Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Sci/Psi Story, part 2: Andy's Confession ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier, Fanfiction.net author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Suikosource website: for providing great information that made this fic possible.

The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny
By: RB3

Sci/Psi story, part 2: Andy's Confession

The squad car of the Martian Police Department raced down the streets of Saint Lowell triumphantly. The monolithic slivers and congested streets sank into the horizon behind them with blinding speed. The car's driver, Naomi Armitage, was elated. She had pulled off a great bust earlier that day, nabbing one of the most elusive members of an arms running ring. The captured runner, Andy Zimmerman, was a member of the notorious Blue Cosmos terrorist group. Blue Cosmos is a group that originated from the Gundam world. Its members terrorize genetically modified humans or, "Coordinators," daily through bombings and other assassinations. The group had stolen military equipment from the Orb Union, a nation of the Gundam world, and sold them to an unknown buyer for a hefty sum of money.

Before this breakthrough, the investigation had reached a standstill. The men from the buyer's side had been silenced by an implanted device which poisoned them to death before they could talk. The captured men of the seller's side, Blue Cosmos, didn't know anything about the identity of the buyers. Naomi and Ross hoped that Andy could shed some light on the case. Upon reaching the police station, Ross led the young man into his cell. It was a modest room with a single bed, a toilet in a far corner, and a small reinforced window. Its facade was made of a see through plastic that was impossible to break even for an android. Andy sighed and sat on the bed, thinking about how to deal with his current predicament. After a boring half an hour of waiting, the police called him in for interrogation.

The interrogator seated the young man in hard chair and began his questioning. "Mr. Zimmerman, do you know why you're here?"

"I have a pretty good idea, but I suspect you'll tell me anyways," replied Andy.

"Oh a wise guy," remarked the interrogator. "If I were you I wouldn't be laughing. You have quite a record you know; racketeering, smuggling, trespassing, resisting arrest... If you were at the age of the majority, you'd be looking forward to at least fifteen years in jail. Since you're not, you'll be hauled off to juvie hall for three to four years. By the time you get out, you'll be a grown man, with a moustache and all. If you don't want to fritter your life away, I suggest you cooperate with us. How did you guys get Orb military hardware?"

"I don't know," replied Andy.

The interrogator was annoyed. "What about the people who bought the equipment? I want their names!"

"I don't know," replied Andy monotonously.

On and on the questioning went, but to each question Andy simply replied that he didn't know the answer. As the questioning went on, the frustration grew on the interrogator's face. Andy was reluctant to cooperate and this recalcitrance was grating on his nerves. Since he was not in the mood to give any information, the interrogator returned him to his cell.

The guard opened the door and rudely shoved him inside. "You can stay there until you're ready to speak, pal."

Boring minute after boring minute went on as Andy tried to think of a way to escape and continue his mission. Sometime into the night, he overheard a pair of guards talking. "I hope this one doesn't croak on us like those other guys," said the first guard.

"Yeah, I've never seen that many people have a heart attack at once," said a second guard, giving Andy a brilliant idea on how to plot his escape.

Later on, one of the guards came over to check on him and found him lying on the ground unconscious. He opened the cell door to check on Andy's condition. Suddenly, Andy chopped the guard in the throat, stopping the guard from yelling for help. He smashed the officer's head into a wall, knocking him unconscious. After looting anything of value from the cop, Andy dashed out of the cell area in search of his belongings. He retrieved his suitcase radio and the handheld receiver from a storage bin before escaping into the parking lot. He broke into an officer's civilian car, hotwired it, and sped off into the night.

The next day, Ross and Naomi learned of Andy Zimmerman's daring escape. "How could you fall for such a cheap trick?" Naomi screamed at the guard as a female medical officer rubbed ointment on his cut.

"I really thought he was dead! The other guys died on us like that so I thought the same thing happened to him," replied the guard in his defence.

"Okay that's enough, you two need to leave now. I have to finish off the treatment," said the medical officer.

Upon having the door close on them, Ross and Naomi ran into Murphy. "Naomi, Ross, we have some officers from Solomon here to see you. It's very important," announced Murphy.

"Solomon? Witch hunters?" asked Naomi. "What would they want with us?"

Naomi and Ross followed Murphy as he led them to a pair of women seated within the reception area. The first was the younger of the two, being a mere child at around her mid-teens in age. She was dressed in a seemingly Victorian, gothic dress that covered her entire body. Over this dress, she wore a sleek, stylish brown trench coat. The girl was a blonde, but had emerald green eyes rather than the blue of most blondes. Her hair was tied sideways in such a way as to look like a pair of handles.

The second was elder of the two, being around her late teens or early twenties. Unlike her counter part she was less gothic and more demure in her dress. This brunette wore a trench coat much like the one the other girl wore, but was slightly shorter. The demure woman was armed with a handgun of some kind. It could be seen holstered under the folds of her coat. Around her neck was a vial filled with a strange green, syrupy liquid. The woman waited with her arms crossed until Naomi and Ross entered the scene.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," apologized Murphy. "Officers Ross Syllabus and Naomi Armitage, meet Robin Sena and Miho Karasuma of Solomon."

---

Dentech City, home of a bustling information technology industry, was the technological jewel of the world of Megaman NT Warrior. It was a metropolis of the highest technology and there was almost nothing that didn't contain a computer in it. Computers controlled all aspects of life from the roads to the lighting and the movement of cars themselves. There were computers controlling the weather, which made the day a nice sunny day in Dentech. Even common household appliances like stoves had computers in them. This world seemed to be a veritable technological utopia.

However, this computerization came with drawbacks and perils of its own. With the prominence of the computer came those who would use this technology for nefarious ends. The world of Megaman NT Warrior was a haven for cyber-criminals and cyber-terrorists of all kinds. A simple hacker could cause untold inconvenience or even harm if he or she got access to the right system. Viruses in this world were so advanced and rampant that the police could not possibly contain their threat. People had to learn to fight viruses just to get by. It was so bad that the various governmental agencies began to license civilians specifically to deal with viruses and cyber-crime.

In this highly computerized world lived a young boy known as Lan Hikari. The ten-year-old boy wore a sporty ensemble consisting of shorts, running shoes, a sporty white top, and an orange vest. Like everyone in the city, life wouldn't be complete his PET, a small, handheld electronic device that served as a personal computer and planner. Lan kept his PET tucked in his pocket. These PETs were monitored by a Navi, an artificial intelligence program that served as the owner's companion and friend. Lan's Navi was named Megaman and depicted as a young boy in a blue jumpsuit and helmet on the screen.

"Lan, we can't be late for your own dad's unveiling!" exclaimed Megaman.

"I know Megaman, I know!" replied Lan, as he skated down the street. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I told you, I tried three times but you kept falling back to sleep!"

"Oh great!"

Lan burst into a subway car which brought him into the vicinity of the Dentech Science Lab, the workplace of his father, Dr. Yuchiro Hikari. Dr. Hikari was a leading expert and researcher into cyberspace, or the Net. His research advanced the field of artificial intelligence greatly, leading to the creation of some of the most advanced and state of the art Navis. The Sci Lab was the perfect place for him to work in. It was a state of the art facility with powerful computers for research and development.

Lan walked into his father's room, which had a cubicle for doing paperwork. His lab coat laid abandoned on a nearby coat rack while the man himself looked over the giant monitor of a special computer. It was a testing environment for his new Navis; a place to work out the bugs and problems before dissemination and mass production. On the screen, Lan watched as the new, tank-like Net Navi overwhelmed fake viruses in a combat test. The viruses, soldiers hiding in pinecones, dropped down on the Navi in several ambush attempts. However, the tank would turned open fire on them moments before they could fire off their first shot.

Dr. Hikari looked away from his work. "Oh hi Lan, sorry I kept you waiting. So, how do you like the new Navi?"

"It’s pretty cool!" remarked Lan.

"I thought you'd say that."

"What's its name?"

"That's the thing; I haven't given it a name yet. Unlike most other Navis, my new Navi isn't humanoid at all. I though that maybe if I could change around a Navi's features, I could create a more powerful Navi," remarked Dr. Hikari.

"Hmm, why don't we call him Green Pelter?" suggested Lan. "He shoots really fast, like he's pelting the virus with shots."

"Green Pelter... Well I guess that's a good name as any."

At that moment the lights went out, confusing father and son. A moment later, emergency power came on, providing the room with minimal light. "What's going on?" asked Dr. Hikari over his communications system.

"Someone is attacking the Sci Lab mainframe. They've shut off the main power, so we switched to auxiliary," replied an official at the other end.

"Megaman, let's go check out what's going on," suggested Lan.

"My desk top computer is connected to the mainframe. Use it check out the problem," informed Dr. Hikari.

"Okay, got it. Jack in, Megaman! Power up!" ordered Lan as he connected his PET into the desktop.

Megaman soared through a winding tunnel of energy and light before emerging in the Net of Dr. Hikari's computer. It was much like a laboratory with several robots being assembled on tables. They were Navis that were in varying stages of development. The blue Navi travelled down tunnels of light and flowing data to reach the mainframe. It was a massive area with data whirling around the edges of a centrifugal cylinder. Within this room was a female Net Navi who was remarkably similar in appearance to a regular human. This Chinese woman was tampering with the controls for various systems of the Sci Lab.

"Stop!" cried Megaman.

The woman turned around an opened fire with a pair of handguns. Megaman dodged behind a stack of blue, crystalline boxes at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the woman's attack. He returned fire with his arm cannon, which the woman dodged through a series of acrobatic flips and somersaults. Lan plugged in a chip which sent a series of spherical bombs to Megaman, who lobbed them at the intruder. The explosions broke the woman out her rhythm, knocking her flat on the ground. Before Megaman could follow up his advantage, the female Navi logged out, vanishing without a trace.

"Megaman, how bad is the damage?" asked Lan.

"Very bad," replied Megaman as he looked at a set of severed wires. "It will take me several minutes to get this fixed."

"Do it," commanded Lan.

Suddenly, Lan heard the sound of gun fire from above, followed by screaming female workers. Two floors above, several men in black uniforms stormed through the hallways. These men were armed with assault rifles and had faces concealed by ski masks. They moved the building with efficient and expedient professionalism. On the floor were several of the Sci Lab's security guards, shot to death by the intruders. The men rounded up the scientists and imprisoned them in a nearby room.

"Alright, let's move out!" cried the leader.

Back in Dr. Hikari's lab, the doctor removed a disk from the testing computer. "Lan, take this disk and get out of here. Whatever you do, don't let anyone get their hands on it." Dr. Hikari shoved the disk into Lan's pocket. "Hurry! Get into the vents before they find you!"

Dr. Hikari opened a nearby air vent grating. "Dad, what..." was all Lan could manage before he was shoved into the opening.

The unknown men stormed through the building, eventually finding the doctor as he tried to flee his lab. "You! Hands in the air now!" cried one of the men as he aimed his gun at the doctor.

The men led the doctor to the holding room with the other prisoners. Apparently, their goal was in Dr. Hikari's office since the men began to ransack it. Rather than sift through the mass of data, they simply boxed everything they could find and took it away. Within minutes, it was all over as the men retreated with the stolen documents and hard drives. They boarded a waiting chopper on the roof which took off with a gust of wind. Several police helicopters entered the scene, but the pilots were baffled when the suspects vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, Lan made his way back to his home in a quiet suburban neighbourhood. Upon reaching home, he was bushed from his escape. His mother opened the door. "Lan are you okay? I just heard what happened at the Sci Lab!"

"I'm okay, mom, I just need some rest." Lan entered into his home and crashed onto the couch from sheer exhaustion. "Dad got me out but he's still stuck inside the building. I came home as fast as I could."

"You must be exhausted. Here, have a glass of water," offered his mom. Lan guzzled down the water and wiped his mouth clean. "I'm just glad you got away safely."

"Thanks mom," replied Lan.

Lan watched the television, which had been playing the local news all the while during Lan's escape. The news story followed the daring raid to its aftermath. Fortunately for the Hikari family, Yuchiro was unharmed. The news broadcast panned to a scene of Dr. Hikari and other hostages being escorted out by police. The media interviewed each of the men and women, including Dr. Hikari. "Dad's alright! I'm so relieved!" remarked Ms. Hikari.

---

The next day Lan walked down the street. An attractive, happy girl was coming from the other direction, a girl Lan knew very well. She had red, shoulder-length hair with a pair of pick clips in them. "Lan!" greeted this girl, Mayl. "I'm so glad to see you. I heard that some guys attacked the Sci Lab yesterday. You weren't hurt were you?"

"Oh no, my dad helped me get away before they came," replied Lan.

"That's a relief. Who were those guys?"

"I don't know. Dad told me they were there to steal his work. They messed up his office pretty badly."

Unknown to the two kids, a black car was parked a dozen meters from their location. From within this vehicle watched several men in black suits and shades. "Is that him?" asked one of the men.

"Yeah, that's him," replied the watching man.

"Good, tell the boss we found him."

A week passed by since the incident at the Dentech Sci Lab. Things returned to being fairly normal and Lan resuming his normal daily routine. The sun sank beyond the horizon, leaving a crimson glow across the land. It was around six o'clock in the evening and time for them to return home. Lan and Mayl emerged from a local Net battling arena. In Net battles, Navi users pitted their Navis and skills against each other in a form of gladiatorial combat. Net battles were big sport and even had large, professionally sanctioned tournaments for cash prizes. Despite having so much fun, Lan and Mayl had to return home.

"Man, it's getting late!" remarked Lan.

Mayl was in complete agreement. "Yeah, that last Net battle really took a long time. Our parents will worry if we stay out any longer. Let's go home."

The kids made their way down the street of a typical middle-class neighbourhood. It was a quiet, comfortable place for kids and adults alike to live in. A black van followed the two down the street, moving at a consistent speed to avoid drawing attention. Once the two children entered a fairly vacant neighbourhood, the van screeched into a stop beside Lan. A man in black opened a door and jumped out to grab him. "Let me go!" demanded Lan.

As Lan struggled, he managed to drive his heel into his kidnapper's groin. The kidnapper collapsed to the ground with hands cupping his genitals. "Run Mayl!" screamed Lan.

More men emerged from the vehicle and gave chase to the two children. "Faster! They're gaining on us!" cried Mayl.

The two tore through lengthy alleyways with the men in hot pursuit. Lan looked over his shoulder to see one of the men gesturing to something. A trash can suddenly rose and slammed into Mayl, knocking her onto the ground. The same man gestured at a discarded garden hose, which rose up like a snake and entwined Lan. With the two kids incapacitated, the men were free to round them up and lead them out of the alley.

"You gave my men quite a workout," commented the psychic, Jeremy. "With you as our bargaining chip, Dr. Hikari will have no choice but to comply with our demands."

"Over there!" cried one of Jeremy's men as he pointed to the roof.

Jeremy looked at the roof just in time to see a young man retreat his head. "Watch them! I'll get him myself!"

Jeremy gestured with his hand, leaping high into the air through the assistance of telekinesis. He came face to face with the spy, who was actually Andy Zimmerman. The spy fired several shots with his gun only to have Jeremy raise a barrier of psionic force. The bullets bounced off this shield harmlessly as though they hit a brick wall. Jeremy gestured again, pushing Andy into the ground and pulling his gun out of his hand. With a final gesture, Andy went crashing into a brick chimney and fell to the ground.

"Ah, you again... You have a lot of nerve to show up and attack me," chastised Jeremy.

Lan watched as the thugs rounded up their hostages. "Who is that guy?" wondered Lan upon seeing Andy.

"Beats me," replied Megaman. "I've never seen him before."

Meanwhile, Ross drove his wife and new partners down the street. "So you're saying this Jeremy Dean guy is a Witch?" asked Naomi.

"Yes, he can move things simply by thinking about it," replied Robin. "He is a very dangerous man. We've been tracking him for quite some time now. He's been running arms for an unknown terrorist organisation. We heard that his group has made several deals with Blue Cosmos."

"Yeah, we've been looking for this Dean guy too. His name came up during our investigation on arms running," said Naomi.

The Solomon and MPD officers heard gunshots ring out through a nearby rooftop. "Gunshots!" remarked Ross as he stopped his car. The officers converged on the source of the sound.

"That's him! He's floating down the building!" cried Miho as she pointed towards Jeremy.

Jeremy's goons led the hostages down the alleyway. All was going well until a great fire erupted from the ground! The men reared back in terror, as it separated them from their hostages. The officers surrounded them and trained guns on them. "Don't move! You're under arrest!" cried Ross.

Rather than let himself get captured Jeremy resisted. He attempted to use his telekinesis on Miho, but a strange force nullified the effects. His momentary lapse of attention allowed Miho to pelt him with her gun. Jeremy went down hard, covered in the same strange green goo that filled her vial. Robin ignited a several fires to intimidate Jeremy's men. "Don't even think about it!" she warned.

Naomi descended onto the scene, in a rough struggle with a new suspect. "I got her!" cried Naomi.

The new suspect was Gillian, the same Chinese woman who had committed crimes in several anime worlds. Naomi kneed her foe in the groin, disrupting Gillian's centre of gravity. The Third police woman smashed her with an overhead blow, but it did little to put her down. She threw a punch to her chin, a second, and then a third. On this final hit, Naomi had struck so hard that she decapitated Gillian. The head rolled onto the ground and the eyes and mouth twitched as the exposed wires in her neck sparkled with electricity.

"I think you got a little carried away there honey," remarked Ross. "Did you have to chop off her head just to beat her?"

"She's a Third. You really have to beat the crap out of them to keep them down," replied Naomi. "Well, at least we got quite a haul. We got Jeremy Dean, Andy Zimmerman, and several of his thugs. We also saved a few kidnapped kids in the process."

"He's dead!" proclaimed Robin as she checked Jeremy's pulse.

"What? Damn it!" cursed Naomi. Jeremy's men became contorted as spasms ripped through their chest. Within seconds it was all over, and the men were dead too. "Shit, it's that poison again. We finally catch the big cheese and they're already dead!"

The officers returned to the Dentech police station with Jeremy's former hostages in tow. "Officers Ross Syllabus, Naomi Armitage, Miho Karasuma, and Robin Sena, I presume," began a man with spiky brown hair.

"Yes, that's right. Who wants to know?" asked Naomi.

"I'm agent Famous of the Dentech Netsabres. I'm here to exchange information and to retrieve my agents, Lan Hikari, and Mayl."

"Netsabres?" asked Ross.

"Yes, we license people to fight against cyber-crime. It's a very big problem around these parts. The authorities can't handle on their own so they created my organisation to license civilians to solve these problems," replied Famous. "Recently, we discovered that the group who ran your arms running ring, was the same one responsible for a terrorist attack against Dentech's Sci Lab."

"I see," said Ross. "We'll cooperate in anyway we can. We were about to question a member of the arms smuggling ring. Why don't you come along and hear what he has to say?"

"Sure," replied Famous. "He might be able to give us a lead."

Once again, the police threw questions at Andy, with Naomi and Ross taking charge of the questioning this time. As with last time, Andy only gave evasive, immaterial answers. "Tell us the truth you bastard!" cried Naomi as he grabbed onto Andy's shirt. She was growing frustrated with Andy's recalcitrance and the death of Jeremy Dean, their biggest lead. "I don't believe what you say for a second!"

"I've been a cop long enough to develop good instincts. Right now, they are telling me that Dean and his group aren't just ordinary crooks and terrorists. I know you know something about them that you're not telling us," observed Ross. "We both know something is up, so just tell us now and save both of us the trouble."

Andy thought hard about it before deciding on his course of action. "Alright, but only if you meet my demands. We meet in a sound-proofed room and nothing that I tell you ever leaves that room. Once I'm done, I want you to agree to my request. Do we have a deal?"

"A request?" asked Ross. "What kind?"

"It would make sense if I told you my story first. So, what's your answer?" asked Andy.

"Okay, you have a deal," agreed Ross, seeing as there was no other alternative.

"Good, bring Gillian's head along. I want the kids to use their PETs to dig up information from it," said Andy.

The group took seats around a table in the sound-proofed room Andy requested. "Alright, we're all here. What do you have to say, Mr. Zimmerman?"

"First of all, my name is not Andy Zimmerman. My real name is Athrun Zala. I'm a special forces agent from the Orb Union," revealed Andy

"Now Orb's involved?" asked Naomi.

"It WAS their equipment that got stolen," emphasized Ross. "Please continue..."

"A few months ago, some of our munitions depots had been hit by Blue Cosmos," continued Athrun. "When they began to sell their stolen property on the black market, our agents discovered that all of our mobile suits were being purchased by the same buyer. We don't know who they are or why they want them, but I'm here to find out and recover our property."

"So you were on Jeremy's trail just like we were," noted Naomi.

"That's right," replied Athrun. "I had infiltrated Blue Cosmos to see the buyers in person. I planted a tracking bug on one of our stolen M1 Astrays and have been tailing Dean ever since. However, you two were giving me a hard time and interfering with my mission."

"Oh sure, blame us!" complained Naomi bitterly.

"Well, now we know why you wanted to keep this meeting a secret," remarked Ross.

"Yeah, just recently, my bug detector stopped tracking my bug. I'm certain they discovered it. That doesn't matter anymore. We now have Gillian's head, which contains all the information we need. Lan, you're a good Net battler are you?" asked Andy.

"Yeah, Mayl and I are both licensed to solve cyber crimes for Dentech City. We also won first place in the Dentech doubles competition a month ago. Last year, I won second place in the Dentech singles competition last year," replied Lan.

"That's quite a resume," complimented Andy. "...But what would these guys want with you?"

"I can answer that," replied Famous. "Lan is the son of Dr. Yuchiro Hikari, who is a great computer scientist and researcher. He does work for various groups including corporations and government. He has access to a variety of confidential information such as encryption methods and code employed by these agencies. Fortunately, the enemy didn't succeed at acquiring it. Dr. Hikari purged his computer in the nick of time and hid the only copy of the data in a disk he gave to Lan."

"You mean dad gave me these secrets and I was carrying it the whole time?" asked Lan.

"Yeah, since you got away, you did everyone a big favour," said Famous.

"Lan, why don't you send Megaman in to poke around in Gillian's memory?"

Lan attached a special converter to a port hidden behind Gillian's hair. He plugged his PET into the converter transferring Megaman into Gillian's memory. Naomi's fight with Gillian had resulted in a crash of her computer. The Net in Gillian's mind was a complete mess with screens of information opened haphazardly everywhere. However, most of her data seemed to have survived the battle intact. Megaman began to clean up the area so it would be more presentable before displaying all of her information on windows. He scanned through the information at a breakneck pace, searching for anything of pertinence. Once he found the right info, Megaman highlighted entries of interest.

"She's been a very bad girl. She's been stealing a lot of stuff from many different places," remarked Megaman. "She even stole the Dragonballs from the guys of Dragonball Z."

"The Dragonballs? Wow, I wouldn't want to get any of those guys mad," commented Lan.

"Wait, I found something. Omnipotence?"

Megaman displayed a message Gillian had received from what was known as "Omnipotence HQ." In this message was an order to protect Jeremy as he met with Blue Cosmos representatives. The two groups were to make an exchange. "Omnipotence" would give money in unmarked bills for an Orb M1 Astray mobile suit captured by Blue Cosmos. This meeting was the one Athrun was involved in and the same one raided by the Martian Police Department. Her other major order was to steal any powerful artefacts of ki, psionic, or magical power she could possibly find and hand them to over to her masters in Omnipotence.

"So, the crooks have a name," remarked Ross.

"Yeah," agreed Andy. "These guys aren't ordinary criminals. They're professionals and pack a lot of heat on their side. They even have Supernaturals working for them."

"Supernaturals?" asked Robin.

"Yes, people like you. I saw you do it when you were fighting Dean's men. You can start fires with your mind, right?" asked Andy.

"Yeah," replied Robin.

"Well, where I'm from, the human race is divided into two major groups. The first is the Coordinators; humans who were genetically engineered. I'm a Coordinator, by the way. The other are Naturals, or people who were born naturally," informed Athrun. "However, we've only begun to encounter people like you, Robin; people with abilities that even Coordinators don't have. We dubbed them 'Supernaturals' because of that."

"You've been very helpful, ahem, Andy, but I'm sure there's a catch," observed Naomi.

"My last request... It's simple one. I want to join you. With some of their most valuable players eliminated, Omnipotence will increase security. From what I've learned about them, I doubt I can I deal with them by myself."

"I see. I think we can work something out, 'Mr. Zimmerman.' Consider yourself a part of the team," agreed Ross.

"If Omnipotence is employing Witches for terrorism, Solomon can't ignore it. Count us in," agreed Miho.

"The Netsabres also have a vested interest in stopping Omnipotence. I'm sending Mayl and Lan to help you," announced Famous.

"Us?" asked Lan and Mayl in return.

"Yes, they will find your Net battling skills handy for their investigation. This is your new assignment, Lan, Mayl," replied Famous.

"Okay Mr. Famous, you can count on us!" replied Lan.

"That's Famous, just Famous," corrected Famous.

Ross was pleased. "Well, looks like things are looking up. Lan, can Megaman find anything about where they've taken the mobile suits?"

"Okay, let me check." Megaman sifted through Gillian's data in search of anything pertinent to Athrun's request. "Found it! They're taking all of the mobile suits to a warehouse on 2001 Acme St. in Toontown."

"Finally, a lead! Time to kick some ass!" declared Naomi.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast. Let's take a moment to prepare. We can bust in and get those guys once we're ready," warned Athrun.

---

The counter-terrorists entered the animated city of Toontown. Unlike the gritty streets of a place like Saint Lowell, Toontown was a rather bizarre city for anime characters such as the busters. It was a wacky, chaotic place filled with the slapstick Western Toons familiar to American audiences. Those wacky Toons were busy with their chores and duties for the day. The sun had a smiling face and was moving to the beat of some music from his headphones. A line of baby ducks followed its mother as she crossed a busy intersection in the business district. The cars waited as the infinitely long line crossed the street.

Elsewhere, the Roadrunner came to a red light and stopped. "Meep-meep!" it chimed, sticking out its tongue before continuing on its path.

No even a minute had passed before Wile E. Coyote came soaring right on the bird's trail. On his feet were jet-powered roller-skates which made him as fast as his eternal nemesis. Unfortunately for him, the lights turned red moments before he reached the intersection. Unable to stop in time, the Coyote barrelled into the intersection, right into the path of oncoming traffic. A giant meat truck crashed into him with an audible thumping sound. The truck shuddered as it squashed Wile E. Coyote as flat as a pancake.

"Hey Mac, did you feel that?" asked the Toon passenger.

"Yeah, damn speed bump!" quipped Mac. "Why did they have to put one out here?" Back at the intersection, a pair of feet stretched out of the Coyote pancake. It stumbled out of the intersection in a daze; stars flickering above its head all along the way.

At the Toontown police headquarters, the counter-terrorists set up shop for their raid on Omnipotence's Toontown warehouse. Athrun, Ross, and Naomi were shown to the weapons storage facility by an anthropomorphic weasel police officer with a somewhat shady appearance. "Take all the guns you need," offered the cop.

"Thanks a lot, Chief Smart Ass," said Ross. As Smart Ass left, Ross, bemused by the police chief's strange name, smirked.

In the room were rows upon rows of guns. They ranged from lowly pistols, the sidearm of choice for the modern Toontown Police Department officer. Next on the racks were submachine guns, more powerful and rapidly firing than the pistols. Athrun took one of the guns and looked down its iron targeting reticule to acquire a feel for the weapon. Ross opened one of the guns and checked the chamber for the calibre of its bullets. The more powerful fare consisted of assault rifles of various calibres and ranges. These weapons were the powerful stuff used by more heavily armed SWAT teams. Naomi took one of the rifles and grasped it to get a feel for the weapon's handling.

In a nearby firing range, the Witch hunters made special preparations of their own. They received a pair of clear plastic kegs filled with the same green fluid that served as their handgun ammunition. With this special order came a set of guns similar to the ones they used during Witch hunts. They loaded these new guns with the green liquid. These kegs and special weaponry came courtesy of the STNJ, the Japanese branch of Solomon, the Witch hunting organisation in their world. Now that it was known that Omnipotence had Witches as members, this liquid would be key to fighting them.

"What is that stuff?" asked Mayl as she looked over the liquid.

"Orbo," replied Robin.

"Orbo?"

"It's a liquid we use to hunt Witches," replied Miho. "It protects us from their powers. We also use it ammunition in our guns."

"Wow! It must be really useful," remarked Mayl. The liquid seemed to glow as though it was emitting radiation. "Looks pretty dangerous..."

"Oh, orbo doesn't hurt anyone except Witches. It just stuns them so we can capture them," replied Miho. She filled a small vial with orbo and put it around Mayl's neck like a necklace. "Wear this. It will protect you like a magic charm."

Athrun, Ross, and Naomi emerged from the gun storage area. "Ready to go?" asked Ross.

"Almost," replied Miho. "Take those guns and necklaces on the table. They are specially designed for hunting witches."

Ross took the orbo gun from the table and opened the bullet chamber. Unlike a typical handgun, an orbo gun wasn't designed for firing bullets. There was an opening, a feed for a vial of liquid which served as the true ammunition of the weapon. Ross took his weapon to a firing range and squeezed off a round. With a hiss, the gun released a blob of sludge which splattered on the head of a paper target marker. Ross fired off a few more shots to become accustomed to the weapon. Once finished with his practice, he holstered the weapon and put on his orbo necklace.

"Okay everybody, finish up. We're moving out," announced Ross.

END OF CHAPTER

New Stars of Heaven/Heavenly Leaders:
#12 Tenman, The Star of Abundance: Robin Sena (Witch Hunter Robin) #15 Tenritsu, The Star of the Standing Spear: "Andy Zimmerman," aka Athrun Zala (Gundam Seed) #36 Tenkou, The Clever Star: Miho Karasuma (Witch Hunter Robin)

New Stars of Earth/Earthly Warriors:
#44 Chiki, The Strange Star: Mayl/Roll (Megaman NT Warrior) #45 Chimou, The Ferocious Star: Lan/Megaman (Megaman NT Warrior)

Spotlight: Armitage III


This anime takes place in a future where humans have colonized Mars. The Armitage III world is a cyberpunk world, a bleak place where robots have become incredibly advanced. The ultimate in robots, the Thirds, is created. They are as human as an android can get. They have organic parts, true emotions, and even the ability to reproduce. They were created to solve the problem of declining Martian birthrates, which threatened the sovereignty of Mars.

Origin:
Ross and Naomi are both officers of the Martian Police Department. Before coming to Mars, Ross used to be an officer on Earth, where his old partner was killed in the line of duty by a criminal robot. Naomi, on the other hand, was created by the original creator of the Thirds, Dr. Asakura. Naomi and Ross were paired together to capture Rene D'anclaude, the suspect in the murder of a Third country singer. This case escalated in scope from murder to state-sponsored terrorism. Since this case, they remained together ever since, fell in love, and even had a daughter named Yoko.

Powers:
The Armitage III world is a world based heavily on the laws of science, with a technology level greater than our own. For example, humanity has spaceships powerful enough to go to Mars and even colonize it. Robotic technology has evolved to the point of where it is possible to create something like the Thirds. Science reigns supreme here and the other powers types are virtually unheard of.

Both Ross and Naomi are MPD police officers and are trained in SWAT as well as first aid. In Ross' case, he had sustained severe injuries over the course of his career. They resulted in the amputation of limbs and their replacement by cybernetic prosthetics. These artificial limbs and parts give him greater physical capability when compared to a normal human, but still not on par with a full android's capabilities. Naomi, however, is a full android with all the advantages of being one. She is faster, stronger, and far more resilient than a normal human. As a robot, she lacks a brain and is therefore immune to mind affecting powers.