Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Angel and Her Tiger ❯ Episode One: Morning View! Enter Roxy and her mysterious ally! ( Chapter 1 )

Project Alpha

Act II: The Angel and her Tiger

By Sir Aaron Rowell

Episode One: Morning View! Enter Roxy and her mysterious ally!

The thick fog swirled around the young man as he stalked through the moist vegetation in the murky depths of the swamp, his long hair damp against his coal black BDU's and tangle around the hilt of a custom forged broadsword. His sense of danger heightens as strange creatures fly past him. The gangly, odd little imps looked like eyeballs with wings and talons, and as one tried to attack him, the man sliced it in two while the rest tried to swarm around him. They gave him no trouble in spite of their efforts; after awhile, all of the imps were wiped out by the. Wary of other possible attackers, the young man ran through the swamp at break neck speeds, looking back to see if he was being followed, only to hit one of the trees.

'I must be getting sloppy… I should learn to watch where I'm going.' mused the young man as he rubbed his face. As he got to his feet he took a good look at his surroundings, only to find himself surrounded by a pack of rotted undead corpses. Darren sheathed his sword and slung his rifle. Switching from safe to full auto, he unloaded his rounds at his undead foes. “Take this you brain sucking freaks!” His ammunition didn't last long enough; for every zombie to fall, another replaced it. He shoved in a 40 round cartridge, then heard a disheartening sound when he tried to pull the trigger again. `No… not when I need you the most', the teenager thought as he frantically tries to un-jam his weapon. Unable to hold them any longer, one zombie snatched his rifle as another tackled him from behind. The young man closed his eyes. `Well… I guess this is my fate…'

A red light burst into a great crescendo, and lifted to reveal heavenly surroundings. `Am I dead?' the long-haired teen asked himself, strolling down the stone structured bridge and gazing at the clouds and Greco-Roman structures. A large scarlet feathered bird coming soared into view, then, nearing him, transformed into a beautiful young woman with red hair in a high ponytail and long white angel wings. Darren stared in of surprise and shock (in his defense, more to do with her dramatic arrival than her nudity) as the girl addressed him, “Darren… I've come for you at last.”

“Mimi-chan… is that you?”

“Yes, it's me… And it's been a long time… A very long time.”

“Look, Mia,” started Darren as the redhead then placed her hands on his cheeks and began to kiss him softly in his lips. Before he could react, everything turned white. The young man now found himself under heavy layers of blankets with cold sweat dripping over his upper body. As he stood up in his bed he looked out of his room only to see white snow covering his entire neighborhood, letting him know it was still winter. `This has got to be the third straight day I've had this dream,' thought the long haired teen as he got out of his full size bed in his pajama pants and t-shirt.

The long-haired teen scowled in pain from a slight injury he had gotten from his last assignment. `Who would've thought those brainless mutts would give me a run for my money,' he mused as he walked next door to the bathroom. After freshening up, he changed into a pair of dark blue jeans and a smoke grey long-sleeved thermo shirt. Downstairs, he found his cousin and partner in crime Corey watching television with a younger boy on the couch. Darren's little brother was no older than twelve and looked much like him except that his black hair was short and spiky as opposed to his being long and somewhat wavy. The boy screamed aloud as he waved his fists in the air, “Go, Vectortron! Kick that monster's butt!”

“Jeez, Brandon, you should chill out with that. Grandad might still be asleep.”

“Shut up, Dee! He's in the Kitchen cooking up flapjacks.”

“Oh, so that's where that smell came from,” smirked the teen as he sat in the couch next to his relatives.

Corey raised an eyebrow, “I didn't think you wanted to eat anything considering you just woke up from fourteen hour slumber, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Hey, I'm still recovering from all those damn missions we encountered. God my shoulder hurts…”

“It's not my fault you're a workaholic Dumbass… Now that you mention it… My back still feels like shit. Damn that Scar!”

The younger of the three yelled, “Will you two shut the hell up! Vectortron is about to dice that monster with his sword!”

As the three boys witness the said giant robot slicing its monstrous opponent in two, Corey scowled his face and sighed, “Aaaaah… that's a good one.”

“What's a good one”, asked Darren before he suddenly smelled an offensive odor, “Aww…. CJ!!”

“Dang it, Corey! That stinks,” Brandon coughed as he covered his mouth and nose with his hand.

“Dude, put a cork in it!”

Both brothers got off from the couch as their violet-haired cousin changed the channel. As Darren and his younger brother entered the kitchen, they see their grandfather flip some pancakes on the pan. The man stood about six feet tall and had salt and pepper colored long braided hair. For a man in his fifties, he aged fairly well. The man in question turned his head towards his grandchildren and asks, “Hey, Kids. How many stacks do you want?”

“I'll have three.”

“Make mine five.”

“Good… What about Corey?”

“Ummm… He's still in the living room watching TV.”

“Boy, why don't you go and ask him how many pancakes he wants.”

A thick bead of sweat drops as long-haired boy said, “We came here after he just ripped one in the couch. Can you give him a minute?”

“I don't care if he smelled like rotted shit out in the summer time! Go back there and ask him what he wants to eat.”

Knowing damn well not to disobey his grandfather, the long-haired boy walked back into the living room to meet Corey. The boy in question was lying all over the couch flipping through channel after channel. Darren crossed his arms and asks, “Yo, CJ! Grandad wants to know how many pancakes you want.”

“Tell him I want seven.”

“Tell him yourself, yah lazy bastard.”

“Okay okay… I'll get up.”

As he sees his cousin enter the kitchen Darren sighs, “I wonder what big sis is doing right now….?”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, daybreak shimmered amid the local concrete jungle of “Skyline City.” Lively and busy, with bridges and freeways littered with automobiles of different shapes and sizes, the current temperatures only encouraged more people to be out as the sun started warmed the skies to well over the mid 70s. Outside the city limits, in the suburb of Aurora Valley, husbands and wives, and mothers and fathers ready themselves for work while children leave for school.

In one house in particular, a young woman slumbers. She looked to be in her late teens, with strawberry blonde hair cut into a pageboy style. Her luscious caramel complexion was mostly exposed as she was wearing only a pair of cotton panties and a black football jersey.

Suddenly the young woman's beauty rest was halted as her alarm clock started ringing in her ears. Literally smashing the offending clock, the blonde grudgingly got out of her bed and yawned. `Good morning! Good Morning…. Feh! I f$#n' hate mornings', the blonde spitefully thought. After minutes of showering and freshening up, now dressed in only a bath robe and underwear, the young woman's attitude suddenly lightened up. She grabbed her remote and turned her television set on, surfing channels then stumbling onto an important message.

The girl heard the anchor woman announced, `Since 6:30 this morning, there has been a report that very important cyberobotic units have been stolen from Axiom Cybernetics in Stocker Bay. Police believe hackers are involved.'

“Something smells fishy…. This looks like the work of one of `her' goons.”

`This just in! There seem to be a runaway 18 wheeler and several unidentified motorized vehicles coming south of Monica Heights and are now heading towards the main freeway towards Skyline City! We have live footage of the chase.'

The blonde's golden eyes were glued to the TV as she witnessed a convoy of a large 18 wheelers carrying a shrouded trailer. Next to it were several three-wheeled robots as the truck's guard. Not wasting any time, the girl quickly stripped off the bathrobe. The nearly naked girl then quickly suited up in a pair of leather pants, black boots, orange muscle shirt, half finger gloves and a form fitted leather motorcycle jacket. She then flipped on a pair of black sunglasses as she ran down to the basement. Pressing a lever from the wall, she opened a secret passage and entered. At the end of the passage, she entered a black muscle car and drove off at breakneck speeds through an underground tunnel. `I hope I'm not too late', pondered the blonde as her car's massive super charger whistled as it started to reach its top speed.

Somewhere out in the local park of Skyline City a young girl dressed in red and white racing suit was watching the news cast from a monitor on her Motorcycle. Her pretty emerald eyes looked at the important news buzz that was headlined. With a disapproving frown, the mysterious girl whipped her long red hair to the side as she put on her helmet. She then kicked the kickstand out of the way and revved her engine. The redhead's crotch-rocket tore through the pavement as she accelerated down the street. “Hmmm… This could be fun.”

Down the freeway a piece of the road opened revealing a ramp leading to an underground trail where a certain black muscle car exited, catapulting into the pavement. The leather clad blonde scowled as she noticed that her target seemed far, `Where the F& are they? They should be close…. AH HA! There it is!' The blonde pressed some buttons and pulled some switches. As the result, a big Vulcan cannon materialized from the hood next to the protruding supercharged V8 engine. As she got nearly five car lengths from the eighteen-wheeler, the gattling gun unloaded its almost unlimited rounds. Pretty soon one of the robotic guards succumbed to the fire and crashed into the wall, followed by another. One of the guardian drones chimed, “Attention! Enemy vehicle attacking from the rear! Commence Defensive mode Bravo!”

“Roger, Unit One! Transform and destroy”, the other Drone as it turned its robotic torso to face the offending black hotrod. Both cyborg units formed machine guns from their arms and fired back. The blonde moved maneuvered her car out of each of the guard's volley and peppered them with a volley of her own, taking them both out with ease. Soon after, more of the units were dispatched, leaving the eighteen-wheeler alone. Smirking, the female motorist flipped the switch. Within minutes, the muscle car's front right mag-wheel formed a spinning blade which then tore into the truck's many wheels from the left side. The black car accelerated from the truck started rolling over towards its side. With a quick spin, the black vehicle drifted to face the fallen truck head on. ”Boo-yah! That's what you get for crossing paths with Roxy Hawk,” exclaimed the blonde in rapture. With a quick flip of the switch, her weapons dematerialized from her car. She got out of her vehicle, wielding her assault rifle as she walked towards the cab of the truck. “I wonder who that bitch send to run off with this truck.”

Roxy then opens the door with her weapon at the low ready position to find the one who drove the enormous vehicle. `Hmmm… That's weird… I see no driver. This isn't good,' mused the blonde as she moved away from the cab. A loud thundering noise came about, alarming Roxy as she sees the shroud moving from the bed of the eighteen wheeler's side. As its binds unravel, the shrouded bundle rolled onto the pavement. `Oh shit! Gotta run', cursed the blonde as she ran away from the truck and into the car. Minutes later, the bundle disrobed, revealing a giant assault mecha. Roxy frantically shifted gears in her car and floored it. Seeing that its prey was escaping, the mecha followed suit, trashing the vehicles along the freeway as citizens fled the scene. Inside the machine, a short man bearing cybornetic parts was full of psychotic glee as he cackled, “Run! Run! Run you pathetic worms! Run from excellence of science! My Lady, the Computer Witch will take this planet and rule!”

Police cruisers surrounded the mecha and fired back, hoping to neutralize the threat, but the Mecha formed a pair of gatling guns on its left arm and sprayed the officers without pity, completely slaughtering them with round after round. Looking back on her rearview mirror, Roxy decided to spin around to reengage the offending machine. She frowned as her black muscle car gained speed, “Ugh! As much as I hate getting my ass whooped by this big ass piece of metal, but I can't stand good men losing their lives by that asshole!” She then flipped the switch, and all of her weapons rearmed the hotrod to the tee. As the car reentered the menacing robot, the car suddenly fired a burst of ammo. The madman watched the car approaching him with much bravado and a crazed smirk, “You dare come after me with such puny weapons? You got some balls but it will do you no good!” With a mighty swing, the mecha authoritatively backhanded the muscle car, making it and its blonde driver spin out in the air. `Oh shit…. This is going to hurt', realized the blonde as she braced herself for the crash. As the car landed on its side, the man inside the machine laughed maniacally, “Whoohoo hooo!! Another one bites the dust!”

As he celebrated his assumed victory, he then witnessed the unthinkable. The blonde slowly got out of the car's exposed t-roof. It appears that she was unhurt from the crash, but it was then noted that she started hobbling away from the car with her weapon in hand. The vile mech pilot smirked as he ready the machine's double gatling guns. Roxy looked back at it, “Go ahead… Kill me now or I'll make you regret it later.” As if the man heard her request, he aimed the duel machine guns at the wounded vigilante with murderous intent. Before the weapon cut through our heroine, a flying blade flew from nowhere to slice the modified arm clean off. The battle mech turned to face where the blade came from, only to see a girl in a motorcycle. Under mask of her helmet, the girl smirked as she gave him a sarcastic “come hither” motion trying to goad the mech to come her way. It worked, and the chase was on between the red haired motorcyclist and her mechanized opponent.

Taking advantage of the situation, Roxy then observed her downed car. Despite the brutal slap it took, she noticed that the damage to her vehicle was not too serious. The major damage was the severally mangled fender, completely shattered front windshield, and her left side door was battered. Other than that, the car was almost fine, and its performance wouldn't be crippled much. Roxy painfully pushed the car back onto its wheels, favoring her ribs. Despite her brute strength, Roxy's injuries had started to get to her. With a squint, the blonde hopped in the car and fired the ignition,.

“Nyaah Nyaah!! Come and get me you gigantic rust bucket!”, cried the redhead as she dodged each volley from the now one-armed combat mecha. The small pilot was livid, screaming in frustration as he could not touch the motorcyclist in the chase, “You little bitch! I will make you regret you even messed with me!”

“That's small talk from a coward who uses a mech to harm a defenseless little girl like me.” She snapped back.

In his frustration, the mecha tripped over one of the downed vehicles and fell from one of the freeway bridges, landing on its back hard. As the pilot raised his mecha back onto its feet, the same girl stood by her motorcycle holding two spinning blades. With all that he could muster, the mech charged at the girl, its single arm ready for the kill. The redhead smirked and dashed forward, slicing the only remaining arm owned by the mech. After leaving it defenseless, the girl spread her arms out, her blades glowing. “Form Blazing Red Sword!”

She fused both of her two glowing blades together, forming a beautifully crafted broadsword. The mecha used this time to try to stampede against the redhead, but was stopped cold as she sliced off both legs in two swoops. She then slashed through the mech for the coup de grace, which resulted in its ruin.

The pilot screamed, “NOOOO!!! I won't allow it! Science must prevail!!”

As the remains of the mech went “boom,” a certain beat-up muscle car pulled over near by. Roxy was impressed that it was the readhead that destroyed the combat mecha. With a lopsided grin, the blonde said, “Wow… Nice touch. That sword technique looked very familiar. What style was it?”

“It was from the school of the shooting star phoenix.”

`Hmmm… I know that style. I only know few people here on this planet who know of it,' thought Roxy as she turned to the redhead, “Usually I get mad when my bounty bites the dust like that without showing any real remains, but since you saved my life I'll be cool about it. Anyways, I'm Roxy Hawk, Bounty Hunter.”

“You're welcome… Sorry about your bounty, I was just doing what I thought was right. My name is not important, but instead you can call me Red Angel.”

Their introduction halted at a pained grunt from the wreckage. They rummaged through, finding a slightly charred short bald man. Recognizing who recovered him from the remains, he panicked and pleaded, “You wouldn't harm a defenseless little man like me, would you?”

“If it means getting paid well, I'd consider it,” grinned the blonde, making the man sweat harder.

Red Angel walked up to the man and punched him hard in the gut, dropping him to the ground, then handcuffed him and politely waved her hand at criminal. “I'm sure this would make a good bounty. Wouldn't you think?” she asked, smiling.

Looking at her portable PC, she saw a bio matching the man's description, “Wow… This guy right here, Ernest Bilbo is wanted for murder, identity theft, kidnapping blackmail…. What an impressive bounty. A good 40 grand would do well to fix my car and then some.”

“So…Are you okay?”

“I'll live… A few bruised ribs and a wounded leg aren't going to stop me that easily.”

“Well that's settled I'll be on my way.”

“Wait a minute! You saved my life and took that guy out. I think you should take the money.”

“Nah… I don't need it. All the money in the world won't give me what I want,” the redhead finished with a small longing voice.

“Well… Suit yourself… I know what I want and what I want requires a lot of money,” Roxy grinned as she hoisted her downed bounty, “Thanks for the help… I still owe you one by the way.”

“Okay then… I gotta go. Nice meeting you, Ms. Hawk”, said Red Angel as she drove off on her motorcycle, leaving the Bounty Hunter to her devices.

`I wonder what does she meant by “Money won't give her what she want.”', Roxy asked herself as she stuffs her bounty in the trunk of the car, `I guess getting my ass beaten doing this shit is worth it. As soon as I get my money I'm going to the hospital… Ouchies.'

Three days later, back in the Hawk family household, Darren finished packing his clothes. For the last couple of days, the comfortable-yet-boring atmosphere of his hometown started getting to him. Sure, it was a quiet place, but he needed some time away, and an upcoming martial arts expo coming up in Skyline City sounded just right. The mere thought of the exhibition made his blood boil with excitement, plus, visiting his older city Roxy would be nice as well. Between his cousin and his almost never-ending and exhausting missions, all Darren normally wanted to do was relax. He and Corey had grown restless in the last two weeks, however. The trip west would do them some good in the long run. As he zipped up his black duffle bag, there came a knock on his door. “Come in.”

“Yo, Dee, are you ready?”

“Yeah, Corey…. So when does the plane leave?”

“In three hours… Uncle said we should be leaving in about an hour.” ”I'm ready to go have a ball.” ”Same here… We're going partying every night until the end of summer, Baby. Six months of madness!” ”Especially with the money saved up, we're right as rain.”

“We got the money. All we need now is booze and Females! Yeah!”

“To summer madness,” smirked Darren as he raises his fist toward his cousin.

Corey bumps his knuckles to Darren's. “To Summer Madness!”

To Be Continued