Magnetic Personality
By Bodger
Prologue...
Freon:
Freon's Log, Earth date 033100: Ah, Sakura-Con! Could
there be any two more beautiful
words in the English language? (Well, okay, maybe
Sakura isn't EXACTLY English, but hey!)
What better place to search for beautiful women
than an anime convention. Of course, as an
otaku I'm bound to be a little biased, but what
the hell.
I'm once again in the Double Tree Inn in Southcenter.
It's not too different from
Baka-Con last year, of course, but I wouldn't have
it any other way. Last year, I scored
one hot chick (and, er, one totally INSANE one,
but let's not get into that). With any
luck, this time around should be nothing but one
big love-fest. So without further ado,
once more unto the breach!
Kirin:
"Kirin?"
"Yeah Tom?"
"Remind me again why we're here."
"It's pretty simple, Tom. The bastard likes to make
himself known to the public eye,
and this Anime convention was the largest event
taking place in the area. It's pretty
logical to say that this is where he's gonna strike."
"So why do we have to dress like something out of a Renaissance fest?"
Tom was clearly not enjoying this. We were both dressed
up as characters from some
Japanese cartoon called "Record of the Lodess War,"
for obvious reasons. What better
way for an elf to go under cover, after all, than
to go as an elf?
Various UIA agents were positioned around the building
on the lookout for one Qua'latak
Tera'kon, a Lizardian nutcase. One I knew too well,
unfortunately -- he had nearly killed
me and my partner. We'd also nearly taken the city
center with us thanks to him. He was like
a weed -- knock him down once, and he'd get right
back up again. Now there were reports he
was back and ready to strike again.
"Get into the spirit, Tom. I mean look at all these
people -- that guy over there's wearing a
pigtail and a red Chinese shirt, for gods' sake."
Tom shook his head. "I haven't the damnest idea how
that's significant, Kirin. It doesn't make
me feel any less silly, either."
"Well, look at Amy over there. Happy as a clam."
Indeed, she was. Dressed as some character called
Nabiki, she was perusing the stalls with a
twinkle in her eye that would blind a moth. She
wasn't actually a field agent; for the most part
she was only a pathologist. But she had actually
begged Sir Willard to let her in on the action; it
was not obvious until later why this was. She was
certainly blending in better than anyone else,
though.
"I'd rather look over there, Kirin."
"Huh?"
"Perp at five o' clock."
There he was. The clothing was far more eccentric
than normal (lots of black armor),
but there was no mistakening the smirk on that Lizard-like
face. I spoke into my walkie-
talkie. "Tenchi team this is Ranma team, over."
"Tenchi team here. What have you got, Ranma team?"
"We spotted him. He's in some crazy get-up, but it's definitely him. Over."
"We'll get him, Ranma. You hang back. Over."
"You shitting me? By the time you guys get here he'll be lost in the crowd!"
"Ranma team, you're too emotionally involved in this.
Best to let someone else get
him. Over."
"Dammit, Tenchi team, we don't have time for this.
He's moving already. Look, don't
worry about me. I'm not about to let my emotions
get the best of me. Over."
"Ranma team --"
I turned the walkie-talkie off. Tom, normally a stickler
for instructions, looked about
as ready for a piece of this action as I was. "Ready,
partner?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's move."
We began to advance towards Tera'kon. Behind us,
we could hear a soft, "Hey!" from
Amy, who quickly moved in step with us. Pushing
through the crowd, we started to catch
up with him. He seemed to be able to detect us as
he suddenly increased his pace.
"UIA! Freeze!" I shouted, moving faster. People
shouted muffled protests and moved aside
as Tom, Amy and I pursued the Lizard. He ducked
into the viewing room. We followed him in.
He was trapped. "There's no way out of here, Tera'kon.
We've blocked the entrances,
and the place is swarming with agents. You might
as well give up," I said, trying to remain
professional.
"Heh. You think I wasn't aware of that, Agent Torak?
I was wondering when you were
going to show up." The room was dark now, but I
could practically feel him sneering at us.
"You think you're really goddamn clever, don't you
Tera'kon? Well, unless you've got
one hell of an ace up your sleeve, you're as good
as ours," growled Tom. Amy remained
silent.
"How's this for a good hand, then?" he said. I could
just make out the movement of
his arm.
"Stop right now!" We moved in.
He threw down the item in his hand.
There was a white flash, then nothing.
Coming up!!!
-- Meet Greyforce and Alexis!
-- Meet Hibichi, Tomiko and Nekita!
-- And Freon hits a gold mine...