Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #1 -- "Tin-Sell City" ❯ Prologue - Once Upon A Time.... ( Prologue )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Prologue - Once Upon A Time....
Time line: B03-E10-R11-T
Location In timeline: GENOM Tower MegaTokyo,
Time: April, 2033AD
"For the crime of injuring me, a God," Largo was foaming, "I demand as atonement..... your deaths!" His remaining arm swept up.
"No!" Sylia exclaimed. "Linna!!!!"
"Roger!" Linna replied, understanding perfectly, planting the legs of her motoroid solidly into the rooftop. The massive particle cannon mounted on the frame swung to point skyward. "Nene, you'll have to co-ordinate for me!"
"Okay!" Nene replied, unfolding her sensor array from her backpack. Two quick seconds of scanning, and "Error correction, 0.06 degrees..."
Largo's arm swept down; a blue light twinkled in the sky, growing brighter with every instant.
"FIRE!!!!!!!!" Nene and Linna yelled together, as the motoroid bucked and spat its own bolt of coruscating energy into the night, hurling a challenge at the darkness shrouding the orbital satellites from view. The two crackling energy beams shot past each other.
Far beyond the human range of sight, the orbiting beam satellite flared silently outwards into an expanding cloud of dissipating flames and debris. The results of the first beam were, however, much too visible for comfort to those watching; the beam struck the roof of the GENOM tower, shredding the decking like cheap tinfoil, and it began tracking towards Largo instead of the embattled Knight Sabers. Largo howled again in thwarted rage as the flaring energy beam gouged a trench towards him, enveloping him in its hellish energy discharge. A fiery explosion seemed to engulf him. Across the rooftop, the Knight Sabers relaxed slightly.
A burned and blackened form lurched out of the flames, staggering to stand regarding the
incredulous Sabers. Would nothing kill this bastard? Just what the hell was he??! Largo shouldn't have been able to move at all; by all rights, he should have been dead. His skin was a smoking, blistered rag just barely covering the ceramic-metal endoskeleton beneath, and smoke and fluids of some kind were pouring out of holes in his torso. That alone would have put down any other boomer they could think of.. Red eyes burned at them from the flames.
"Sylia Stingray....." he said in a low ominous tone. Sylia reared back in shock.
"How....how do you know my name?!?" she responded. Who the hell was this?!
"I know that you and I are two of a kind, because..." Largo's voice cut off as a particle beam gun muzzle shoved itself out of his mouth. Priss tried to step in front of Sylia, but SkyKnight stepped in front of both of them, and played his last ace.
What looked like a strange, double-barreled shotgun unfolded from its housing on his right shoulder and bellowed, spitting twin projectiles at Largo's chest. At the same time, a crashing report echoed from a nearby rooftop, and Largo's forehead was smashed in by a large caliber bullet. He staggered back a step, then fell off the edge of the roof as the large slugs from SkyKnight's shoulder gun provided the final nudge needed, tearing into Largo's torso and knocking him off the peak of the GENOM pyramid. The ultraboomer with delusions of godhood fell screaming into the abyss, and seconds later a massive detonation shook the air, sending flames rocketing into the sky.
*******
He was falling into the abyss.
His internal monitors were relaying the damage in cold lists that held no hope of rescue. The damage was massive. Over seventy-five percent of his internal systems were off-line or destroyed, and his mind cooly calculated that the impact of the fall would destroy the rest. The last shots from that vulgar SkyKnight had eliminated any chance of using his body's jump jets to break his fall. The damage to his cranial processing units from the shot that had struck his head was near total. Even if the fall wouldn't kill him, the damage to those vital units was too great to repair before his system shut down for good.
[No!] He screamed to himself, his vocal systems off-line due to damage.[ I cannot die! I AM A GOD!]
[The one known as Largo. Would you like another chance?] asked a voice.
A spasm of panic gripped him. [What? Who are you?]
[There is no time for that,] said the voice. It was neither male nor female, and there was no emotional tone. [Do you want to avenge yourself?]
[YES!] Largo shouted, part of him believing that he was slipping into madness. [I want to kill the Knight Sabers and that jawing fool, SkyKnight!]
[I cannot offer that,] the voice continued. [But I can offer you a place where there is no SkyKnight to vex you, and the Knight Sabers to kill at your leisure. Do you agree?]
[What?]
[Do you agree? You have no more time.]
[YES! Anything you say!]
[Very well. Say good-bye to this world and hello to your new world.]
A nimbus of light surrounded the falling figure and it vanished, just as there was a massive detonation that shook the air, sending flames rocketing into the sky.
******
Time line: UNKNOWN
Location In timeline: UNKNOWN
Time: UNKNOWN
It's hard to describe nothing.
But that's what this place was - nothing. It was more then a void, if nothingness could be described that way. There was no light, no darkness, no warmth, no cold, nothing that could be defined as being something.
But there was something in this nothingness. Actually, two somethings. Two intelligences with no form, no substance of their own, but still somehow managed to exist.
[It cannot be!] the first intelligence stated. It didn't have vocal cords, or a brain to use telepathy with, but it still managed to make itself understood. If one was able to hear and visualize the mentality as a person, they would imagine a young male, full of the eagerness and excitability of youth. [That cannot stand!]
*It will,* replied the second intelligence. A picture of this intellect as a human would be along the lines of a learned elder. *We did not expect our opponent to use such a tactic.*
[But to bring the one call Largo into a parallel timeline of the one he was taken from?] The first intelligence asked sharply. [To make him an Avatar?]
The second intellect somehow gave the impression of shrugging. *We have done such things before. There is no rule preventing our opponent from doing the same thing.*
[But we never brought in an Avatar from one timeline into another one of similar circumstances.] The first voice argued. [ It will give our opponent's Avatar an tremendous advantage over the local defenders.]
*True,* the second intelligence agreed. *The Knight Sabers will need help. So we must send in an Avatar of our own.*
[Where do we get such a person? Do we use the one called SkyKnight?]
*No. He is not part of the timelines we oversee, and since we did not place him there, we can not remove him. Even if we could remove him, his role is still crucial in that time stream, and cannot be relocated. We must use someone else.*
[Who?]
*I have the perfect candidate.* With a thought, the second intelligence sent an image to the first. *He is the best candidate that we can locate quickly.*
[But he is needed right where he is!] the first mentality said harshly. [His writing is supporting one of the timelines we do not oversee! If we pull him from that task, we could disrupt not only that line, but several nearby, forcing us to step in and weakening our efforts somewhere else.]
*I am fully aware of that fact, but if what I have planned works out, then we can do both.*
[I cannot argue at this point. Is he the right one for this mission?]
*Why not? He has full knowledge of the time stream in question, the intelligence to adapt, and the eclectic learning to be useful.*
[What about physically? He isn't an active type.]
*Adjustments can be made.*
[How is he going to ally himself with the Knight Sabers from that time stream?]
*I will make the arrangements.*
[Will he agree to this?]
*Who said I was going to give him a choice?*
[I still don't like it.]
*We cannot interfere directly, but we cannot let this attempt go unchallenged. If we fail here, this could trigger a new tactic that could cause untold complications throughout the time streams.*
[Could we not search for a better candidate?]
*There is no time.*
[Will you handle the event yourself?]
*Yes. Watch....*
Time line: B03-E10-R11-T
Location In timeline: GENOM Tower MegaTokyo,
Time: April, 2033AD
"For the crime of injuring me, a God," Largo was foaming, "I demand as atonement..... your deaths!" His remaining arm swept up.
"No!" Sylia exclaimed. "Linna!!!!"
"Roger!" Linna replied, understanding perfectly, planting the legs of her motoroid solidly into the rooftop. The massive particle cannon mounted on the frame swung to point skyward. "Nene, you'll have to co-ordinate for me!"
"Okay!" Nene replied, unfolding her sensor array from her backpack. Two quick seconds of scanning, and "Error correction, 0.06 degrees..."
Largo's arm swept down; a blue light twinkled in the sky, growing brighter with every instant.
"FIRE!!!!!!!!" Nene and Linna yelled together, as the motoroid bucked and spat its own bolt of coruscating energy into the night, hurling a challenge at the darkness shrouding the orbital satellites from view. The two crackling energy beams shot past each other.
Far beyond the human range of sight, the orbiting beam satellite flared silently outwards into an expanding cloud of dissipating flames and debris. The results of the first beam were, however, much too visible for comfort to those watching; the beam struck the roof of the GENOM tower, shredding the decking like cheap tinfoil, and it began tracking towards Largo instead of the embattled Knight Sabers. Largo howled again in thwarted rage as the flaring energy beam gouged a trench towards him, enveloping him in its hellish energy discharge. A fiery explosion seemed to engulf him. Across the rooftop, the Knight Sabers relaxed slightly.
A burned and blackened form lurched out of the flames, staggering to stand regarding the
incredulous Sabers. Would nothing kill this bastard? Just what the hell was he??! Largo shouldn't have been able to move at all; by all rights, he should have been dead. His skin was a smoking, blistered rag just barely covering the ceramic-metal endoskeleton beneath, and smoke and fluids of some kind were pouring out of holes in his torso. That alone would have put down any other boomer they could think of.. Red eyes burned at them from the flames.
"Sylia Stingray....." he said in a low ominous tone. Sylia reared back in shock.
"How....how do you know my name?!?" she responded. Who the hell was this?!
"I know that you and I are two of a kind, because..." Largo's voice cut off as a particle beam gun muzzle shoved itself out of his mouth. Priss tried to step in front of Sylia, but SkyKnight stepped in front of both of them, and played his last ace.
What looked like a strange, double-barreled shotgun unfolded from its housing on his right shoulder and bellowed, spitting twin projectiles at Largo's chest. At the same time, a crashing report echoed from a nearby rooftop, and Largo's forehead was smashed in by a large caliber bullet. He staggered back a step, then fell off the edge of the roof as the large slugs from SkyKnight's shoulder gun provided the final nudge needed, tearing into Largo's torso and knocking him off the peak of the GENOM pyramid. The ultraboomer with delusions of godhood fell screaming into the abyss, and seconds later a massive detonation shook the air, sending flames rocketing into the sky.
*******
He was falling into the abyss.
His internal monitors were relaying the damage in cold lists that held no hope of rescue. The damage was massive. Over seventy-five percent of his internal systems were off-line or destroyed, and his mind cooly calculated that the impact of the fall would destroy the rest. The last shots from that vulgar SkyKnight had eliminated any chance of using his body's jump jets to break his fall. The damage to his cranial processing units from the shot that had struck his head was near total. Even if the fall wouldn't kill him, the damage to those vital units was too great to repair before his system shut down for good.
[No!] He screamed to himself, his vocal systems off-line due to damage.[ I cannot die! I AM A GOD!]
[The one known as Largo. Would you like another chance?] asked a voice.
A spasm of panic gripped him. [What? Who are you?]
[There is no time for that,] said the voice. It was neither male nor female, and there was no emotional tone. [Do you want to avenge yourself?]
[YES!] Largo shouted, part of him believing that he was slipping into madness. [I want to kill the Knight Sabers and that jawing fool, SkyKnight!]
[I cannot offer that,] the voice continued. [But I can offer you a place where there is no SkyKnight to vex you, and the Knight Sabers to kill at your leisure. Do you agree?]
[What?]
[Do you agree? You have no more time.]
[YES! Anything you say!]
[Very well. Say good-bye to this world and hello to your new world.]
A nimbus of light surrounded the falling figure and it vanished, just as there was a massive detonation that shook the air, sending flames rocketing into the sky.
******
Time line: UNKNOWN
Location In timeline: UNKNOWN
Time: UNKNOWN
It's hard to describe nothing.
But that's what this place was - nothing. It was more then a void, if nothingness could be described that way. There was no light, no darkness, no warmth, no cold, nothing that could be defined as being something.
But there was something in this nothingness. Actually, two somethings. Two intelligences with no form, no substance of their own, but still somehow managed to exist.
[It cannot be!] the first intelligence stated. It didn't have vocal cords, or a brain to use telepathy with, but it still managed to make itself understood. If one was able to hear and visualize the mentality as a person, they would imagine a young male, full of the eagerness and excitability of youth. [That cannot stand!]
*It will,* replied the second intelligence. A picture of this intellect as a human would be along the lines of a learned elder. *We did not expect our opponent to use such a tactic.*
[But to bring the one call Largo into a parallel timeline of the one he was taken from?] The first intelligence asked sharply. [To make him an Avatar?]
The second intellect somehow gave the impression of shrugging. *We have done such things before. There is no rule preventing our opponent from doing the same thing.*
[But we never brought in an Avatar from one timeline into another one of similar circumstances.] The first voice argued. [ It will give our opponent's Avatar an tremendous advantage over the local defenders.]
*True,* the second intelligence agreed. *The Knight Sabers will need help. So we must send in an Avatar of our own.*
[Where do we get such a person? Do we use the one called SkyKnight?]
*No. He is not part of the timelines we oversee, and since we did not place him there, we can not remove him. Even if we could remove him, his role is still crucial in that time stream, and cannot be relocated. We must use someone else.*
[Who?]
*I have the perfect candidate.* With a thought, the second intelligence sent an image to the first. *He is the best candidate that we can locate quickly.*
[But he is needed right where he is!] the first mentality said harshly. [His writing is supporting one of the timelines we do not oversee! If we pull him from that task, we could disrupt not only that line, but several nearby, forcing us to step in and weakening our efforts somewhere else.]
*I am fully aware of that fact, but if what I have planned works out, then we can do both.*
[I cannot argue at this point. Is he the right one for this mission?]
*Why not? He has full knowledge of the time stream in question, the intelligence to adapt, and the eclectic learning to be useful.*
[What about physically? He isn't an active type.]
*Adjustments can be made.*
[How is he going to ally himself with the Knight Sabers from that time stream?]
*I will make the arrangements.*
[Will he agree to this?]
*Who said I was going to give him a choice?*
[I still don't like it.]
*We cannot interfere directly, but we cannot let this attempt go unchallenged. If we fail here, this could trigger a new tactic that could cause untold complications throughout the time streams.*
[Could we not search for a better candidate?]
*There is no time.*
[Will you handle the event yourself?]
*Yes. Watch....*