Disclaimer: The Phantom is the property of King Features Syndicate and 
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is the property of JVC. No money is being made from 
this and no such intent should be inferred.

C&C,, public or private is welcome. I respond to all C&C....eventually
************************
Knight Sabers HQ, 7am.

The Sabers were a bleary eyed bunch as they gathered in the main room. They 
had spent the night camped out on the floor while the computer struggled to 
make sense of the data it had been given. 

Well, to be more accurate, Priss and Linna had camped out on the floor. Nene 
had camped out on the floor of the computer room.

"So you have something?" Sylia asked, elegant as always. Linna ran a hand 
through her hair which was messy and unruly. She had not slept well. Half of 
it had been sleeping on the floor, the other half had been the dreams she 
had. All had involved Kit, and in most of them he and she were-she felt her 
cheeks redden and quickly drank her coffee to hide it.

"Just this," Nene said and tapped a button, causing a hologram to form in the 
air. It was a of a man, dressed in a purple bodysuit half in shadow.   One 
arm was visible and they could see one of Nene's darts sticking out of the 
shiny metal armband he wore. "This is off of Linna's suit recorder," Nene 
said, entering what could only be described as 'lecture mode.'

"So?" Priss asked.

"So, I sent it to a guy I know in Paris who sent it to a guy in Cairo. Turns 
out that there's an African legend of a guy who dresses in purple. They call 
him, 'The Phantom' or 'The Ghost Who Walks.'" She passed around palmtops. 
"According to the legend, the Phantom is this immortal guy who wanders the 
world, fighting injustice and evil. They claim he can fly, crawl up the sides 
of buildings like a spider, has the strength of a bear and the speed of a 
cheetah. He can also fire lighting from his hands and walk through locked 
doors and windows."

"And now he's in Tokyo?" Sylia asked. 

Nene nodded. "Looks that way. It's hard to be sure, I mean, there's very few 
pictures and fewer references. But based on this picture, it sounds like it."

"Can I have a copy?" Linna asked. "I want to show it to Kit. He told me his 
family used to live in Africa, he might know something."

"Not to mention that you can't wait to see him again," Nene teased.

"It's nothing like that!" Linna gasped out. "I mean, if he can help, that's 
good, right?"

"Uh-huh," Nene said, crossing her arms and giving Linna a hard look.

"Go make the copy, Nene," Sylia said before the younger woman could launch 
into an interrogation.

"I need a shower," Priss announced to no one in particular as she too, left 
the room. Within moments, it was just Sylia and Linna.

"So, his name is Kit. . ." Sylia asked as she sat down.

"Yeah," Linna said, feeling a wistful smile tug on the corner of her mouth 
despite her best efforts.

"What's he like?"

"Smart, funny, he's studying genetics." She paused. "He listens to me, I 
mean, really listens. He doesn't look at me like I'm a piece of meat, and I. 
. . I like that."

"Makes you feel good?" Sylia asked. 

Linna nodded. "It's frightening."

"Things like that usually are," Sylia said sagely. "But all you can do is 
close your eyes, take the plunge and hope it all works out."

"I guess so," Linna said as she stood up. "Thanks."

"No problem," Sylia said, smiling. The smile fell away as Linna disappeared 
through the door to the dressing room and Sylia stood and walked towards the 
computer room.

Linna meets a man who's family lived in Africa, and at the same time, an 
African myth makes an appearance in Tokyo.

Sylia didn't believe in coincidence. Her great uncle Victor had always said 
that coincidence was a crutch for those who could not walk the path of fate 
unaided. While the rest of the family thought he was a lunatic, Sylia 
privately thought he might have a point.

**************
Kitty Kat Cafe, 10am.

"I'm really glad you could meet me here, Kit," Linna said as she stirred some 
cream into her coffee.

"So am I," Kit said. "So what's this favor you mentioned?"

"Well, you remember my friend Nene from last night?"

"Of course."

"Well, she's a police officer and she's doing some EDW on that boomer attack 
at Hot Legs last night."

"Scary," Kit said. "I was on my way out when they asked us to evacuate. I 
thought I was going to get trampled there for a minute." He paused. "What's 
EDW?"

"Electronic Detective Work," Linna said. "She's a computer specialist with 
the AD police."

"Ah."

"Anyway, some tourist with a camera got some video of a guy in a purple 
bodysuit fleeing the scene after the Knight Sabers showed up and destroyed 
the rogue. When they ran it through Interpol, they came up with an African 
Legend called the Phantom." 

A trace of wariness flickered across Kit's face. "The Phantom," he mused, 
raising his mug to his lips and sipping it. "Now there's one I haven't heard 
in a while."

"So you know it?"

"I've heard several versions," he replied as he picked up a pastry. "They all 
tell the same basic story. The most common one is of a young boy who was 
shipwrecked off the coast of the Africa and washed ashore by the tide. He was 
found, nursed back to health, then forged into a weapon by a small tribe. 
They gave him the powers of various animals and the secret to immortality and 
sent him forth into the world to battle injustice and evil, which at that 
point was slavery."

"Go on," Linna said.

"A lot of the sightings were made by slavers and pirates. The descriptions 
all vary, but they all mention a purple costume and a mask."

"You mentioned that were several versions of the legend," Linna said. "What 
do they say?"

"Well, there's one that says he's the ghost of a slaver, atoning for his evil 
ways. Another one also claims he's a slaver, cursed by the shaman of a small 
tribe to fight evil to atone for his sins. Then there's the one of the 
warrior, and then there's the spirit guardian. But all of them mention a 
small tribe."

"What did the tribe call themselves?"

"Nobody knows, none of the legends I've ever heard mention it. It's entirely 
possible it didn't have a name."

"Oh," Linna said, her tone subdued.

"Not that it would matter if it did," Kit continued. "A lot of cities in 
Africa today are where the tribal lands once were and many tribes scattered, 
or merged with others, or were just plain wiped out during the late seventeen 
and early eighteen hundreds when the slave trade was in full bloom."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Kit said, dunking his pastry in his coffee. "We sure knew how to be 
crappy to one another back then."

The rest of the meal passed in silence.

**************
Juuban Theater, 7pm

Linna and Kit, hand in hand without really realizing it, and both more than 
slightly drunk, walked out of the small restaurant.

"I never knew that they made sake that strong," Kit said.

"Uh-huh," Linna said and attempted to focus on her shoes which had become 
strangely fascinating. Linna rarely drank, and when she did, she became 
boisterous and short-tempered. But if enough alcohol hit her system, as it 
had tonight, she eventually mellowed out.

"So where to now?" Kit asked. His head was reeling. He was three sheets to 
the wind, holding hands with a beautiful woman and having more fun then he 
ever thought possible.

"Karaoke," Linna declared. "I want to hear you sing."

"Sing?"

"Sing," she said firmly. "I'll sing too."

"Then we will sing," Kit said, and they set off to find a Karaoke bar.

**************
People wake up in different ways. Some go from sleep to awake instantly, 
others take their time. Sometimes it's a nightmare, or the need to use the 
facilities. With this fact in mind, the universe (which possesses a sense of 
humor that only cosmic entities can comprehend) woke Linna and Kit in two 
completely different, but connected ways the next morning

When Linna woke up, she noticed several things in the following order;

It was morning.

She had a hangover.

She was in a hotel room.

She was in a bed.

She was naked.

Kit was in the same bed.

He was naked.

Yawning, Linna stretched and noticed something else. Around the third finger 
of her left hand was a band of finely wrought gold.

Linna, being the level-headed person that she was, screamed.

That woke Kit up.

*************
Steve "Komodo" T.
""Great," Nabiki said, getting up to pace as her voice began to climb in 
volume with every word. "Kasumi gets a man who worships the ground she walks 
on, Akane has three different rich lunatics, or kings, or Demigods fall in 
love with her nearly every day--and that's just before breakfast, mind 
you--and what do I get?" She glared at SETCOM's burnished black metal shell, 
her voice soft, but her tone as cold as ice. "A computer."



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