BUBBLEGUM RIFT
by
Damien Hailey
(But you may call me SAMAS)
I'm back. I finally figured out what to do in this chapter. Mainly
because
of an idea I had for this series that's presently spinning off into it's
own
series. And the damn ...... ... gggggg button's stuck on this
keyboard!
A crossover note: This story, and its sequel, Generations, is a double-
cross. A crossover between Bubblegim Crisis, Another series to be
named,
and a fusion between Rifts(Palladium Megaverse) and Oh! My Goddess. (If
you've read Rifts Conversion Book 2 and/or Dragons and Gods, you know I
better have a good explanation when I get to that part.)
Fanfic Writing Rule #27: Never let your little sister read your
fanfics.
" " Means Japanese
// //Means Another language (Spanish, Dragonese, Trade 3, English/Trade
4,
etc...)
** denotes thought. { } means telepathic communication
[ ] Means X is talking, a dual discordant voice with a slight reverb (a
'Soundwave' Accent, remember Transformers?) that can carry over sound,
radio, and cyberspace simutaneously. If you've played Warcraft II or
Dark
Reign, it sounds like a Human Paladin or the Basic Imperium Unit Voice,
respectively.
===============================================================================
[Deep within the Congo, Africa, Rifts Earth, 88 P.A.]
The old pygmy ran through the jungle, running in terror from his
persuer.
Close behind him, a large panther bounded confidently through the
branches
above, intent on catching his prey. The pygmy stumbled on a root, but
quickly regained his footing and kept moving. The panther leapt down to
the ground and continued the chase, until it finally cornered the old
man
in a secluded clearing. Sensing the impending kill, the panther pounced
forward.
Unfortunately for it, it's senses failed to register something else.
Namely,
the even bigger panther that came out of nowhere and blindsided it,
knocking
it into a tree.
The larger panther pounced on the smaller one, pinning it to the ground.
She bent down and growled in the smaller cat's ear. //Not this time,
little cousin, now go.// The panther got back up, growled back, and
left.
The giant panther turned back to the old man and spoke. //Grandfather,
are
you alright? We became worried when you had gotten seperated from us
after
the outsiders attacked.//
The old man smiled and rubbed the panther on her head. //I am fine,
Selene.
I owe you my life once again.//
//I am always happy to help you.// Selene smiled, at least as much as a
cat
can smile. //We should be returning to the Ancient Father, it is
getting
late.//
The pygmy climbed onto Selene's back. //You are right. Let us be off,
then!// The werepanther cried out with a mighty roar that would've
scared a
Manticore, and bounded into the jungle.
******************************************************************
[Giza, Egypt. Rifts Earth, 103 P.A.]
The young SAMAS pilot swerved as the huge, demonic skeleton rose out of
the
ground. Frantically, he fired his railgun at the abomination. The
first
round clipped it's ear, but the rest of the shots went wide. The
skeleton
swiped with its claws, knocking the power armor to the ground, where a
pack
of Nightmare Zombies jumped on him.
Selene pounced on the skeleton, knocking it to the ground. Behind her,
Turner jumped on the monster's chest, firing his plasma cannon
point-blank
into its head. The skeleton screamed, a sound like tearing flesh, and
knocked him back. A group of zombies rushed at him, but he destroyed
them
all with a wide-angle blast. Selene snarled at the demon skeleton, and
her
body started to change. She rose to her hind legs as the feet began to
flatten out. Her forepaws lenghtened into hands and her face shortened.
She still greatly resembled a cat, but she now had a more humanoid form.
The harness that had been fitted on her body shifted slightly, becoming
a
sort of half-suit. Two cables snaked out from the metal pack on her
back,
extending to a pair of tubes at her wrists. Selene reached around her
back
and pulled out a composite bow. She drew an arrow and shot it, the
arrow
burst into flames and split into three parts. The firebolts struck
the skeleton, doing moderate damage. Suddenly, the ground around them
erupted into a horde of zombies, skeletons, and dozens of large,
wormlike
creatures.
//Selene,// Turner said, //how many of them to you think we can take out
before we're overrun?//
Selene dropped her bow and turned to face Turner. //As many as it
takes.//
She grabbed him and kissed him quickly. //I'll gladly face death for
you.//
Turner smiled. //We _are_ facing Death. And War.// He fired another
wide
shot from his Volcano gun, vaporizing an entire section of zombies.
//We killed Pestillence in Kenya, remember?// Selene replied. A
skeleton
raked at her eyes, but she tore it apart with a single claw swipe. She
raised her arms, and a stream of laser blasts shot out of the tubes on
her
wrists, striking a goat-headed zombie and taking it down. //We can
destroy
Death and War too.//(1)
Turner looked over the amassed monsters. the troops of the Phoenix
Empire
were finally massing over the horizon. //Don't look now, but things are
about to get a whole lot worse.// he said, drawing his sword.
Selene dropped under a fireball. She fired her lasers, slaying the worm
that had shot at her. //I don't think so, look!//
Turner looked up. Directly over his head, a large portal opened. Out
of
the opening emerged six TW Battle Skimmers. The combined force of
twenty-
four Starfire Pulse Cannons scattered the monsters and sent them
reeling. One of the mantalike platforms lowered to the ground while
troops
mounted on the others launched missles at the approaching demons. The
familiar, and welcome sight of Edge's helmet peered over the edge of
the platform. //Sorry we're late, but well, you know what they say...//
//War is hell.// Turner finished.
//He'll be on his way there in a minute.// Angela said. //Nova, Katrina
and Lo Fung are engaging him now, so we pulled out.// In the distance,
a
tall pillar of black flames erupted, blowing away a good portion of the
far
side of a pyramid. //And that would be them now.//
Edge winced. //That had to hurt.//
Chapter 2
Friends and Enemies.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edge removed his helmet and let it drop to the floor. Sighing as he
sank
wearily onto the bench.
Leon sat next to him as he began to remove his armor. "What's up,
rookie?"
Edge absently rubbed the tatoo on his right arm: A bastard sword with a
flaming blade. "I am just not quite used to fighting like this. I
fight
better close up, but this armor's too cumbersome, and doesn't give
enough
protection."
Leon laughed. "Alex, trust me, you get anywhere near a boomer like that
last one, and you'll get yourself killed!"
"You would be suprised." Edge said, and grabbed a towel. "I am taking
a
shower, then a long nap." He removed his shirt, revealing a series of
metal
plates grafted to his chest and abdomen. He stuffed the shirt into his
locker and headed to the showers. Leon noticed the massive tatoo on his
back. It was a magnifecient Phoenix, emerging from the fires of it's
own
destruction. Brilliant orange flames ran along its neck and wings.
"Wait," Leon called, "you forgot something!" He tossed a small tin can
to
Edge.
Edge caught it and read the label. it was a can of Turtle Wax. "Very
funny."
"You think that was bad? I overheard Daley mentioning something about
Die
Hard batteries and refrigerator magnets."
Edge's eyebrow twitched. "Gods, I hope not. I get enough of that at
home!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priss was in a bad mood.
When she was in a bad mood, she rode. She also cussed, swore, cursed,
and
beat the snot outta anybody who remotely annoyed her- well, that was
when
she felt REALLY shitty, which thankfully happens a whole lot less often
lately, but still. But she mostly rode.
She'd been riding a lot this week. That last mission was still weighing
on
her mind. A whole week and she was still embarrassed about their
'speedy
exit'. Sylia was just as puzzled as to the methods their enemies used
to
attack them. There was no way that little girl's staff could generate
that
much fire.
Suddenly, the bike lurched. Not because of road conditions, or a
problem
with the bike, but the fact that Priss found herself looking straight at
the
same girl who tried to charbroil her in that warehouse. She was wearing
a
school uniform, but there was no mistaking that bright red cloak. She
was
even carrying her staff. A boy and another girl of the same age walked
with
her. The boy had a dark green cloak and the girl's was light blue.
At first Priss thought they were boomers or something, but people
usually
don't let boomers run around like that. Also, they looked as weary as
any
kids just off from school. Besides, boomers don't gossip. If it was a
disguise, it was a good one. If anything, Sylia should at least know
about
this. And Sylia thought one of them was bad....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So you've accepted? That's great! Alright, I'll come over after I get
off
with some new equipment and help you set up."
"New stuff?" Nene asked. The day after the disasterous mission into
Darkfire's headquarters, Sylia had all but ordered Nene to accept the
offer
from her friend's boss. "Cool, what kind?"
"I'll show you when I get there. Problem is, you never told me where
you
live." Damien said. "I already know, but you never told me. Since
you're
off, why don't you come down to the Gamecenter, I can show you the new
stuff
we're putting in."
"I'd love to," Nene answered, "But I promised some friends I would see
them
in a few minutes."
"No problem. Another time, then. Bye!"
******************************************
As Damien hung up, Angela smiled from her desk. //Ouch, shot down.
Just
isn't your day, huh?//
//Shut up.// Damien replied. Behind Angela, Sangre growled menacingly.
//You too, Chopperface! Speaking of dates, how's yours doing? His
parents
should be worried sick by now, if they're still in one piece.//
Angela shook her head. //He doesn't even know who he is, or why those
Genom
thugs were chasing him.//
//That's too bad.//
//I just wish there was something else I could do for him....//
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Down in the depths of the complex, in a storage room similar to the one
the
Knight Sabers fought in, workers were putting the finishing touches on
another shipment of boomers and modified GD-42s. As the last of the
BU-12bs
was put in position, everyone in the room, with the exception of Turner,
who
was supervising, left the area. A series of projectors lowered from the
celing, and a chaotically flashing light washed over everything.
Fighting down the initial feelings of slight disorientation, Turner
stepped
off the platform. Around him, various soldiers and technicians swarmed
over
the platform, checking over the equipment and moving some of the weapons
off.
A middle-aged officer in reddish camoflauge fatigues stepped up to him.
//Still needs a little fine-tuning, I guess?//
//Uhh. Hey, Franklin.// Turner shook his head. //I guess so, but we
should have it right by the first scheduled delivery.//
//Good.// Franklin looked over to where the boomers were standing
motionless. //So what'cha got for us now?//
//Just a few things we picked up from an unexpected stop. Let me show
you...//
**************************************
//...So keep theese things in cyrostasis until needed, and you should
definietly have no problems.// Turner concluded. //If by some chance,
one
of them does go bezerk, we implanted self-destruct devices in them.//
//Thanks a lot, kid.// Franklin said. //We got reports of renewed
Kreegor
activity in this secor, and this stuff should help us hold them off
until
reinforcements arrive.//
//Happy to help.// Turner replied. //See you in a couple of weeks.//
He
stepped back into the center of the now empty platform, and vanished in
a
flash of light.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, the Knight Sabers were having an impromptu meeting concering
Nene's new job and their last outing.
Nene was apologizing, as the temptation to see exactly what new 'toys'
came
with her second undecover job was just too much for her inquisitive not-
little-at-all mind. Therefore, she was more than a little late.
"You should see this system, Sylia, it's at least six times as powerful
a my
home system, and it's even got a VR interface!" She went on like this
for
at least another five minutes.
"Sylia," Linna groaned, "Stop her before she makes a mess all over the
room." Nene calmly hit her in the face with a sofa cushion. "What did
you
do that for?"
"Don't go there." Nene said, flushing angrily.
"Children, please." Sylia admonished. "Let's try to keep to the task
at
hand."
"Yes, Mother." The two chorused, then grinned.
Sylia sighed. "At least pretend to be serious for our benifit. In
light
of our last encounter, I've had to give our suits a slight upgrade ahead
of
schedule. The weapons haven't gone through any major changes, but I
felt
the need to implement a few experimental systems I've been working on.
Of
course I had a little help." she said as the door opened.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damien looked up and gasped as he looked out across the city.
//Something wrong, Bro?// The young fire warlock beside him inqured.
//Nah.// Damien replied with a big ol' goofy grin on his face. //It's
just
that I feel really _happy_ for some reason.//
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"MACKIE!!"
''Nen-oof!" Mackie suddenly felt his breath leave his lungs as his feet
left the floor. Nene, apparently, had been working on her hug. Oh
well.
"Nene-chan! Um, could you let me get up?"
Nene (somewhat reluctantly) removed herself, then threw her arms around
Mackie's neck as soon as he got to his feet. Mackie returned the hug
with
equal force. Eventually, they had to disengage, seeing as how they both
were squeezing the breath out of one another.
"Awwwwww," Priss and Linna cooed, "aren't they cute?"
Both of them blushed, moving away quickly.
"Now if we're done with the happy reunions," Sylia smiled, "We can go
downstairs to become better aquainted with our new hardware." The five
of
them took an express elevator down to Sylia's lab. There, they were
greeted
by the familiar sight of their hardsuits. Standing to the side was a
large
grey Motorcycle that resembled the Highway Star. "Later,, we will be
returning to the pyramids, all five of us. Mackie will be suppourting
us
from the Knightwing, and will use his own motoroid." she said,
indicating
the cycle.
"That's a motoslave?" Priss asked, "But won't he need a hardsuit for
that?"
"No," Mackie said, mounting the cycle. "watch this." He activated the
bike, the nitro boosters on the rear of the bike unfolded as the
undercarriage split. The boosters formed into a pair of arms that
lifted
the Motoslave to allow the legs to swing out to suppourt the mecha. The
front fairing slid back, covering Mackie as the a sensor head popped up.
The arms moved forward as the rear wheel split to form the flight
thrusters.
A large autocannon slid into the machine's waiting hand, and Mackie held
the
rifle back over the machine's shoulder. "Say hello to the Heavy
Motoslave,
ladies!"
"I thought that was you." Sylia smiled. "Apparently Mackie here has
been
doing a variation of our work over in Germany, using an until-now
mysterious
transforming mecha."
Inside the Motorslave's cockpit, Mackie grinned sheepishly. "Well, I
had to
test it out!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn it! Who the HELL does that bitch think she is messing with us?"
Kain
ranted. "She must have been one of the Knight Sabers!"
Kain's partner sighed. "Really, you need to learn how to relax. Did
she
even look like a Knight Saber?" Kain relaxed somewhat. "Now calm down,
we
need to deliver out report to Ms. Madigan, and we need to keep as much
of our composure as possible."
Kain finally calmed down. "Sorry Hiroshi, it just makes me mad to think
we
were humiliated like that!" The executives were called into the office,
where Kate Madigan was waiting for them.
Madigan sat behind her desk, looking over the report of the incedent.
She
closed the folder and turned to the two men. "Have the recovery teams
found
anything?"
"Aside from a creative way to cover up a mauling by a dinosaur,
nothing."
Hiroshi calmly stated. "The boy, and the woman, seemed to drop off the
face of the earth."
Kain cleared his throat. "However, we discovered a few intresting clues
from the scene. The 'dinosaur' the woman was riding, for instance.
During
it's battle with one of the combat boomers, it recieved several wounds.
Our investigation teams recovered a bit of it's blood and tested it.
The
tests were still somewhat inconclusive, but they're certain that it was
not
a boomer."
Madigan's eyebrows arched. "So it was bioengineered?"
"It must have been." Hiroshi replied.
"They must have found a way to make them more controllable, while still
maintaining their ferocity. Are we able to decode the DNA?" Naturally,
Genom had made a few forays into saurian DNA cloning, with a few
sucesses.
However, the efforts with carnivorous dinosaurs always ended
inconclusively,
with creatures either too uncontrolable, or so tame as to have their
favorable attributes bred out. As a whole, the project was considered a
failure, but there were a few executives around with their, 'pets'.
Madigan realized that even failures can come back to haunt you, as
demonstrated painfully by Largo.
"Unfortunately, the samples were courupted by the fluids from the boomer
it
had destroyed. It may take up to a
year to seperate and decode the entire strain."
"Do it." Madigan ordered. "Success would please me very much."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selene prowled through the hallway, stalking around patrols and workers
alike as the went about their duties. As she passed, everyone was sure
to
give her a wide berth, seeing as how a ten-foot long panther is not
something one wishes to piss off.
She slipped into one room, where the children were busy watching a
movie.
She peered over the sofa to watch them for a while, and the girl with
the
red jacket reached over and scratched her behind her ears. After
letting
loose an earth-shaking purr, Selene left and continued on her way. She
had
better prey to hunt.
She was nearing the training area when she finally caught his scent.
With a
swiftness and silence that belied her size, but not her form, she crept
towards one of the training rooms. Inside, the room was playing a
jungle/rainforest motif. Selene sprang up into a tree and waited.
Within
moments, her quarry came to her, a short double-barreled laser rifle in
his
hands. Selene dropped silently and had him on the ground before he new
what
hit him. A paw swipe sent the rifle far into the bushes.
Turner quickly twisted around. //Oh, it's you.//
Selene gave him an annoyed look, backing off of him just enough to let
him
sit up. //That's it? I finally get a chance to be alone with you, and
all
you say is, 'Oh?'// She immediately pounced on him again, knocking the
breath out of him. //Too bad!// she said, licking his face repeatedly
//Ah! Hey!// Turner protested, with a face full of panther tongue.
//Cut
that out!// he quickly dissolved into peals of laughter. //Stop it!//
Selene chuckled, then gave him a cat-kiss. Turner felt her body begin
to
shift and reduce in size in his arms. Selene's cat-kiss turned into a
real
one as she took a more humanoid form. //Mmmm... Okay, you've earned my
mercy, for now.//
Turner returned the kiss, and tried unsucessfully to remove Selene from
his
lap. However, affectionate werebeasts count among the Megaverse's list
of
Immovable Objects. //Selene, get up!//
//No.// she stated, kissing him again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angela quietly entered the small room in the infirmary. She had changed
out
of her school uniform and left Sangre feeding in her quarters. The boy
she
had rescued was still unconsious, even though he seemed to be
merely sleeping peacefully.
I know I normally don't do this, she thought, but he's been out for
too
long. I have to help him somehow! Resolving herself, she walked over
to
his bed and place her hands over his temples. Angela concentrated,
probing
at the barriers in his mind.
{Where am I?} a young voice called through the darkness.
Angela pushed away the inky blackness. She felt the presence of the
boy,
but there was something odd, sort of like the artificial Psi-dampers
found
in many of the New German Republic's cyborgs. {I am here, I am a
friend.}
She could feel his presence, but something was holding her back, keeping
him
where he was. {You are in a coma, you must wake up, please!} Angela
reached further, until she felt the contact between her consiousness and
his. {I am going to try to wake you up, Can you feel it? Hold on!}
{I hear you. I am trying to!}
Angela felt a 'click' that was almost audiable, telling her she had made
contact. The dark haze lifted, revealing a vast, gridded plain. In
front
of her floated a large glowing ball of light. The light condensed into
the
shape of the boy she rescued, but he was wearing traditional Japanese
clothes, and carried a short sword in his belt. {Someone has been
watching
too many samurai movies!}
The boy got a hurt look on his face. Angela's heart instantly melted,
he
just looked too adorable. {I am sorry, I did not mean to hurt your
feelings.}
{It is alright.} the boy replied, smiling. {It is just that this is
about
all I can remember about my past. I don't even know why.}
{What is your name?}
{I think it is... Tanuki? Call me, Tanuki!}
Angela smiled. {Hi, Tanuki. My name is Angela. Do you think maybe we
should break this link so you can wake up? That was the reason I did
this,
you know.}
****************************************************************
**Later that night**
"...In Local News, another raid against a Genom facility by armored
assailants. Are the famous Knight Sabers on a rampage, or is there
another
group out there with a grudge against the megacorporation? These
stories
and more, when MegaTokyo Eyewitness News returns." Nene switched the
channel. this was the fourth time those mysterious battlesuits attacked
a
Genom-owned building since the others got... 'kicked out' of the hidden
base
under the Gamecenter. Personally, she was getting tired of it. The
channel
switched to a late showing of a classic American animated show about
winged
creatures that turned to stone during the day. On her desk, the
Com-phone
rang plaintively. "Moshi-Moshi?"
"Oneechan!" Damien called on the other end, "Why didn't you tell me you
had
a boyfriend! I haven't had a chance to properly threaten him with
bodily
harm yet!"
"What? How did you find out?"
"We're standing outside your apartment right now." Mackie answered.
A short pause, and Damien returned to the phone. "Apparently, we had
the
same idea, and decided to surprise you."
Exasperated, Nene hung up and went to the door. Both guys were standing
there with big goofy grins on their faces, the exact same ones, she
realized, that they were wearing the last time one of them had
'Accidentially' walked in on her when she was dressing. She made a
mental
note to do something about that later and let them in. "Hi, boys! So
what's this great idea you both happened to come up with?"
"Well..." Both of them started, then Damien shut up and let Mackie
continue. "Some aquaintance of Sylia's gave her these passes to a party
being held at the Spring Festival, and..."
*************************************************************************
Turner sat alone in his office. His teammates had all gone out for
whatever
reason, and Selene was out... 'Hunting,' which had him most definitely
glad
he wasn't some random thug tonight.
The comm on his computer beeped, and a hologram of Nova appeared.
//Report.//
//Greetings to you too, Lord Nova.// Turner replied. //MegaTokyo's
going
as usual, meaning Genom's watching us so closely, if I were to sneeze,
at
least four agents would wipe my nose. We were however, able to plant
Edge
in the Advanced Police, and we got another insider working there as
well.
North America's doing fine, with increased holdings in the southern and
eastern United States, and Mexico. Africa's another matter entirely.//
//Meaning?//
//I may be asking for tanks within the next three weeks. So far, X has
been
holding them off, but we'll definitely need more suppourt if we're to
get
those artifacts. Have you located Angela's clan?//
Nova shook his head. //When my agents got there, the entire compound
had
been razed to the ground. They're in hiding right now. When I find
them,
I'll send for Angela to get them. Their skills will be invaluable in
South American operations. And the Knight Sabers?//
//We got 'em right were we want 'em. In a few weeks, they won't be a
problem.//
//Good, Don't move too fast, we don't want to scare them off yet.//
//Trust me, I know what I'm doing.//
//Don't say that,// Nova groaned. //You know that I hate it when people
say that.//
***********************************************************************
Damien checked the pistol under his jacket. *It's amazing what metal
detectors miss with a ceramic gun.* The three of them parked their
bikes
in the lot and headed for the fairgrounds. "That reminds me. Nene,
where'd you get the bike from? I never figured you to be one to use a
vehicle like that."
"Oh, that?" Nene said, grinning. "I won a bet with Priss, and she had
to
switch bikes with me for a month."
Mackie supressed a chuckle. "I can just imagine Priss on that tiny
scooter
of yours!"
"And she looked so cuuuute in my helmet!" The three shared a laugh at
the
image, and went inside.(2)
***********************************************************************
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