Bubblegum Crisis
Batman: The Animated Series
S M I L E
A tale of knights, past and present.
--------------------------
Part 5: Joker's Game
--------------------------
Breathe the pressure
Come play my game I'll test ya!
Psychosomatic addict insane!
Breathe the pressure
Come play my game I'll test ya!
Psycho-somatic addict insane
Come play my game
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim!
Come play my game
Exhale, exhale, exhale!
-The Prodigy, "Breathe"
:)
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
o/~ It's a small, small world o/~
"Shit."
Fargo scowled as the tram slowly made its way through the
'Small World' ride, one of the oldest sections of Disney
Japan to still be active.
He hated this ride.
He really hated it.
Whoever arranged the meet to be here was one sick
individual. If he hadn't needed the money, he'd never
have gone.
There was something just _wrong_ about hundreds of
automitons wearing children's faces and singing the same
song over and over and over and over...
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
o/~ It's a small world after all o/~
"Yeah yeah, it's a small small world, I know," he grumbled.
"And such a funny little world at that."
Suddenly, all the automitons pulled out handguns, and they
were all pointed at him. The tram ground to a halt.
A tall figure stepped out from the shadows, pale as death
and grinning madly. Fargo kept a calm face, but he knew
this was a bad situation already.
"Fargo, isn't it?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, that's me. Gotta say, it's kinda obvious who you
are," replied Fargo. Inwardly, he cringed. If Fargo had
known HE was involved, he doubted he would have come at all.
"What gave me away?" asked the Joker. "Was it the suit?
The hat? The nametag? Did I forget to take off the
nametag? Silly me." He leaped into the boat, gliding
easily into the chair next to Fargo.
"Must be the smile," deadpanned Fargo.
The Joker paused a moment, then broke out in more hysterical
laughter. "Ha! A man with humor! I like this guy
already. HAHA!"
"So," Fargo said carefully, "what can I do for you?"
The Joker leaned back casually, resting his arms behind his
head. "Fargo, my boy, I hear you've got connections, and
some of them connections I'm mighty interested in."
"Such as?"
"Those lovely ladies, the Knight Sabers. I want to..." The
Joker's grin turned up a notch and his voice lowered to a
sultry barritone, his eyebrows waggling. "... introduce
myself properly, if you know what I mean."
Still maintaining his cool, Fargo nodded. "Yeah, I can
arrange something... if you've got the cash."
"Oh, I've got it. I just want you to pass on a simple
message to those gals."
"Yeah? What message?"
:)
Linna was hoping to enjoy her one day off on the week, but
Priss' disappearance changed all that. Their leader had
been out of touch for days, and now their teammate was
missing, and possibly in danger.
An emergency meeting of the Knight Sabers had to be held
somewhere safe.
In other words, Linna invited Nene over.
"What are we going to do?" whined the redhead, pacing around
Linna's living room nervously. "We can't just wait for the
police! By the time they find her, it might be too late!"
"Nene!" said Linna, standing up, sounding offended by the
very suggestion. "Don't think like that! We've got to keep
a calm head about this," she continued. "That's what Sylia
would want anyway," she muttered to herself.
Nene took a few deep breaths. "Okay, calming down. Right.
Thinking."
"Leon's digging around the streets, isn't he?"
Nene nodded.
"So he's got the streets covered," said Linna.
"But he hasn't found anything new."
"As long as someone's covering it, Nene."
"Good point. Tried contacting Sylia lately?" asked Nene
hopefully.
Linna shook her head. "She's still not answering. I asked
Mackie if Sylia's called him, but he hasn't heard from her
either."
*beep*
"Linna, what's that?"
"It's my new Knight Saber pager."
"Doesn't sound like the old one."
"It's a new type," said Linna. "Different beep and an
audiovisual transmission. Sylia gave it to me just before
she left for Gotham."
"Oh."
The two resumed thinking. But just for a brief second.
Then they both looked at each other, eyes widened.
"ANSWER IT ALREADY!" screamed Nene.
"I am! I am!"
Linna dove for her purse, rooting through the contents
frantically. Finally, she pulled out something that
resembled a small compact. Linna flipped it open eagerly.
"Sylia! Is that you?"
//"Not quite."//
Linna gasped and nearly dropped the compact. Instead of
Sylia's image, there was a silhouette of a man, badly
distorted by static.
//"Don't worry, I'm a friend of Sylia's."//
"You are?"
The stranger hesitated. //"Okay, maybe 'friend' is too
strong a word. I'm a frequent associate she uses to deal
with delicate and discreet matters. How's that sound?"//
"Sounds better."
//"If it's any consolation, the image is scrambled on my end
too. Sylia just left me this number in case something big
came up."//
"So I guess something big is up."
//"Mm-hm. A newcomer in town has a message he wanted me to
pass along to you."//
"Yeah?"
//"On top of the Hayashi Tower, sunset. Or the whole city
dies."//
"Who's THAT from?"
//"You might have heard of him. White face. Green hair.
Big smile."//
"The Joker?"
//"That's him."//
"Do you have anything on where this guy came from? The
original Joker's supposed to be _dead_."
//"Word is he first appeared on the streets soon after the
GDC blew up."//
"They're related?"
The silhouette on the screen shrugged. //"Hard to say."//
"Anything else?"
//"This is something he asked me, not you, though you might
want to look into it. The Joker was looking for a Dr.
Cavendish."//
"Ever heard of him?"
//"Not me."//
"Could you give me a call if you find anything on him?"
The figure paused. //"Hm. Sure, I'll just put it on
Sylia's tab."//
"Have you heard from Sylia?"
//"Sorry, no. Last thing I heard, she was going to check
out some real estate in Gotham."//
:)
She'd found it.
One of the greatest mysteries of modern times, and she'd
discovered the answer.
Who was Batman?
"Bruce Wayne."
Her voice echoed through the empty cavern, through darkened
chasms and seemingly bottomless pits. Her gaze slowly came
across the legacy of a lifetime: trophy cases filled with
odd and bizarre memorobilia, a gigantic penny, a large joker
card hanging from the ceiling, the 'batmobile', and a
massive computer system wrapped under plastic.
And hung in one particular trophy case, the legendary cape
and cowl.
She stood there, unsure of what to think or what to do.
Her expression was neutral, but inside she was stunned.
Bruce Wayne was Batman.
But what happened to Bruce Wayne?
He disappeared in 2011. His personal jet was on its way
from Gotham to France, but never made it. No traces of
Wayne's jet were ever found.
Could he still be alive?
She walked, cautiously, through one of the smaller
corridors, her flashlight illuminating the way. It wound a
short distance, lined on sides by unpowered fluorescent
lights, until it finally ended in a large, metal bulkhead.
Pulling on the door proved futile, as did pushing. It
seemed sealed firmly, and by the sound of it as she knocked,
extremely thick.
The door seemed to be featureless, until her meticulous eye
caught sight of something on the far left side.
A keyhole.
She suddenly remembered the meeting with the stranger in the
park, and pulled out the key she was given.
Sylia felt nervous, giddy, filled with a sense of wonder.
She reached out, and turned the key.
:)
While Linna and Nene couldn't repair serious damage to their
hardsuits, Sylia did train them in the fundamentals of
maintenance.
Nene seemed to excel in it more than the others, though
Linna and Priss learned enough to keep Sylia happy.
In anticipation of the coming battle, Linna insisted they do
a maintenance check. Perhaps it wasn't necessary, but at
least it kept them busy.
Nene finished her maintenance checks quickly. Linna, as was
usually the case, took a bit longer. Nene killed time by
going over to the computer terminals. When Linna was just
about to finish, Nene came running into the room.
"Linna! I found him!"
"Found who?"
"Dr. Cavendish. The guy the Joker was looking for. I
found him!"
"How'd you manage that?"
"There was a Dr. Alan Cavendish in Genom's records. He was
an employee in the GDC. The police thought he was killed in
the blast, but an Alan Cavendish recently bought a ticket to
Berlin!"
"That's great! Let's go get him!"
Nene's smile faltered. "Um, well, that's... er..."
"What?"
"His plane, um...." She looked at her watch. "It just took
off."
"Damn."
-*-
There was a small road that ran across the back of the
MegaTokyo airports.
It was a road used rarely, and usually for repairs.
On this day, a garish purple sedan was parked on its side.
And on its roof, a jolly man in a purple suit sat, looking
at the runway with opera glasses.
"HAR-LEEEEEEY!"
A girl's face, powdered pale and with black lipstick,
popped out of one of the car windows. "Yeah, puddin?"
"Kindly pass me my hunting rifle, would you?"
"Okay, Mista J!" She ducked back into the car, and a moment
later hauled out a rocket launcher, seeming to have a little
difficulty with its weight. The Joker grabbed it with one
hand and pulled it up with ease.
"Thaaaank-you!"
With exagerated motions he pulled it up, looking down its
targeting sight with a sqinted eye. Down the runway, a
medium sized airplane was beginning its takeoff run.
The Joker grinned. Then, suddenly, the grin became a frown.
"No... this lacks something. Ah, wait, I know!"
:)
*riiiing*riiing*
Dr. Cavendish blinked, then pulled out his cellular phone.
"Um, hello?"
//Hiya, doc!//
"Y-you!"
//Hey, did I ever tell ya the joke about the goose with
explosive diarrhea? When it took off, it went-//
;)
With a thunderous bang, flight #2914 heading for Berlin, was
transformed into a flaming ball of metal, glass, and
screams.
The Joker laughed hysterically, dancing atop his car like a
ballet dancer, occasionally doing a pirouette.
"Out with a bang! HA!"
"Hey Mista J! The cops are gonna be here any minute!"
"Police? Feh. Like they can stop _me_." He looked
contemplative for a moment, rubbing his chin. "But I still
do have that appointment with those lovely iron ladies
tonight. Wouldn't want to spoil my appetite, no.
HAR-LEEEY! Let's move!"
:)
"So who is Dr. Cavendish?" asked Linna.
"Digging for the records right now," answered Nene. "Hold
on... ah. Here it is. Dr. Alan Cavendish, specialist in
the field of artificial intelligence. Head of something
called the SMILE project."
Nene and Linna blinked, read that line over again, then
looked at each other.
"The SMILE project?" asked Linna.
"Hold on, trying to get details." Nene's fingers flew
across the keyboard, typing at a breakneck pace that only
veteran hackers could match. Lines of code flew across the
screen, meaningless to the casual observer but warfare in
progress to Nene's eyes.
A few seconds later, the screens went blank.
"What?" asked Linna, shaking Nene's shoulder. "What
happened? What happened?"
"Had to power down. They were running a back-trace and
almost got here."
Linna patted Nene's shoulder, then walked away sighing.
"Guess the hacker queen can't win'em all." She walked back
to her suit, deep in thought. "So we've got one runaway
Genom AI scientist, one destroyed research center, and one
psychotic villian back from the dead."
"Wish we had time to chase down Dr. Cavendish," said Nene.
"If wishes were fishes," muttered Linna.
"You know what this looks like, don't you?" asked Nene.
Linna nodded. This looked like yet another case of a Genom
Boomer project gone awry. And then she remembered one
more thing to add to the trouble. "Oh yeah, almost forgot."
"Almost forgot what?" asked Nene.
"Those half-finished Largo-class boomers that Genom found."
Nene cringed. "Oh boy."
"I guess we'd better pack the moto-slaves. Make whatever
preperations you need, 'cause I have a feeling this will be
a hard fight." Linna headed for the door, then hesitated.
"Oh, and Nene?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't care how you do it, but tip off Leon. I think we
could use the backup."
:)
In the powersuit hangar it sat, a hulking mass of metal
unlike anything else the ADP had in its arsenal. Once upon
a time, it was a heavily armed battlemover, heavily damaged
at the end of a case involving the Knight Sabers.
Surveying the wreckage, Leon McNichol didn't want it to go
to waste, epecially since the ADP often had inferior
firepower in their daily battles.
And so, with a lot of help from the ADP Maintenance Crew,
the battlemover was reborn and christened as 'Leon's
Machine'.
At the moment, Leon's Machine was being looked over by its
caretakers and its master, and both sides were having a bit
of a problem.
"No way, McNichol! We are NOT going to install that heat
cannon on this thing!"
"Why the hell not?!"
"With all the extra armnaments we stacked on it already,
you're pushing the energy restraints on it. Adding THAT is
gonna fry your generator."
"Aw, c'mon, if anyone can make this work-"
"Don't try kissing my ass, McNichol, it ain't gonna work."
Leon sighed. "Can we at least get the grenade capacity
upped a bit?"
"We'll see. As it is, you're lucky you don't fall down
ass-backwards every time you use the main cannon."
A slight beeping noise caught Leon's attention, coming from
his pager. He went to a nearby vidphone terminal and
checked his vidmail.
A few seconds later, Leon returned to his machine.
"Hey, Eddie!"
"Yeah?"
"Think you can get this thing ready in a few hours?"
The maintenance worker glared at him. "You're gonna take
her out again?"
"Yep."
"Gonna be messy again?"
"Could be."
The mechanic sighed. "Just try not to get'er as messed up
as last time?"
Leon gave a cocky grin. "Hey, this isn't gonna be as bad as
the Freeze riots."
:)
>From the top of an adjacent building, hidden behind air
conditioning units, ventilation tubes, and other industrial
trappings, the remaining two Knight Sabers looked over the
Hayashi building warily. Some distance behind them, their
moto-slaves sat, empty and silent.
The Hayashi tower was a tall structure, slightly higher than
the average MegaTokyo tower. It resembled a tall, narrow
pyramid, with office space leased to various companies
housed within.
//Anything?// asked Linna.
Nene shook her head. //The place is clean.//
//What's in the Hayashi building anyway?//
//Just offices,// said Nene. //Nothing that stands out to
my eye, anyway.//
//Where's the ADP?//
Nene pointed to several other adjacent rooftops. With
darkness swallowing the land, Linna wasn't able to see them.
A quick check with the powersuit sensors, however, revealed
their presence.
//There's also a squad of them on standby a few blocks
away,// said Linna. //Leon's with them, and he's brought
out his toy again.//
//The battlesuit?// asked Linna, surprised. //It's amazing
they still let him keep the thing.//
They waited in darkness, with the sounds of distant traffic,
the occasional chopper patrol, and the echoes of zeppelin
advertisement blimps in the distance buzzing constantly.
//Hey, Linna.// Nene pointed in the distance, where an
advert-blimp slowly approached the Hayashi tower.
//What about it?// asked Linna.
//I've never seen one painted green before.//
//This could be it. Stay alert.//
The advert-blimp came to a stop at the very top of the
tower, then began spinning in place. The vidscreeen on its
side caught the Sabers' attention.
K N I G H T S A B E R S - C O M E O U T A N D P L A Y !
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Linna stood up, scanning the area carefully, then headed for
her moto-slave. //Let's go, Nene. Looks like it's
showtime.//
:)
The two moto-slaves leaped from the roof, flying across the
way to the top of the Hayashi towwer. Above them all, the
green advert-blimp silently continued its vigil, repeating
its message endlessly and spinning in place.
In other nearby rooftops, members of the ADP called in the
alert and held their weapons, waiting for the action to
start.
As the two sabers landed atop the tower, the blimp stopped
its spin, moving a few yards away, then turning so that its
side faced them.
A sinister grinning face filled its screen.
//Ah, I just love sunsets, don't you? I thought this would
be the perfect time to meet. Just before knight-time, hm?
Hehehehe!//
//Very funny,// said Linna dryly. //What is it you want,
Joker?//
//Why, to meet you ladies, of course.// The Joker sighed
and raised a hand to his forehead as if exasperated. //You
see, I'm lonely without my darling dark knight.// Then he
leaned towards them with a maniacal grin. //But then I
heard of you ladies, and you seemed so much like him. So I
was hoping to have a little fun, just like in the good old
days!//
Linna cut off her loudspeakers and turned to Nene.
//Anything yet, Nene?//
//I'm sensing four boomers on the zeppelin. Not sure if one
of them is him, though.//
//So anyway, ladies,// the Joker continued. //Now that
we're properly met... let's play a game!//
Linna turned her loudspeakers back on, subcosciously raising
the moto-slave arm with the gun in it. //What kind of game,
Joker?//
//You like my pretty lil balloon?// asked the Joker. //I've
a few more, twenty, I think,flying around the city right
now. Take a guess as to what's in them?//
A chill ran down Linna's spine. She spared a glance at the
streets below, the cars stuck in traffic, all those people
walking in the sidewalks...
The death toll would be in the millions, easily.
//Yes, that's right! It's the latest, and I might add,
deadliest version of my Smilex gas! HA!//
:)
Down below, in a mobile command center, Leon, Daley, and
other members of the ADP stared at their monitoring
equipment in horror.
"Shit," cursed Leon. "This is bad. Daley, call HQ,
tell'em-"
"On it now, dearie."
"That's why I love ya."
:)
//Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if I just killed
everyone,// said the Joker. //Well, maybe it would, but not
as fun as what I've got in mind. Pay attention now!//
The Joker swept his arms in a grand fashop, bowing slightly
to them. //Here's how we'll play. There's a red button in
each of the advert-blimps that I sent out there. Just press
it, and the blimp won't release any gas.//
//So what's the catch?// asked Linna.
//Two things!// yelled the Joker, dramatically holding up
two fingers. //ONE is that I've also just infected a LOT of
boomers, including a few military specials, with my own
little AI personality virus, and they're starting to track
you down riiiight now.//
//And the other thing?//
//You've got one hour before the balloons start spraying.
Oh, by the way,// said the Joker casually, //there IS a
quick way to end it all, though I'm not telling. If you're
smart like Batsy you'll figure it out. You've got an hour.
Good luck! HAHAHAHAAA!//
:)
As the image of the Joker faded to darkness, the zeppelin
turned away from the Knight Sabers and began descending down
to the streets below. Nene and Linna immediately jumped
down after it, their moto-slave thrusters flaring brightly
in the darkness.
As they approached, bursts of gunfire erupted from the
zeppelin's cabin. Linna took to the left, Nene to the
right, and together they strafed the cabin with their own
gunfire. Inside, they could see four figures shake
violently and explode.
//Cabin's clean,// said Nene. //Let's get in there.//
Linna nodded, and they both flew to the nearest hatches.
Nene reached up, pulled the door off, and then stepped
forward-
*CLANG*
-and nearly lost her grip as her massive moto-slave suit
banged against the small hatchway.
//Nene? What was that?// asked Linna.
//The moto-slave won't fit in the doorway!// whined Nene.
//Nene, just rip the hatchway. The metal's kinda wimpy.//
//Oh! Aheheh, of course, right.//
*RRRRIP*
>From opposite sides, the two entered the cabin. Inside, the
smoking remains of several generic boomers armed with
handguns were scattered everywhere. They were able to
enter, though they had to crouch a lot to do it. Nene headed
for the pilot controls while Linna examined the boomers
carefully to make sure they were fully inactive.
//I hope the other boomers are as easy,// said Linna.
//Linna! I've got another problem!//
//What is it _now_?//
//Um, which button do I push?//
//The red button!//
//Which red button?//
Linna blinked. //What do you mean? Hold on, I'm coming
up.// She made her way to the front, occasionally scraping
her knees in an effort to not bang her head on the ceiling.
//Okay, now what's the... oh boy.//
All the buttons on the controls were painted red.
//Right. Don't panic. Just look at the controls and see
which one looks like it was added in recently.//
Nene was quick to see one, mainly because it had a little
smiley-face painted on it. She pressed it, and the digital
readout with the countdown timer came to a halt.
Nene breathed a sigh of relief.
//Don't relax yet,// said Linna grimly. //Nineteen more to
go. There's gotta be an easier way than this.//
:)
//Look out, Wrightson!// yelled Leon. //Behind you!//
Flying low over the streets of MegaTokyo, a police
mini-chopper swerved to the right as a hail of bullets flew
from the streets. Several ADP armored vehicles quickly
drove to where the gunfire came from and mercilessly razed
down two dozen waiter boomers armed with handguns.
//Shit, man, we're getting our asses tweaked by mosquitos,//
grumbled the chopper pilot.
//Careful up there,// radioed Leon. //We'll try to cover
your ass, you just try to catch up to those zeppelins.//
:)
Somewhere else, in a darkened room surrounded by monitor
screens, the Joker watched with amusement as Knight Sabers
and ADP alike fought frantically to board the zeppelins and
deactivate them.
"Y'know," he mused, "if they bother to count, they'll
realize I lied. There's thirty zeppelins. Haha!"
"Hey Mista J, aren'cha mad about the cops stickin' their
noses in?"
The Joker considered this question for a moment. "Well...
y'know, in the old days, I guess I would. But hey, this is
just my housewarming gift to the city anyway. Besides, it
never hurts to see what today's mordern policeman can do,
hm? Who knows, they might not be so pathetic anymore!
HAHAHAHA!"
"They got four balloons down, boss. Two by them Knight
Sabers, two by the cops."
"Time left?"
"Thirty-five minutes, boss."
The Joker laughed again. "Ha! At this rate, half the
town'll be wearing a permanent grin! HAHAHAHA!" The Joker
spun his chair in place for a while, giggling and laughing,
and then he suddenly stopped. "Say, aren't there supposed
to be four of them iron maidens? Why the heck are there
only two? Oh well, maybe they're on vacation."
:)
//Linna! I've got an idea!//
The pair dodged a round of gunfire, this time from machine
guns, as they flew towards another zeppelin.
//Yeah? What is it?//
The pair once again split up and strafed the cabin from
opposite sides.
//Well, all these advert-blimps have an automated guidence
system, right?//
//Yeah, that's right.//
//So I'm thinking,// said Nene as she crawled towards the
cabin. //Why not just use the remote guidence system to
bring'em all out of the city?//
//Nene, you're brilliant!//
Nene hit the red button. //Yeah, I know. All we need now
is to get to an advert-blimp control tower, boost the
signal, and send them all out to sea!//
Linna nodded. //Let's do it.//
:)
Still in their moto-slaves, Linna and Nene quickly flew
towards the the Kaze Industries building, home base for the
line of blimps that the Joker had hijacked. As they wound
through MegaTokyo's towers, zooming over the myriad highways
and roads that cut through downtown and swooped under
intra-tower walkways, they soon saw they were being
followed.
//Linna, we've got company.//
//How many?//
//Five, and flying. Looks like they're military class.//
//Damn. Nene, be careful.//
They turned a corner, then zoomed upwards to the top of yet
another tower. The Kaze Inc. building housed its hangar and
control tower atop one of the many towers of MegaTokyo, the
hangar doors gaping open on all four sides. Linna and Nene
saw a hint of movement in the shadows, then swerved and
dodged as heavy anti-air artillery tore through the air.
//Of course they'd leave a guard here,// muttered Linna.
//I bet the Joker's there too.//
//I'm sensing another five military types up there, Linna.
The five behind us are gonna be here any minute.//
The two peeled back and away from the Kaze tower, taking
cover behind a neighboring building.
//Those five flyers,// said Linna, //are they heavy duty?//
//They're flying high and fast, so I think they might be the
new hummingbird class,// answered Nene.
//Hummingbird? That doesn't sound so bad.//
//Light on armor, but they're armed with a vulcan cannon and
a twin laser array. They're geared towards being tank
killers.//
//Oh boy.//
//Heads up, here come the fliers.//
Buzzing around the corner, looking very much like mechanical
dragonflies with helicopter blades instead of wings, five
hummingbird class military boomers zoomed towards then.
Each of them had a smiley-face painted on them.
:)
"My, how graceful they are indeed," mused the Joker. On the
many monitors before him, the two Knight Sabers soared,
dove, and rolled away from the blazing guns of the
hummingbirds. All around them, office windows shattered and
crashed to the ground, sending pedestrians screaming and
scurrying away.
The red saber crashed through one window, landed inside,
then turned. Two satelite dish-like devices flipped up from
her exo-skeleton's suit, aimed directly at a cluster of
hummingbirds. A moment later, three of them sparked,
spasmed, then dropped like bricks.
"Ooh, EMP emitter. What dazzling toys!"
The green saber shot straight up, and the two remaining
hummingbirds zoomed up to pursue her. The weakness of a
helicopter-based design became apparent, as they couldn't
tilt their bodies enough to properly aim their cannons.
Safely above them, the green saber shot two rounds from her
cannon, picking them off with precision strikes to their
rotors.
"Not bad," said the Joker. "Not bad at all." He rubbed his
chin and leaned back in his chair. "Y'know, it's better
that there's only two of them. That way I get my dark
knights and they're also a dynamic duo. Hahaha!"
The sabers spiraled as they dove towards the advert-blimp
hanger, dodging anti-air cannon fire. With dazzling swoops
and spins then managed to land in the hanger, where five
BU-60 model boomers, hulking humanoid monstrosities not
much different than their BU-55 predecessors, awaited them.
And all of them wore an eerie grin.
One of the boomers, fused to the anti-air cannon, swiveled
to aim at the green saber. It was too slow, and fell to its
side as it was hit by a knuckle-bomber.
The red saber quickly ejected from her moto-slave
exo-skeleton and used it for cover, as the frame condensed
and became a robotic fighting unit of its own. The
moto-slave veered right, the red saber to the left, both
opening fire on the remaining boomers. Taking advantage of
the distraction, the green saber, still in her moto-slave,
jumped high above the fray and picked off two of them,
severely damaging the other two.
"Looks like this show's just about over. Let's go, Harley!
We'd best set up the dramatic finale." The Joker rose from
his chair and strode for the door, the Harlequin following
soon after.
:)
Breathing hard, their hearts racing, Linna and Nene raced up
the stairwell to the control tower. Linna lead the way,
kicking the door down and taking aim with her arm cannon.
The control room was surprisingly empty.
//Linna, look!//
Installed on the controller's board, bright red, with flags
on it, was a large red button. Nene rushed forward to push
it, but was stopped when Linna grabbed her arm.
//Wait a minute! It could be a trap.//
Nene frowned. //But the other buttons worked.//
//Yeah, but he didn't say anything about this one. Besides,
that's what I'd do if I was him. A mean prank.//
//Oh.//
//How much time have we got left?//
//Fifteen minutes.// Nene looked at the display, where the
locations of the advert-blimps were marked in green dots
across a city map. //We can crash some out into the bay,
but most of them won't get there in time.//
//Damn.// Linna thought about it, though the pressure of
the ticking clock made her sweat with every passing second.
//Wait a minute. I have an idea. Nene, call Leon.//
:)
*riiiing*riiing*
High above the city, with one arm holding on to the hatchway
and the other firing away at a cabin full of crazed boomers,
the last thing Leon needed at the moment was a phone call.
"Great timing," he muttered, twisting out of the way as one
of the boomers lunged for him clumsily and fell to the
ground below. "Oh yeah, great timing."
*riiiing*riiing*
Off to the side of the zeppelin, an ADP Firebee helicopter
let off another burst of chaingun fire, rattling the cabin
with a fresh set of holes. Leon prayed that the pilot
remembered the strict orders NOT to puncture the ship's
gas cells, or anything that resembled a gas tank.
*riiiing*riiing*
After a deep breath, he grunted and swung himself in, gun
still held up. The cabin was a mess of boomer parts, glass,
and other metal parts. He rushed to the controls and hit
the red button, stopping the timer.
*riiiing*riiing*
He pulled his cellular phone out angrily. "This had BETTER
be good!"
The voice on the phone was a bit scrambled, but undoubtedly
female. //Hey Leon, this is the Knight Sabers.//
Leon blinked. This, he wasn't expecting. "Hey, yeah?"
//Got a favor to ask you.//
He smirked. "Can I get a date out of this?"
The voice on the other end laughed. //Maybe later. Right
now, we need to know if you've got enough people out there
to stop the zeppelins. We took down four, it looks like you
guys took another six down, but there's still twenty-eight
left.//
"Twenty-eight left? I thought the Joker said there was only
twenty."
//He lied.//
"Figures. So what can I do for you?"
//We can take control of the zeppelins, but we can only get
a few out of the city before the timer goes off. We're
gonna force the rest down to make it easier for you guys.//
"Sounds good. You ladies gonna provide me with locations?"
//Of course.//
"Okay, let's do it!"
:)
Across the city, police teams swarmed around the Joker's
zeppelins as they landed, quickly overpowering the renegade
but lightly armed boomers within.
Out across the bay, three advert-blimps crashed into the
water.
All seemed well in hand, with this mad threat coming to an
end.
Not quite.
:)
Linna and Nene, both outside of their moto-slave
exo-skeletons, sat down in the controller seats of the
tower, taking what they felt was a well deserved rest.
The day, it seemed, had been saved. The fisherman's union
wasn't too happy about the zeppelins that crashed into
MegaTokyo bay ("More smiling fish, dammit!" they yelled) but
otherwise things were surprisingly good. There were a few
injuries in the effort to stop the Joker's plot, a few
serious, but none fatal. With all the bullets flying about,
it was considered a miracle that none of the zeppelins had
exploded.
Linna was about to say something about how fortunate they
were when one of the monitor screens came to life.
//Hellooooooo nurse!//
Linna and Nene stared at the screen, Linna rising to
her feet.
"What do you want now, clown?" she said defiantly.
//My, you're new to this sort of thing, aren't you?// The
Joker tsked. //We can't let the night end on a whimper like
this! We've gotta have fireworks! Music! A big bang!
Some tuna salad!//
"What?"
//I like fish, but that's besides the point.//
The thrum of powerful engines coming to life shook the
hanger, all the way up to the control tower. On the control
tower screen, one more green dot came to life.
A big one.
Looking out the control tower windows, the sabers saw an
gigantic shape gliding out, towards the heart of the city.
This one was unlike the rest, bigger than any zeppelin
they'd ever seen before. It drifted outward, turned its
side to face the Sabers, and activated the advert-screen.
The Joker's face appeared, looming above them and as usual,
grinning like a devil.
//You see, kids, you just can't end a night until the hero
or heroes (that would be you) has a slam-bang sort of fight
with the bad guy (that would be me). So catch up if you
can!//
The zeppelin turned away once more, gliding towards
MegaTokyo Bay.
//Oh, and one more thing! This one's filled with Smilex
too! Shoot it down and we'll all be smiling a lot more!
HAHAHAHAHA!//
Linna and Nene exchanged tired glances.
"Catch up to a blimp," said Nene flatly. "How hard can that
be?"
:)
Nene and Linna spun wildly in a desperate attempt to dodge
the rain of lasers coming from the passenger decks of the
zeppelin. Mad laughter echoed from above as the shots from
the blimp wrecked havoc and destruction down below.
//What the hell does he have up there?!// yelled Linna.
//There must be a dozen lasers and cannons gunning for us!//
//I can't get a clean scan!// said Nene. //He's got
jammers!//
They didn't dare fire back, not at their angle. The risk of
puncturing the gas cells and possibly letting loose a flood
of Smilex on the city was too much to risk. A few attempts
to gain altitude were met with a storm of weapons fire.
Even the bottom of the zeppelin was armed.
//Pull back,// said Linna. //We'll get on top of it from
behind one of the towers.//
Nene nodded, and the two dove away from the Joker's
zeppelin, finding safety behind one of the many towers of
downtown MegaTokyo. They soared, high above the peaks and
spires of the city, spying the form of the massive
advert-blimp-turned-warship below, then dove down towards
it.
They swooped down, laying heavy artillery fire on the decks
of the advert-blimp. Glass shattered, metal sparked,
chipped, and flew, and a hatchway was blown open in the
initial volley.
They seemed to have done something right, as the weaponry
inside didn't have a chance to begin to return fire.
Tearing the hatchway wider to accomodate their moto-slave
frames, Linna and Nene stormed in, weapons at the ready.
//Freeze!// Linna yelled... to an empty room. Scattered
about the room were twitching boomer parts, apparently
caught in the Sabers' strafing. Every window mounted
impressive firepower, both conventional and energy weapons.
There was were doorways to the fore and aft of the ship,
closed and nondescript.
//Let's get to the control room,// said Linna.
As they took a step, the heads of their moto-slaves scraped
on the ceiling.
Nene frowned. //Okay, this could be a problem.//
//We'll have to do without,// said Linna. With a hiss, the
moto-slave frame opened, allowing Linna to step free of its
confines.
//But he might be a Largo class!// whined Nene.
//All that firepower will be useless if you can't move
around to aim it. The moto-slave's too big, Nene. Ditch
it.//
Reluctantly, Nene left her moto-slave as well, and the
pair made their way cautiously towards the door.
//On three?// asked Nene.
Linna nodded. //On three. One, two, THREE!// She kicked
down the door and brought her weapon arm up quickly, Nene
doing likewise.
Several stewardess boomers, wide and maniacal grin on their
faces, turned to face them and opened fire with heavy
artillery. A laser blast pierced Nene's shoulder, sending
sparks and metal flying. The red saber shrieked in pain and
fell back. Linna took down several boomers with direct hits
to the head, then slammed the door shut and pulled Nene away
from it.
//Nene! You okay?//
//Y-yeah, I think so.//
//How bad are you hurt?//
//Just sore. Lucky the armor stopped it, but I think the
link to the arm motors are damaged. I'm having a hard time
moving it.//
//You gonna be alright?//
Nene nodded. //Good thing I'm not a lefty.//
Before they could talk further, another round of weapons
fire shredded the door to splinters. Thinking almost
automatically, both sabers ducked and set their moto-slaves
to motoroid mode. The empty moto-slaves behind them came to
life and tore away at the boomers with their cannons in
seconds.
//Okay, new plan,// said Linna. //We send the motoroids in
first.//
Nene nodded. //Sounds good.//
:)
The motoroids opened door after door, tearing apart any
boomers they came across. None of the boomers were of true
military type, being mostly stewardess and maintenance
boomers, but all were armed with serious weaponry.
The only break from this pattern was on the third door,
where two dozen boomers flung an astounding amount of pies
at the motoroids.
//What was THAT all about?// asked Nene.
Linna shrugged.
A second later, the pies began to hiss, and the paint of the
motoroids began to peel away. Some small metal bits
shriveled up and were reduced to nothing.
Nene blinked. //Acid pies.//
//Funny guy,// said Linna. //Let's go.//
Onward they moved, encountering less boomers with each
passing doorway. Finally, they reached a door marked
'bridge'.
//I'm getting massive interference,// said Nene. //There's
no telling what's in there.//
//Be careful,// Linna reminded Nene.
The motoroids kicked the door open and charged into the room
as best as they could, backs crouched and heads scraping the
ceiling.
The cabin was empty, except for one figure, his back turend
to them, sitting in the pilot's chair.
The sound of hands clapping slowly greeted the Sabers as
they cautiously entered the room behind the motoroids. The
chair slowly turned around, revealing the Clown Prince of
Crime himself... or a reasonable fascimile.
"Not bad!" cheered the Joker. "Not bad at all." Then he
stood up, pacing between the captain's chair and the
co-pilot seat, frowning. "Though I must say, it was really
disappointing to see you resort to using _those_ to get
here," he said, pointing to the motoroids. "I know darling
Batsy would've gotten here all on his lonesome."
//Um, Linna?// asked Nene through their private comm
channel. //What do we do now?//
Linna blinked. She was expecting him to put up a fight, and
for everything to end with lots of gunfire and explosions.
A conversation was something she wasn't expecting, and had
no idea what should come next.
//I'm... not sure,// she said lamely.
The Joker seemed to sense their indecision. He gave them
something close to a comforting grin, though on his face it
was more alarming than anything else.
"I know, I know, these things usually end with a big,
dramatic fight and lots of explosions," he said in a
mock-sympathetic tone. "Well, I must admit I've killed the
mood for a big knock-down drag-out fight. I am, after all,
not usually this _chatty_."
The Joker sighed and put a hand to his forehead, all his
motions exaggerated in a bizzare, comical way. "But I've
got places to go and people to see at the moment. I simply
MUST run back to Gotham now, and I've no time to play this
game to its proper end. Well... tell you what, since you've
been such good sports, I'll still give you the big bangs.
HAR-LEEEEY!!!"
Linna and Nene whirled around, but it was far too late.
Without warning, a loud cannon blast roared through the
cabin, and a massive flash of white struck Nene and punched
her through the cabin's wall before she could even scream.
Linna brought her weapon arm up... and stared in shock.
Harlequin aimed a massive cannon, the barrel nearly
as tall as herself, at Linna. "G'nite, sucker!"
Time froze.
Her mind racing, Linna dove and rolled as another shot from
Harley's massive cannon tore through the air, nearly taking
out the Joker as well in the process.
"HEY! WATCH IT!" snarled the Joker.
"Oopsie! Sorry, Mista J!"
Linna ignored them, grabbing a parachute from the wall
quickly. She knuckle-bombed the floor, the force of the
blast knocking Harley off her feet. Linna dove through the
newly made hole and into freefall...
And she prayed she wouldn't be too late to save Nene.
:)
Far below, the waters of MegaTokyo bay rippled and waved.
Some distance ahead of her was a red figure, tumbling in
free fall.
//NENE! ANSWER ME! NENE! WAKE UP!//
Linna's thrusters roared at full blast, praying she could
reach Nene in time.
//NENE! WAKE UP DAMMIT! NENE!//
The roar of the wind was in her ears, the awaiting waters of
the bay coming up far too fast for her liking.
Please God, she prayed, don't let it end like this.
With the click of a trigger, Linna exhausted the last of her
energy in one massive thruster burst. She flew past Nene,
wrapped an around her tightly, then pulled the ripcord.
A jolt of pain hit Linna as the parachute snapped open,
jarring them in the process. Joints creaked, the arm
holding Nene shuddered for a moment, and the arm strap of
the parachute threatened to tear, but everything
miraculously held.
:)
In the control room of the Knight Sabers base, Linna sat
quietly, a brooding and depressed look on her face.
For a while there, things seemed to be going well. Sylia
would've been proud, she thought. Hey, this leadership
thing wasn't so tough, right?
But now, she was feeling far from confident.
She felt overwhelmed, undermanned, incompetent, foolish...
Not worthy of command.
Hung in its customary spot, as best as Linna could manage,
was the remains of Nene's suit. The back and left side were
hit severely, with most of the armor blown off. Nene would
be out of action for a while with internal bruising, a
broken left arm, and whiplash.
She'd almost died.
They'd almost died.
It was too close.
And then there was the other problem.
:)
The 'rough season' of Gotham, the time of year when
thunderstorms plagued the city for endless weeks, was into
its second day now. The cold temperatures combined with the
harsh rains kept many inside, but not most.
Winnie Taylor was waiting for the bus to bring her to work.
Braving the harsh weather, she stood at the bus stop and
cursed the bus for being late. She wished she didn't have
to go, but having a deadbeat husband and a child to feed
forced the issue.
A street punk walked into the shelter of the bus stop with
her, one of the Street Demons, his leather jacket proudly
proclaimed. His eyes were red, wild, and he reeked of
alcohol and pot.
She froze, praying that he'd leave her alone.
"Hey mama," he said in a gravely, low voice. "Don'cha know
this is dangerous weather?"
She remained silent.
"Dangerous weather, babe, very dangerous." He giggled like
a schoolgirl and edged closer to her.
"P-please, leave me alone," she whimpered.
"Don't worry. I just need you to warm me up."
She tried to bolt but he grabbed her hand and slammed her to
the ground. She kicked, screamed, but was too weak to fight
him as he straddled her.
"Shut up, bitch!"
He raised a hand to slap her.
She closed her eyes and screamed.
Thunder roared from the heavens.
Winnie screamed and screamed until she realized he wasn't on
top of her anymore. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
The punk who'd tried to rape her was there, unconscious,
severely beaten, and tied up with black wire.
She stood up, shaking, and looked around in the darkness and
rain.
"H-hello?"
She heard something unidentifiable above her and looked up,
only to see the shadow of the Bat.
:)
On the screens before Linna were the readouts and playbacks
from the 'black box' of Nene's suit. Visuals, sensor
readouts, hardsuit data, and other data were brought up to
the screen.
Her screens were currently focusing on the brief moment Nene
stared straight in to the eyes of the woman calling herself
'Harlequin', with her painted white face and maniacal grin.
Her sensors were mostly scrambled, but what little there was
managed to identify Harlequin as a humanoid, not a boomer,
though the sensor readings hinted of cybernetic
enhancements.
Harlequin was a human, a woman, just as Linna had feared.
But not just any woman.
She stared at the screen.
Priss Asigiri stared back.
:)
- end part 5 -
:)