Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Story Forum - Story Forum Ransom EX ((Chapter 3: Masaki Mayhem))
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Mel
Posts: 976/991 |
Melvin blinked.
Melvin: Right! The armor! Right this way.
Walking out into the street, Melvin looked at his surroundings.
Melvin: Let's see... Phone booth... Mailbox... Auto shop... Manhole.
He looked down to the manhole at his feet, then strode across the street to a nearby hardware store. After much loud banging and loud smashing of glass, he returned, with a manhole opener, and soundly popped the manhole, descending the ladder inside, party in tow.
Surprisingly enough, there was no stench at all from the manhole - whose grimy asphalt walls turned to solid steel after only a yard or so. The ladder continued for what seemed almost an eternity - until Melvin descended into a hangar the size of a small gym from the roof. A mobile armor sat across the hangar, but it was too weak for the occasion and was being repaired anyways, evident from large armor plates and limbs missing.
Melvin's eyes passed over a row of JSDF support vehicles; a few light tanks, a missile truck, and several armored transports. But an odd-looking tank with a large turret and a vulcan on the end caught his attention...
Melvin: Jackpot.
Sliding to the floor, he strode over to the far wall and began to sift through lockers and weapons crates, tossing out various guns and ammunition into a pile on the floor. After a few minutes, he looked through the smaller pile. Within minutes, he had a RPG-7-styled rocket launcher over his shoulder, an MP5 slung over his shoulder, and a SPAS12 on his back.
Walking over to the tank - a SV-001 Metal Slug - he planted a foot onto the side and bounded onto the top, pulling up the light hatch and dropping inside into the single chair. He put on a pair of gloves and goggles wired into the tank's circuitry, and powered it on, the tank's then-experimental drive reactor powering up with a thundering hum that broke the room's silence. He called out to the waiting group over the tank's loudspeaker.
Melvin: Okay, guys! If you feel like taking a weapon, it's on the house. Load up and hang on and I'll give you all a lift over to M-Tek, this thing isn't nearly as slow as it seems. I'm going to bust the front door in with this, just you wait and see. |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1354/1366 |
Kirbynite: .. You mean to tell me we've been OT'd this long just to hear that?
The Dreamlander spun around in a circle, and then fell flat on his face. |
JDavis
Posts: 803/815 |
Draco: I think he meant capacity, not how much he has at the moment.
JDavis: *ahem* Can we get going now? Which way to the armory? |
Mel
Posts: 920/991 |
Melvin: Well, if you've got so much health, you'll be just fine then, won't you?  |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1213/1366 |
Kirbynite rubs his head and scowled at Melvin.
Kirbynite: And sleep is said to completely heal you, but it rarely works on me. You don't seem to understand how much health I have |
Mel
Posts: 919/991 |
Melvin gave Kirbynite a sharp thwack on the side of the head.
Melvin: He said to drink it conservatively!  Besides, there's plenty of other stuff here you could eat to regain health. |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1207/1366 |
Kirbynite's eyes began to waver as he stared at the Maxim Tomato Juice.
Kirbynite: C-can I have some now? I haven't been at full health in weeks. *_* |
Mel
Posts: 917/991 |
Melvin: Chances are they're boarding the place up as we speak. Ryo-Ohki isn't exactly... easy to miss coming in.
Meanwhile, at the M-Tek Building...
Smithy: COME ON COME ON LET'S GO THEY'RE COMING
Smithy is standing in the middle of the M-Tek first floor lobby, motioning hurriedly towards the door as several Gims pass, carrying all manner of vending machines, couches, and other furniture, stacking them up against the front doors of the building. |
JDavis
Posts: 734/815 |
JDavis: If you really fell that it's necessary. I could lend you my phaser rifle... with a few of its more godmodey functions disabled, of course, if it'll save time, though. |
Mel
Posts: 915/991 |
Melvin: The only reason I had to barf up all my nanites was because I'm not in the mood to become a mindless zombie and get beaten up by the lot of you. And all I've got is this little dingy pistol! That's not even going to put a dent in Gim armor, much less any of the other surprises in the M-Tek Building.
Melvin crossed his arms and thought.
Melvin: Look. There's a JSDF armory near here. You mind if we stop there on the way? |
JDavis
Posts: 731/815 |
JDavis: Not tomato juice. Maxim Tomato juice. You can be shot to bloody hell, and as long as you've still got at least one point of life left, take one sip of this and BAM! One hundred percent and fully energized. Besides, you have a gun. I have a gun. I don't need mine, since I'm sticking to this form for the moment and I can just fire laser blasts from my hands and such. Nobody else here needs guns. You're just feeling a little inadequate now that you've spewed out your little nanites into that trash can. And don't pretend like that's not what you were doing. |
Mel
Posts: 911/991 |
Melvin sweatdropped.
Melvin: I... don't think tomato juice is going to help us more than a bunch of guns would. ^^; |
JDavis
Posts: 730/815 |
Washu pulled a trash can and a handkerchief out of thin air, tossing the trashcan to Melvin and using the handkerchief to grab the gem and wipe it off.
Washu: Now why would I have things like that lying around? I'm a scientist, not a gunsmith.
JDavis: Don't worry, Melvin, I've got an ace up my sleeve, or a trick in the hole, or whatever the freaking expression is. *looks at Jack* Well, you're quiet.
Jack: I've just been thinking... I mean ... I know I haven't really known Haruko a long time, but I...
JDavis nodded and put his hand on his friend's shoulder, reassuringly.
JDavis: Don't worry, she'll be fine. Everything's going to turn out fine in the end. It always does.
Jack: Yeah...
Ryoko: We're here!
----------
The camera cuts to what is clearly the main room of the structure seen earlier. A red beam of light came in, seemingly through the ceiling, and our heroes materialized inside of it. It then faded out, and Ryo-Ohki could be heard meowing as she flew away, back toward Okayama.
JDavis headed around behind the bar. Behind him, through what appeared to be the same sort of windows as they have in drive-thru restaurants, the pool could be seen. It had a cover over it, since it didn't get much use in the fall.
JDavis: Welcome to Sailor V Cafe. I used to work here, you know... Back in the day. It's how I met Minako, actually.
Sailor Venus: Yes, I still own it, though I don't take such an active role in its operation anymore. ... But why did we come here?
JDavis was digging through the refrigerated cabinets below the bar at this point.
JDavis: Well, I remembered that we seemed to always have just about anything imaginable in stock... So I thought... Yes, here we are!
JDavis pulled out what appeared to be a box full of twenty-ounce soda bottles. However, instead of soda, they contained a thick red liquid. The labels around their middle were likewise solid red, with the exception of a large black M with a white border. Their caps were solid green.
Draco: This is your ace in the hole? Ketchup?
JDavis: It's not ketchup, it's Maxim Tomato juice, one of the most powerful healing agents in the universe. It's also, consequently, quite expensive, since it has to be imported from Popstar, so drink conservatively, okay? We only have so much, and we're going to want to take some with us. |
Mel
Posts: 903/991 |
Melvin: Let's see... is there anything else I'm forgetting about? The bits around the place will pose a problem no matter what way we go in... And there's bound to be Gims swarming all over the place.
Melvin turns to Washu.
Melvin: Washu, do you have any guns? Like... really big guns? |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1202/1366 |
Kirbynite: ... This was the real...?
Kirby looked down. He let out a sigh before caughing up a drenched gem. He walked over to Washu and held it out.
Kirbynite: Well, I atleast know how to form a saber if I get the Plasma ability or something. |
JDavis
Posts: 729/815 |
JDavis: While Melvin is very much underestimating Ryo-Ohki's power, especially in combination with Tenchi's Light Hawk Wings, I have to agree that flying in isn't the best idea. Our approach would be detected fairly early, and we'd have no element of surprise. Besides, we have to consider that Haruko could be anywhere inside the building, and we'd be risking her life and that of the yet-unborn Fem by attacking the building in Ryo-Ohki. *sigh* No, I'm afraid our best option is to go in on foot. However, I have an idea that just might give us an advantage.
JDavis poked the air, and a display appeared with a detailed map of Neo-Tokyo. He poked a specific section of the map and it zoomed in on it. Another poke and it zoomed in even further. Finally, he tapped a building and a diagnostic view of the structure took up the display. The building mainly consists of a large room with some tables, chairs, booths, and a bar. There is also a second story of the building, which appears to have a few rooms in it, and a pool outside. JDavis pointed to the main room of the structure.
JDavis: Ryoko, can you drop us off here?
Ryoko: No problem, we'll be approaching Earth any minute now.
----------
Meanwhile, several posts back...
We once again see the room on the Souja where Kagato was trapped in one of his own containers. Draco was lounging carelessly in a chair, keeping an eye on Kagato despite his boredom. Suddenly, a door on one side of the room opened, and JDavis poked his head into the room. Draco could see Washu and Melvin behind him.
JDavis: Come on, Draco, we've got to go. We've got about eight minutes to get off this ship.
Draco, who had grown quite tired of playing guard, quickly got to his feet.
Draco: Alright. Lead the way.
As the door shut behind Draco and the others, Kagato chuckled to himself before stepping out of the container as if its transparent walls weren't even present.
Kagato: Those fools. They really have no idea what's going on.
A glowing green crystalline circle of sorts appeared in front of Kagato, and he stepped into it, causing a brief appearance of what looks like black electricity on the strange circle's surface. The circle then fades out, leaving only the empty room behind.
Back outside in space, we see Ryo-Ohki zooming out into the distance, having just picked up Washu, JDavis, and Melvin. Once she is out of sight, we once again see the green circle as it moves into view and Kagato stepped back out of it. Then it disappeared once more. Kagato hit a button on the device on his wrist and held the object to his mouth.
Kagato: The message has been delivered, and they are on their way back to you now.
SLICK: Excellent, Kagato, excellent.
Kagato: There is still another matter to discuss, though. Your end of the bargain, the Souja, a clone of Ryoko, and the gems, has not been fulfilled.
SLICK: The gems were not part of the bargain, the fact that you had a chance to get them was just an added incentive, and I gave you the Souja and a Ryoko clone, it's not my fault if you lost them.
Kagato: Why you-!
SLICK: There is, of course, another part of the deal which you are forgetting, and if you feel this way about it, I might as well take that back as well...
Kagato: No!
Kagato quickly tried to remove the device from his wrist, but he was too late. SLICK had pressed the button on whatever device tied into the wrist-device, and Kagato once again turned to dust, blown away by some invisible, non-existent wind.
----------
Washu: Before you go, Kirbynite, I'm going to need that gem back. You see, it's-
JDavis: -not a fake. The fake ones explode when not in Ryoko's possession.
Washu: Yes, quite correct. Minagi, incidentally, only ever had one of the real gems. The other one was a fake, which never exploded because she took it directly from Ryoko, and Minagi was identical to her. Kagato foolishly believed it to be a real gem since it didn't explode. |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1201/1366 |
Kirbynite: Defenses... Defenses... Can't we just... like... fly Ryo-ohki into the building? Oh.. erm.. um.. Assuming these guys are willing to lend us her.. |
Mel
Posts: 889/991 |
Melvin: That's right, shouldn't we be worrying... y'know... about the shady evil mastermind who currently has the most powerful militarized nation on Earth and all it's superpowered weaponry in his evil grip?
Melvin scratched his chin.
Melvin: M-Tek Corporate HQ's going to be a tough nut to crack. I know, I designed the place. I know all the defenses inside and out, and there sure as hell aren't any easily exploitable security holes. Even with Ryo-Ohki at our disposal, the stationary beam defenses are enough to keep us out. And if they won't, the I-Field Generators will. And there's no guarantee that the Gims haven't figured out how to pilot a Super Robot yet. Infiltrating on foot might work, but the stationary defenses are even more of a bitch to get past up close.
Melvin sweatdropped.
Melvin: WHY DO I HAVE TO BE SO BRILLIANT T_T |
Kirbynite
Posts: 1177/1366 |
Kirbynite looked around and blinked.
Kirbynite: So.... What now, guys? Ain't this a big detour from what we were supposed to be doing?
The Dreamlander waved the Heart Star Rod around, spreading around colorful sprinkles through the air. |
JDavis
Posts: 723/815 |
Next thing anybody knew, Minagi was sitting on one of Washu's floating cushions, with large band-aids over the wounds on her cheeks. There was a round orange thing with feet sitting on her head that had a face consisting of two large circular lights for eyes and a gray opening for a mouth. The eyes were flashing back and forth between one or the other being on as the overall face of the thing did its best to immitate Minagi's worried, confused expression. Washu, in the meantime, was standing next to Minagi, interpreting the data from the round orange device as it flashed across her computer's screen.
Washu: Hmm... Just as I suspected...
Tenchi: What is it?
Washu: She has amnesia.
Everyone: *animefall*
Washu: I don't know if it was the blows to the head, the healing attack, or some other factor, but her memory banks have been completely wiped.
Mihoshi: But, but, but... What will we do with that- ?
Ayeka: -that fake Ryoko? Miss monster number two?
Washu: Well, first we'll place her under observation. I don't think she poses any danger to us... For now. |
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