P. Kristen Enos's Projects & Furia Press

The Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Continuation Fanfic Series

by P. Kristen Enos

SPOILERS WARNING!!!
Most of these stories take place AFTER the TV Series! So DON’T blame me if I ruin the ending for you because you read these stories first!
Lesbian/Yuri/Shoujo Ai Warning! (Non-explicit — at least in the “PG13″/”R” sort of way.) Just not written for children because they probably wouldn’t get half of it. All rights belong to JVC/AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story.

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Part 3: Casualties

Chapter 24: Tactical Edge

Sylia purposefully cleared all thoughts from her mind as the launch tube flickered with its countdown lights. As much as she wanted to indulge in the excitement of wearing her hardsuit again, she knew there was a serious matter at hand requiring as much focus as possible. Within a matter of seconds, she felt herself shoot up through the tube with the force of a bullet. The added weight on her back didn’t seem to make any difference as she shot out through the opening in the roof of her home to arc over the Tokyo night sky.

“Nene? How is it?” she asked into the comm-link in her helmet as she spied the glint of the other hardsuit up ahead of her. Because of the extended preparation coordination of the latest suit designs, still a leftover from the Galatea days, it took a little longer to don the suits.

“It’s fabulous, Sylia!” the excited voice chirped back, not at all holding back her obvious thrill.

Sylia allowed herself a small smile at the other woman’s excitement but then shifted herself into business mode as she mentally ran through all of the suit readings to make certain everything was fine. “Nigel, how do we look?”

“Perfect,” he answered over the comm-link from his position in the mobile pit. “The boomer has just reached Linna’s floor. And Linna is ready at the window.”

“Good,” Sylia answered as she checked her latest enhancement by touching the tips of her gloved hands together. As expected, a powerful spark of electricity crackled upon contact. “Battery pack is working fine.”

“Remember, we only had time to charge that pack to half capacity,” Nigel commented on the reading she was already aware of. “Maybe two or three chances at mo – The boomer’s arrived… Damn! Linna’s down!”

Sylia and Nene both gasped at the news.

Sylia felt her blood freeze as Nigel briefly explained how the boomer also jumped for the drainpipe to tear it down, causing Linna to drop almost three stories. The leader of the Knight Sabers swallowed against her building rage in order to keep focus, especially since she was arcing down to another rooftop that she needed to bounce off of. Her brain however kept processing, noting two things about this boomer: it can accommodate changing conditions of a hunt with deadly efficiency, and it is very aware of its own durability.

“What’s our ETA?” Sylia asked as she fought her own anxiousness.

“Half a minute at most. Daley’s got her attention now with his rifle. And I’ve cut the power to the courtyard lights because the noise is obviously getting some attention. You’ll have to go to infrared when –”

“Linna’s alive but unconscious!” Mackey suddenly reported over the comm-link. “I don’t dare move her because she’s obviously broken some bones.”

“Mackey, prep the medical team but don’t let them come into the courtyard until we’ve secured it!” Sylia ordered. “Nene, your priority is to protect Linna at all costs! Don’t attack the boomer unless you have no choice! I want her to focus on me! Her ass is mine! Nigel, how long before Daley’s back up team shows up?”

“Five minutes at most.”

“That’s all I need.”

The silence that settled on the comm-link indicated that everyone knew what they had to do; it was just a matter of waiting for their opportunities.

Nene arrived in the courtyard first and with a light bounce jettisoned over towards the fallen Linna, brushing by Sylvie in the process. Nene placed herself right in front of Linna, readying herself for an attack, but keeping her posture in a passive mode with her arms down at her side as she stood facing the infrared silhouette of her new enemy.

Sylvie stared at this unfamiliar figure for a moment, as if confused by its appearance as well as its unknown role in her task. She had been prepared for a direct attack and therefore didn’t know what to do when the red hardsuit flew right past her. She focused on this new presence, keeping it in front of her as she quickly processed various potential scenarios, but none seemed to fit. However, this puzzle quickly became moot as she sensed an oncoming tackle from the side by a larger and clearly more powerful figure.

The split second advantage Sylia had with the boomer was instantly lost as she saw Sylvie spin towards her. The boomer fell back against the full-body tackle but she managed to wrap her legs around Sylia’s waist, as well as to snag Sylia’s left wrist in a vice grip. The figures tumbled across the courtyard, crashing through the manicured bushes and raking up the grass covering.

During the roll, Sylia felt the boomer rabbit punch into her hardsuit with her free hand, not only causing the Knight Saber to be rattled inside her suit but also a noticeable dent in the side of her torso shell. She and the assassin boomer were wrestling for dominance over Sylia’s snagged hand and it seemed to be at a stalemate.

The two of them stopped rolling with Sylia on top even though Sylvie didn’t stop her punches. The Knight Saber checked her readings briefly to see that her battery pack was still there.

Despite the rattling and the increasingly painful pressure of the dent at her rib cage, Sylia cursed to herself as she tried to remain focused on the fact that her snagged hand was helplessly inches from Sylvie’s head. She needed both hands to be in contact with the boomer in order for her plan to work. And Sylvie seemed quite content with her current strategy as she kept hitting the Knight Saber’s suit in the same spot, increasing the dent. Sylia hugged Sylvie so the boomer wouldn’t have any leverage or room to try to go for her helmet or neck.

At a last minute flash of inspiration, Sylia whipped back for a bit and aimed her right fist for Sylvie’s head. The boomer saw the retractable sword shoot out and predictably dodged by whipping her head to the side, right into reaching distance for Sylia’s snagged hand. The bluff worked and Sylia instantly retracted the blade and grabbed for the boomer’s throat.

As if a lightning bolt had struck the ground, the bath of sparks erupted in the middle of the otherwise black courtyard. And then all was still.

With her helmet visor up, a haggard Sylia watched from the dark alley as Mackey worked with the medical team to wheel Linna back into the hospital. She thought it was extremely ironic that the staff had originally been put on standby in case any innocent people were caught in the crossfire. She never imagined that they would be used to treat one of her own.

Nene was standing quietly off to the side, still fully suited with her helmet on so that her other coworkers wouldn’t be aware of who she really was, if they noticed them in the alley to begin with.

Commanding the center of attention in the busy courtyard, Daley was giving orders to the new arrivals of police cars to search the area for any suspicious vehicles or individuals. Having always worked with her own resources, Sylia had to admit it was odd coordinating such a job with the police and hospital staff through Daley, but she was glad of the back-up precautions now that they’d proven to be valuable. Daley was careful to arrange everything without any direct mention of the Knight Sabers, telling people they were on stand by based on a lead connected to the Plaza Slaughter, which was a good enough reason for everyone.

The leader of the Knight Sabers actually jumped a bit as a tall figure suddenly appeared beside her.

“You and Nene should go home and change so you can come back here to watch over her,” Nigel said as he looked at her carefully. “Plus, you should also have your ‘dent’ looked into.”

Sylia had been so distracted by everything that she had almost forgotten the sizeable mark Sylvie’s punches had made into her hardsuit. But now that it was pointed out to her, the throbbing pain couldn’t let itself be ignored anymore, indicating that her ribs were probably cracked. She took a breath and focused. Upon the mental command, the dent disappeared as the liquid metal shifted to repair the structure, but that didn’t do anything to fix Sylia’s own body.

She tried to stifle a grimace as she asked, “What about our new guest?”

Nigel nodded towards the waiting mobile pit, “You did a good job of blowing all of her fuses so she shouldn’t be any more trouble. The scans show her main electronic systems are completely shut down so she’s not emitting any tracking signals. Amazingly, her bio matter seems to have been well insulated from the charge. She’s being maintained by an emergency back-up system that won’t last for too much longer if I don’t get her to life support soon…. Go on and go. I know you’re worried about Linna.”

“Thanks, Nigel,” she said softly. She gave him a gentle kiss. “For everything.”

She then lowered her helmet visor and signaled to her waiting teammate. “Nene, let’s go….”

— End Chapter 24 —

Chapter 25: Blurred Boundaries

Reika stared out the limousine window as the night sky slowly coasted by during the long drive through the countryside towards the family compound.

It was her first really quiet moment to reflect on the frenzied marathon of events that had begun with an urgent call from her grandfather the night before. Reika had been in Hong Kong at a charity fundraising dinner when she had received the call that Irene had been admitted to the hospital in connection to a horrendous public slaughter. Needless to say, she frantically and gladly used the emergency as an excuse to immediately leave the boring event. She also allowed her fiancé to stay a little longer, providing he still returned to Tokyo as planned for another charity dinner the next night. Densuke had actually tried to insist on flying back with her but she needed the peace and quiet to focus her thoughts. Of course, she kept Kou with her, knowing he wouldn’t try to engage her in distracting chit chat.

So she came to the hospital with three intentions: to make personally certain Irene was okay, patch up any stupid differences with her sister, and to confirm the cause for this mock assassination.

And then she heard that Linna was involved and nearly killed.

Reika was shocked and dismayed at how much her heart felt as if it would stop for a second time in less than twelve hours. Her heart nearly stopped a third time when she found out that Linna was a Knight Saber, and that that was the reason why she was still alive.

Everything else that had happened since then seemed like a blur. Reika forced herself to concentrate on all of the serious issues at hand, which proved almost impossible when she was in Linna’s room. Despite the shocking revelations, boomer discussions and Sylia, Reika had to force herself more than once to stare at a neutral spot on the floor to keep her gaze from gravitating towards Linna. She was unnerved at how much she wanted to force everyone else out of the room just so she could have some private time with her, if only for five minutes, no matter how emotionally dangerous such interaction could be.

Thankfully, throughout the day Reika was able to focus on business matters, such as making arrangements for Irene to stay at the Tokyo family compound, filling in her grandfather on the latest information that was exchanged in Detective Wong’s interview with Irene, and initiating her own investigation into Sho and his connection to Genom. During the discussion with Irene, Reika had been carefully watching her future brother-in-law out of the corner of her eye. She had already had a lengthy discussion with her grandfather over possible motives and responsible parties for the slaughter and had come up with only weak prospects for who would have a grudge against either Chang Enterprises or Hou Bang to pull such an outrageous stunt.

As she watched Sho’s reaction, Reika’s personal suspicions started to become aroused at the thought that perhaps the Chang Enterprises or Hou Bang were not the targets after all. To avoid unfairly prejudicing her grandfather against Sho, she chose to make her own inquiries. Just before she had to leave for the charity dinner, she received news that the truck driver who had hit her parents limo had died in his own car accident a month ago, a victim of a drunk driver. With that lead gone under convenient circumstances, she knew she needed to have a private discussion with Sho extremely soon.

Reika closed her eyes and let out a weary sigh as she tried to relax. And as expected, the thought of Linna crept into her mind, which happened throughout the day whenever she tried to clear her mind of the harsh matters at hand. This time she didn’t try to push the thought aside as a small sad smile curled her lips.

Sly fingers suddenly gave her knee a gentle squeeze, daring to creep up the stylish slit in the hem of her evening dress.

Reika frowned but didn’t open her eyes. She knew right now if Kou ever found out about this, he would give her a look that would clearly say ‘I told you so.’ She also felt a little stupid at insisting that he sit in the front cab with the driver instead of the back with her and her escort.

She also partially blamed Sylia since the choice of dresses was her ex’s opportunity to play fashion consultant with her during their reunion visit. She trusted Sylia to choose outfits from her shop that fit the million dollar charity balls that were required attendance for a President and CEO of a prominent company. However, even though she couldn’t deny the fact that the dresses Sylia chose were beautiful and stylish, there was always an underlying element of sexiness to them that made Reika a little cautious. Not that she was a prude about wearing such clothes, she just didn’t want to cause unwanted attention. Still, she bought the outfits, enjoying the fun time she had with her old friend and considering the fashion chores taken care of for the moment.

Now, she was paying the price for Sylia’s mischievousness.

“Densuke,” Reika said flatly, “You know the list of acceptable forms of public displays of affection. We are not in public, and that isn’t on the list.”

The hand crept up a bit higher as he growled into her ear, “I suffer the weaknesses of all men when it comes to the much fairer sex.”

“If you do not remove your hand right now I am buzzing for Kou. I don’t care if we’re on the expressway.”

The offending hand instantly disappeared out of fear of having each bone gleefully and slowly broken by Reika’s human Rottweiler.

Earlier in the evening, when Densuke was feeling quite merry on champagne, he grabbed Reika’s rear end, causing the woman to almost jump two feet into the air even though at the time she was in a deep discussion with representative members of the charity foundation. Because of the public display, Reika could only play along with the perceived affectionate playfulness of an adoring fiancé even though she seriously wanted to strangle him, and he knew it. Her surprised reaction, however, almost triggered the watchful Kou’s reflexive impulse to pull out a gun and shoot Densuke, which the bodyguard was aching to do anyway.

Unperturbed by her annoyance, Densuke now nuzzled her neck, allowing her to smell the champagne on his breath and his cologne. At least they were both extremely expensive brands. “My beautiful fiancée, you are ever the rose with her many thorns.”

Reika would have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t so tired. “I thought you got this out of your system with the serving girl, that socialite and whomever else was handy.”

“A man’s appetite can’t ever be satisfied with mere nibbles when the ultimate feast is always within reaching distance,” he murmured as he nipped at her exposed ear.

Reika had had enough. Opening her eyes, she put her hand on his face and pushed him back over to his side of the limousine.

“Don’t you ever tire of sounding like a cheap gigolo?” she growled once she was back on her side.

Densuke grinned unrepentantly. In his tuxedo with the undone tie and slicked back black hair, he was devilishly handsome, and knew it. “Would it get me any further with you?”

“Of course not.”

“Well, then why waste my best lines since I know I will have you eventually? After all, it’s my part of the bargain to father your children the old fashioned way.”

Reika grimaced. In the marriage renegotiations, the “old fashioned way” for procreation purposes only was actually Densuke’s surprisingly few conditions, and Reika relented. After all, she figured it was a small price to pay for a husband of extreme convenience and incredibly good lineage, the latter being why the marriage was originally arranged by their families when they were both five years old. Plus, she just felt a little weird at the thought of producing children with their father by artificial means since Densuke would have an active role in raising them, when he wasn’t busy partying or chasing any nearby attractive pair of legs in a skirt.

“Talk like that isn’t going to make me rush on setting a wedding date, Densuke,” she pointed out.

“I can wait,” he answered confidently. “Especially since I know what I have to look forward to. After all, you agreed to the conditions as well. Unless, of course, you plan to your act your way through our wedding night. And that works for me.”

“I plan to drink myself into oblivion so you can do whatever you want. I won’t be conscious for any of it.”

Densuke frowned for the first time in the conversation. “Humph. Well, maybe I don’t want to go through this after all.”

“If that’s the case, then decide now before we wed. My family doesn’t believe in divorces. Just mysterious accidents,” she added with the kind of sly smile that made the man a little unnerved in not knowing if she was serious.

Densuke then developed a smirk of his own and offered, “You know, it would be a shame to make such a momentous event such a burden for you. I’m perfectly willing if you want to invite one of your female -“

“DON’T EVEN GO THERE!” she growled dangerously, trying to hold back her immediate impulse to punch him. A broken nose wouldn’t be a genetic trait that could be passed on to their future children.

The man just grinned, knowing he had stabbed at a sore spot.

Just then, Reika’s cell phone rang in her purse, startling both of them.

Having no idea who would call her at such an hour, and especially with good news, she pulled it out and answered cautiously, “Hello?”

“Reika?” Sylia’s voice said in an unusually anxious and tense tone. “I have an extremely urgent and enormous favor to ask of you.”

“Of course,” Reika replied immediately, her own level of concern rising at her friend’s desperation. “Anything I have to give is yours…”

— End Chapter 25 —

Chapter 26: M.I.A.

Having been up most of the night, Kate Madigan let out a weary sigh as she walked into her dark office. There was one thing left to do before she could finally go home, unless this last task provided additional work, which was very possible. Once she sat down at her desk, she took off her glasses to rub her tired eyes and indulge in a yawn.

Before continuing with business, she paused and indulged in a moment of reflection on the two framed photos on her desk. The first one was only a month old, the latest picture of her son as he proudly posed in the full dress uniform of his military academy. The second photo was four years old, and even though it certainly wasn’t the best picture, it was the most recent of her and her husband, Frederick, taken at a casual dinner party. Two weeks afterwards, Fred Sr. died suddenly of a heart attack.

Madigan remembered that period well since it was such a turning point in her life. Her entire world had felt dumped upside down, but she was determined not to suffer any of the emotional charity and pity given to widowed mothers. Her pain was a private matter, and the world didn’t need to stick its nose in to any of it. She also didn’t allow Fred Jr. to milk any of the similar pity given to only sons who lose fathers early in life. In Madigan’s opinion, her son had become a stronger young man for it. She knew Fred Sr. would have approved.

And though she had always had a strong respect for Quincy, having been his executive aide for her ten year career at Genom Berlin, her appreciation for him tripled during this period, since he never lowered his expectations and standards for her job performance. In fact, he almost seemed to challenge her with tasks and seemed pleased that she fulfilled them. Even though Quincy himself was a strong family man, he also understood and accepted the harsh reality that the rest of the world didn’t hold still while one overindulged in public weaknesses and vulnerabilities. He often said that humans are incredibly pompous to think they are really more civilized than animals in the jungle.

It was also good timing that the Boomer Revolution happened shortly after Fred Sr.’s death. The Genom Tower in Tokyo was destroyed, along with key executive personnel. Since it was the international headquarters, it was natural that the facilities be rebuilt and that Quincy would be the successor to replace his grandfather as head of the corporation. When Quincy told Madigan of the news that he would indeed relocate to Tokyo, he also asked her to relocate with him and continue her role as his executive aide. Madigan immediately accepted the offer, knowing that leaving the country would also be a chance to start her emotional life over with new challenges, especially since her son lived at the military academy and therefore she didn’t feel held back with raising obligations for him. Even with this new chapter in her life, however, she would never give up Fred Sr., quite content in the knowledge that she had had the best husband and father possible and that anyone else would be a poor replacement.

With a deep sigh, Madigan finally turned her attention from the photos to the task at hand as she picked up her datapad. She then hit the buttons of her speakerphone to dial the phone number she had memorized, though rarely used.

Three rings passed before Quincy answered the line in an expectedly tired sounding voice for three o’clock in the morning call, “Hello?”

“Sir, it’s Madigan. We had an unexpected turn of events.”

There was a brief moment of silence before he answered in a much more alert tone, “Where are you calling from?”

“My office, Sir.”

“Give me five minutes to call you back,” he said, clearly not wanting to disturb his wife any more than was necessary.

“Yes, Sir.”

So Madigan waited, feeling her personal sense of dread increase with each passing second. She had no personal tolerance for failure, and she knew Quincy had the same high standard. Still, what was done was done, and it was only a matter of moving forward.

Four minutes later, according to her desk clock, her phone rang.

“What happened?” Quincy immediately demanded in a low and clearly not happy tone.

“We’re not quite certain, Sir,” she answered, feeling herself wanting to squirm and fighting every instinct against it. “Everything progressed as planned with the deployment of Sylvie to the hospital. However, once she reached Yamazaki’s room, her transmission feed went dead.”

“What?!” he blurted in a clearly frank reaction. “How is that possible?”

Madigan grimaced, expecting the question. “Some transmission jamming device is the only thing we could conclude given how abrupt it was. And when we went to satellite monitoring, we found our network links to our satellites went down five minutes before. There is a separate team that has been trying to troubleshoot the matter and they’re still not able to get a link established.”

“And Sylvie?”

“We don’t know yet, Sir. At the same time she stopped transmitting, our monitors tracking her vitals and location also stopped registering anything. I had a car dispatched to the hospital to do an onsite visual assessment. We have also been monitoring both the hospital communications as well as the police. Both networks confirm some sort of destructive and noisy disturbance but no clear details have surfaced yet. The dispatched team confirmed that there is a lot of activity at the hospital, including clear damage to some of the courtyard grounds as well as to the drainpipe next to Yamazaki’s window. But there is no sign of Sylvie. At all. And none of the police transmissions indicate any awareness of her even though they’re searching the hospital grounds for the cause of the disturbance. Even our police sources confirm that she’s not in their custody.”

Quincy was quiet for a long time before stating out loud, “How is it possible to lose a boomer like that?!”

While Madigan knew this was a question which bordered on the rhetorical, she wasn’t quite confident in how she should answer, sensing the accurate signs of her boss’s growing but still retained temper. “We’re putting together a van of tracking equipment which should be ready within half an hour. We plan to have it search the hospital grounds and nearby neighborhood to see if we can pick up any boomer-type signals that Sylvie would emit.”

“Do that. Dispatch as many vans as you need to comb the city if she’s not found by daybreak,” he said with a fierce determination. “And first thing in the morning, I want a team assigned to research ANY possible technology that is capable of defeating and retaining a boomer, plus any connections to who would have such technology. Someone managed to make complete and absolute fools of us! And I will not tolerate that! — Madigan, once you’ve made all of the arrangements, go home and get some sleep. I don’t plan to see you until after lunch at the earliest. I need you in top condition for this!”

“Yes, Sir.”

She noticed that he hung up before she had completed her reply. Madigan finally let herself relax in her chair as she felt all of the tension start to release. It wasn’t as bad as she feared, but it still wasn’t the best.

She then picked up the phone to make more calls.

Quincy Rosenkreuz III stood in his private office at home and poured himself a glass of scotch with white-knuckled and shaky hands. He downed the glass in one gulp and then threw the thick container at his heavy oak desk, causing shards and wood splinters to fly upon impact. He followed up with a couple more throws of full decanters, leaving a mess of alcohol, glass and oak chips.

He then took a calming breath and smoothed back his hair and straightened his bathrobe. He emerged from his study to find half of his newly-awakened staff approaching in alarm.

“Sorry for waking all of you,” he said with genuine sincerity. “Mr. Hino, make certain the mess is cleaned up in the morning. Now all of you go back to sleep.”

The head servant bowed in acknowledgement as the onlookers made their way back to their respective rooms.

Quincy began his own walk back to his bedroom to find his alarmed wife Iris standing at their doorway.

“I’m sorry, Love,” he said as he took her into his arms for a reassuring hug. “Just business matters. Nothing that concerns you.”

— End Chapter 26 —