Bubble Gum Fury

Disclaimer: Well, at least that uncute tomboy can't bash me over

the head for this.

< >: Thoughts

Chapter 4

Part 1

He's Not a Boomer?

"It's him!" Nene exclaimed quietly as she and her friends saw Terry

enter the bar and sit down on one of the stools at the counter. The

bartender nodded his head to him.

"What'll it be?"

The longhaired street fighter nodded and ordered a whiskey. He had

been following some leads over any clues as to how he got to this

strange world, using the connections that he had made during his

forays into the illegal street-fighting tournaments. So far, his

investigations had turned up with very little information, other than

a connection between Genom and Boomers. Since the last thing he

encountered before finding himself in MegaTokyo was a Boomer,

he had narrowed his search to anything he could learn about the

corporation. Unfortunately, the company was very difficult to access

and Andy Bogard's brother had come up against an impasse. All he

heard were rumors that Genom was involved in several exotic

experiments in Boomer technology.

Terry sighed as he swirled his glass of whiskey for a moment before

downing it. If he had any chance to get back home, he needed to get

into Genom.

At Quincy's office…

Unknown to Terry, that self-same company had gotten even more

interested in him. The CEO of that corporation was presently

looking at the video clips of the latest Boomer 'rampage' that was

recorded by those same machines. The data had been transmitted to

him via satellite feed and was not in the possession of the

authorities. His eyes widened as he saw Terry Bogard take apart the

four Boomers, including their latest heavy-assault model, the

Devastator.

"Amazing! And you say that he's not a Boomer?"

"Yes sir." The technician replied after the viewer finished playing

back the recording. His name was Reginald, one of the newest

members on the research and development staff for new-type

Boomers. In fact, he was one of the technicians that had worked on

the Boomer that had transported Terry to this world. "According to

the new readouts, there was no trace at all of any biomechanical

apparatus enhancing him of any kind. At first, we thought he was

some kind of augmented Boomer with organic tissue, but the

scanners in the Devastator confirmed that he was a complete

lifeform and… human."

"Human?! That cannot be possible! How can a human being

generate such power?" Quincy was a bit unnerved at the raw power

that Terry displayed.

"We've double and triple-checked the data and we found no

discrepancies in either the scanners or the readouts. The scanners of

the Devastator were working perfectly before it was destroyed.

There were no malfunctions of any kind."

"Interesting…" Quincy stroked his chin as he thought about the

possibilities. "Tell me, could it be possible to somehow… mimic

such powers into a Boomer?"

The technician thought for a moment, then nodded tentatively. "It

could be possible, if could discern just how he is able to generate

that strange energy of his. Another option is to fuse his organics to

a Boomer chassis. As you know, we have made great strides in

fusion technology and can now incorporate organic tissue on a far

greater level than before."

Quincy nodded as he began getting ideas of turning this Terry

Bogard into a living weapon. The early experiments in 2027 had

mixed results. Fusing living tissue with Boomer circuitry was by no

means an easy task, especially if the recipient developed Boomer

Syndrome, which caused his or her personality to fragment. That

lead to instability and the person would become so deranged that

anyone within close proximity would be in danger of losing his or

her life. Today's Boomers did have large amounts of organic tissue

fused into their systems, but because their minds stemmed from an

AI system that could be programmed, they were easier to control.

However, this limited their use in situations that required higher

cerebral functions. Creating more advanced AI systems was

expensive and too complex to be practical on a mass-production

scale. Now with better technologies in fusing human beings with

cybernetics, Quincy had the option of creating a kind of super-

soldier with human intelligence, but at a reduced cost. Yes, this

Terry Bogard could provide even more possibilities than the OMS

Project. If his technicians could discern how this person could

produce such energy, and if was possible for others to do so, then it

would be a feasible plan to have an army of trained individuals

converted into cybernetic warriors. The applications would be

endless! Of course, transforming an army of humans into cold-

merciless killers was unethical, but the CEO of Genom didn't get to

where he was today if a little thing such as morals got in his way.

"Have you been able to track this Terry Bogard?"

"Yes sir. We have been able to pinpoint his whereabouts based on

previous sightings. This morning, a surveillance team had

discovered that he is currently residing at a hotel near the bay off to

the south of Block YT-74. Our people have also found out that he

has been asking questions about Genom."

"I see. Well then, have this Terry Bogard brought to me… discretely

if you can. If not, use any means necessary, understand? Also, I

want him ALIVE, understood?"

"Yes sir."

Back at the bar…

"Go on Priss." Nene urged. "See if you can get some more info on

that guy!"

"Huh? Why me?" Priss said with annoyance. Sure the guy was

good-looking, but Priss didn't understand why she had to be elected.

"Because you've already met him!" Nene replied. "It would be better

for you to talk to him. He's only met Linna and me in our

Hardsuits!"

Though Linna would very much liked to talk to the handsome man,

she had to admit that Priss would be better suited, since she would

be the only person that Terry would recognize, rather than a total

stranger.

Priss gave off an exasperated sigh and nodded as she got up and

began to approach the counter. It was at that time that someone

entered the bar and called out to her.

"Hey there, angel, long time no see."

Priss winced as she recognized the voice belonging to her greatest

admirer and sometime pest, Inspector Leon Nichols of the AD

Police. Though she really had nothing personal against Leon, his

romantic overtures toward her were irritating and she had no desire

to start any relationships. Though she did admire him for his hard-

case attitude, and was grateful during the times he had helped her

out, she still nursed a grudge against the AD Police. She was

uncomfortable with anyone who was a part of that division of law

enforcement.

Priss' dislike of the ADP had deep wounds stemming from the time

she had ridden with a biker gang. The leader of the group had

captured her heart and Priss had thought they would be together

forever. However, her lover was murdered by a Boomer, when he

had gotten too close to one of Genom's secret projects and the ADP

had ruled his death as a mere accident. The emotional scar from

that time in her life was one of the main reasons why she accepted

Sylia's offer to become a Knight Saber.

Another reason why she kept Leon at a distance was the fact that he

wanted her to be someone that she could not be. He wanted

permanence and commitment. Priss could not see herself as such

and wanted to be free. Furthermore, Leon knew that she was Knight

Saber and that in itself would jeopardize his safety. If there was one

thing that she wanted to avoid, it was another heartbreak, as

another person close to her would perish. She had already lost one

love and several close friends, surprisingly two were Boomers. She

would be dammed if she were to add a nice dope like Leon to that

list.

Priss sighed as she turned to Leon and said, "Leon, what do you

want?"

"Hey don't be that way." Leon said cheerfully as he moved toward

her. "I just got off duty and came in here for a drink. When I saw

you here, I wanted to know if you'll allow me to take you out to

dinner and maybe later…"

"Leon, I told you that I'm not interested." Priss said with a slightly

angry tone. "You're not a bad guy and all, but I think you'd be

better off with someone else. Besides, I've got things to do and…"

"Aw c'mon Priss. Don't be like that." Leon tried to place a hand on

her shoulder, but Priss angrily swats it away.

"I'm telling you now for the last time, Leon. I'm NOT interested."

"Please Priss. I promise that you'll have a really good time and once

you get to know me better…"

Priss angrily pushed at his chest and glared at him. Why couldn't

this cop take a hint? She did not want to be romantically involved.

She would just set herself up for more heartbreak if she did.

It was at that time that Terry noted the pair arguing. He had not

noticed Priss and her friends when he had entered the bar, but when

he saw her now, he recognized her as the person he had saved

earlier from a motorcycle crash. He then saw a very big bruiser

make his way toward them.

The man had been drinking heavily with his four friends at a corner

table. He was three mugs past his limit and absolutely reeked of

alcohol. He and his friends had been eyeing Priss and her group

when they came in and the man was about to make his move on her

when Leon showed up. Now the big man approached them as his

companions watched with interest.

"Hey there pal. It seems that the lady don't wanna go with you.

Besides, I wuz planin' on askin' her out myself."

"This isn't your business friend." Leon said as he smelled the liquor

on the man's breath. It was obvious that the man was intoxicated

but Leon didn't want to get into a fight with this man. Though he

did have the advantage of being sober and was in excellent physical

condition, the odds began to shift against him when the man's

friends also rose to join him. The man himself was very daunting as

he appeared to built like a bull and probably had a hard head to

match.

One of the drunk's friends sneered at him and said, "Hey there! My

friend wants you to lay off on the lady. You better do what he tells

you or he might have to rough you up a bit."

Priss held back a groan as she tensed up for trouble. It was bad

enough that Leon was here, but these unwanted admirers made

things even more complicated. She had ignored those ruffians as

they had leered at her and her friends since they came in. She

spared a glance back at where her friends were sitting. Both Linna

and Nene gave her nod, signaling that they would be ready to back

her up if things got ugly, which becoming increasingly likely.

"Don't think you can threaten me… " Leon warned as he backed off

slightly to get more fighting room. He took out his wallet and

flipped out his badge.

The big guy snorted disdainfully and said, "So you're from the

ADP. Big (censored) deal."

His fiends also snickered as the big man began chuckling.

"Oh… we're really scared!"

"He's a big bad cop!"

"I guess we should watch ourselves, right guys?"

The big man let out a guffaw and said, "You think that piece of

metal's gonna protect you from me? Here's what I think about it!"

He launched a haymaker at Leon's face.

That was when things got ugly.

Leon sidestepped to avoid the blow, then grabbed the extended

wrist, twisted the arm toward him and put his opponent into side

throw. The man crashed into a table headfirst. The table had some

leftover drinks on it, which crashed to the floor in a puddle of beer

and broken glass. Leon whirled around to face off against three of

the man's comrades.

"Get 'im guys!"

Priss backed off as Leon had thrown his foe into a table. She knew

that this was bad and now there was no way of salvaging the

situation. She saw one man rushing toward Leon and pull out a

switchblade. Leon saw the glint of the knife and evaded to the side

to avoid it. Unfortunately, when Leon's foot shifted quickly to the

right, he momentarily lost his footing as he slipped on a wet spot

previously caused by the spill. Leon twisted a bit to right himself,

but that was when another of the drunk's friend came up form one

side and connected with a crosscut punch to the policeman's chin.

His head hit the floor hard and he was made unconscious.

"Leon!" Priss cried out as she saw him go down. She had started

toward him when someone came in from behind her and grabbed

her arm. She turned her head and saw that one of the drunk's friend

smirking at her and said, "Hey sweet-cheeks, if you're not interested

with them, how's about you and me…"

WHAM!

Priss' retort to the man's offer was a belt to the chops and her

unwanted suitor went down like a bag of cement. However, as she

was distracted by the man, Leon received several more hits to his

face and a kick to the gut as the other two attacked him as he was

still down on the floor. It was then that the big man got back to his

feet and snarled at the officer. Grabbing an empty bottle on a nearby

table, he smashed the bottom of it against the table's edge and then

pointed the jagged edge toward the downed Leon.

Linna and Nene screamed as the drunk swung the glass bottle at

him. Then the arm was suddenly stopped in its deadly arc, as the

drunk suddenly felt a viselike grip being applied to his wrist. He

looked behind him and saw a very perturbed Terry Bogard holding

back his arm with one hand.

Terry's eyes narrowed as he shook his head and said in a low, firm

tone, "I don't think so." He then pulled back on the arm he was

holding and casually tossed the big guy over his shoulder. The man

must have weighed more than 250 lbs. but the Lone Wolf tossed

him as if he was like a feather pillow. The bruiser slammed

headfirst into another table. As he went sprawling, Terry turned to

face the other three assailants.

"Three guys against one who is already down doesn't really sound

fair to me." Terry stated as he took his traditional Hakkyoku Saiken

stance.

Being a good martial artist, Linna wondered what kind of fighting

style Terry used, as she did not recognize the stance. She and Nene

held back to see Terry in action as Priss knelt down beside Leon to

check if he was seriously injured.

"You can't to that to our pal!" The one with the switchblade

screamed as he charged at Terry.

The Lone Wolf however, simply dodged the wild stab at his

abdomen by sidestepping, then kicked the knife out of his hand.

Before the attacker had a chance to recover, Terry moved forward

and sent a hard straight punch to his face. The man went flying

backward from the blow and slammed into the side of the bar

counter. He slid down and was out like a light.

Another one of the assailants rushed at Terry, hoping to catch him

from behind. However, Terry caught him as he swung a wild punch

at his head. Ducking the blow, Terry grabbed his opponent by the

front of his shirt and threw him toward another guy approaching

him from the other side. The two collided and went tumbling to the

floor. It was at that moment that Terry heard a yell and pivoted to

see that the big man had gotten back at his feet and charging at

him.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Terry commented as

he brought up a hand to intercept a wild blow to his face. The

bigger man's fist slapped into the open palm of Terry's hand and he

cried out in pain as Terry closed his hand in a crushing grip. That

was when the street fighter reared back with his other fist and…

POW, right in the kisser!

The huge man went flying toward the front window of the bar and

crashed through it, causing bits of glass to go scattering.

"My window!" The bartender cried out as the others struggled to get

to their feet. That was when they saw Terry take a ready stance and

start with a strange blue light.

"What the hell?!" One guy exclaimed.

Terry smirked as he let his battle aura flare up a bit more. "Care to

try your luck again?"

The sight of seeing him enveloped in a weird blue aura made the

last two assailants nervous. Nene and Linna were also awestruck at

the sudden display of ki energy as they simply stared at it. It was

then that they began to hear the distant wail of police sirens.

"It's the cops! Let's get out of here!"

The two remaining ruffians that were still conscious quickly began

picking up their fallen comrades. However, since their drunk friend

was too massive for them to move, they decided to abandon him to

his fate and hightailed it out of there.

As soon as they had cleared out, Terry took a deep breath and

calmed down, letting his battle aura fade away. He quickly went to

where Priss was tending to Leon and asked, "How is he? Is he all

right?"

Priss looked up from where she was kneeling and nodded. "He'll be

all right. He just had the wind knocked out of him. Thank you."

"It's okay. " Terry said as he quickly turned to the bartender, who

was cowering behind the counter. Quickly reaching into his pocket,

he took out a large wad of yen notes and placed it on the counter.

"That should cover for the drink and the damages. See you!" Terry

then ran out of the bar, as he did not want to be there when the

authorities arrived.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Linna shouted as she realized that Terry was

getting away. Shaking her friend Nene, she called out to Priss and

said, "Take care of Leon!" She then bolted out of the establishment

and began chasing after Terry, with Nene close behind. However,

Linna was in far better shape than her friend was and soon the

policewoman was gasping for breath as the aerobics instructor, and

martial artist of the Knight Sabers ran on ahead.

Linna managed to get a glimpse of Terry as he ducked into alley.

Just as she rounded the building, there was slight whoosh of air,

which caused her to look up the fire escape. She saw Terry more

than six flights up and rapidly pulling away.

<How did he get up there so fast?> Linna wondered as she began to

ascend the first flight of stairs. She continued to look up as she ran

up the fire escape, but the Lone Wolf was stopping for no one. She

pushed herself hard to catch up, but then saw it was fruitless when

she saw Terry suddenly leap away from the fire escape. He made a

triangle jump on the wall of a building on the opposite side of the

alley, then landed on the roof of the building in which the fire

escape was attached to and disappeared. By the time Linna got to

the top of the escape, Terry was long gone.

Some time later, Terry came back to the hotel that he was staying at

and was about to enter his room when he suddenly got the feeling

that someone was already inside. He cautiously turned the knob and

let the door swing open. Peering inside, he saw that there was

someone sitting on a chair in the living room. The man looked to be

in his forties and had red hair cropped in a crewcut style. He was

wearing a gray business suit.

"Good day to you Mr. Bogard."

"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? How do you know

who I am? What do you want?"

The man shrugged as he began counting off with his fingers. "In

order: My name is Reginald Harper, a technician for Genom Inc. I

got in by way of getting the master key of the hotel. I know about

you from your battles in the streetfighting tournaments as well as

against our most powerful models of Boomers. Lastly, I am here to

invite you to come to Genom. The CEO of Genom, Mr. Quincy is

very interested in meeting with you and I have been instructed to

bring you back… by any means possible."

Terry did not like the sound of that. "And what if I decline your

offer?"

"You really don't have a choice."

Reginald smiled as he snapped his fingers. Three figures appeared

into the room. One came in by way of the balcony. The second came

out from the bathroom and the third came in from a storage closet.

Each were dressed in business suits but they were huge and Terry

got the feeling they weren't all human.

"So, what's it going to be Terry Bogard? The easy way… or the

hard way?"

To be continued…

Author's notes

Yes this part of chapter 4 does seem a bit short but it's just a

prelude of things to come. It will be more intense in the second part

as Terry faces off against Genom and the Knight Sabers may have

to come to Terry's rescue.