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Bubble Gum Crisis is copyrighted Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am
just borrowing the characters for a little while, and promise not to
bend, fold, or staple them - unless I can come up with a good reason
to do so. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be
accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent
after you.

Please, enjoy my take on the Bubble Gum Crisis universe.....

NOTE: I hope to have my website up and running before the end of the week.
It'll have not only the first twenty chapters of "Black Knights, Steel
Hearts", but the first ten chapters of this fanfic, Vigilante's Run, and the
first five chapters of "Storm Warnings". When it's up, I post an announcement
about it....
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Chapter 9

District 8
February 10, 2036
10:15pm

     The explosions coming from the club's restrooms had been
clearly heard in the lounge, despite the thick glass. Both Leon
and Priss looked in the direction the explosions came from, and
saw thick white smoke billowing from the short corridor leading
to the bathrooms.

     "Trouble?" asked Priss.

     Leon's face clouded. "I don't know."

     They watched the people near the expanding smoke cloud cover
their mouths and noses, their faces becoming pale. A large number
of people started for the exits, directed by men wearing well
tailor suits. Priss saw a couple of them heading towards the
lounge.

     Leon saw them too. "Time to play some hide and seek," he
said, grabbing her by the arm. They stood up. "Behind the bar,"
he directed, gentle steering her in that direction.

     The Bartender had already disappeared, and no one noticed
them slipping behind the bar and crouched down. Priss looked at
Leon. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

     "Hiding from Satoru's men." He pulled out his Ruger Redhawk.
"You armed?"

     Priss pulled a large pistol from the small of her back. "Now
what?" she whispered. "Go out in a blaze of glory?"

     Leon shook his head, and held a finger to his lips. The
noise outside the lounge grew louder, as the glass door was
opened, then the noise muted as the door closed. There was an
unpleaset aroma in the air that hadn't been there before the door
had been opened. Several voices babbled at the unseen hardman.

     "Ladies and Gentlemen," said a polite male voice. "Someone
has set off an explosive of some type in the men's restroom.
There is no immediate danger, but we ask that you clear the
premises as quickly and orderly as possible. The Fire Department
and Police are already on their way. If you will follow us,
please."

     There was the sounds of chairs being pushed back, mixed with
the rustling of clothing, glasses, and muted voices. The thud of
an emergency door opening at the far end of the lounge was
followed by the sounds of people leaving, then silence.

     Priss made an attempt to stand, but Leon grabbed her
shoulder, and shook his head. Priss glared at him, but the voice
just above her head froze her.

     "Is that all of them?" the polite male voice asked. He was
standing on the other side of the bar.

     "Yea," said another, rougher voice from a couple of meters
away. "Now what?"

     "Don't know," The first guy replied. "Where's Satoru?"

     "Gone to supervise the eggheads upstairs. The last thing we
need the cops to find is the lab."

     "Makes sense. What are we suppose to do?"

     "Tetsu didn't say. He just told me to make sure the lounge
was cleared, and to wait."

     "What about a drink while we're waiting?"

     Priss gripped her pistol tighter, and looked at Leon. He was
looking up at the bar counter. Any second now....

     "Are you kidding?" replied the second voice. "If Tetsu
caught you drinking on duty, he'd skin you alive."

     The first man snorted. "As if Tetsu scares me. That -"

     A not so distance rolling explosion interupted the hood's
conversation. There was silence in the lounge for several
seconds. Priss and Leon looked at each other, each wondering the
same thing; what was going on?

     "That came from upstairs," the second man said quietly.

     "What do you think it was?" asked the first man, his brvado
gone.

     "I don't know, but I don't like it." There was the noise of
steel against leather, the sound of a pistol being drawn. "You'd
better contact Tetsu and ask for new orders."

     "Right." There was silence for several seconds, then they
heard the first man's voice again. " Asamori here. The lounge is
clear. Orders?" There was silence for several seconds, then
Lashjui replied. "Right. Me and Kuromura are on our way."

     "Well?" asked Kuromura sharply.

     "Tetsu wants us to finish hearding the customers out, then
round up the others and secure the entrences down here. He thinks
we've got an intruder on the upper levels."

     "Damn. Any idea who?"

     Two smaller explosions from several floors above answered
his question. "You don't think...." said Kuromura weakly.

     "If it is, we've got a shitload of trouble. Open the armory
and pass out the assault rifles."

     "Right." the two men soft footfalls, followed by the opening
of the lounge door signaled the departure of the two Yakuza
members. Leon risked a quick look over the bar counter, then
ducked back down.

     "It's clear," he said with a smile.

     "Now what?" asked Priss, relaxing her grip on her pistol.

     "Now we go and find the drug lab Sato's hiding in this
building."

     "Are you crazy?" hissed Priss. "We're in a building crawling
with trigger happy Yakuza gangsters, with someone else tossing
around explosives, and you want to go sighseeing?"

     Leon smiled at her. "A quick look around, I promise."

     "Five minutes ago, you told me it was going to take more
then a possible drug lab to keep you from mine `glowing presence'
tonight."

     "I think a possible attack by Nemesis qualifies."

     "You stuck up-"

     "Hold that thought, I'll be right back." With that, Leon
crawled out from behind the bar. Priss started after him, but
Leon was back before she got far. "The main floor is crawling
with Sato's men," he said in a whisper.

     "Then how the hell are we going anywhere?"

     "Over there." Leon pointed to a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.

     "I don't know why the hell I went out with you."

     Leon gave her one of his `I know what I'm doing' smiles.
"You wouldn't go out with me if I was boring."

     "I wouldn't go out with you if I thought you'd get me
killed!"

     "Look, if I can pinpoint where the lab is, I can pass on the
infomation on to the N-Police, and let them handle the bust."

     "That's assuming that Nemesis leaves anything to the N-
Police to find." A large, rolling explosion shook the building,
knocking over bottles and glasses. A fine layer of dust settled
over everything.

     Leon glanced up. "That's a strong possibility. So, we'd
better hurry."

     "Wait a minute." Priss unbuttoned two of her shirt buttons,
reached inside her shirt, and pressed something attached to her
bra. She rebuttoned her shirt and glanced at Leon, who had taken
a sudden intrest in the wall behind him. "You can stop staring at
the wall. I'm finished."

     Leon looked at her. "What did you just do?" the ADP
Inspector asked. 

     "Called for help. If you think you're going to be dragging
me into a probable war zone without backup, you're out of your
mind!"

     "Shall we go?"

     "You lead - that way everyone will be firing at you first."

     "Thanks," muttered Leon. "Anything else you want to say
before we start?"

     "Yea," replied Priss. "Do you always do this type of thing
on the first date?"

     Leon shrugged. "No. I usually wait until the second or third
date to get my girlfriends involed in major shootouts. But since
I know you have a pistol, and know how to use it, I figure why
wait?"

     "I'm not your girlfriend!"

     "Details, details. Let's get moving before Nemesis
compleates his job."
     
     **********          **********          **********

Sylia's apartment
February 10, 2036
10:18pm

     Sylia glanced up from the book she was reading, and stared
at the blinking light on the small box. She reached over and pick
the box off the table. Priss's beacon. Is she in trouble 
again?

     She stood up, and hurried to the computer room. With a few
pushed buttons, she brought the system up from standby mode to
full operation. In seconds, she located where Priss's becon was
located. Hmm.... District eight. Corner of Meji and Twenty
Fourth....Better check the N-police and ADP channels, and see if
it's a Boomer sighting.

     In several more seconds, she'd acessed the communications
channels, and listened to the police chatter.

     \\Xray 43 Beta to Base,\\ said a male voice tinged with
excitement.

      \\Base here,\\ replied a young, and slightly bored feamale
voice. \\What do you have to report?\\

     \\We're at the corner of Meji and Twenty Fourth, District
8...We have a developing situation here....We have upwards of
three hundred people in the process of fleeing the Fu-Shui
nightclub....And at least one of the upper floors of the
nightclub's building is on fire....Requesting backup, ADP TAC
units and the Fire Department, Stat...\\

     \\Say again, Xray 43 Beta. What is happening there?\\ The
voice no longer sounded bored.

     \\I'm not sure. I'm now hearing sounds of automatic weapons
and explosions coming from inside the building. I think we've got
a major battle going on.\\

     \\Xray 43 Beta. Can you enter the building?\\

     \\Negitive, Base. Xray 43 Alpha tried that a minute ago. The
doors are guarded by suits with assualt rifles, and they don't
look too happy.\\

     \\Understood Xray 43 Beta. I am dispatching TAC teams Three,
Five, and Eight to your location. Also Indigo Four is also
onroute. ETA is nine minutes.\\

     \\I hope they hurry....Base, did you have any K-11's in the
area?\\

     \\Negative, Xray 43 Beta, Why do you ask?\\

     \\Because I just saw what looked like three K-11s fly into
view, and headed towards....\\ There was the sounds of
explosions, and machine gun fire. The voice of the police officer
was back, panicky and shrill. \\I'm under attack! Repeat, I'm
under at-\\

     A large explosion was followed by several seconds of static.
Then an older, but no less shaky voice come over the channel.
\\Base, this is Xray 43 Alpha. Xray 43 Beta is down, and unit
Xray 43 is on fire. We have at least three, repeat, three Jager
class Combat power suits in operation.\\

     \\Xray 43 Alpha, this is Base,\\ said a male voice, full of
athority. \\Can you confirm the prence of Jager power suits in
your vicinity?\\  

     There was silence for a second, then the officer on the
scene replied angrily, \\I spent three years around the damm
things when I was in the Army, Base! They're Jager Hunter/Killers
class power suits, loaded for bear, and don't give a rat's ass
about who is in the way!\\

     \\Hold on Xray 43 Alpha. ADP TAC teams are on the way.\\

     \\Screw the ADP! Call out the JSDF! This is military
hardware we're dealing with, not rogue Boomers!\\

     \\Where are the Jagers now?\\

     \\They've headed for the roof of the building that's on
fire. I can't see them anymore.\\

     \\Understand, Xray 43 Alpha. Hang tight, help is on the
way.\\

     \\I hope so. Xray 43 Alpha out.\\

     Sylia listen for several more seconds before she activated
Nene and Linna's alert beacons. She got up and left the computer
room. It was time for the Knight Sabers to enter the fight....