Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Return of Valiance Story, part 3: The Philosopher's Stone ( Chapter 26 )

[ 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


Return of Valiance Story, part 3: The Philosopher's Stone


Koichi's group was finally able to return to the Valiance home world in the Outlaw Star. They had brought the Keichi Morisato, a mortal, and the Norns with them as representatives of Asgard to see the world outside of their own. When the Outlaw Star's door opened, the Keichi and the Norns were greeted with the sight of a bustling star ship hangar in the home world. Dozens of work crews and technicians maintained the various ships kept in the hangar. They were a motley crew of people from different ethnic backgrounds..

"Wow," said Skuld. "I've never seen so many different people in the same place." A Kabuterimon mechanic in an identifying hat and covering clothes walked by in front her. The mere sight of an insect the height of a fully grown man was enough to put her off. "EEK! What is that thing?"

"What thing?" asked Koichi, before she pointed out the Kabuterimon. "Oh, you mean the Kabuterimon? He's one of our mechanics. We have quite a few who are soldiers too, so you'll be seeing a lot of them around these parts."

Even Urd and Keichi was disturbed by this. "You let creatures like that walk around freely here?" asked Urd.

"What if they hurt someone?" asked Keichi.

"I don't see what the problem is. They aren't doing anything wrong," said Belldandy.

"Well, at least someone understands how we do things here," said Yolei. "You should follow Belldandy's example."

"Yeah, well, easy for you to say. We don't have ferocious beasts walking around our streets!" said Keichi.

"Eh, you'll get used to it," said Yoh casually.

With their mission done, Koichi's group dispersed, leaving him behind to give the Norns a guided tour. The group visited local landmarks in the Valiance base from stores for personal items to training areas for the soldiers. The Norns even became acquainted with various key individuals in the Valiance army from heroes and generals to the common soldier. The group came across a small, panicking reindeer creature running around carrying several boxes filled with medical supplies.

"He's so adorable!" said Belldandy.

"That's Chopper," introduced Koichi. "He's one of our medics. If you get hurt, he can fix you up."

The tour passed through the Square of the Stars at the centre of the base. In the centre of this area, were the three Tablets of the Stars. They stood as a monument to the union of the 108 Stars of Destiny, listing their names in honour like a plaque from a hall of fame. Valiance workers had erected a small, tent-like shelter to keep the tablets safe from the elements. Judging from the tablet's pristine condition, it wasn't necessary to house them under a shelter. The tablets had long outlived the civilization which had produced them.

"Hey, my name is on that!" remarked Skuld.

"Yeah, mine too!" said Urd.

"Guess that means you’re a Star of Destiny like us," said Koichi.

"A what?" asked Keichi.

"You're one of the 108 people chosen by destiny to lead the world to a new era," said Koichi. "We will play a big role in the battles to come. Let's continue our tour."

For their last stop, Koichi led the Norns and Keichi to Valiance headquarters where Folken and Eddie worked. They came upon the door to Eddie's office, guarded by the two masses of muscle that were the Minotarumon. These Digimon were as tall as a grown man, but with muscles far larger than what most men could ever hope to have. They looked very strong and intimidating, not someone that was good to pick a fight with. The Minotarumon waved the group inside, where they met Eddie and Folken.

"Hey Koichi, are these the new recruits?" asked Eddie.

"Yep, they are," replied Koichi.

"Good, let me and Folken talk with them for awhile. You're dismissed," said Eddie.




A few days passed before Koichi and his team were called back to Eddie's office. The leaders of Valiance had a mission for his team. Folken gave him his new mission, which would take place in Alchemic Earth near the Ishbal-Amestris border. The Ishabalans had formed into a Confederation under the leadership of a council. However, this Council was thoroughly corrupt, having been formed by Omnipotence agents operating in the region. Since they had formed this Council, all of the high ranking leaders and members had Omnipotence links or were actually Omnipotence themselves.

According to Bradley's intelligence, the Ishbalans were very aware of this corruption. As such, the Ishbalan Council was highly unpopular, a fact further supported by periodic riots and resistance operations. Although the Council had been successful in putting these down, it only served to worsen its unpopularity. The fact that Omnipotence was foreign made the Ishbalans feel like they were under occupation, something they deeply resented. Coupled with an unwanted war against Amestris, Bradley's intelligence forces were surprised that Ishbal could still function as a country.

Folken continued the briefing. "Amestris had lost East City from the Ishbalan Council's offensive. Bradley's forces had managed to contain enemy forces in the city and eastern Amestris. He has received reports of ringers with superhuman abilities operating within the enemy forces," warned Folken. "You will meet Bradley in his camp in the fields west of East City. The Elric Brothers and Winry Rockbell will come with you. Bradley will give a more detailed briefing. Dismissed."

Koichi's team made their way to Bradley's camp site with the Outlaw Star. With a hiss, the red space ship landed on the grassy fields by a camp bustling with blue-coated soldiers. When soldiers showed the heroes into Bradley's tent, Amestris' leader greeted them. "Ah, welcome heroes of Valiance and you too, Fullmetal. You could not have come at a better time."

King Bradley briefed the heroes of Valiance about the current situation. At the moment, the Amestrian military had managed to hold the line outside of East City. They wanted to retake East City, but were having problems with some of the Council's troops. Although the military could easily handle a normal Ishbalan army, they weren't as effective against Omnipotence's superhumanly enhanced ringers, even with battle alchemy. This was the reason why Bradley called in help from Valiance. He wanted Koichi's group to eliminate as many of these ringers as possible to make the battle easier for his troops.

"East City is under Council occupation at the moment. Your mission is to destroy as many barracks as possible to reduce the numbers of these superhuman soldiers," stated Bradley. "The citizens are still living there, so be careful in there."

"Why are the people still inside?" asked Al. "Why haven't they have fled by now?"

"Some did flee before and during the Council's invasion, but many simply couldn't or refused to leave. When the Council occupied the city, they banned anyone from leaving under penalty of death," said Bradley. "We don't know why, so you must take care not to harm them during your missions."

Knowing their mission, the group snuck into East City under the cover of nightfall. Guards patrolled the walls around the city on the lookout for any suspicious activity inside and outside of the city. One of the guards looked away to the inside of the city, a hole which the group exploited to sneak past the wall. Koichi's group split up and eventually found a barracks where several Ishbalan soldiers milled about. All of them looked normal, but appearances were quite deceiving. Any or all of them could be superhuman.

"Let's get this one," Ed said to Al.

Ed and Al took strategic positions around the building. When they were ready, Ed and Al clapped their hands. They glowed with vibrant blue electricity as he touched the ground. The ground shuddered slightly as a massive hole opened beneath the building. The brick and mortar barracks ruptured as it collapsed into the hole. The hapless soldiers inside were swallowed up along with their barracks. When the attack was over, the barracks had been swallowed into the ground along with its inhabitants. When the authorities finally came to investigate, the brothers Elric had long fled.

"So far so good," remarked Ed as he ran through a dark alley.

The brothers heard a fiery explosion flare up from another part of the city. "Looks like the others are doing well too," remarked Al.

However, as the team attack various barracks around the city, the authorities became suspicious. They realized they were under attack and sounded the alarm. Following their plan, Koichi's team broke off their attacks and secretly regroup in an alleyway at the western side of the city near its exit. "How did yours go, Ed?" asked Koichi.

"Nice, we put a sinkhole into the barracks. They won't be digging that out for quite some time," remarked Ed.

"Good, let's get out of here," said Yolei.

The group snuck their way to the gates while the authorities dealt with the problem of collapsed barracks. As they made their way past the gate, a lookout on the wall noticed them running into the desert. He called for help, prompting several of Omnipotence's superhuman ringers to charge out of the city. Some flew out by air, while others went over the gate either by climbing or simply jumping. Yolei turned around and flung seeds into a descending jumper. They tore through his chest, causing him to land on the ground in a chaotic heap.

Shurimon rolled out of the path of a jet of flame. He got up and hurled shuriken. The sharp stars embedded into the ringer's chest as she advanced, sending her onto the ground. Madison summoned the Voice Card and screamed as loudly as she could. Amplified by the Voice Card, her scream roiled the earth and deafened a pair of ringers painfully. They clutched at their ears painfully, desperately trying to block out the sound. Unable to withstand the mind-shattering noise, the enemy duo collapsed onto the ground.

One of the ringers, took aim at Filia with his eyes beams. The beams of crimson streamed out and became blunted by a spherical barrier of golden light around Filia's body. Yoh spotted that ringer and sent a Celestial Slash at him. The blade of air tore into the ringer and knocked him out of the sky. Upon landing on the ground, the man blew up a dusty cloud. Yoh and Filia continued to flee further into the desert once their pursuer was down.

"Come on, we're almost home free!" cried Yoh.

Sakura summoned the spirit of the Power Card. Upon her appearance the spirit of Power unleashed an invisible by palpable wave of power. Ryo when this wave washed over Ryo, he could feel his muscles bulging with newfound strength. "Alright!" said Ryo.

With this newfound strength, Ryo met a muscular ringer's charge. With a burst of strength, Ryo pushed back his opponent, causing him to momentarily stumble backwards. With a mighty swing, Ryo brought his sword across the man's chest. Having been cut down, the force of Ryo's attack propelled him back into the sand. Ryo regroup with Yoh, who had just downed another enemy in a neighbouring battle. "Woohoo, this new power rocks! Where was Sakura when we were taking on Hao?"

Al spotted other soldiers coming in from the unwatched flanks of his group. He clapped his ground and placed on the ground to invoke alchemic energy. The sandy surface of the desert suddenly turned extremely wet under the reinforcements' foot. They sank into the quicksand, unable to climb out and resume pursuit. One of the female ringers attempted to climb out, a move that only worsened her predicament. Her movement caused her to sink even deeper into the quicksand, which now reached the height of her breasts.

One of the other ringers created a gust of wind, shooting herself out of the quicksand like a popped cork. Al was surprised by this bold move from the female ringer. As she landed on the ground, a stone pillar suddenly blasted out from the sand! It threw her into the air, but predictably, she came back to Earth in the roughest way possible. The impact of the fall had knocked her out and left her lying in a heap. "Let's go, Al, we're heading home," urged Ed.

Despite attempts by the enemy to halt their retreat, the team weathered the onslaught. They returned to the Amestrian camp where they reported the outcome of their mission. Although the team had not destroyed every barracks, they managed to knock out at least one apiece before the enemy sounded the alarm. The team had injured and killed a few more during their escape. "So you see, Fuhrer King Bradley, we did a lot of damage to the enemy. It will be easy for the military to retake East City now," reported Ed.

Bradley was quite pleased with this report. "Excellent, Fullmetal! We can take the city any time we want, but I'm not going to cut any corners. You and the Valiance team will raid their supply lines to weaken East City further."

During one night in the supply line disruption campaign, a Council supply convoy burst into magical flame as a mighty spell was invoked upon it. The angelic spirit of flame danced about as she incinerated every morsel of food in the trucks. Two nights later, yet another supply convoy secretly attempted to reach East City. A faint crackle of electricity went unheard in the desert. A stone spike burst out of the ground, impaling the escort car at the point position of the convoy. The car landed on the ground upside-down in such a way that it blocked the convoy's path.

As the convoy attempted to compensate, Duskmon landed on the rear escort car. The roof gave out under his feet to the crunching sound of metal being twisted out of shape. As the soldiers fled, Duskmon sent negative energy rays blindly in both opposite directions, felling the men before they could get very far. The other soldiers manoeuvred to return fire upon Duskmon when the ground suddenly gave out underneath. A pit of quicksand had formed underfoot, trapping the vehicles within them. No matter how they tried, the drivers couldn't drive the vehicles out.

Ryo descended onto the driver's cabin of a trapped supply truck. He shattered the windshield and grabbed the driver, hurling him rudely onto the desert sand. Rather than fight him, the driver decided it would be best to run. Eventually, all of the soldiers were injured, killed, or had fled. Ed removed the quicksand, turning it into an asphalt road before climbing onto the back of the truck. "Okay Ryo, we can go whenever you want," informed Ed.

Ryo climbed into a truck through its broken windshield. With the abandoned key in the ignition, Ryo started the engine and drove it out of the pit. Within a few minutes, the Amestrian raiders had returned to base in the stolen trucks. Ed waved a white flag from the top of Ryo's truck, signalling to the Amestrian soldiers that they were non-hostile. King Bradley left his tent to check up on the commotion. "Welcome back Fullmetal! It looks like your mission was a great success. You even managed to capture the enemy's supplies!"

"Oh yeah, Fuhrer King Bradley. With our new supplies coming in and the ones we captured, it should be easy to retake East City," reported Ed.

"Good work, Fullmetal," complimented Bradley. "I believe we can attack the city directly within the next week. However, I'm taking your team off of the frontlines. I think you've done more than enough already. It's our turn now. Just sit back and watch the show."




Over the course of the next few days, the Amestrians prepared for their attack on East City. The Outlaw Star made several passes over the city to gather intelligence on troop movements and activities. When the attack finally came, hundreds of Amestrian soldiers descended on the city. Their guns banged and filled the air with smoke and gunpowder. Bullets rained on the forces of the Council, weakened by raids and supply disruptions. One by one, the Ishbalans dropped to the ground riddled by Amestrian fire. The men spotted an Omnipotence ringer and proceeded to gun him down effortlessly.

In the sky, the Outlaw Star continued its passes above East City. On one of these passes, Jim took a snapshot of the buildings below. After taking a look at the layout, Jim started to notice some odd patterns of red light. He stared at the layout of the city for several seconds trying to make heads or tails of the image. He started to notice a pattern among certain lines within the city. They seemed to form some sort of mystical symbol, but since he wasn't familiar with magic, he didn't understand what it meant.

However, Jim could not shake the feeling that what he was seeing was extremely important. "Edward Elric, could you please come to the bridge?"

"What is it?" asked Ed as he entered the Outlaw Star's bridge.

"Check out this picture," said Jim pointing to an image of the city. "Don't these lines make a strange symbol?"

Ed watched as Jim traced out the lines with the Outlaw Star's computers. When saw what they created, his jaw dropped. "Jim, get me the Fuhrer quickly!" Jim hit some buttons, giving Ed a direct line to Bradley, who addressed the call.

"Why what's going on?" asked Bradley from the other end.

"It's a trap! They're going to sacrifice the military to make a Philosopher's Stone!" warned Ed. "Call off the attack!"

"Sensors detect a large energy build-up around East City," reported Melfina.

"What's going on down there?" asked Gene as he watched the alchemic symbol glow around East City in crimson.

"Hurry, they're starting the transmutation!" cried Ed.

Bradley, ran out of his tent and could see the crimson glow faintly in the distance. "Issue a full retreat to our troops immediately, top priority!" he ordered to a subordinate.

The radio operators scrambled to issue Bradley's order as a top priority. The Amestrian soldiers turned tail and ran back out of the city as quickly as they could. East City became alit in a brightening crimson light which washed over the streets and alleys. Terrified citizens began to flee their homes without regard for the fighting in the streets. While many escaped, many failed to get away in time. The crimson light washed over Amestrian and Ishbalan alike with mindless indiscrimination.

All that the light touched were wiped out instantly. "Dammit!" cursed Ed. "Gene, keep the Outlaw Star in the air. They're going to try to sneak the stone out of the city. We have to keep watch so that doesn't happen."

"Roger," said Gene.

Back on the ground, the Amestrian military began to reorganize themselves after severe losses to the enemy's trap. Amestris had lost nearly a third of its forces to the Council trap. That count didn't measure the deaths among East City civilians and the Council's own occupiers. When the military entered the city to investigate, they found a virtual ghost town. Everything was eerily silent. No guns were being fired and no one moving about in the city. In fact, the trap didn't leave a single body for the military to bury. Everyone was gone in an instant, the city completely stripped clean of life.

Despite the silence, Bradley and the Amestrian forces couldn't help but feel horrified. It was just like the incident in Lior. Omnipotence had not only sacrificed Amestrian troops, but the civilians of East City and even their own men. Such an act came from a ruthlessness and callousness that bordered on the inhuman. Suddenly, the Council's ban on leaving East City made horrible, perverse sense. Ed, Al, and Winry where slack-jawed in horror as they viewed the vacant city in the Outlaw Star's monitors.

"They're gone. Everyone's gone," said Winry, still in shock.

"All that, just to create a Philosopher's Stone?" asked Ed rhetorically.

"Ed, what's so important about this Philosopher's Stone?" asked Yoh, unaware of this object's great power.

"The Philosopher's Stone enhances an alchemist's power," informed Al. "It lets alchemists get around alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange."

"Equivalent exchange?" asked Yoh.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return," replied Al. "To obtain, something of equal value must be lost."

"In order to make a Philosopher's Stone, you need to sacrifice human lives... the more the better," said Ed. "They basically traded away the lives of the people in East City for the stone's power."

"What monsters!" decried Filia. "How blasphemous!"

"If they're going to smoosh all of our worlds together, they would need a lot of energy," said Yolei. "So, this is how they decided to get it."

Despite such a heinous act, however, hope was not lost. Omnipotence still needed to somehow smuggle the stone out of the city. Since the stone was a source of great power, it was extremely difficult to conceal it without triggering the Outlaw Star's sensors. The Outlaw Star tirelessly patrolled the deserts hoping to catch Omnipotence in the act. It seemed quite fruitless until Gene detected a brief, but unknown energy signature somewhere in the southeast of East City in the desert. It didn't match any known energy sources in the Outlaw Star's databases.

"Hmm, I found something, but it's very faint..." remarked Gene. "Jim, put up an image of the area."

Jim displayed the image of a vacant desert of the area. There wasn't anything of note, until Melfina spotted what seemed to be an unusual, out-of-place flicker of light. "A flicker of light?" asked Melfina.

Jim pondered what that could mean before coming up with an idea. "Preparing a jammer salvo," he reported.

He launched the jammer bombs into the desert. Upon impacting the sand, the area arced with electricity. Suddenly, a convoy of camouflaged vehicles materialized in the desert! One of the vehicles had a cloth canvas on the back covering an unknown object. It appeared to be a boulder due to the rounded shape underneath the cloth. "Sensors detect one truck escorted by ten armed jeeps," reported Melfina. "Detecting a strong, but unknown energy signature originating from the truck."

"Bingo," said Gene. "Time for action! Melfina, call the others."

The Outlaw Star opened fire on the convoy, beginning with the escort jeep in the rear. The blue energy beam seared through the vehicle in a single shot, reducing it into a flaming wreck. By now, the convoy knew they had been detected. They began to manoeuvre to avoid the Outlaw Star while returning fire. The Outlaw Star fired a second beam and then a third, incinerating the two of the jeeps that flanked the truck. The Outlaw Star fired one final beam, totalling the last jeep, leaving the truck exposed.

Koichi's voice came over the radio. "Thanks guys, we can take over from here."

The Valiance strike team descended out of the Outlaw Star's door and advanced upon the convoy. The Elric brothers clapped hands and touched the ground. The sand turned into a pit of slurry underneath the convoy's tires. Despite the drivers' attempted to break through, their vehicles were trapped. Duskmon suddenly appeared on top of the stone's truck. He ripped through the cabin's roof, pulled out the men, and tossed them onto the sand. The brothers Elric pulled off the camouflage canopy and saw the bright red jewel underneath.

Ed and Al could feel the power emanating from the jewel. "Yep, this is it," remarked Ed. He transmuted the quicksand back into regular sand to allow it to be driven out. "Ryo, let's take this one home."

Ryo hopped into the cabin and drove the truck back to the camp. The enemy realized that their truck had been hijacked and gave pursuit. As the bullets and energy bolts zinged by, the Outlaw Star returned fire from the sky. In the rear view mirror, enemy vehicles burst into flames as energy beams descended onto them. The enemy eventually lost track of the truck, allowing Ryo a calm ride back home. Upon returning to the Amestrian camp, Bradley came out to greet Ed, who jumped off the trailer to greet him in exchange.

"This is one Philosopher's Stone they won't be using, I can guarantee you that," said Ed.

"Good work, Fullmetal!" said Bradley.

Valiance's success with the stone was the turning point in the war against the Council’s occupation. After securing the Philosopher's Stone, Valiance had also dealt a severe blow to Acme's plans. At worst, they had severely set Acme back. At best, they had thwarted his plan completely, leaving only Acme's capture the only thing left to be done. Amestris' military pushed eastward, directly into the Council's base of power in Ishbal. Forging an alliance with various resistance groups, the Amestrian military were free to onto the capital itself without interference by them.

The capital burned as the military swept through the city. The military's advance eventually pushed enemy troops into the Council's meeting house. "Okay, our forces will draw out the enemy in the front of the building. Your troops will enter from the rear and take the building," said Colonel Mustang to an Ishbalan rebel.

"Yes sir," replied the rebel.

The two sides put their plan into motion. Roy's men took up positions in buildings near the meeting house and fired at it from the windows. The Omnipotence soldiers returned fire from their windows. Roy snuck past the firefight and snapped his fingers. The air became alit with flame which travelled through to the meeting house. It entered the meeting house and sent the Council soldiers' uniforms on fire. They flailed about desperately trying to remove their burning uniforms. In the back, the rebels tore down a door and flooded inside.

An Omnipotence ringer walked forward to greet them, arcing electricity from her fingertips to electrocute one. The victim fell onto the ground with electricity arcing throughout his body. The rebels took cover behind furniture to returned fire, unable to penetrate her electromagnetic barrier. The rebels kept the pressure on until one hurled a grenade behind a table. It exploded, sending the ringer crashing into the ground. The rebels swept through the building, gunning down any Council loyalists or Omnipotence ringers. When they reached the roof, they tore down the Council's flag to cheers.




Ross continued his crackdown on Omnipotence money laundering. Although Omnipotence had to have been doing so to feed money to its agents and its coffers, the deaths of key individuals in the ring rendered any investigation impossible. Now that Tails had found a way to neutralize the suicide devices, he had been able to capture Omnipotence agents for questioning. In particular, the kidnappers in Aegypt were paid through the laundering network to kidnap Ryo Bakura and seize his Millennium Ring for Acme's scheme.

However, Ross was able to intervene in the kidnapping, rescuing Bakura and arresting the agents. With these agents' capture, he was finally able to open an investigation into Omnipotence's money laundering. Their investigation led them to a version of Panama City in Tarota and one Alan McCarthy. McCarthy had started up several shell holding corporations to pass laundered money as salaries to the kidnappers and other agents. All of these shell corporatations acquired laundered money as loans from the Tooniverse bank with junk collateral and defaulted on the loans.

Now, the team was questioning a whistleblower from the Tooniverse Bank on the defaulted loans. "Yes, Mr. Syllabus, we've had quite a few loans in which the debtor defaulted on us," said a a Tooniverse Bank accountant. "Our bank had been insolvent for the last few months because of so many bad loans."

Ross gave a cursory glance over the listing of loans in the Tooniverse bank. Predictably, he found McCarthy Holdings as one of the several agencies McCarthy owned which took and defaulted on loans. Only one other corporation stood out from the rest, Penhold Holdings. Ross began to realize just how deep the scheme ran. "Hmm, Penhold Holdings? They were involved in selling classified secrets to Omnipotence," mumbled Ross, who then turned to address the whistleblower. "Yes, these companies were using the money to sponsor terrorists."

"Wow, I never knew that it was that bad," remarked the whistleblower.

"Still, why hasn't your bank been closed down sooner?" asked Ross. "Tooniverse's insolvency should have sounded alarms in the regulatory commission."

"Yeah, but Acme had deregulated banking," said the whistleblower. "We don't have to report insolvency, nor does the regulatory commission have to close us down."

"Just great," said Ross exasperated. "When did he do that?"

"Right after he took office," replied the whistleblower. "Our president, Jimmy, even pulled money from his bank despite my objections. I warned him that we were in deep shit, and that he shouldn't do it, but he didn't listen to me. When Mickey Mouse took over, he reregulated the banks and we've been closed down and I'm out of a job."

"Thank you, Mr. Graves, you've given a lot of useful information," said Ross, who shook the whistleblower's hand. "With your help, we can put these crooks behind bars."

Just as he was about to leave, he received a call from Naomi. "Ross, I've got good news, we've just tracked down Jimmy Siegel to a lot outside of Los Angeles in the Human World. I'm sending coordinates to you right now. Join us when you can."

"Of course, I'll be there," assured Ross.

Near Los Angeles in the Human World, Armitage, the witch hunters, and several police officers sped down the highway. Their sirens blared loudly as the red lights flickered around in a circle. As the cars sped past several trees, they found a pair of spaceships resting on the grass beyond the side of the road. The police skid their cars to stop and took cover behind their open doors. Jimmy's associates fired at the police from door of the space craft, to which the police responded by doing the same. Bullets and bolts of energy sailed back and forth between the sides.

As the two sides battled, Jimmy's men began to fall to the firepower of the police. One of the ships suddenly took off, blowing a huge gust of wind across the field. The police took cover from the dirt and grass blown up by the fierce winds. Naomi followed SWAT officers as they fought their way into the ship, gunning down any men who attempted to halt their entry. After searching the ship, Naomi exited to report their findings. "Jimmy's not in this one. He must have taken off in the other one."

In outer space, the fleeing ship had made escape velocity. Just when it seemed like they would get away, something approached them. "Sir, detecting an unknown object approaching our vessel rapidly. Its signature identifies it as the Bebop. It has launched a pair of fighter ships to intercept us."

"Get into hyperspace immediately," ordered a Human World man in his forties. "We can't let them get us!"

"Too late, the fighters are launching missiles at our vessel! Brace for impact in five... four... three... two... one..."

The missiles impacted Jimmy Siegel's ship, causing it to shudder violently. They released a powerful electromagnetic charge into the ship, which manifested as arcing electricity. "Sir, we've been hit by an EM weapon. Shit! Our hyperspace drive is out of commission!"

"Evasive manoeuvres!" cried Jimmy.

Another missile impacted the ship, shaking its crew. "Damn! Main engines are out!" reported the helm.

Yet another impacted the ship, shorting out its weapon systems. Jimmy contemplated what to do, but his crew took that decision from his hands. "Dammit! We won't go down like this. They won't get us alive!"

Jimmy rushed for the self-destruct controls but was met by his first officer at gun point. "No sir, you will not be doing that."

"Damn, you're betraying me, Smith?"

"No, I've decided that I'm not risking my life to save your neck. Comm officer, tell the Bebop we surrender. Lower our defences and let them board."

"Don't listen to him. Chang, self-destruct the ship!"

The Asian turned to Jimmy and shook his head. Jimmy was furious. "I am not going down you. You can't pay me enough to do that!"

Within moments, a Valiance drop ship descended upon the ship. The Valiance's soldiers arrested the crew of Jimmy Siegel's ship along with the man himself. Once safely on board, Jet radioed Ross. "Ross, we've got Jimmy Siegel safely in our cargo hold. We're landing on Earth to deliver him to you."

"Roger that, Jet. Good work," replied Ross.

Later on, Ross began to question Jimmy Siegel, owner of Tooniverse Bank, intently on his involvement in Omnipotence money laundering. "Interesting, so you say you and Jeremy Dean had an arrangement going on?"

"Yeah, he would lose all of his arms dealing money while gambling in my casinos."

"Like the ones in Vegas, of the Human World?" asked Ross.

"Yeah, I would cut him a check for his earnings. Sometimes he wins big."

Now that Siegel had told him that, Ross now had a good idea how Omnipotence's money laundering worked. Arms runners and dealers like Jeremy Dean would earn money selling weapons stolen from various places. Since such money would draw attention, Dean gambled it away, bit by bit, to casino owners with criminal ties like Siegel. Siegel would then put the money in his bank, without drawing any suspicion since it was money earned through the casino. He would also write a check to pay Dean, passing it off as wages, bonuses, and even as casino winnings.

However, Acme had deregulated the banks in the Tooniverse, making it easier to perpetuate Omnipotence's money laundering network. While in the bank, allies in finance like McCarthy would form shell corporations in tax havens. Through these shell corporations, they took loans from banks in the Tooniverse with junk as collateral. These shell corporations ultimately defaulted on these loans without any consequence due to deregulation. The financiers pass the money as wages to agents who then carry out bombings, assassinations, espionage, and other acts needed by Omnipotence.

"Okay, thank you Mr. Siegel. No more questions for today," said Ross.

END OF CHAPTER

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Spotlight: Megaman NT Warrior

Megaman NT Warrior follows the life of Lan Hikari, a boy from Dentech City. In the world he lives in, computers are present in every facet of life from home appliances to vehicles. As a result, the people of Digitopia world were plagued by virus attacks by various hacker, criminal, and terrorist groups. Net Battling, or fighting viruses with AI software called Navis, was a necessity to survive the modern world. In fact, these problems were so bad that governmental agencies licensed civilians known as Netsabres just to deal with it.

Origin:
Lan learned how to be a skilled Netbattler from attending classes in his elementary school, as did his circle of friends. In his world, teachers instruct their students on how to resist virus attacks with their Navis. Lan had such a natural talent that he even won some local Netbattling tournaments and became a Netsabre. Mayl is not as skilled as Lan, but she is still a formidable Netbattler.

Powers:
Science rules supreme in Digitopia. There are no other power types here. Digitopia has advanced to the point where nearly everything has a computer in it. The Digitopians have even raised AI to such an extent that they are everywhere, such as a Netbattler's Navi. These people have made their very first steps into space and thus have only a minimal presence in that venue.