this, along with several hundred 15mm shells
as his calling card." 

     Both Daley and Leon looked down at what Holmes pointed to.
Someone had burned a large, stylish N inside a circle into the
concrete slab. That was inside a triangle, which had one point
directly pointing towards the cargo ship.

     "Nemesis?" asked Leon in a stunned tone. "Here?"

     "It has all the earmarks of one of his strikes. No innocent
bystanders, the attack planed with military precision and
executed without flaw, and this marker. One of the wounded was
mumbling something about a `skull faced angel of death' when they
loaded him into the ambulance."

     "Isn't he outside his usual base of operation?"

     "We've picked up rumbles that the Sleeping Dragon's had some
trouble in San Fransico in the last three months. Seems Nemesis
is here to finish the job he started in the US."

     "Now I know why you wanted the ADP in on this," said Daley,
shaking his head. "His hardsuit and tactics puts him out of your
reach, and into ours. This guy could start a gang war that'll
make the Boomer uprising look tame in comparison."

     "Exactly." Holmes face was grim. "Sato won't take this lying
down, and he'll be one of the more restrained one. I can think of
three gang leaders that could go off the deep end should Nemesis
hit them, with several others who I wouldn't bet against. We're
sitting on a powder keg, and Nemesis is playing with matches."

     "We're in," said Leon, his tone final. "Anderson's the lead
on this case?"

     "Yea, and you know how she feels about you guys already.
She's solid and tough, but a bit too proud for her own good."

     "Sounds like a girl I know." Leon adjusted his sunglasses.
"Come on Daley, let's charm the detective with our wit and
charm."

     "I've got the wit and charm, what are you supplying?"

     "The good looks, of course."

     Daley sighed. "Of course."

     They walked away from the Captain. Leon's face had a smile,
but he was thinking about a vigilante named Nemesis.... 

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

Holton Junkyard Co.
District 5
Febuary 10, 2036
7:31am

     The trash truck drove through the open gates of the junkyard
and slowly drove to the rear of the yard. Shielded by a high
stone wall and several massive piles of junk, no one could see
the truck drive towards a massive pile of rubbish piled near the
back wall. At the last second, a portion of the junkpile moved
aside, revealing a ramp sloping downwards. Without slowing, the
trash truck went down the ramp. As soon as the truck passed
through, the disguised door closed. In a matter of seconds, there
was no evidence that there had ever been a truck there.

     The ramp was short, and lead into an underground structure a
third of the size of a baseball field. A extensive workshop lined
one wall of the chamber. Along the opposite wall, several prefab
rooms held the sleeping areas. Beside the garbage truck, several
other vehicles were parked in the cavern, ready to be used. Most
of the cavern was in darkness, except for several small lights
scattered around.

     The truck glided to a stop in the middle of the cavern. The
door opened and the imposing figure of Nemesis stepped out. He
was followed out by a short, broadshouldered man with a graying
crewcut.

     "Smitty," said Nemesis in English. "Where are you?"

      A short, thin man with sharp features emerged from the
darkness. He wore stained overalls, and was wiping his hands on a
rag. "Right here, sir," he said in a nasal twang. "How did the
strike go?"

     "Perfect. Sato lost somewhere in the neighborhood of three
quarters of a billion yen in weapons, a large number of men, and
a lot of face."

     "And we managed to take Hoshi out of the picture for a
awhile," said the man with the greying crewcut. "The police
channels said he was still breathing when they took him into
surgery." He looked at the hardsuited figure. "I still don't know
why you left him alive."

     "I had a good reason, Sarge," said Nemesis. "I wanted Hoshi
to tell Sato I was in town."

     Smitty moved over to the vigilante. "How did the minigun
perform?"

     A hiss of air, and Nemesis removed the helmet. "Better then
I expected," he replied. "The reduction in the size didn't effect
the performance in any way. Tasked with the other weapons in this
heavy hardsuit, it's a welcome addition to the arsenal."

     Smitty broke into a smile. "Need a hand getting out of
that?"

     Nemesis shook his head. He was younger then either of the
other two men, and his dark hair wasn't quite as short. Green
eyes set far apart in a tanned face that had the look of someone
who spent much time outside. As he opened his hardsuit, he asked,
"Where are Maria and the Doc?"

     "Still sleeping. They spent a lot of time reworking the
electronics over the last few days, Sir."

     "And it showed. The missiles were right on target, and the
railgun worked well." He finally stepped out of the hardsuit.
"I'm going to take a shower, grab a bite to eat, then catch some
sleep." 

     "I'll double check the hardsuit over for any problems, then
catch some sleep myself, Sir."

     "Good," replied Nemesis, walking away. "Now that I have
Sato's attention, I want to keep the pressure on. Sarge, tell
Maria when she wakes, I want a list of Sato's top money making
operations ready for tonight's missions."

     "I'll tell her." Sarge's face lost its cheerfulness. "You
know Sato's not going to take this lying down."

     "I know," Nemesis turned to look at both of them. "But I
can't back off now. Sato and the rest are jackals preying on
innocent people. They understand only force, so that is how I
reply to them." He walked away, leaving Smitty, Sarge and the
Hardsuit standing in the middle of the chamber.