Bubble Gum Fury

Disclaimer: So what do you want me to say? That the characters depicted in

this story don't belong to me, and belong to someone else? Oh, I already

said it.

In an age of scientific wonders, the human body is still the world's most

dangerous machine. TM

< >: Thoughts

Chapter 5

The Unholy Alliance

Part 2

Terry's World, 1995, specifically South Town, three months before the

arrival of the Boomers...

"So you have not found Terry Bogard?" Geese Howard asked Billy Kane as they

were in his office.

"No sir." The Englishman replied. "We haven't been able to locate him since

he was last spotted in Nevada, and that was more than three months ago.

It's like he bloody disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"Hmmm, that is strange." The crimelord remarked as he went into deep

contemplation. Ever since his defeat two years ago, the one who murdered

Terry's father and first love Lily had been undergoing intense training,

preparing for the day in which he would again face off against the heir to

the Hakkyoku Saiken. His thoughts of revenge were all consuming and he

would not rest until he had made Terry suffer before destroying him. He ran

a hand across the chest wound he had received during their last encounter.

As he had predicted, as long as that scar remained, his power would only

continued to grow.

"He could have gone into hiding, boss."

"No." Geese said flatly. "I doubt it. Terry Bogard defeated my half-brother

Krauser. He did me a favor that time, but... I will not let his

transgression against me be forgiven. He shall know TRUE agony before he

dies. Perhaps, we should pay a visit to his brother and his wife." Geese

began to get some evil thoughts about using Terry's younger sibling and his

spouse as bait to draw the elder brother out.

It was at that time that he got a call from the intercom. He tapped the

button to the microphone. "What is it?"

The person on the other line was screaming as he replied. "Sir! Something

had just appeared out of nowhere in the number four warehouse on the docks

and.... AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

"What the blazes?!"

Ten minutes later, at the warehouse...

The undercover agents of Genom and the Boomers at their disposal stood amid

a scene of carnage. Among the dead were Geese's security forces and several

of Genom's men as well. When the exploratory force appeared from the

dimensional gateway, the people at the warehouse thought they were under

attack. They went through the basic shoot first and ask questions later.

The bullets went flying, killing five of the intruders on the spot.

This proved to be a mistake as the Boomers went into their standard defense

modes. As they saw several of the operatives mowed down, the machines shed

their human disguises and began counterattacking. Though the weapons of the

twentieth century were primitive in comparison to Genom technology, they

were still effective at close range. One Boomer was taken down after

several security guards concentrated their firepower, blowing a few holes

into its chest and head under a hail of lead. However, once the remaining

Boomers opened up with their lasers, autocannons and heat blasters, the

battle became more of a slaughter as dozens of guards and workmen were

obliterated in seconds. The other Genom agents also added to the chaos with

their weapons. In less time it took to tell, not one of Geese's men was

left alive. Corpses and various body parts littered the warehouse floor as

blood stained the concrete and the crates where it had splattered. Cracks

and holes pockmarked the walls, and it was a miracle, that the huge

building was still standing.

"Where the hell are we?" The leader of the group asked.

"You are trespassing on my property."

The Genom men and their Boomers looked over to where the voice came from

and saw that the main warehouse doors were open. Standing at the

entranceway was a small army of armed men in black suits. At the front of

the force was a man with a long staff, who stood at the ready beside the

King of South Town, Geese Howard.

"W-Who the hell are you?" The leader of the Genom force demanded as he

signaled to his men and Boomers to aim their weapons at the newcomers.

Geese Howard assessed his foes and snorted. Though they did seem to be in

possession of some very advanced weapons and machines, Geese could see that

not one of Genom's men was any good without a gun in his hands or a Boomer

at his side.

"I am Geese Howard, King of South Town."

"Is that supposed to frighten us?" The leader sneered.

"If you are not frightened, then you are an even bigger fool than I

imagined for coming here. Surrender now... or else."

"Or else what?"

Geese's eyes narrowed as he raised a hand and leveled it at the leader.

"REPPU KEN!"

The leader of the Genom forces had perhaps half a second to scream before

he was totally incinerated by the Violent Wave technique. Five men and two

Boomers that were behind him suffered similar fates. The machines were

slammed into the warehouse wall and were buried beneath a huge pile of

rubble. As for the Genom agents, their bodies were burned beyond

recognition. That was when all hell broke loose.

The Genom agents began trading fire with Geese's men. As their leader was

gone, their forces had fallen into disarray and the Boomers began firing at

anything that they perceived as a threat. However, Geese had already had

his forces attacking only the Genom agents.

"Billy! You and the others take out those strangers, but leave a few of

them alive for questioning. Understand?"

"Yes, boss! What about you?"

"I'll take care of those machines." Without another word, Geese Howard

disappeared from sight, only to reappear among the Boomers and began

delivering high-impact strikes and kicks. The hardened alloyed skins of the

Boomers proved to be no protection as the crimelord systematically took

them apart. He also proved to be too fast for the Boomers to track with

their weapons as he continued to dodge their shots. Several times, the

Boomers ended up shooting at each other. When more than a dozen Boomers

fell, Geese decided to take out the rest in one fell swoop. He landed on

the on the ground, surrounded by the machines on all sides. The Boomers

thought they had him as they took aim.

Billy Kane and the rest of Geese's men were just dispatching the rest of

the Genom agents, when the club-wielding thug saw his boss begin to glow

with an eerie green aura. He saw this move once before and shouted out.

"TAKE COVER!"

That was when Geese struck the ground with both hands.

"RAGING STORM!"

The blast he created formed pillars of energy that that surrounded him and

enveloped the remaining Boomers. The attack was so devastating that the

entire warehouse came crashing down on itself. Billy and his crew just

barely managed to make it to the exit, along with three surviving members

of the Genom exploratory force. The entire building was reduced to rubble

in a less than two seconds. When the dust clouds finally settled down,

Geese stood unscathed amid piles of twisted metal and the burning hulks of

the Boomers.

Some time later, Geese stood in front of one of the Genom operatives who

had been left alive from the assault. The man was tied down in a chair and

sported several cuts and bruises on his face. This indicated that he had

just undergone a long series of interrogation and torture sessions, which

were pretty much the same in the underworld of South Town.

"Who sent you? Why are you here?"

"Go to hell!" The Genom man said.

"Wrong answer." Geese said as he held up a glowing fist in front of the

man.

Later...

Geese sat at his desk in contemplation. It had taken some time, but he had

finally gotten all the information that he wanted out of those survivors

before killing them all. On his desk were several strange devices, in which

the scientists he employed had analyzed. They were all found on the bodies

of those intruders and indicated that they were some kind of homing

beacons. Geese didn't know what to make of their prisoners' fantastic story

of being from a future alternate world, but his scientists had confirmed

that those machines that they called Boomers, were indeed decades ahead of

present technology.

The scientists he had under his employ were already making great strides in

analyzing the wreckage of the Boomers and were confident that they could

reconstruct and reprogram them. Furthermore, Geese knew that this Quincy

that those prisoners had referred to would have to reestablish contact with

his exploratory team, sooner or later. Hence, he was glad that their homing

beacons had not been destroyed during the battle. When the CEO recalled his

team, he would have a nasty surprise waiting for him and Geese would have a

chance of gaining access to superior technology, which could only add to

his power. However, his most livid interest in that alternate world, was

when the last prisoner had mentioned the name of... Terry Bogard.

All he had to do was wait.

MegaTokyo, Genom corporation, 2033, a few minutes after Geese Howard's

assault…

Quincy found himself in a bad situation. This Geese Howard person and his

forces now had him trapped in the main laboratory. The Boomers that he had

initially sent to his world had turned against him and sealed off the area.

The Genom CEO and his scientist Reginald were at the crimelord's mercy.

"Interesting little toys you have created." Geese Howard remarked as he

stepped up to Quincy, who was being held by two of Geese's men. Billy Kane

and another couple of thugs were restraining Reginald. "It took my

scientists more than three months, working day and night to unravel the

secrets of these... Boomers. Quite effective killing machines."

"Bastard!" Quincy gritted as he glared at his captor.

Geese smirked and then gave a short laugh as he said, "Now, now, is that

any way to treat your new partner?"

"Partner?! What are you talking about?!" Quincy asked in disgust.

Geese raised a hand and snapped his fingers. The men who were holding down

Quincy released him, but the chairman of the company saw that the Boomers

and some of Geese's men still had their weapons trained on him.

Geese then took another step forward and addressed the irritated Quincy.

"What I'm talking about is a partnership between my organization and

yours."

Quincy glared at the King of South Town for a long moment. The silence in

the air was so thick; you could cut it with a knife. He then gritted out

his response. "Taking control of my Boomers and attacking my company with

them is a strange way of doing... business."

Geese gave off a hearty chuckle and said, "Well from what your operatives

had told me about you, I know that you are anything BUT an ordinary

businessman. In addition, I seriously doubted that you would have met with

me if I had just sent you a business proposition. Therefore, I thought that

a demonstration of what we were capable of would be sufficient."

"What do you want?" Quincy asked with irritation, though he was impressed

at how much gall this Geese Howard had.

Geese smiled as he said, "Well, I think by now you realized that we could

have simply killed you and taken over your company and its technology, but

we want more than that. I am very impressed with this Boomer technology and

though my scientists were able to rebuild and reprogram the ones you sent

to my world, we still do not understand all of their secrets. Furthermore,

it would be too costly for my organization to mass-produce these wonders

for ventures in my dimension. However, your company Genom could easily make

as many Boomers as we wanted, as well as give us access to advanced

technology."

"So why didn't you kill me and take over like you said?" Quincy inquired.

"Quite simple really. A corporation such as Genom is far too vast and

difficult to maintain, especially when it is from another world. I feel

that I need a... liaison, if you will. I think that a partnership would be

better suited for this kind of venture and I know that we can both benefit

from each other."

"What do you mean?"

"We wish to use your Boomers in our world. For a few... special ventures,

if you will. Of course, we will need a supplier. That would be you."

Quincy knew where this was going. "I can see how you might profit from our

technology, but what would WE get out of it?"

Geese nodded. "From what those operatives of yours had told me, your world

is quite a mess, isn't it? Overpopulation, worldwide pollution and a very

limited supply of natural resources. I hear that many nations are fighting

over the resources of Antarctica! I'm certain that getting raw materials

through normal channels and such are quite bothersome. Despite Japan being

an economic giant now, I'm certain that you would rather have your own

supply of materials, rather than share or fight for it against your rivals.

And of course, there are all those regulations and such."

"Yes." Quincy allowed. With the Earth's dwindling supplies of natural

resources becoming ever smaller, getting the materials needed to keep Genom

running had become a bit more of a chore.

"Well think of it! My world may not be as advanced as yours is, but we do

have far more raw materials and natural resources just waiting to be tapped

into! And through my organization, you can bypass all those laws and get at

those resources. And we also have something else to offer as well!" Geese

raised a hand and let some of his aura form around it. This caught Quincy's

attention.

"I am well aware of the main reason why you invaded my dimension in the

first place." Geese said. "It was because of your curiosity of what the

skilled martial artists of my world are capable of. I had learned from your

men that you wanted to experiment with combining the powers of the greatest

fighters with that of your most powerful Boomers. I must say that it is a

rather intriguing idea. You may have the answer to that age-old dream of

creating the perfect warrior. I am also curious and I can provide you with

the subjects you need for your experiments."

"You'd willingly send people to be transformed into Boomers? Just like

that?" Quincy was quite surprised by Geese's cruelty, which seemed to rival

his own.

"Oh it is nothing." Geese replied. "I'm certain that we will be able to

provide you with enough... human resources for your needs. And if you

succeed, then we shall both benefit, wouldn't we?"

"I... see. I must admit, you do present an... interesting bargain. Though I

can't help but feel that there is something else about this offer that is

driving you."

"Indeed." Geese said. "You see, I happen to have a bit of an interest in a

certain man, who has been causing you a bit of trouble lately. His

abilities were what prompted you to investigate my world and your plans to

integrate martial artists into Boomers, correct?"

"You mean...?"

"I WANT Terry Bogard. I want him DEAD!"

"I... see. So he has made some trouble for you in your world, eh?"

"More than you'd know. I have some operatives, which can also help you with

your own problems, these Knight Sabers as they are called. And in return,

you can help me with my adversary. So... do we have... an agreement?"

Back at Raven's Garage...

Priss sighed as she sat on her rebuilt motorcycle and idly revved the

engine. Pops had finished reconstructing her cycle this morning and had

done a good job of it. After the crash in which Terry had saved her life,

Priss' bike had been initially written off as a total loss, but the genius

mechanic was able to transform the burned-out wreck back into its original

state. Though she was happy to have her wheels back, Priss' thoughts were

not on speeding down the highways at the moment. They were instead focusing

on a man with long blonde hair who wore a baseball cap. She was still

fighting the connection she felt whenever he was near.

The short-tempered and 'tough girl' of the Knight Sabers couldn't

understand how one man could have her affected like this. So what if he was

handsome, and had saved her life a couple of times? Leon was like that too.

She had sworn never to let a man get that close to her again, and thoughts

of her first and only love still plagued her in her dreams. She sighed

again as she put up the kickstand and prepared to go out for a ride.

"Nice bike."

Priss became a bit startled at hearing Terry's voice and looked over her

shoulder. There she saw Terry casually leaning against the doorway behind

her, his eyes roving over the vehicle.

Priss quickly put up her aloof attitude toward men. "What do you want?"

Terry shrugged. "Nothing. I was just admiring your bike. That's all. Never

seen one like that before, but since this is the future, I guess it makes

my old one look like an antique."

"Yeah, right." Priss said with sarcasm. "If you think I buy that bullshit

story about you being from another world and stuff, then you're crazy. I

think that you're some kind of spy from Genom and Sylia's out of her mind

for letting you run free like this."

Terry shrugged his shoulders again, then took a few steps closer to Priss.

"Believe what you want. All I told you is the truth."

"Oh sure you did." Priss looked up angrily at him, but then caught the

serious expression on his face. Then she looked into his eyes. It was said

that though words could be easily twisted, the eyes could never lie. When

her gaze locked with his, she felt as if her heart had stopped. Like Linna,

she saw something in those deep blue depths that reminded her of a wolf.

Furthermore, she saw a deep sadness, which reflected her own, whenever she

looked into a mirror. She could see strength within him that somehow told

her that he had endured hardship and tragedy, just as she did, but more

intense. It was if he was continually hurting inside, yet did very little

to ease the pain. Just like her. She could feel the connection between them

again and the faint stirrings of something more.

For Terry, it was a similar story. Though Priss was gifted with a natural

beauty, it was her eyes that fascinated him the most. As soon as he glanced

at Priss' scarlet depths, he saw a kindred spirit. Her eyes were lively,

showing her indomitable will and strong emotions. Yet, they also conveyed a

sadness, which meant that she too had experienced a great tragedy. Terry

didn't know how he knew, but he felt deep down that Priss' outward

hostility and abrasive attitude was just a shield to hide the sensitive and

very fragile soul within. He saw in those eyes that they were indeed, two

of a kind.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Priss ended the moment as her

face took on a scowl and she looked ready to slap him. "What are you

looking at?"

Terry was brought back to reality as he blinked, then said; "You don't have

to be so hostile. I didn't mean anything from it. Though I do I know what

it's like."

"What?"

"Losing people you cared about."

"Huh?"

"I can see it in your eyes."

Priss became almost shocked at the way he said it. For a moment, she

thought he was some kind of nut or playing some kind of tricks, but as she

glared at him, she could see no insanity or deception in his expression. He

truly believed in what he was saying to her. However, Priss wasn't about to

get all flustered and her anger toward this man began to rise.

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

Terry tilted his head to one side to regard Priss and simply said, "I can

tell that he was very special wasn't he?"

"What?"

"The one you lost. He was your whole world, wasn't he?"

"None of your business!" Priss became embarrassed at her outburst, then

tried to deny everything. "I mean, what are you talking about?!"

Terry's suspicions had been confirmed at Priss' words. He had guessed that

the Knight Saber's 'tough girl' attitude was just a mask she wore. As a

proficient fighter, Terry had learned to study the emotions of his opponent

by looking into his eyes. Priss had lost someone very close to her. Terry

could tell by how her eyes reflected a kind of sadness from losing a lover.

After all, he saw that same look in his own reflection in the mirror after

first losing Lily, then Sulia. What he saw in Priss was so similar to what

he saw in himself. However, instead of weathering the feelings as he did,

she lashed out in anger.

"Just leave me alone!" Priss said as she was about to kickstart her cycle.

"I know what it's like." Terry said with that same calm tone but then began

to waver. "I... know what it's like... losing someone you loved."

Priss stared at him in shock. <H-H-How did he know? Is he some kind of

psychic? > "What are you... never mind! It's my business so butt out!"

Terry opened his mouth, then decided that he had indeed meddled where he

wasn't supposed to. "I'm sorry... Priss. I didn't mean to pry."

"Damn right!" Priss snapped. "You've got no right to stick your nose into

my personal life! You have no idea what I felt when Randy was killed! No

idea at all!" Priss then realized that in her fit of anger, she had just

told Terry more than she wanted to.

Though Terry knew he shouldn't say anything else, the words still came out

of his mouth. "Randy? So that was his name?"

Priss' hands clenched the handlebars of her cycle as she shook with rage.

She was ready to lash out with her fist at this infuriating man, but

instead scowled at him and decided to let her anger out. "Yeah, Randy was

his name! And he was my whole world! There! Are you happy? I said it!"

Terry shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry Priss. I shouldn't have said

anything else. I'll go now."

Priss became even more enraged when Terry discretely turned his back to her

and started walking back to the door. She promptly got off her bike and

stomped out in front of him, blocking his way.

"Now hold on a minute! You're the one who started this by being so nosey

about my personal life!"

Terry sighed and replied. "You were right. It wasn't any of my business.

I'm sorry I brought it up. I just said that I knew what it was like, that's

all."

"No you don't! You don't know anything about my life, let alone how I

feel!" Priss was now going purely on her emotions as she decided to put

this jerk in his place. She was now lashing out with her words, which hurt

just as much as her fists. "You say you know what it's like to lose someone

you loved?" She felt a bit of embarrassment at admitting this to total

stranger but didn't stop. "Did the person you love get murdered by a

Boomer? Huh? Did that person's death get written off as an accident and the

police didn't do shit about it? Huh? Well?" She didn't care that she was

hitting below the belt. She just wanted to get back at him.

Terry looked down at the infuriating female standing in front of him. He

could feel his own anger rising as Priss wouldn't let the subject drop,

even after she had demanded for him to leave her alone. Yet, he also felt

something else for her, as if some force was drawing him to her. He put

those ridiculous thoughts away as he took a small breath and said, "Then

you were the lucky one."

Priss stepped back in confusion. "W-What?"

Terry's expression became cold and dead serious as he said; "You were the

lucky one. You only had to lose one person you loved. I lost two."

Without waiting for Priss' reaction, Terry pushed her aside and left the

room, slamming the door behind him.

Priss found herself in a state of shock after seeing Terry's expression. It

was that same sadness that she saw before, only that time, he made no

attempt at all to hide it. He was telling her the truth. She didn't know

how she knew that, but for some reason, she was undeniably sure. Now, she

began regretting her own harsh words.

In the room where Terry was staying in, the street fighter slumped down

onto his bed and was deep into contemplation.

<What did I do that for? Why couldn't I have just let it go? I didn't mean

to...> Andy's brother sighed as he lay down on the mattress. He hadn't

meant to be so cruel, but when Priss was lashing out verbally at him, Terry

just had to say something to get her to stop. Now, things were even more

screwed.

<What's wrong with me? Why did I do that? She didn't do anything, but when

I looked into those eyes...> Terry closed his eyes and shook his head. He

hadn't felt this emotional since losing Lily and Sulia. Just what was it

about Priss that got him so riled up?

Terry's thoughts began thinking back to his training with his mentor in the

Hakkyoku Saiken, Tung Fu Rue. The old master had told him about how one

could look into another's soul by simply peering into the eyes. During his

ten-year training journey, Terry had learned to how to see certain things

about the person, especially during battle. Then he remembered how he felt

when he looked into Lily's eyes and then into Sulia's.

It was at that time he realized what was happening. It seemed that history

was repeating itself, and that scared Terry more than any enemy he ever

faced. He was beginning to open up to a girl again. And he knew what that

meant. He had also began thinking how he felt when he was with Linna as

well. He had never opened up that much to another girl since his time with

Sulia. He sat up and shook his head in denial.

<NO! I won't let it happen again! I won't! >

However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the images of Linna

and Priss out of his head.

Meanwhile in the computer room, Priss stood in shock as she stared at the

images on the monitor. Beside her, the other Knight Sabers also looked on.

"You mean... it's all true?"

Sylia nodded. "Yes. These images were downloaded from Genom's systems. When

we found out about the revival of the XR-4000 project, we delved deeper and

discovered that they had not only rebuilt the system, which allowed travel

to alternate worlds, but also a dimensional viewer. These images were

recorded a few days ago."

Priss said nothing as she stared at the images. During his explanations,

Terry had also described people and places from his world. He had told them

about his family and friends and now she was actually seeing them. She saw

a man with silver hair and assumed that he was Terry's younger brother

Andy. A woman dressed in a skimpy ninja outfit must be his wife Mai.

Another man with spiked hair and shorts fit Joe Higashi's description. Then

she saw other fighters and people, as well as images of an Earth before the

earthquake that devastated Japan.

<It's true. It's... all true! And that would mean...> Priss shook her head

as she remembered back to he encounter with Terry and how he looked when he

said that she was the lucky one. If his story of being from another world

was true, then everything else he had said after that… >

Priss swallowed hard as she realized the ramifications.

Back at Genom…

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let us discuss what we're

going to do about those nuisances, the Knight Sabers and Terry Bogard,

shall we?" Geese Howard said as he sat across the meeting table from

Quincy.

Quincy nodded, though a bit reluctantly. After a long and intricate series

of discussions, Quincy had grudgingly joined forces with Geese Howard, but

still maintained his own agenda. Though he could have called security and

have the invaders wiped out, Geese had demonstrated powers and abilities

that were very similar to what Terry Bogard had displayed. Furthermore, his

offer to allow access to the raw materials and test subjects in his world

was just too tempting to resist. Quincy would learn those secrets and bleed

that other world dry. After he had gotten all of Geese's resources and

secrets, he would have him… removed from the equation.

As for Geese, he knew what that Quincy was about as trusting as a cobra

that was reared up and ready to strike. He was aware that his new business

partner would double-cross him at the first opportunity, so that is why he

gave Quincy a few reasons for the partnership. Quincy was a businessman,

first and foremost. Therefore, he thought in terms of profit. However,

Geese had long experience with dealing with crooked entrepreneurs. All the

crimelord needed was some time to dig up all of Quincy's secrets and get

the best of his technology. After that, the partenership would dissolve,

along with Quincy's existence.

<When your usefulness ends, so will you! > Both men thought at the exact

same time.

"As I understand it," Geese Howard said. "these Knight Sabers possess a

technology that allows them to counter your best Boomers."

"And from what I've been able to gather," Quincy countered. "You were

defeated by the skills of Terry Bogard."

The King of South Town frowned as he remembered back to that time when

Terry used the Super Hurricane Kick on him. "Yes, so I believe that the

best way to get rid of both of our problems is to use your idea of

combining your Boomer technology with a fighter from our world. Terry

Bogard and I have already demonstrated our abilities to defeat Boomers. Now

think of what Boomers with our skills could accomplish against the Knight

Sabers."

"Indeed. I had come to that conclusion and our fusion technology is now

advanced enough to merge with organic tissue. So exactly who did you have

in mind for our… test subject?"

Geese smirked as he had the perfect person in mind. "That all depends. Can

this fusion technology merge with dead tissue?"

Quincy was a bit puzzled at the question, but replied, "Well, yes it can.

As long as the DNA is relatively intact, then it really doesn't matter if

the tissue is alive or not. Why do you ask?"

Geese smiled as he said, "Though I hate to admit, there was a certain

person who's skills exceeded even my own and he was capable of defeating

Terry Bogard. He's dead now, but I do know where his body is and I can

easily retrieve it. I believe his remains will provide you with sufficient

material to create the most powerful Boomer ever."

"I see… " Quincy said slowly. "Very interesting. If this person was as

powerful as you say he was, then I do believe that those skills would still

be imprinted on his DNA. And since he's already been declared deceased…"

"You wouldn't have to worry about any legal technicalities. You could do

whatever you wanted with him." Geese finished.

"Indeed. So what was this figher's name?"

"Wolfgang Krauser."

A few days later at Dr. Raven's Garage…

Terry was out back behind the building and took a stance in front of a pile

of wrecked cars and other vehicles. Behind him, Dr. Raven watched with

interest as the Lone Wolf powered up his battle aura. The engineer had been

preparing to break apart the bodies of the junked vehicles for scrap metal,

but the streetfigher offered to do the job for him, without the use of the

car crusher or other equipment.

It was then that Priss walked in on the scene.

"Hey Pops!"

Dr. Raven winced as he turned to her and said, "I told you not to call me

Pops!"

Priss shrugged. "Whatever Pops. Have you seen Terry?"

Dr. Raven pointed to where Terry was standing.

"What's he doing?" Priss asked as she saw a blue aura surround him. "What

the hell is that?"

The old man shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know. Terry offered to

help me… smash some trash."

It was then that Terry released his ki.

"POWER… WAVE!"

He struck his fist to the ground and a huge blast of energy erupted forward

toward the piles of junk. The ground trembled a bit as the ki slid across

the surface and impacted into the car bodies and other rusting hulks. The

metal was blasted apart as the ki exploded. In less than a second, more

than half of the car wrecks were reduced to metal confetti.

Terry stood up and nodded, satisfied with his work.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Terry looked over his shoulder and smiled as he saw Priss and Raven's

expressions of shock. He turned around and walked to where they were

standing. He addressed Pops in a cheerful manner. "So, is that good enough

for you?"

Pops wordlessly nodded as he continued to stare at what was once several

tons of automobiles. Priss then got her wits back and shook off her

amazement. She had come here for a different reason.

"Er, Pops…?"

"Don't call me Pops!"

"Sure Pops. Well, can I speak to Terry… alone?"

"Oh?" The aged man looked up at Priss and saw that though she was

maintaining her tough girl attitude, the way she was looking at Terry also

suggested something else. He smirked as he nodded and then left to go get

something to pick up the scrap metal.

As he left, Terry nodded to Priss to take a seat on a nearby car body.

"Hello Priss. What can I do for you?"

Priss took a deep breath and began to mentally rehearse what she had been

practicing for days after seeing the images that Nene had shown her,

verifying Terry's story. She then said in a slightly trembling voice,

"Well, I came here to say… that I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Terry asked.

Priss gulped a bit. "Sorry for not believing your story and… you know,

treating you like a jerk and… that time…"

Terry held up a hand and said, "No apologies are necessary, Priss. If I

were in your shoes, I'd have probably acted the same way. And as for what

happened a few days ago… that was my fault. I'm the one who should be

apologizing. I shouldn't have said those things about your personal life.

It wasn't my business."

Priss smiled and said, "Well, I guess I shouldn't have snapped at you like

that and I'm sorry that…"

"No, I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm… heh, heh, ha, ha, HA, HA…"

"Heh, heh, ha, ha, HA, HA, HA, HA…"

The two started laughing at the silliness of it for a minute, then Terry

calmed down and remarked with a snicker. "I guess we're a couple of REALLY

sorry people."

"I guess so." Priss replied with a bit of a chuckle.

As they became quiet, the two suddenly became nervous at the silence

between them. Priss hadn't planned on anything further other than saying

her apologies. Terry found himself at a loss of anything else to say. After

a another minute of silence, Priss decided to break the ice and try to get

some answers to a few questions she had about him.

"So, how did you know?"

"What?"

"How did you know about what happened to Randy?"

"Oh." Terry became moreedgy, but steeled himself and responded. "Well, I

kind of saw it in your eyes."

"Huh?"

"My old sensei, Tung Fu Rue, told me that you can learn a lot about a

person just by looking into the eyes. Over the years, I've been able to

assess my opponents by keeping eye contact with them during the fight. I

guess I've gotten pretty good at reading emotions and stuff."

"So what did you see with me?"

"Well… kind of like what I see whenever I looked at myself in the mirror. I

saw that you had some kind of sadness that seemed to come from deep within

you. I sort of guessed that you lost someone you cared a great deal about,

just like me."

"Well, let me tell you, that was one HELL of a guess!"

"Yeah, well, I've had a lot of practice." Terry admitted, thinking back to

when he looked into Sulia and Lily's eyes.

Priss then began asking Terry about his life and like Linna before her, the

bare-knuckled streetfighter began telling Priss about his hard life of

growing up on the streets, his intense training and the other hardships he

had endured. He also answered her questions about his martial arts skills

and ki training. It was going well enough, until Priss asked about… them.

"So… what were they like?" Priss asked.

"Who?"

"Those two people you said you lost."

"Oh." Terry started to retreat back into his shell again. "There's not much

I can say. I used to have a girlfriend named Lily and she died. Then I had

one named Sulia and… she… died as well." His voice trembled a bit at the

last part.

"And…"

Terry held up a hand and shook his head. "Please. Don't ask me about them

any more. I don't… want to talk about it."

Priss wanted to press on, but when she saw those eyes again, all other

thoughts went out the window. She wondered if looking into a person's eyes

was really a way of seeing their souls. What she saw in Terry's made her

feel an emotion that she had repressed for a long time. This man was

powerful, yet at the same time, was vulnerable. He had his tough side, just

she did, and hid his more sensitive side, just like she did. They had both

grown up on the streets and experienced tragedy over losing loved ones.

Terry had lost his father at a young age, and Priss had lost her parents

during the second Kanto Quake. The Knight Saber realized with shock at just

how much they had in common. It was a bit scary for Priss to be with

someone who could understand the pains she had suffered in her lifetime.

Terry was also finding himself amazed at how much in common he and Priss

had. When she wasn't hostile, the brunette was actually very likable and he

couldn't help but notice how attractive she was. Though her eyes still

reflected sadness, they also displayed intensity, fire and a certain

something that Terry found very appealing. As he maintained eye contact

with her, he didn't even noticed that his head was beginning to move

forward, nor that hers was doing likewise. The space between them began to

rapidly disappear and it seemed that lip contact was about to be made…

"Terry! So there you are! I've been looking for you!"

Both people came out of their daze looked up and saw Linna standing in her

gi. She smiled at the blonde man and said, "You promised to help me

practice, remember?"

Terry trembled a bit as he stood up and said, "Oh… yeah, I guess I did." He

then looked back at Priss, who was also coming back to reality. "Uh, Priss…

I'm… uh, sorry about this, but I… say, would you like do join us?"

Priss quickly went into her nonchalant mode and said, "No. I don't think

so. Go ahead if you want to."

The Lone Wolf became a bit sad that Priss had gone back into her 'I don't

care' attitude, but then turned to Linna. "So… let's get started."

Linna smiled as she took his arm and began leading him toward the practice

area. She had that gleam in her eye which Priss recognized as her standard,

'what a man' attitude and felt something else that she had not experienced

before. She frowned as the two went off to train and noted that Linna was

holding his arm TOO closely.

<Why that… that… oooohh! > She clenched her fists, then became surprised at

her reaction. <Wait a second! What am I getting so worked up for? I did

what I came here to do. I said I was sorry. If Linna wants him, then she

can have him! It makes no difference to me! >

Somehow, deep within Priss, she found it very hard in believing herself.

Meanwhile, at Genom…

"So this is it?" Quincy asked Reginald.

"Yes sir. Mr. Howard had just had it delivered to us this morning."

After that disasterous first encounter, Reginald and the Genom scientists

had corected the mistake they made with the transwarp projector and had it

calibrated to synchronize with the timeline of the other world, so time

that passed in the their world would also match that of the other.

"Despite the fact that it has been resting at the bottom of a lake for more

than a year and a half, the body has only suffered minor degradation. The

waters had presevered it quite well. The new Boomer infrastructure that we

had created will have no problems in fusing with the body."

"Excellent! We shall begin the process immediately. How soon do you think

the new Boomer will be fully operational?"

"If all goes according to plan, no more than a day or two. If this person

really was as poweful as Geese said he was, then we won't have to anything

more than input his programming once the fusion process is complete. The

DNA coding of the body will be the blueprint for the fusion nanites, as

they reconstruct the body back to its original state, then enhance it."

"What about the mind of the body and the original personality?"

"He won't have any memeory of his previous life. He will become a mindless

cyborg, obedient to our every command."

"Excellent! Begin work at once!"

As the scientist went to obey his orders, Quincy leaned over the table in

which the deceased Krauser lay. The body was clothed only in tattered

leggings and shin gaurds. Despite the fact that it had been rotting away

for over 18 months, the body still retained a lot of its muscular

definition. The damage that Krauser had suffered during his titanic battle

with Terry would all be corrected when the fusion proicess began. The head

of Genom looked into the face and the sightless eyes and smirked. <Yes, he

will do nicely!> Geese had provided him of videos of his half-brother in

action and if even a tenth of those images were true, then Quincy now had

the means to create the ultimate Boomer!

Little did he know that he was also on the verge of a horrible mistake!

To be continued…

Author's Notes

Well, Terry and the Knight Sabers are going to have their hands full when

Genom and Geese decide to play Frankenstein. And who better to play the

monster than Terry's old enemy Wolfgang Krauser? If you thought he was

tough before in Fatal Fury 2, then think of him as a ressurected Boomer?

Scary, ne?

As for the scenes between Priss and Terry, well why not? I was inspired by

Jeffrey Wong's 'Just Won't Die' series. Of all the Knight Sabers, Priss is

probably the one that I liked the best and had the most in common with

Terry. I wanted to give the Lone Wolf a girl that is tough enough and isn't

a helpless weakling. I always liked Priss' bad girl attitude. Then again,

Linna was also another choice for Terry and I think the rivalry between

these two should be interesting, ne? I decided not to get Nene and Sylia

involved with Terry.

As for the remaining characters of the Fatal Fury cast, they'll be coming

along as well as this story begins to heat up.