Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Fan Fiction ❯ Lady Knight Saber? ❯ Decisions made, stories told, and no need for hair dye. ( Chapter 3 )

Lady Knight… Saber?

Disclaimer: Neither Protector of the Small nor Bubblegum Crisis 2040 belong to me, and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

A/N: This is a crossover, which takes place after Lady Knight but is an AU for Bubblegum Crisis. I can't believe I've been reading this book series for the past four years and somehow been inserting an 'n' into her name every time I read it… Kami-sama, baka desu. For those who don't know, BCG 2040 is an anime (Japanese cartoon, but isn't a very accurate description) based off of the first OAV series (released directly to video) called Bubblegum Crisis. It is after the second Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled Tokyo and was rebuilt, using humanoid robots called Boomers. You'll see them called Voomers at times- all v's in Japanese are pronounced as b's, much like in Spanish. Boomers have a tendency to go rogue- meaning, their core, which is essentially their brain/heart containing circuitry and flesh, mutates, causing the robot to go berserk. They tend to kill a LOT of people when they do this. Sylia Stingray was the daughter of the scientist who created the boomers, and was responsible for the formation of the Knight Sabers, a group of vigilante women in advanced armor (called Hardsuits) that would hunt down the rogue boomers where the normal police and the group created to combat them (the AD Police) basically got their asses handed to them. Priss, Linna and Nene are the other Knight Sabers. Why do the boomers go rogue? How did Sylia create the Knight Sabers in the first place? What's with the mega-corporation called Gemon that manufactures the Boomers? How the hell will Kel fit into this mix?

You'll just have to read this story to find out.

However, if you get the chance, Bubblegum Crisis, and the 2040 series are both wonderful examples of the genre of anime. They explore the definitions of humanity, sentience, and science. I have yet to see the prequel and sequel (AD Police files and BCG Crash!). Kel would fit in here, because she knows that just because the shape is different, a creature's heart is what matters.

Now- to those of you who are prudes: Kel will fall for a girl. I am a slash writer. Get out now if that bothers you and reassess your own heart. I have my reasons for doing this to Kel, not the least of which is because, while she was constantly falling for boys, she never found 'the one'. Keladry is very human- one of the reasons I loved this series, of the Tortall books. She isn't the typical super heroine that Alanna was. I loved Alanna, too, but she was almost too great to be real. I feel that Tamora Pierce was broadening her horizons and writing a deeper character when she made Kel. Human sexuality is not an easy or neat topic. It was touched on in PotS, and I can't help but feel that she would have gone into more depth, but because this was a children's/young adult series, she wasn't allowed to go into more. That it was mentioned at all was very daring of her. Mainstream publishers, especially for juvenile fiction, would freak out if the main character were less than straight.

Oh yes… for the flamers- I AM a pervert. Get over it.

Of course… BCG 2040 won't be the ONLY universe that Kel stops in. She gets to do a little more… exploring first… (Evil laughter heard in the distance)

~*~*~*~*~

Keladry of Mindelan sat in a wheeled chair, one that moved with the touch of a button, and stared at the box which, for all intents and purposes, was a living tapestry. Yet no tapestry could hold the brilliant colors or detail and clarity this box did.

Sylia had explained to her that she was in a different time or universe, she wasn't sure which, and given what Kel had seen, she believed her. There were things the older woman hadn't told her, but she knew better than to press. She was on Sylia's sufferance, after all.

Kel wasn't used to holding still for such long periods of time. She had nothing to do- she was used to either doing paperwork or reading when she was sitting. Looking around, she noticed a bookshelf and guided her self propelled chair over to it, and ran her finger along the titles. Almost everything seemed to do with some kind of alchemy, or mathematics. While she was very good at math, all of this seemed to be over her head. She had some small pride at her scholarship- but these books were something else entirely.

Of course, there were no books on magic. Selecting a book at random, she realized it had something to do 'energy'. 'Energy' seemed to behave a lot like the magic she had learned about, and she blinked, realizing that the two were related. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she read it quickly, noting that this particular book was in Common. This was helpful, because she could sound out the words or use context to help her get at least a general understanding. Some of the titles were in Yamani, but the symbols used in the titles were confusing, or she didn't know them at all. Kel was hooked.

Meanwhile, Sylia was watching her guest with Mackie.

The young woman in the chair on the monitor was very bright- and very brave and adaptable. She had a wonderful poker face, but in private, that dropped and her awe at the new world she found herself in shone through.

"Its interesting that she can read English," Sylia wondered, "as well as Japanese. It's tempting to think she only has amnesia. However, that would not account for her accent, or that she uses a very old dialect. I would give a lot to know how she got here, but she is more useful as herself. How she got here doesn't really matter at the moment. Genom is the greater threat."

"You can't just turn her out, she would be almost helpless out there."

Sylia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know that, Mackie. She seems highly intelligent, but without identification or a history, she would be unable to find work. I also doubt that being a knight would qualify her for a job as an Office Lady."

"We can handle all those," he answered softly. Sylia nodded. "Then what? Leave her to wander around Mega Tokyo for the rest of her life?"

"Considering what else we have to deal with," Sylia started, and then paused. She wasn't Mason, or Galatea. She couldn't just turn someone out…

"What are you suggesting Mackie, make her into the fifth Knight Saber?" the moonlighting-as-a-lingerie-storeowner scientist muttered.

Mackie just smiled and put his hands behind his head, whistling innocently.

Sylia scowled at him.

~*~*~*~*~

"Uh, hello?" asked a timid voice, and Kel turned her head to look at the young woman that had entered the room. Her brown hair was even shorter than Kel's, much to her surprise, and was dressed in a high collared shirt and breeches, with a coat slung over one arm. The lady had an athletic build, but was very well proportioned and curvy, something Kel rather envied. Open and soft blue eyes met her hazel green ones steadily, before darting away.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm doing better," Kel answered, intrigued by this newcomer.

"Ah, good, when I found you, you didn't seem to be doing so well. I'm Linna Yamazaki," she introduced herself, and bowed.

"I'm Keladry of Mindelan," Kel stated, trying to bow in her chair. "I'd get up to greet you properly," she smiled wryly," but that is a little beyond me at the moment."

Linna's eyes widened. "You mean you can't walk?"

"Apparently not, but Lady Sylia said that she should be able to fix the damage."

"Lady?" Linna said in surprised, a hand going to her chest, eyebrows attempting to hit her hairline.

"She seems to be one of high birth. Is that the wrong title to give her?"

Linna shook her head. "Its just kind of old fashioned. Sylia is rich, sure, but noble blood? Most people don't even use those kinds of titles anymore, it's really old fashioned."

Kel blinked. The idea of no nobility… It was completely radical to her. Yet it also made her happy- because, while she knew that there would always be haves and have nots, this was a step in the right direction.

Linna sighed. "Now businesses run the world."

Kel grimaced. Maybe she was wrong. "How did you find me?" Kel finally asked.

"Um, well, you dropped out of the sky. I sort of, well, caught you."

Kel gaped- was this lady an immortal of some kind? A mage? So far she had seen nothing other than the weird devices that ran on the energy called electricity, if that book was correct.

Linna looked awkward for a moment.

"She used a type of armor called a Hardsuit. It enables her to do things that wouldn't be humanly possible otherwise, like jumping extremely high, instantly gain information or communicate with others, and her strength is enormous. Her particular suit's specialty is heat ribbons that can slice through just about anything."

To their surprise, they turned to see both Sylia and Mackie in the doorway, watching the two other women intently.

"What's going on Sylia?" Linna asked softly, eyes serious.

"We are going to need to prep Keladry for surgery soon," Sylia answered. "I would also like to make a deal with her. Something big is coming soon, and we will need all the help we can get. This might be against my better judgment, but considering that Kel-san fell into our laps, as it were, we need to make use of her."

Kel raised an eyebrow, but held her peace.

"I don't think we can promise to get you home, Lady Knight," Mackie said, earnestly. "But we can try. However, we need to explain what is we are and what we do."

Sylia sighed as Mackie used the word "we" but didn't say anything. She wished she could have protected her little brother for a while longer, but that didn't seem to be in the cards.

Sister and brother sat, facing Kel and started the lengthy explanation of who and what the Knight Sabers were.

~*~*~*~*~

Blayce the Nothing Man had no idea where he was. After his killing device body's head had been broken, he had expected to scatter to the winds like the souls of the children he used to power his original ones. Yet now, he was inside something different. It felt much more powerful than what he had been before.

The original spirit inside it had been easy to displace. It had fled him, its simplistic mind terrified of this sudden invasion. Opening his… eyes, he assumed they were eyes; he wanted to blink in shock at how he saw things. Light, heat, radiation all of it were there. Sounds were tinny in his… ears. He was moving like a giant crab. He couldn't understand what was going on…

"Unit 893, unit 893, report for maintenance," a voice called- inside his head! Before he could stop himself, he was turning and heading to someplace that his new body knew the way to. The door in front of him opened, and he scuttled inside. There was a human male in some kind of suit, one that of a type he had never seen before. The human patted his head like a dog.

"You know, it's always annoys me when we can't afford enough parts to fix you guys properly," the man said, shaking his head. "I'll do my best to find out what is wrong though."

Blayce couldn't control his new body yet, he realized, as his skull was opened easily and a metal tool inserted, checking around. "Oh, it doesn't too bad this time. I think you just had an electrical shock."

More confusion. Blayce had no idea what this person was talking about. All he did know was that he had to wait, watch, and abide his time until he could break out… and get revenge on Keladry of Mindelan.

~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, the object of the Nothing Man's hatred was lying down on her back, various sharp objects inserted under her skin and with a strange mask over her mouth and nose. Sylia had said it would make her go to sleep so she couldn't feel the surgery they would be doing to fix her back.

"I almost wish I could be awake through it," she commented to her new friend Linna, who squeezed her hand reassuringly. "All of this is so new. I'm curious to see what they would be doing to me."

"You're in good hands," Linna said. "But I doubt you would want to watch. Surgery tends to be on the gross side, even when you fight all the time."

Kel smiled wryly, and was about to answer-

~*~*~*~*~

"How did it go?" asked Nigel, as Sylia removed her facemask and coif.

"It was fairly routine. The doctors I hired won't say a word, but the nerve grafts didn't take very well. We had to use artificial ones, with some boomer parts to fix them completely. It was all they could do. The damage was worse than we feared actually. It wasn't beyond our scope to fix, but still… I'm glad we didn't have to do much more. We explained to her what would be necessary to repair her."

"How did she take that?" he asked, after a long drag on his cigarette, his face its usual expressionless mask.

"Better than I had expected. It may be that it hasn't struck her that she has no real way of getting home."

"Are you sure she isn't some kind of cosplay accident?"

"I'm sure, Nigel," she sighed. "She has the muscles, calluses and scars of an experienced fighter. With only a little bit of therapy, she will be up and about in no time…"

"You are keeping her," he said baldly.

"No real choice. Linna likes her, and she is growing on me as well. I don't know how to get her home, at all."

"Now, we need to see what Gemon has been up to..."

~*~*~*~*~

Kel woke up to the sound of someone strumming a lute. Or else something like a lute, she didn't know what the instrument was, but she enjoyed listening to it immensely. It flittered along at first, before growling deep in her bones before shrieking high. It held a raw emotion that spoke to the displaced knight. It told of confusion, of anger and pain, then finally finding a way to ride the chaos around it. Looking around, she noticed that she was on her belly, with a hole in the table that she could look through, and was actually fairly comfortable.

"Hey, she's awake!" chirped a new voice, and three women came into view. Linna she knew, but the other girl was about a year or so younger than Kel herself, with short cropped blond hair and blue eyes, fresh faced and innocent. She exuded an energy that made Kel think of a puppy- indomitably cheerful and good natured, mischievous, and intelligent. Behind her was another woman, with an instrument strapped to her back. Her face and eyes were carefully blank, the shadow to the other girl's light. She was the tallest of the lot, wearing a red leather jacket, with dark brown hair that looked like someone had cut it with hedge shears, and a leather bustier and pants.

"So, you're Keladry?" smiled the blond girl. "I'm Nene Romanova, and this is Priss Asagiri. We're going to be your other team-"

"I don't play with amateurs," Priss interrupted, frowning. "She ain't proved herself yet."

"Give her a chance, Priss," Linna said softly, frowning back, her expression hurt. "She's a knight; that means she knows how to fight already."

Priss didn't answer, just turned to leave, and Linna fumed.

"She's got a good heart, really," Linna said to herself. "Really."

Kel blinked, surprised that she recognized the expression on Linna's face as one she had had several times, when looking at Dom, Neal, or Cleon. The lady knight had the grace to be embarrassed.

"Man, what happened to your hair??" suddenly exclaimed Nene, who had walked behind the bench that Kel was laid out on.

"My hair?" Kel blinked. Linna rushed over and gaped, her mouth open like a fish.

"Its- its white!"

"WHAT?"

Nene took the bag she had slung over her shoulder and stuck her hand in, fishing around for something. Out came a small hand mirror, and she positioned it in front of Kel's face. The Lady Knight blinked, opened her mouth, and then shut it again.

Her wasn't entirely white, but it was close, as thick streaks of silver threaded her mouse brown hair. The effect was startling, because of her still young face, and the white making her green eyes stand out all the more. Kel couldn't make up her mind if she liked the effect or not.

"I guess it was stress?" Linna asked, waving her hands in the air in confusion.

Kel blinked, and sighed, remembering how her own mother had gone completely white by age thirty. Considering how her life had gone- Kel didn't think she should be surprised.

Home…

The thought struck her with such force, realizing that she would never see her mother or father or Neal or Raoul or Dom or any of her friends… The effort to keep her face Yamani blank was a loosing one.

No Tobe or Nari or Peachblossom, or Hoshi… those she loved, all of them, never again to see…

Kel tried to hide her face in the table she rested on, when she felt some soft paper rasp her face. She looked up into Linna's compassionate eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and Kel bit her lip. Her words stumbled out, in a rush, almost incomprehensible. Linna and Nene listened patiently, with Linna wiping Kel's eyes and Nene trying to perk her up. Kel told little stories, about how she met Crown, the first sparrow queen, her horse Peachblossom, Neal, and how her mother saved the Sacred Swords of Yaman.

The tears were cathartic. They washed out the horrible pains she had kept walled up, and helped her find calmness, if not acceptance, with her new situation.

"We'll do our best to help you find a way home," Nene said with conviction. "If I can't find it, then I'm sure Sylia can try to!"

"That might take a while," interrupted the leader of the Knight Sabers. "In the meantime, we need you well, Lady Knight- and maybe we can stop the Boomers."

To be continued!