[Video comes on in the dressing Room (actually the living room of
Ran's spaceship but who's checking, eh?). We see RAN fuming over the
end of the last show.]
RAN: That Black Petunia B***H!!! She's on my list...She'll get her's,
I SWEAR IT!!!
COMPUTER: Ran-san? There's a message on the phone for you from L.A.
He says he's got your next guest for your show...
RAN: Put it on the speaker.
COMPUTER: Yes, my lady. And Ran-san?
RAN: Yes?
COMPUTER: Don't yell at me. It won't help you with whatever this
Kodachi lady did...and my A/D converters get overdriven when
you screech before I'm prepared for it!
RAN: I'll give you a screech...ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH...SMACK!!!
[throws a potted plant at the computer screen. It bounces
off, being made of a material not easily breakable (someone
did design this for Ran's folks and...where do you think she
got this from, afterall?)]
LA TYPE: Ah, Ran? This is Sidney, of the producer's studio? I just
called to say that I got you a guest for your show...he's just
come off a famous anime series, and is looking for new work..
RAN: Who?
SID: You ever hear of a guy named Largo?
RAN: Largo? He's that bad guy boomer from BGC, isn't he?
SID: Yes! You got it, that's the man!! Anyway, he's coming over now,
so he'll be just in time for your show...seeya.[Click]
RAN: Wait a minute...who said anything about having Androids on this
show? Sid...SID? [throws the phone, then looks at the tall
fellow who just walked in] I take it you're Largo, right?
LARGO: [Looking askance at the scene] Is that how you usually treat
callers?
RAN: Only LA scumbags with British accents...let's get started!
*********************************************************************
[Begin opening theme - "Black Magic Woman" by Santana]
It's...Ran's Fanfic Theature, episode 4
Now Showing: "Illusions" Vignette - "What Goes Around...!"
By Fred Herriot and William Gieger
Ran, along with all other characters from Urusei Yatsura are the
creation of Rumiko Takahashi. Rights held by Shogakukan (Japan),
and Viz (U.S). Ditto for Shampoo from Ranma 1/2.
Largo is a character of "Bubble Gum Crisis", and is thus the creation
of ARTMIC and Youmex, who hold all Japanese rights. American licence
given to Animeigo.
The song "Mack the Knife" is the creation of Kurt Weill, with lyrics
by Berhtold Brecht. English words by Marc Blitzen. Copyrights to
them.
Comments, flames, grunts and loud noises to cornetts@gemair.com
*********************************************************************
[Camera shows Ran's living Room, with RAN and LARGO sitting on two
separate lounge chairs, both with access to the coffee table.]
RAN: Welcome to Ran's Fanfic Theature, and of course I'm Ran, the
famous character of UY. Across from me is the ubervillain of
the OVA "Bubblegum Crisis", that ultimate Boomer, Largo.
LARGO: Thank you. By the way, where are the Knight Sabers? I was
supposed to meet up and fight them on this shoot, but there
seems to be just a living room here.
RAN: Fight scene?? [laughs nervously]hehehhe, don't worry, they'll be
along shortly I suspect. (aside)All too soon if this goes the
way I think. (to LARGO)How about some refreshments. We have
coffee, tea...5W30?
LARGO: (Non-committal) Coffee will be fine.
RAN: Eh-heh. Well, on that note...let's begin.
AD Police headquarters, the morgue.
LARGO: There's a familiar sight.
RAN: No doubt!!
Without a doubt, this was perhaps one of the most visited and
despised rooms in the AD Police complex. Hundreds, no
THOUSANDS, of front line officers had ended their careers on a cold
slab in this place, lives torn from them by lasers or metallic hands.
Currently, THANKFULLY, the only corpse now was Miriam
Yoshida's. After getting scraped off the wall of a lab in Maebashi, his
body was brought in, then it would no doubt be cremated and disposed
of. *Hopefully mixed with somebody's compost pile,* the night
attendant muses, completing a report.
RAN: Are you sure you want to grow plants over mad homicidal scientist's
ashes?
LARGO: Wouldn't know. I've never turned a mad scientist to ash.
"May I help you?" he wonders.
The man shows a clipboard with a release form. "I'm here to
pick up the body of Miriam Yoshida."
"I wasn't told about any pick-up."
LARGO: [voicing stranger] Well, you aren't told of deliveries but you
take care of those well enough, right?
With a faint hum, the van drives off into the night...
RAN: Guess that's better than driving straight on to Mourning.
LARGO:[Calm look with a slight hint of a frown] I've obliterated city
blocks for puns better than that.
RAN:[suddenly frightened look] Uhhhhhh.
* * *
"Illusions" Vignette - "What Goes Around...!"
a fanfic of the Bubblegum Crisis - Megatokyo 2034
by Robert Geiger <robertgeiger@prodigy.net>
and Fred Herriot <fherriot@hotmail.com>
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir <kush1@iaw.on.ca>
**** **** ****
Based on characters and situations from "Bubblegum Crisis," created
by ARTMIC and Youmex, "Urusei Yatsura," created by Rumiko
Takahashi and "Tokimeki Memorial," created by Konami.
LARGO: Tokimeki Memorial?
RAN: That's a game on various systems feature very cute girls. It's
a dating simulation game.
LARGO: What are they doing in this fic?
RAN: We'll find out. They're all Sexaroid cyborgs.
LARGO: Girls from a dating simulation game as sexaroids?(Gets wierd
look)Does that mean what I think it means??
RAN: What can I say. Fred-san has a android fetish going. His prefect
woman has neural nets instead of flesh and blood.
LARGO: Be glad he hasn't seen "Boku wa Marie"?[shrugs]
RAN: Old hat. Let's hope he doesn't take a liking for "Maico 2010"!
**** **** ****
This story is also based on the UY fanfic series "The Senior Year" by
Fred Herriot and Mike Smith and "The Ishinomaki Years" by Fred
Herriot as well as the BGC fanfic series "No Armour Against Fate" by
Shawn Hagen
**** **** ****
WRITER'S NOTE: This story, a sequel of sorts to "Knight Sabres
Reborn," is set sometime after "Aces and Hearts" and "The Phoenix
Story." Isaac Du'Arc is based on Yukito Kishiro's original creation.
LARGO: What do you mean? Someone got them...and it wasn't ME?
RAN: Now, now, They're reborn, see? You've got plenty of chances to
kill them...
**** **** ****
Darkness...
"Can you hear me?"
RAN: Hear me...
LARGO: Touch me...
RAN: See me...
LARGO: Heal...eck. I we do that we might bond or something. Then I'd
have to zap you or something.
RAN: Not my intent!
A faint voice, bringing him back from nothingness.
"Yoshida-hakase, can you hear me?"
Slowly, he pulls himself to awareness, a thin silver of light
becoming visible. A face swims into view. On noting his return to
consciousness, a wide grin crosses the man's features. "It's good that
you've returned to us," he nods, his voice flecked with Paris.
LARGO: You mean he stuffed Plaster of Paris in his mouth. How else would
your voice be flecked with it?
RAN: I think that's a way of saying the man has a slight Parisian
accent. A way that's too smart by half.
LARGO: So it would have been better to say. [Voicing Narrator]"It's good
that you've returned to us," he says with a Parisian accent.
RAN: The other problem with the paragraph is that you have two characters
acting, one regaining consciousness while the other is noting
the fact. That should be clearer.
A mumbled reply responds as he focuses his gaze on his
apparent saviour. The man was perhaps in his late thirties or early
forties. Long blond hair beginning to go grey. The most notable feature
was that the man's eyes were seemingly replaced with cybernetic ones
resembling old-fashioned soda bottle cap glasses.
RAN: The mumbled reply was saved?
LARGO: Better the mumble than the homicidal maniac, eh?
LARGO: Plenty of other mistakes here.
RAN: I'll say. Take the fragment that passes for a third sentence
here. That is best part of the second sentence.
LARGO: Like this..."The man appeared to Yoshida to be in his late
thirties to early fourties, with blond hair that had only
just begun to turn grey."
RAN: Even the last sentence could be improved. "The stranger's most
noticable feature was the bottle glass shaped cybernetic eyes that
had apparently replaced his original ones.
"Uh...who are you...?"
"My name is Isaac Du'Arc," he gives a small bow. "I am the
one who brought you back from the dead. The most important
question however, is do you know who you are?"
"My name...is Miriam Yoshida."
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] Do you know what you are in?
RAN:[voicing Yoshida] Deep do-do?
LARGO: [shrugs. Voicing Du'Arc] Not quite but close!
Another smile responds. "Excellent! Knowing who you are is
important."
LARGO: They've changed tense all of a sudden.
RAN: You mean from past to present tense in a paragraph. So they have.
That's a problem when you have two authors writing together who
have such different styles.
LARGO: Which one writes in present tense.
RAN: Fred Herriot writes all his works in the present tense. It can be
somewhat disconcerting sometimes.
Yoshida frowns, trying to turn his head...to discover that he
could not. In fact, he couldn't move at all! No sensations, either. "I
can't move...or feel anything."
RAN, LARGO: Doc...WHERE'S THE REST OF ME??!!
A sigh of relief. "You said 'if not better?'"
Oddly, the grin returns. "From my examination of you, it is
unavoidable that cybernetic replacements are needed. I can give you
the needed replacements...and it is within my abilities to offer you the
option of a specially designed boomer body."
LARGO: What in this situation made that grin's return odd?
RAN: Perhaps the thought that a serial killer will be out on the street
again makes it odd. It's not exactly a thought most would be
pleased about.
LARGO: Still...I'm not sure about that first sentence. That could have
been phrased a little better.
RAN: Then of course there is the use of the word 'grin' in this context.
The FFML just had a thread about the inappropriate use, and over-
use of the word. 'Smile' would be more appropriate.
* * *
"Amazing!" Yoshida's new arm and hand smoothly shifts from a
slender woman's limb to its original form.
He and Isaac stand in a small room off to the side of the
operating theatre where the latter had rebuilt Yoshida into his new form.
Yoshida was amazed with Isaac's skill in cybernetics and boomer
technology. It had taken only a week for construction, implantation and
rehabilitation. Yoshida suspected something else was at work but
Isaac was close-mouthed about exact details. "I am rather proud how
it turned out," the latter smiles as he watches Yoshida practice with his
new body. "It's important to remember, morphing is an exacting ability.
I strongly recommend for you to use templates for the time being. Also
remember that you don't have fusion ability. When you change, you
shift, compact and expand mass like a C-55, but you cannot gain or
loose mass. Thus if you shorten your height, you would have a large
frame. When tall, be more slender."
RAN: There are two paragraphs in this last one. The quote "I am rather
proud how it turned out,"...should start a separate paragraph.
LARGO: He forgot an 'of'
RAN: 'of'
LARGO: In that start of the quote. It should be "I am rather pround
*of* how it turned out,"
"Pity," Yoshida muses as sharp claws sprang from his fingertips.
LARGO: Ah. The Wolverine claw option[TM], which is a good one for a
Boomer to have for short man-to-man fights.
RAN: Or man to Boomer?
LARGO: [shrugs] That too, of course.
"In my opinion, it's no real loss," Isaac waves a hand around.
"Any one with the required skills can mount a gun on a boomer. And
nearly any idiot can fire a gun. It takes will and hard-earned skill to use
the abilities I've given you. Boil it down, you are now deadlier then any
gun that I could have given you. Besides, the plasma emitters fill that
role anyway."
RAN: How is the inability to rid or gain mass when shifting form lead
to a discussion of Boomer armaments? He wasn't noting the lack
of weaponry.
LARGO: Sounds like he's got a good compliment anyway,..but can he use
it.
RAN: Knowing Fred...for about one go before he gets nailed.
LARGO: Ah. That...truely is a pity.
Yoshida wills the small gunports to appear on his hands.
"You're right," he muses as something crosses his mind. "I expect that
you will be wanting...compensation for your services."
"Indeed I do, but not quite what you may be thinking of," Isaac
takes a packet out of his pocket and hands to Yoshida. "I shall be
frank. I expect you to attempt retribution for what has been done to
you. Within this packet is a chip containing the information on what I
want. If you are successful in your goal, contact me at the number
given. Do not return here, because I will be leaving very soon. I will
then arrange for a drop-off point." A pause, then, "And if you are
unsuccessful...the matter of payment will be moot."
Yoshida grimly nods as he pocketed the packet. "I have to
wonder, why have you chosen to help me?"
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] Because you're a psychopathic murderer who seems
to know what he's doing...and it's fun!
"While I admit you have made many errors in the past..." Isaac
replies, "...I also see you as a man of great intellect and talent who has
been shaped by the events in your past. And I decided to give you
another chance at life."
RAN: Shaped? More like twisted, or bent.
"Thank you," Yoshida then looks around and sighs. "I guess I
should be going now. I'll be sure to contact you later."
He then strode out of the room. Isaac sighs. He knew what
could happen next. People were such a predictable lot at times. It
almost made exercises like this boring to him. Still, he didn't mind it.
After all, in the eyes of some...
...in the eyes of one...
...it did serve a good purpose.
RAN: World Domination!
LARGO: Utter destruction of organics?!
RAN: We'll find out...
* * *
Tanzania, years ago...
RAN: Looking for those creatures with the whirlwinds and...oh, that's
*Tasmania*, isn't it?
"Magnificent, aren't they?"
Isaac nodded, his eyes locked on the struggle on the plains not
a dozen metres away. A herd of wildebeest had been cornered by a
pride of lions, the graceful cats presently closing in on several
weakened members of the herd for an easy kill. Conservation of
energy. Why go out and drag down the strongest of the lot when those
who couldn't put up a fight could still fill your belly?
RAN: Well, I can see that Fred didn't write this section.
LARGO: How's that?
RAN: This is in past tense, with past action written in past perfect.
As I mentioned, Fred Herriot writes everything in the present
tense.
LARGO: So you say we're going to see this shift a lot then? Kind of a
prosaic tension, then?!
RAN: You said it!
"They are indeed," he chuckled.
Soon enough, two of the large animals were dragged down,
their flesh torn asunder by sharp teeth as the lionesses began preparing
their prey for the other pride members. "So the cycle goes on," the
voice mused from beside him.
Isaac blinked. A young woman, her voice touched with a
strong Highland brogue though well cultured. Turning, he saw a slender
person dressed in a button shirt and slacks, a grey, red and gold tartan
shawl drawn over her shoulders. She hadn't been on the tour. Who...?
"How did you get here?"
RAN: Don't ask.
LARGO: I'd love to learn the technique. I could make the hit and
get out before anyone knew I was about. With such a technique
even world domination would not be impossible.
RAN:[aside] Yup. I shouldn't tell him about the lay lines...[aloud]
Good description of the young lady, but it's not a whole
sentence. There's no verb in it.
LARGO: And the third sentence will have to be modified to flow properly
from the second sentence.
RAN: Indeed. The paragraph will have to be rewritten to provide a
subject for the second paragraph. The second sentence could
be something like this: "He surmised that the voice belonged to
a young, highly cultured woman who spoke with a strong Highland
brogue."
His eyes widened as recognition dawned.
RAN: Don't tell me this guy's a Vosian to boot?
LARGO: Vosian?
RAN: An alien race Fred created for UY:TSY, for which he borrowed
heavily from Elfquest.
"Ah, here we are!" Nicole breathed out, then waved Isaac
down the street. "This way, lad. The pubs here are quite nice if you
can stomach the swill Americans call beer."
Isaac chuckled as they head down a street, his eyes scouting
the area to confirm that he was in one of Washington's outskirts. So
that was a real transporter, eh? Pleasant way of travelling around the
world when most normal people were restricted to airplanes and
trans-sonic shuttles. Then again, he wasn't as much a "normal" person
as his host. "Where are we exactly?"
RAN: You mean the Terrans haven't built a Teleporter network like in
"Known Space" or "Earth: Final Conflict"?
LARGO: Didn't the alien Taelons build the network in that one?
RAN: Yes they did. And that's what the humans would have borrowed
from in this storyline as well.
"Arlington, just across the river from the Lincoln Memorial,"
Nicole responded, then nodded. "Ah, here we are!"
They stepped into a cosy English-style pub overlooking the
Potomac. The bartender's eyes widened on seeing Nicole, then he
nodded as she guided her guest to the upper floor. "The people here
know you," Isaac was quick to notice the exchange.
"Whenever I need tae do some serious dealing with outsiders, I
do it here," Nicole replied, then waved Isaac to a booth. "This town's
practically owned by us through the Annex here, so ye need not tae
worry about spies from elsewhere identifyin' ye."
After a waitress came by to get their order, Isaac fixed the
matriarch with a stare. "So why do you need me?"
"Because you're a very amoral person, Isaac Du'Arc," Nicole
returned his glare. "And I have need of a man like ye."
"I'm not for hire, Dame Nicole."
"I dinnae say I was gonna bring ye into my company, lad."
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] So you just want me as a temp worker?
RAN:[voicing Nichole] That's the other reason...ye are a master of
the obvious. Nothing get's by you, does it?
Isaac blinked. Interesting counter. "I know very much about
you, madame. You and your Nendo-kata friends now control sixty
percent of the world's banks and trust companies, totally dominate the
foreign exchange markets and now hold a hundred-year monopoly the
megacorps have no prayer in the world of breaking."
RAN:[voicing Nichole] And ye know what that means about this pub,
don't ye?
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc, looking around] You don't mean that *every*
restruant in the world is...
RAN: Here's your Taco Supreme. [voicing Nichole]Doesn't look like
a Taco Bell, does it?
"Aye, that's true...but 'tis nae the only thing we do, lad," Nicole
replied.
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] You mean you run the Rollerball games as well?
"There ye have it," Nicole nodded. "Doctor, one of my SPDs
has more power in her hands than a king of two centuries ago could
barely DREAM of havin'. An SFIO could bring governments down
with a simple word in the right place. Ye know what that sort of deep
influence can do to normal people." She then glanced out the window,
pointing. "Ye see that mansion on the hill there?"
RAN: In the first sentence, you might want to change that to "could
ever DREAM of havin'."
LARGO: And an SFIO?
RAN: Illuminati. Special Forces and bottle washers, and in fact
in this story the secret rulers of the world.
"Aye," Nicole sighed. "Doctor, my SPDs are, in ways, a pack
of General Lees. They believe in what they do and because they do it
so damned well, they think they're invincible. In their eyes, they cannae
do no wrong. Put simply, every once in a while if I feel it necessary, I'd
like ye to demonstrate to them otherwise. That's the business
proposition I have for ye."
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] You want me to set up big evil plans that they
won't be able to stop, eh? [smiles]
RAN:[voicing Nichole] You don't mind working with my associate Dr.
Tofu, would you?
LARGO: I thought Tofu was a good guy, if a bit goofy?
RAN: After reading all the Tofu as villain fics?!
Isaac's eyes widened. "You know what I'm capable of, Dame
Nicole."
"That's why I want your services, lad."
Silence fell as the doctor considered the offer. "I assume you
wouldn't want me to kill your people."
"If accidents occur, they occur. That cannae be avoided.
But...aye, I'd prefer if they lived. Ye see, what I'd like for ye tae
do...is tae show them how bad things could become without them actually
experiencing it. Teach 'em a lesson...but make sure they live to put that
lesson tae good use. Like the way the Yanks train their troops.
Making training harder than actual combat."
RAN: Might want to put those last two sentences together, like this...
"It should be like the way the Yanks produce expert troops by
making training harder than actual combat."
Isaac slowly nodded. "I can agree to that. Actually, it would
be very interesting to plan such operations. But what happens if your
people discover me?"
"I'll shield ye if I have to...but from what I've seen of ye, you're
good when it comes tae doin' things," Nicole replied. "I have the codes
for every system in my company. All that'd happen is a flick of the
finger and Isaac Du'Arc remains a mystery."
"A ghost."
"Aye."
Silence. "But what happens to Toratotaka's stated mission of
helping humanity achieve its destiny?" he wondered.
"We'll still do that," Nicole sighed. "But I nae want my
company to become humanity's crutch, Doctor."
"Ah!" he toasted her, then drank.
Nicole returned his toast, then quickly drowned the beer.
"Damn, I hate this stuff!" she wiped her lips.
"Would you prefer something better?"
"Guinness?"
He gaped. "You're a Highlander, Dame Nicole, matriarch and
warlord of your own clan! And you drink Irish ale?!"
RAN:[voicing Nichole] Have you ever tasted British bitters? If you
have, you wouldn't have asked the question.
LARGO: I guess I wouldn't.
RAN:[voicing Nichole] Now if it was Scotch you were talking about...
"Best damned stuff on the planet, lad."
"I know a good pub in Dublin."
LARGO: Is it also a Taco Bell?
RAN: Nah. It's actually a Pizza Hut!
"Let's go..."
* * *
Today...
Jean Noburu hums a tune that plays from her stereo as she
stares at the information on the screen before her. The deputy
commander of Field Intelligence Team N-40 had received a request for
an interview from Arisa Lain, a student at Tokyo University. Arisa was
studying journalism and wanted an interview with Jean as part of her
class project.
A sigh escapes her. She'd been interviewed many times since
her becoming a Sexaroid had become public knowledge. Ever since
the news of that bastard Yoshida having killed her in an attempt to
transform her into a suicidal killing machine, people had asked her what
did feel like to be a Sexaroid. Did she have any regrets? What were
her plans for the future? And on and on...
RAN: There it is again.
LARGO: You mean the tense shift?
RAN: Yup. Fred obviously wrote this scene. As a future reference, Fred,
the next time you and William Gieger collaborate on something
could you do the reader a favor and decide to write the story
in either third person persent or past and stick to it.
LARGO: Do you think that's possible given their disparate styles?
RAN:[shrugs] At the worst, they'll toss a coin.
Jean's plans at present were for her to put her life back
together. From a hooker on Paradise Loop, to a T'n'T intelligence
officer/aide to Kentaro Miura, dietman from Kawasaki. She had at last
found a chance to truly enjoy life.
If only these reporters would leave her alone!
RAN: Yeah. That's what the Royals say all the time too. Doesn't
work for them either.
The Diet, later...
"Pardon me. I'm here for an appointment with Jean Noburu.
My name's Arisa Lain."
LARGO: Any relation to the lead character of the recent series "Serial
Experiment Lain"?
RAN: Somehow I don't think so. That character was a little dark and
detached to match with this one. Though it wouldn't be a
surprise if it was, since one of Fred Herriot's trademarks is
the cameo inclusion of characters based on a wide range of
anime and sci-fi series. Everything from Star Trek to
Gall Force, and even Go Nagai ideas are included.
Jean has some tea brought in as both settled in. Arisa takes out
a small recorder and places in on the desk. "Arisa Lain's interview with
Jean Noburu," she announces after turning it on. "I guess my first
question is what was your life like before you became a Sexaroid."
Jean sighs. "Pure hell. My parents died in the quake like so
many others and I was put into a government-run orphanage along with
dozens of other children. I stayed there until I decided I wanted to
leave and ran away."
RAN: 'many others and I *were*...'
A shudder. "One day, I felt a sharp pain, then darkness. The
next thing I knew, I woke up in someone else's body."
"One of the AD Police officers who suffered from that biomech
virus? Lieutenant Asako Yamano, I believe."
"Hai. It was created by Miriam Yoshida. He created it as a
way of driving those with cybernetics berserk. He'd been freed from
jail by some fusion boomers who wanted people like Asako-chan to
wreck havoc so that AD Police could be torn apart by the government
and leave normal folks defenceless. He planned to use our brains in
boomeroid bodies like Billy Fernwood had some years ago. It was his
biggest...and last...mistake," a satisfied grin crosses her face.
RAN: I wouldn't be quite satisfied *just* yet...
LARGO: He is back, you know...
RAN: She doesn't...yet!
"Thank you!" Arisa nods as Jean walks past her to open the
door. "Oh! May I ask one more question?"
"Sure," Jean said as she turns...
...as a clawed hand grabs hold of her face while another slams
into her solar plexus. "Do you believe..." Yoshida hisses as his face
shifts to its original form, "...that things we do in the past can come back
to haunt us?"
He then yanks her onto the spikes sprouting from his chest...!
RAN: DANG!! There's an image that'll stick with you. I'm into revenge
but that *had* to hurt.
LARGO: The spike bit was decent, and the follow through...and how about
the surprise when he transformed. How would you judge that?
[RAN and LARGO hold up score signs reading 8.5 and 8.3. The lavender
haired teen that has suddenly showed up next to them holds up a sign
reading "5.3"!]
LARGO: Why are you scoring so low?
SHAMPOO:[Yes, *that* Shampoo!] Follow through was very bad. Shampoo
much prefer raising obstacle to wall and thrusting with sword,
or in this case sharpened claws...
LARGO and RAN:[shrugs at this.] Always the third judge, eh?
* * *
The secretary looks up as Arisa left her office and quietly
closed the door behind her. Giving the university student a friendly nod,
she then turns back to her work...
RAN: Wait'll she sees the mess...
LARGO: I wonder why Fred wrote this paragraph as a separate scene. It
seems more natural to put it in as the last paragraph of the
previous scene.
RAN: You may be right there.
Akiko walks over to the door and raps on it lightly.
"Noburu-san? Miura-san's on the phone. Is everything okay?"
RAN:[voicing Jean] We're sorry, Jean Naburo is dead at the moment!
Please leave your name and number and I'll call back just as
soon as I can find someone to channel it through.
No answer. "Noburu-san?" the secretary opens the door.
"Miura-san is on the..."
Her eyes widen on seeing the bloodstained floor. She lifts her
eyes, then screams at what was dangling from the ceiling...
* * *
*Ring!* "Yoshida-hakase! How did things go?"
LARGO:[Voicing Yosida] Just fine. I sliced, I diced. I outdid the
Ginsu!
"Smoothly. I have what you want."
"Ah! Here is where you should take it..."
* * *
Akiko shudders as she staggers to the phone, picking it up and
dialling a number. Since she had been assigned to help the members of
N-40 settle in at the Diet, she was given EXACT instructions by
Toratotaka in case something strange happened.
RAN: That first sentence should be rewritten. More like: "Akiko
shudders as she staggers to the phone, *picks* it up, and dials
a number.
Trying not to gag, she dials a number...
LARGO: Dude, you already said that. She already dialed!
RAN: Exactly. She's waiting for someone to pick up the call at this
point.
LARGO: What if it was a machine on the other end?
RAN: Be something like this "Hello, you've reached the TNT sexaroid
malfunction line...if the sexaroid you're working for displays
programming or software errors, press 1...For biomechanical
malfunctions or PMS, press 2...
LARGO: And if the sexaroid in question becomes the victim of an MDK
due to a rampaging serial killer in a shape shifting boomer
body...
BOTH: PRESS 3!
* * *
*Ring-ring!* "Moshi-moshi, Tanaka desu."
LARGO: She got a person, it seems.
RAN: In this world, amazing that she did.
"Commander Tanaka?!" a panicked woman replies.
"Commander Misa Tanaka?! KMT-Nine?"
"Hai, this is she. Who's this?"
"My name's Akiko Takahashi. I'm the secretary to the
members of Field Intelligence Team N-Forty. Deputy Commander
Noburu's been...she's..."
RAN: She could say that Naburo is beside herself.
LARGO: A piece of her torso is beside her arm, a piece of her...
Misa blinks, her brown eyes widening on seeing the pale look
on the caller's face, then nods. "Hai, I understand. Have the building
security force secure the scene. NO ONE disturbs the scene until I get
there, not even AD Police!! I'm on my way!"
RAN: This is a videophone then?
LARGO: Apparently?
"Master."
Isaac turns away from his work station to see his towering
servant standing there holding a package. "Over here."
RAN: To see his servent standing *where*? Beside him, to the left,
the right?
LARGO: Standing behind him ready to blast?
RAN:[scowling at Largo] Could we keep those homicidal impulses in
check for a little bit?
He motions to a table as his servant places the package on the
smooth surface. Isaac swiftly unwraps it to gaze on its contents. Two
shapely arms then wrap themselves around his chest. "Did Santa give
you something nice?" a sultry voice asks.
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] Nah. He usually sends me lumps of coal...never
did figure out why...
"Indeed, my dear!" Isaac chortles as he pats one of the arms,
looking behind him. Cuddled up to him is a ravishing Japanese woman
dressed in a tight bodysuit, her long black hair tickling Isaac's neck as
she nuzzles it. "Something that will be of great use to me," he studies
the objects:
Two packets of a gelatinous material.
A small container with a reddish material inside.
And a small object that sparkled in the light like a diamond.
Isaac picks up the crystal, staring intently at it. "But first, we
must see to our guest..."
RAN:[voicing the woman. Looks around] Guest? Where?
LARGO: I think he means the crystal.
RAN: A personality backup?
LARGO: I suspect.
* * *
Misa rises, running a hand through her ponytailed brown hair.
"Fuck!" she hisses; this had NEVER happened before to a T'n'T-built
Sexaroid! "Why weren't security cameras placed in these offices?"
RAN: They weren't betting on a Boomer rampaging through the diet?
LARGO: The higher ups NEVER see it coming...
"They were supposed to be installed next week, Commander,"
Akiko stammers a reply, now in the chair beside Jean's body, her face
awash with tears.
"Fat lotta good that did Jean-chan!" Misa snarls, then sighs.
"Are you sure about this Lain girl that came in earlier?"
"H-hai," Akiko shudders. "S-she's a student from Toodai..."
RAN:[voicing Misa] Majoring in what? Assassination?
Kozue's cell phone rings. "Hai, Tsuzuki desu...ah, Izumi-chan!"
she brightens up, then blinks. "Omoshiroi...you sure?!" A pause, then,
"Hai, bring her here. Arigato, Izumi-chan. Bai-bai!"
RAN: Omoshiroi? How are English speaking audiences supposed to know
what that means...
LARGO: A lot of the fanfiction audience knows some of the most common
Japanese phrases and honorifics...
RAN: But that's usually limited to stuff like "Domo, Ohayo", and an
understanding of -san, -kun, etc. Anything more complex
usually requires some sort of glossary.
LARGO: And that tends to distract from the story.
RAN: I think Fred oversteps the understanding of the audience here.
"What?!" Misa wonders as Kozue cuts the line.
"They found Lain-san tied up in her dorm with all her personal
gear returned," Kozue reports.
Misa blinks, then sighs. "Whoever planned this is stupid."
"Or wants to keep collateral damage to a minimum," Kozue
hums.
"Not the way I'd plan it," Misa replies. "Did Lain get a good
look at whoever took her place?"
RAN: I take it the phrases "Use Discretion" and "Avoid Overkill" are
as foriegn a concept with these folks as they are with Fred's
Sagassans.
LARGO: Sagassans. I heard of them, and they are into overkill.
RAN: Whole planet's worth. In fact, one is legally required to use
the word "overkill" when referring to them.
LARGO: Really?
RAN: Not really. But close!
"We don't know," Misa gazes at the shorter woman, tensing on
seeing the panicked tears in her eyes. What possessed
Mikihara-sempai to allow someone who in some ways was still
emotionally a child to take charge of a field intelligence team?! Jean
would've been better suited for it...if not one of the original AA fifth
gens like Yohko Okano or Momoko Andou. "All we do know is that
whoever this is, he or she's got a very good working knowledge of how
our internal systems work."
"What do you mean?" Hally demands.
"They got her reserve memory crystal," Kozue closes her eyes.
"Not to mention her regen packs and a sample of her blood."
Hally blinks, then shudders. "What does that mean?" Akiko
wonders, wiping her face.
"It means that somewhere out there, Jean-chan's still alive,"
Misa's eyes narrow. "And if she's still alive, we'll find her..."
LARGO: If our mad scientist friend doesn't drop her into your laps
first.
* * *
"Jean Noburu?"
Jean's eyes flutter open to look on a pair of cybernetic eyes
piercing a man's face. "Uh...where...?"
"It's okay, Noburu-san," the man smiles. "You are out of
danger. I am Doctor Isaac Du'Arc. I did the work needed to bring
you back from the dead."
*'Du'Arc?'* The name was unfamiliar. If she'd been operated
on, wouldn't it be someone from T'n'T? "How long has it been?"
"About a day," Isaac fiddles with some buttons and knobs on a
panel next to him. "Things have gone quite well considering your
present...condition."
RAN:[voicing Jean] Dead?
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] Ginsu'ed!
RAN: Seems like either the two authors agreed to write in present tense
past the first part, or Fred's written most of this story.
LARGO: That seems to be the case.
Memories of what happened surge forth as Jean made a
choking sound. "Yoshida...!"
"Indeed," Isaac hums. "He was rather...enthusiastic about it. A
bit of a disappointment really...but that's how it goes..."
A frown. "Disappointment?"
"Yes. Here I go and give him a second chance at life and he
falls right back to his old nature. Intelligence and talent are poor
substitutes for good moral character."
RAN:[voicing Jean] Are you speaking from *experience* ?
LARGO:[shrugs] If it was me, I would be!
"Yes. I would've chosen Largo but he was in an extreme rut
and I doubt he would change given another chance. Besides, that's
been done to death already."
LARGO: HEY!!! You're supposed to! It's in my contract!
RAN: Your contract?!
LARGO: It specificly states that I get to be repaired and brought
back at least six times in any series...
RAN:...''^_^
"YOU BASTARD!!!!" Jean screams, trying to lunge at him but
couldn't move. Staring down, she realizes why.
LARGO: What, he kill Kenny or something?
A head was all she had...
RAN: Well, that's one way to come out ahead!
LARGO: Not one I'd recommend, but at least it's direct!
RAN: Hate to think what would have happened if this Du'Arc guy
constructed someone to take their hearts.
LARGO: Wouldn't they still come out ahead?
* * *
Nerima...
"Okay, she's in storage now."
Yuina breathes out as she stares on the body floating in the
gestation tank. It was easy to repair physical damage to Jean's
body...but without the reserve memory crystal, it was an empty shell,
useless. Placing a new crystal in her body wouldn't bring Jean back.
Taking a deep breath, she then gazes on Misa. "Any idea who did
this?"
RAN: Does that mean the crystal backup can't be copied, or...
LARGO: Or?
RAN: What if the crystal's contents are duplicated, and the duplicate
is placed in a body along with the original? Would you then
have two Jean Naborus?
LARGO: Would cause havoc with the beaurucrats, would't it.
RAN: Not to mention the credit departments, the philosophers and the
theologians.
"Only one possibility," the commander of KMT-9 sighs,
crossing her arms. "Miriam Yoshida."
Yuina blinks. "What brought that conclusion out?"
"We know Jean-chan's story, Sempai. When Kozue-chan and
I were busy at her office, I asked Izumi-chan to pop by AD Police to
find out where Yoshida's body was. Guess what? It was taken out
about three weeks ago, two nights after he was found."
"By who?"
"According to the attendant, someone representing Yoshida's
relatives. Problem is, Yoshida had none; his folks bought it in the
quake. Then again, how was this guy supposed to know?"
"Get a picture?"
"Hai," Misa fishes out a picture, then hands it over.
Yuina looks. Tall fellow, about 220 centimetres, quite bulky.
"Don't recognize him."
"I had him checked up in the database. He's a ghost, Sempai."
RAN: And I suspect they'll look to haunt him!
A scowl crosses the house matriarch's face. "Ghost" was a
term T'n'T field workers used to identify someone who couldn't be
nailed down with a positive ID even with a full-blown search using all of
the company's resources. They were encountered from time to time,
files kept on sightings...but so far, no one had been able to start
assembling stories and gauging motivations.
She then takes another look. Typical manservant type. "We'll
worry about this fellow...and whoever he's working for...later," she
hands the picture to Misa. "If we run on the assumption that Yoshida
has come back from the dead, his next obvious targets are Jean's
friends from Paradise Loop...or the Sabre Knights."
Misa scowls. "Orders?"
"Yours and Izumi's teams will remain by the Diet. Invisible
guard. Megumi'll get her hounds on the streets to trace Jean's crystal.
I'll keep Asako's people here until we run him down. Yoshida HAS to
have a boomer-type body to do his morphing tricks; it's the same basic
principle as what a C-55 can do. Once he comes in range of any of
our establishments, we've got him. If someone, ANYONE, tries for
the others in N-Forty, you'll know what to do."
LARGO: Tear them apart and blast them to Hell?
RAN: Just about.
Isaac twists the release knob, letting a fresh rush of drugs pour
into Jean's brain.
RAN and LARGO: Ooooohhhhh! Colors!!!
"While you, of course, don't feel better..." he dries Jean's tears
with a cloth gripped in a pair of clamps, "...I hope you are now calm
enough to hear me out."
"Why should I ever listen to you?" she snarls.
RAN:[voicing Jean] You should expect me to bite your elbows instead, if
you ever get them close enough!
LARGO:[waving his hand] That lacks style...the preferred thing to say
in such a sitation is "You just step up here so I can bite your
kneecaps!"
RAN:[narrowing her eyes and looking at Largo] How would *you* know?
LARGO:[shrugs] Something I heard.
"Because I can help you get back on your feet and back to
your friends. However, I need assurances from you that you will not
attempt retribution upon me."
Jean stares at him, then nods. "Very well."
"You're lying," Isaac turns a computer screen towards Jean. "It
says so right here, not that I really need it..."
She explodes. "***WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU
EXPECT?!?! YOU BETTER KILL ME NOW, OR I'LL HUNT
YOU THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!***"
RAN: The head explodes? That's going to create a mess!
LARGO: And after the Doc went to such trouble!
"No doubt you would..." he nods. "But that would be a terrible
waste of your potential." He gazes at the ceiling and inhaled. "I guess
this calls for stronger measures..."
He then gazes at Jean.
"I give my heart, my soul, my body..."
Jean's face becomes a mask of horror as something clicks in
deep within her mind.
"All of me, of my free will, to you and only you, Jean
Noburu..."
Jean franticly shook her head. "No...NO!!!!"
"Now and for the rest of our lives..."
"Stttoooppp...! Stttoooop...!!"
"This I swear by all I believe."
RAN: I take it this is some programmed response thing.
LARGO: Yup. Binding sequence for a sexaroid, I think.
Silence falls. Jean clenches her teeth together, seemingly trying
to keep the proper words from emerging. She then slumps her head
and began to speak...
"I give my heart, my soul, my body...all of me, of my free
will...to you, Isaac Du'Arc...now and for the rest of our lives. This...I
swear...by all I believe..."
RAN: How can she give her heart to Du'Arc. She's ahead.
LARGO: Yes. The heart is with the rest of her body. And that means...
RAN and LARGO:[singing] Jean's left her heart in Nerima!!
A pause, then Isaac's brow rises in surprise. "I didn't think
that'd happen. It seems that there is an unfortunate loophole in that
code. Oh, well..." he shrugs, then grins, throwing his arms wide.
"What's important is that I get you back to those who're most likely
worried sick about you. I'll get things ready right now." He then turns
a monitor towards Jean, pressing some keys. Soft music began to
flow. "For your enjoyment," he smiles, then walks out of the room.
LARGO: Bet it's playing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
RAN: He said it was for her enjoyment...not to turn the screws in
farther.
LARGO: I don't know...I'd enjoy it!
RAN: You would...
Jean doesn't really pay attention to him. It had happened. It
had happened. She was bound to him...to him...to him...
It wasn't fair!!
Then, she looks up as footsteps approach her. A gorgeous
woman now stood before her. She gives Jean an even look, then slaps
her across the face! "Don't think for a moment that the oath means
anything to him!" she giggles, then leaves.
Jean shuddered, then began to weep...
RAN: So this Jean character gets killed, reanimated as a disembodied
head, is forced to listen to useless banter, and then is
bound to a mad scientist.
LARGO: Don't forget she get's slapped by the Doc's squeeze.
RAN: Does she have a name, or is she just "Du'Arc's squeeze"?
LARGO: Dunno. Doesn't say.
RAN:[shrugs] Nonetheless. The close of a perfect day, if you're in
Hell!
* * *
Elsewhere...
"Nice to see that some things were kept behind."
RAN: You might want to consider changing kept -> left.
Yoshida chuckles as he relaxes before the computer. It had
been simplicity itself for him to return to Maebashi. Even if the place's
use had been exposed, it was a government facility and still in
operation. It was late evening. Once he was done here, it was back to
Megatokyo. He wouldn't need this place again.
LARGO: This is still in present tense here?
RAN: I think. Hard to tell. Most of it is alright, but "It was late
evening" and next sentence might work better as one sentence.
LARGO: You mean like..."It was late evening at the facility, and once he
finished his work there, he planned to return to Megatokyo. He
wouldn't need this place again."
Tapping into the secure part of the machine to get at his
personal files. Once there, he draws up all the information on the seven
other bitches he had dragged out of the Loop to press Satoru's plan. A
twinge of uncertainty then floods him as he remembers what Jean had
said about the fusion boomers who had taken over members of the
Diet. Was Satoru one?
LARGO: Is that an incomplete sentence beginning this paragraph.
RAN: Yes. It lacks a primary subject. It might be best as..."After
successfully tapping the secure section of the machine to get
his personal files, Yoshida draws up all the information on the
seven other..."
LARGO: Is Satoru a fusion boomer?
RAN: Don't know. If he was, he isn't anymore. If he isn't, he's likely
in big trouble.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the irrelevant issue, he then
memorizes the pictures there. No need to worry about that now. If
that whole story was true and if the fusion units came back, he'd deal
with them. Even if he did want revenge, he wasn't crazy enough to fall
on that sort of crowd. If boomers ran the planet, it would not be a
pleasant place for normal people to live.
LARGO: Not crazy enough to fall on what?
RAN: Not sure about that. The sentence before that indicated that
Yoshida would take care of any Boomers, then this seems to
indicated that he 'wasn't crazy enough' to take them on.
LARGO: Maybe I misunderstood.
RAN: Even if that is the case, it should be clarified.
He detects something at the corner of his eye. Light was
coming out from under the door to the bedroom. Thinking he had
forgot to shut it off when he went to work, Kentaro walks over and
opens the door...before stopping, his jaw on the floor.
Soft light from lamps placed in the corners fall on the bed,
making the figure lying on it glow in her white gown. Her arms were
crossed over her chest. A bouquet of roses were clasped in her hands,
making it seem like blood was staining her gown. A soft, sweet
fragrance filled the room. More rose petals were strewn on the floor.
On a nightstand, a bottle of champagne was chilling along with a bowl
of strawberries.
LARGO: Don't suppose it will be opened?
RAN: Given that this was meant for the now live Jean Naburo, probably
not.
LARGO: Wonder whose romantic interlude it was meant to imply?
RAN: Didn't know Du'Arc was a bigamist! In any case, I suspect it won't
be appreciated.
Kentaro staggers over, falling to his knees beside the bed and
reaches out to Jean, his fingers traced her face. Her eyes flutter open.
"Jean...?" Kentaro croaks.
LARGO: Seems that the not-so-good Doctor constructed a whole new body
for Jean.
RAN: And it seems to be utterly recognizable too.
Oshika...
*Ring!* "Is that ye, lad?!"
"Hello, Nicole!" Isaac smiles. "I trust the two are safely back
together."
"Aye," Nicole nods. "Jean's getting the care she needs. I heard
of that little trick you pulled. Ye know that nae works since the Codes
are on a separate ROM chip. It nae can be forced right intae the
crystal itself."
"An experiment...and an assurance. Besides, from what my
observations of Miss Noburu and Mister Miura revealed, both are too
much in love with each other to be concerned about me," Isaac hums.
"I hold nothing over her. Though it might've been interesting to see how
it might've gone if a certain person hadn't cut it short."
"I'm a jealous woman!" a voice thunders from the background.
"As I am well aware off," Isaac chuckles. "But you'll still stay
where you are until I decide otherwise."
"Oh, pooh!"
"On other matters..." Nicole tries not to laugh; Isaac's
companion oft reminded the matriarch of a mix of Lum Moroboshi and
Akane Saotome with a sadistic streak spiced in. "I think ye have
something that doesnae belong to ye."
RAN: Nah. She's got the nasty streak but she doesn't strike me as
like Akane or Lum at all.
LARGO: Why's that?
RAN: Because if she was, she'd done more than interrupt his 'experiment'
...she'd bent, folded, and mutilated him.
Nicole listens, then nods her approval. The conversation
concludes, then the matriarch cuts the line. She then senses Anri's wide
eyes fixed on hers. "Problem, lass?"
"Obaa-sama..." the young Sexaroid stammers, everything
adding up deep in her mind, revealing a whole new side to her
employer she NEVER suspected existed. "Wh-why...?"
RAN: That other side of course being amoral and ruthless, on demand
of course.
LARGO: Gotta like that in a woman though.
"Because sometimes, we ourselves need a reality check, Anri,"
Nicole rises, waving her assistant to stand beside her as they gaze onto
the rolling Pacific. "Because we're in the position we're in,
overconfidence in our ability to deal with things off is often our most
dangerous enemy. Your father and the lasses in Edo have many good
qualities; I'll nae deny them that. But given the recent spite of successes
they've had in pressing our goals, they badly needed a reality check to
keep them sharp. This does it much better than anything else I can
conceive."
"It's horrible," Anri sighs.
"Aye, lass. That's what this world can be tae many people.
Dinnae worry about it...and dinnae speak of it to yuir sisters,
ESPECIALLY Dee and Sylvie. Understood?"
"H-hai..." Anri nods...
* * *
Nerima, later...
"You sure you're going to be okay, Jean-chan?"
RAN: Sure! Only hurts when I laugh, heheh...ittai!!!
Jean blinks, then gazes painfully at Namie. As soon as she and
Kentaro had reunited, both had gone to the Tower so that Jean's
crystal could be placed back in her original body...which, since she was
a boomeroid Sexaroid, DIDN'T have the ROM chip containing the
Sexaroid Codes which would've trapped any other 33-S into a promise
bond with Isaac. Sitting beside Namie was her fiance, Tomoharu
Chizono, both holding the other's hand. "Yeah, I'll be fine..." Jean
sighs, gripping Kentaro's hand. "I...gods..."
"What did it feel like?" Tomoharu, a C-55 who had taken the
place of a Nagano dietman, gently prods.
"Like everything in my life ceased to be relevant save for
Isaac," Jean sighs. "I couldn't fight it...couldn't resist it...damn it
all..."
LARGO: This guy Du'Arc is miles past the villain line, and accelerating.
RAN: Does seem to be one to take perversion to new lengths.
LARGO: I mean, deliberately linking one to a promise bond so as to
escape destruction.
RAN: I'd be hunting this guy down if he did something like that to me,
promise or none. And since she doesn't have programming binding
her to any sexaroid bond codes, I suspect she will be too.
LARGO: Certainly. I just wonder if the writers realize this development,
and if they will work on this angle in the future?
RAN: Don't know. Fred has caused his characters to have significant
turning points in the past, only to revert thier personalities
to the points they were at the start. This was a big problem
in his handling of the cast of UY in his "The Senior Year"
series.
"Yeah, I am, I guess..." Jean loopily smiles, then stares at
Namie. "Oh, did this Lain girl really want to interview me?"
RAN:[voicing Jean] This Lain girl...is she part of the wired?
"Tell her thanks," Jean adjusts her glasses, then takes a deep
breath. "Okay, what now? Who do we go after? Yoshida or Isaac?"
*Idiot, stop calling him by his name!!* she mentally adds.
LARGO: Versus calling him what?
RAN: Versus using his formal name: Du'Arc. Although I suspect she
would much rather call him some less than formal names, like
bastard, or dead if she ever gets her hands on him.
"Most likely, you and the others would be next, then maybe the
Sabre Knights," Kentaro sighs, his SDCI programming coming out.
"But it's not wise to sit around and wait for him to come for you. Go to
him. Fight the battle on ground you choose, not him."
LARGO: What's with all the characters sighing, and how can they say
so much when they do?
RAN: And that's the other big complaint. You'd think there are
enough words to describe speech (sigh is not one of them),
that we could dispense with it entirely.
LARGO: Guess not. Say Ran, where are the Knight Sabers? I *am*
here to destroy them afterall, not to comment on long winded
sighs!!
RAN:[fear showing] Ehh-hehehehhheh. I'm sure they'll be along after this.
Just promise me you'll all be civilized people and take your fight
somewhere else, so my ship doesn't get damaged.
LARGO:[icily] I'll *see* what I can do.
RAN:[sweatdrops!]
* * *
Outside...
<<Hannah-chan, is that Namie-chan leaving?>>
<<Hai, Misa-san, it is,>> Hannah Miller nods, using a hard-link
to transmit to Misa, who was relaxing in a bistro on the other side of the
street from the main gate. <<She's with her fiance, heading to the Pizza
Emporium.>>
<<Going to the tram to head home,>> Misa grunts. <<Okay,
moving to follow. Tell Izumi-chan and the others.>>
<<Hai. Ganbatte, Misa-san!>>
LARGO: He could have used something other than the Japanese for "Good
luck".
RAN: Yeah. "Good Hunting", or even "good luck" would have sufficed.
Just because the author is proficient in Japanese doesn't mean
that all or even most of the fans who read this will understand
the phrase, so they could be lost.
LARGO: You want the readers to stay with you to the last page, when I
go wreck havoc on...
RAN: Larrrgoooo. You're not in this story, remember?!
LARGO: Damn! Then I'll wreck *twice* as much the next time I get
revived in this series to make up for my lack in this story!
RAN: Uh. Yeah. ''^_^
Misa pulls the cyber-link from the back of her neck, then rises
to follow Namie and Tomoharu on the other side of the street. Given
the large amount of metal around, both were probably keeping their
MFS systems down so they wouldn't be too distracted by echoes.
Understandable, but not smart when you're dealing with a madman like
Yoshida, armed with...
Hello! Hello! What have we here?
LARGO: Don't look now, but we have serial killer at 6:00!
Trailing Namie and Tomoharu is a tall blonde woman with blue
eyes and all sorts of delectable curves, her eyes fixed on Namie. Her
face was neutral, but Misa's MFS was picking out all sorts of
interesting details inside her. *Okay, that's gotta be him,* Misa smiles
as she leaps onto a fence, bounds up to a street light, then does a
running leap to the other side of the street, waiting for Namie,
Tomoharu and the stranger to pass before dropping back to the
ground, her hand reaching into her raincoat to feel the solid weight of
her gaikatana. <<Namie!!>> she transmits out.
LARGO: When did this become "Highlander"? Nene die and become an
immortal or something?
RAN: Not quite...Apparently these sexaroids have ROM imprinted
training as killer ninjas or something.
LARGO: Ninjas? In BGC?
RAN: There's a concept, eh?
Elsewhere...
Isaac reclines in a chair, watching Yoshida stalk another one of
Jean's friends, Namie Okajima, currently with her fiance heading
south-east from the Toratotaka Tower, no doubt towards the Fault.
Since Namie didn't live anywhere close to that...and her fiance had
apartments which could be reached via tram from Nerima...there was
no doubt that Yoshida himself was being trailed, Namie baiting him into
a trap. Unknown to the deranged scientist, Isaac implanted a camera
behind Yoshida's eyes that allowed him to see what Yoshida saw.
Isaac spoons some more pudding into his mouth and sighs.
"You sound bored."
"Yes, I am," he sighs again. "More mindless violence tonight.
RAN:[voicing Du'Arc's squeeze] I didn't know you were into pro-wrestling!
I'd hoped that a man of Yoshida's intelligence and talent would provide
some quality entertainment. However, it seems he just wants to pander
to more base instincts."
LARGO: Guess we can call Yoshida a pander-bear, then?
A throaty laugh. "Sometimes one should turn off their brain and
enjoy their desires. 'Sides, we got to keep the gaters fed."
RAN: Don't tell me this girl is a related to Kodachi! Does she call
one of them "Mr. Green Turtle"?
"Ho-ho!! A good point! Do you have any suggestions to spice
up tonight's main event?"
"I thought you'd never ask!"
Isaac looks behind him to see that she was setting another
monitor up. Shooing him off the recliner and replaced it with a
low-backed stool, she allows him to relax. After he sits down, she
dances around the stool, engrossed in a striptease. Isaac watches,
eagerly grinning. On finishing, she then bites the buttons off his shirt,
then yanks off his trousers and underwear.
An oldie...but a goodie.
LARGO: And what goes with mindless violence?
RAN: Meaningless sex!
LARGO: Kind of like fish and chips!
* * *
The Fault...
Namie and Tomoharu relax as they head down the dirt road
which ran along the bottom of the scar bisecting Megatokyo. It was
possible for both to simply walk from Nerima to Chuuou; they had all
night and tomorrow was a Saturday. Six metres behind them, the
blonde woman maintains her pace, her eyes locked on the bouncy girl
ahead of her. Namie, when she was in Stacey Fernwood's old body,
had pulverized both of Yoshida's assistants with gravity blasts when the
whores made their escape. Yes, time to take her down...
<<Weapons, Misa-chan!>> Namie tenses on picking up small
blobs of metal in a large circle around her.
<<I sense them,>> Misa nods. <<Keep going. I've seen these
punks before. They always go for the cute ones. Looks like the
doctor'll get some exercise before getting his head hacked off.>>
<<Hai,>> Namie nods.
"Hey, babe, how's it going?!"
The blonde slows down, her vision picking up a dozen or so
young men, all with bulges in their jackets denoting that they were
armed. "What do you want?" she neutrally inquires.
"What do you think?!" the leader snorts.
She sighs, then fixes him with a stare. "Oh, then you better
come get it, sweetie pie," she invites them in.
The punks laugh as the leader approaches her...just as her arm
suddenly morphs into a multi-barrel plasma cannon! He cries out as
she locks on him, then fires, roasting his body before he could come a
metre closer. "Fuck!!! Boomer!!" another snaps.
"Get her!!!" a third roars.
The other arm morphs into a cannon as the blonde starts to
wade into them...
RAN: Ah. The direct approach!
LARGO: Sometimes 'Kill them all and let the Kami sort 'em out" is the
way to go. Especially when your a gang member in the 21st
century and the girl you're harrassing suddenly says "come
get it".
RAN: Be careful what you're walking toward. You may just get it!
* * *
Elsewhere...
"Such good technique," Isaac muses, watching the whirling
figures on the screen. "Everyone knows her part well and executes it
with the ease of veteran actors."
RAN: That should be "Everyone knows *their* part well..."
LARGO: Mindless violence, blasting and firing away at organics...
what fun!
RAN: '''^_^
"The question is..." she pants, her hips wiggling, "...can they
continue to act like they want to when problems arise?"
"Uhmf! We'll see!!"
* * *
The Fault...
In less than a minute, the battle is over, a dozen burned corpses
splattered on the ground as the blonde allows her arms to morph back
to normal. Her head snaps east to see Namie and Tomoharu still
walking down the road, acting as if nothing had happened behind them.
What the...? Grunting, she moves to follow...just as Namie turns to
her. "Hey, fuck-face!!" she gives her the bird. "You really are an
asshole, you know that?!"
LARGO: You mean that person just walked down to road as Yoshida
slaughtered that gang. Now *that's* hardcore!
RAN: Well, I suspect this bunch, while not at the level to gain Tn'T
attention, aren't exactly a bunch who will be missed by
anyone.
LARGO: In other words, their demise is as likely to listed in "public
improvements" as in the obituary.
RAN: That's one way of putting it.
The blonde screams as her body morphs back to Yoshida's
natural looks, his legs propelling him towards the escaping whore and
her love...just as a bolt of burning pain rips through his side. He nearly
doubles over as a pair of feet land behind him, his eyes turning to see a
black-haired, blue-eyed woman in a black combat uniform staring at
him, a drawn katana in her hand.
"Yoshida..." she icily purrs. "We want a *word* with you!"
Snarling, he leaps away, his internal systems moving to mend
the deep cut in his side as his arm morphs to lock on Izumi's forehead.
Before he could muster power to shoot, she leaps into the sky...as
another gaikatana, twirling like a tumbler, slashes through his arm at the
elbow! Yoshida screams, the surprise of the attack catching him off
guard as a foot plants itself into his back, sending him tumbling towards
Misa. She rears up, then delivers some sweet chin music to send the
scientist down on his back. Misa backs away, arms cocked and ready.
"Well?!"
Shuddering, Yoshida sends mental probes out to his
chopped-off arm nearby, his internal damage control systems going
overtime to keep his power grid stable. Footsteps from behind. He
turns to see a platinum-haired woman standing by his lost arm.
"Looking for this?" Satomi smiles as she summons a chi ball, then she
delivers a brick-shattering blow to shred the wrecked arm into tiny bits.
Yoshida howls, the backlash from his destroyed arm searing
through him like a thousand knives as he rolls, his right arm locking on
Satomi's head...then he blinks on noting no one there. A stab of fear
arcs through him as he rolls back to his feet, eyes scanning wildly about.
No one. Where?! Where were they?!!
* * *
Elsewhere...
"There!" Isaac suddenly leans forward, almost dumping her
onto the floor. "He's starting to succumb to frustration and fear. I think
I know the ending of this show."
"We can't stop know!" she pulled herself back up, biting his
shoulder. "After all, so many things end the same way...yet we still
watch since there can be so...many...variations."
"Ah, yes!" he chuckles, diverting his attention between the
screen and her well-sculpted assets. "I've seen this many times myself.
I continue to watch though for the feeling that a well-crafted story
brings..."
"Let the game end..." she purrs...
* * *
The Fault...
"Yoshida..."
He tenses, then turns as something walks out of the shadows.
A woman dressed in a black coat, glasses fixed over grey eyes,
short-cut black hair. "No..."
RAN: Yup. Looks like another villain is about to be yanked from the
stage.
LARGO: Well, this was a bit of a throwaway anyway. Now the other
guy, Du'Arc. He looks like he'll be around for awhile.
RAN: True. But he might not show up in a story for a while, maybe
not until the writer's are ready to kill him off.
"Surprised?" Jean snorts, reaching into her coat to draw out a
very ominous-looking pistol. "You shouldn't be," she locks on his
forehead. "You fucked my life royally when you sent your goons to get
me and the others! Now I'm gonna fuck yours!!"
LARGO: Ah. Quick draw contest...
Roaring, Yoshida moves to aim his right arm at her...as her
SBG-207E snaps on his chest and fires! The bolt slams into his chest,
the EMP burst ripping through his biomechanical filaments as the power
cells in his body suddenly overload. A scream barely escapes his lips
as his right arm suddenly explodes, showering the area with dark blood
and torn flesh! It is quickly followed by his legs, what is left of his left
arm...and then his chest!!
RAN: And the serial killer wasn't quick enough.
* * *
Elsewhere...
"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!"
Isaac and his companion collapse as the screens go blank...
* * *
The Fault...
Yoshida's vision hazes over as Jean walks over to stand over
his face, the pain searing through his mind overwhelming all his other
senses. "Gee, what was it Yuka-chan always says when she shoots a
boomer with one of these things?" the intelligence officer hums
exaggeratedly, then she smiles, snapping her fingers. "Oh, just
remembered!!" she then aims on target.
"Boomer go down the hoooooooooooooooole!!"
RAN: Other possible end phrases include...
"FIRE IN THE HOOOOOOOLLLLLLLEEEEEE!"
LARGO: "Now you get to be HOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLEEEEEE!!!"
RAN: "HOLLLYYYYY HEAVY METAL, BATMAN!!!"
Then his vision goes white before blackness comes...
* * *
"...Yoshida...Miriam Yoshida...?"
A familiar voice sounds in the darkness. Awareness comes
back to him centimetres at a time as he eventually finds himself looking
up at a plain white ceiling. A face appears, eliciting a storm of relief and
delight. *Another chance!!* he mentally laughs.
RAN: THink again.
LARGO: He should have done that *before* he entered the fault.
"I have to wonder..." Yoshida muses. "Why have you revived
me again?"
"I have use for you. You shall aid me in my experiments."
"I guess I should...after all you've done for me. How can I help
you?"
"By being a good test subject," Isaac leans back, waving to an
unseen person.
Fear rushes through Yoshida. "Wait...!" he tries to get up but
finds he was restrained by straps...not to mention that he no longer has
any arms and legs...as a huge man took hold of the gurney. "WAIT!!!!
Please give me another chance!!!"
"I gave you your chance, Yoshida-san," Isaac scratches his
chin. "I brought you back to see what you would do with your new life.
You wanted revenge and so I let you have it, on the one who was the
cause of your death. After that, your possibilities were unlimited. But
you went to the well once to often, and tried to kill those who didn't kill
you. So you failed your last chance."
"PLEASE...!!!" Miriam wails as he is wheeled across the room.
"I won't try for vengeance!! I'll make up for it!"
Isaac shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. I'm no angel of life,
pulling people back from the beyond for altruistic reasons. You were
an experiment in my ongoing study of karma...and you've failed to
overcome yours. Thus I have no more use for you beyond what your
body can offer."
RAN: What happened. His Karma ran over his dogma?
LARGO: That is bad! Have to wonder about this guy. Is he some
refugee from Zaibach?
RAN: Sure seems to act like a Madoshi.
More screams echo as Yoshida is wheeled down a corridor
lined with metal doors...
RAN: Guess that's what happens when you take your obsession for blood to
a Fault!
LARGO: Still and all, it doesn't end *so* badly for Yoshida.
RAN: He's been blown away. He's being made the subject of all sorts of
hideous experiments. He's lost his body?! How can you say
he *doesn't* end badly!!!
LARGO: He still ended up a head!
* * *
Nerima, days later...
"So do we have ANYTHING on this creep?"
"I'm afraid not," Megumi sighs, relaxing in her chair as she gazes
sympathetically at Jean. "I've done five sweeps of all our databases,
ten of Versailles' database alone with Robert's help. This Isaac Du'Arc
really knows how to keep himself hidden."
"What was his game, Sempai?" Jean crosses her arms. "I
mean, it made no sense. Reviving Yoshida, then allowing him to nearly
do me in, then bringing me back...!"
"What do you think it could've been?" Megumi wonders.
Jean's brow furrows, then she sighs. "I don't know."
"Well, think about it when you're not distracted with
Kentaro-kun and your duties," Megumi smiles, rising. "We'll keep an
eye out for him. If he causes more trouble, we'll get him, one way or
another. Anyhow, Diedre-chan and Liberte-chan should be due by
sometime soon for a chess game and tea, so if you'll excuse me..."
"Hai!" Jean rises, bowing, then departs.
Megumi watches her go, then shaking her head, heads to the
window to gaze on Megatokyo, as if she was pulling it apart one block
at a time. Isaac was a slippery bastard for sure; none of her observers
had picked him up anywhere in the city. How could Nicole allow such
a man to exist in the first place?!
She sighs, the answer coming to her as soon as she asked the
question. There were people out there of such great evil, people
without a care in the world, that Toratotaka hunted day in and out. At
times, given how dark and foreboding the world could be at times,
Toratotaka was indeed a burst of sunshine. Because of their high
standards...and their stunning success rate...some at T'n'T probably did
believe they could do it all if they had to.
People like Isaac Du'Arc showed them otherwise.
"Megumi-chan?"
"Ohayo, Liberte-chan," Megumi sighs as Liberte and Diedre
stand to both sides of her. "You're early."
"Didn't take Papa long to figure out what happened to
Jean-chan," Diedre sighs. "Du'Arc came to town, didn't he?"
"Hai, he did," Megumi nods.
"Do you think he's gone?" Liberte sighs.
"Doubtful," Megumi shakes her head. "He wanted Jean-chan's
reserve crystal and regen packs for some reason. I've a very ugly
feeling that we haven't heard the last of this yet."
RAN: Get a feeling Megumi knows more about this Du'Arc fellow than
she lets on.
LARGO: I get the feeling this person is a lot more about a lot of
things than she lets on. Those are the most dangerous
folks of all.
EPILOGUE
The Tower, nighttime...
Yoshiro Andrews sits back, slowly drinking his tea, trying to
relax. He was more tense these days. With Saotome, Quincy and
Sylia hemming him in...like wolves that harried a prime stag before they
tore it to pieces...he had more than enough reasons to worry. *There's
not one damned thing I can do about it!* he snorts.
RAN: The cost of being a developer of Boomers. The massive popularity.
LARGO: Yeah. It can be a killer...literally!
The computer on the desk suddenly flickers to life...
"Andrews-hakase."
He snaps around, seeing an image form on the screen, a man
with cybernetic eyes smiling at him. Startled, Andrews backs away
>from the machine. "Who...who are you...?"
RAN: The devil!!
LARGO: Or close enough.
"I am Doctor Isaac Du'Arc," he gives a small bow. "Please
don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm."
"What do you want?"
LARGO:[voicing Du'Arc] Nothing much. Just your soul.
RAN: Yeah, you won't miss it at all...
"I only have a proposition for you," Isaac replies. "One that
may help you in your current situation."
Hope flares in Andrews' heart. "You can help me out?! You
must then know what I want!"
"Indeed I do," the other's voice hardens. "But I cannot help
you out of what you have placed yourself in. You have gone too far in
that regard and must one day answer for what you have done."
Andrews deflates. "What could you ever do for me then?"
"I can give you an opportunity to atone for your sins, to
overcome your karma even though you may not be around to enjoy it.
It will be up to you to decide what's most important to you."
Andrews shudders, then sighs. Despite all his past fluster, he
was no fool. Saotome was out there in Nerima waiting for him, a dark
angel of vengeance ready to strike him down whenever he decided the
time was right. His vengeance wouldn't be a quick bullet to the skull,
either. It would be much worse. It would wreck everything he had
done over the last decade and more.
Sitting down in front of the screen, he sighs again. "What did
you have in mind, Du'Arc-hakase...?"
RAN: If I were this guy, I'd ask about the price...
LARGO: And read the fine print! Then count your fingers and toes to
see if they're all there.
RAN: You know...the basics when you deal with devils.
*** The End...For Now ***
RAN: Thank goodness for that! So Largo, what did you think of it?
LARGO: I think I haven't had a chance to blast anything today...and I'm
getting an itch in my plasma barrel finger!
RAN: An itch?!
LARGO:[giving a sick smile] Yup. And when that itch is a little much,
I tend to fire at random...to scratch that itch you know?
RAN: Uhhhhh....you want to find the Knight Sabers? You won't bother
me if I tell you where they are, right?
[LARGO nods. Just then a beep from the computer alerts Ran to a call
on the monitor.]
RAN: wonder who that is. Put him on the monitor.
[Doctor Du'Arc's face appears on the monitor, greying hair, cybernetic
eyes and all.]
DU'ARC: I noticed you've read the story I was in. What did you think
of it? [notices LARGO] Ah. Someone revived *again* eh?
LARGO: No thanks to you. What's this about my revival being done too
often.
DU'ARC: Just a statement of fact. Every time you get revived you go
out, try to trash the Knight Sabers and get wrecked yet again.
You seem to lack the ability to change that awful Karma of
yours, don't you
LARGO:[Getting Pissed] Maybe I like my Karma just fine! Maybe I should
come over and run my karma over your...
RAN:[Pointing a bazooka at LARGO's head] power down there!! I don't like
where this is going!
LARGO: O.K. Just point the blaster somewhere else, because I *really*
don't like ladies sticking .85 calibers up my nose!
RAN: Now, about this fic. Doc, what was your opinion.
DU'ARC: The main story was a little boring, no more than your typical
"villian of the week" thing. I'd be disappointed in it, but
I liked what...turned up for me while Yoshida was blasted.
RAN: Yeah...we saw that.
DU'ARC: I suppose I'm biased there.
RAN: Largo?
LARGO: Where are the Knight Sabers!!!!
RAN: You don't hang out with a guy named Ryouga Hibiki, do you?
LARGO: Obessive, has an infinite supply of bandana, throws ki blasts
when he gets depressed?[RAN nods] Nope. Never heard of him!
RAN:[rising from facefault] I'll take that as another thumbs down. I
tought it's a decent side story to the Illusions line. Even
thought it was a bit on the "villian of the week" side, it did
introduce a character I hope we see more of. The action flowed
well enough, and the story for the most part seems understandable
to non-fans of the main storyline. I'd fix up the voice in the
start of the fic, and cut back on the Japanese borrowing, but
that's about it.
DU'ARC: I thank you for the vote of confidence.
RAN: You're welcome. Now I have two questions. 1) Who is that girl
your with and 2). What *are* you using Yoshida's head for?
DU'ARC: Well Ran, for the first question the answer is...sore wa
himitsu des!
RAN: Uh. Yeah.
DU'ARC: As for the second, [pauses] Do you know that there are no
decent lounge singers in Megatokyo? It's a fact!
RAN: That's news to me.
DU'ARC: I mean metal or Jazz or rock is a dime a dozen there, but
not one person can do a good rendition of the classics...
especially the greatest of them all...
RAN: That is?
DU'ARC: Mack the Knife!
RAN: o_O...Mack the Knife?!
LARGO: I can do a great rendition of it. I'm born to sing it, you
might say!! When did you get into that song, Doc?
DU'ARC: When I was a budding mad scientist in the streets of Paris. Of
course, no one, not even my comrades in the Future Maniacs
of Europe, understood. They were all still entranced with...
ugh...Jerry Lewis!! You cannot imagine how it grates on one's
nerves to see the ten thousandth rerun of "The Nutty Professor"
or "King of...Comedy"[looks kind of green mentioning the last
one]
RAN: Ahhh hah.
LARGO: Perhaps we can do a round of it or two...
DU'ARC: Or three [offstage a voice yells "If you're singing *that*
again I'm heading out for a bit"] Can you take it on three?
[DU'ARC and LARGO count the one...two..three and...]
DU'ARC and LARGO: [singing]...
Woah that Shark has / lovely teeth dear
and he keeps them / pearly white!
Just a jack knife / has ole' MacHeath dear
And he keeps it / out of sight!
RAN: Guys...Were out of time here!
DU'ARC and LARGO: [still singing]...
Fancy gloves though, wears ole MacHeath, dear
So there's not a / trace of red!
RAN:[running outside and pointing in a random direction] HEY, LARGO!!
I THINK I SEE PRISS AND SYLIA OUT THERE IN THE PARK!!!
DU'ARC and LARGO: [still singing]...
>From a tug-boat / by the river___
A ce-ment bag's / dropping down___
The ce-ment's just / for the weight, dear___
Nine'll get you ten / Mack-ie's __back in town___
Mil-ler__disappeared, dear___
after drawing out / his hard earned cash;
Now Mac-heath spends / like a sailor___
Could our boy've done / something rash?
[RAN runs screaming from the spaceship after "Mackie's back in town"
and the words "One more time" are heard!]