Adventures in Parodyverse: A Random Shooting, Part 6


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“There is a French restaurant in Gothametropolis called Le Toilette.  It’s a rare one for that city, because various celebrities visit there,”  Lara Night explained.  “Including scheduling press interviews.  I had one such press interview a few weeks ago.”

    And those press interviews were set up very professionally.  There was a private room in the restaurant, and invited press members would wait there, separate from the diners, for their interviewee to arrive.

    In this case, it was Lara Night.  Having appeared recently in commercials advancing the cause of the homeless, two local newspapers and one television station planned a fifteen minute interview with her at the restaurant.

    She was picked up from the Lair Mansion in a limousine outfitted with many snacks and drinks, and a television and computer, to keep her occupied during the trip to GMY.  The trip, through traffic, took nearly a half hour.

    Though they weren’t invited, there were paparazzi outside taking pictures of Lara’s arrival.  They were momentarily confused when two limousines arrived at once - the other was the mayor of GMY, Velma Klein, and her entourage, for a dinner reservation.  Once they realized it was her, they turned their backs on her, and crowded around the other limo.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Velma wasn’t too happy about that,”  Lara explained to Chiaki.  “So she got the attention of the press by telling the police officers in her motor escort to arrest me for operating as a super-hero in her city without a license.”

    Lara looked at the mayor, and at the officers.  She explained that this was just a restaurant, and that it wasn’t an appropriate place for a confrontation.  Besides, she said, she wasn’t ‘operating’ at all, she was just another guest at a popular restaurant.

    The mayor insisted; so Lara attempted to compromise by apologizing to the press and immediately canceling the interview.  She got back into her limo and asked to be returned to the Lair Mansion before the GMY police could take any further action.

    Once the blonde was leaving, the mayor decided to save face at losing the chance to arrest her by telling the press present that she was let off with a warning, but if she ever returned to GMY again, she should watch her back.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I did return to GMY, to peek at the Foundation,”  Lara summed up.  “Jay wasn’t there, so I didn’t really get to look around.  But I did tell Judge Jupiter, who was there, that the mayor’s threats weren’t going to keep me out.  There were quite a few random people present, and I guess they heard me, and it got back to the mayor somehow.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s definitely possible.”  Chiaki agreed.  “But why would she have you killed instead of arresting you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t know.”  Lara replied.  “Most likely she mentioned it to someone else who had access to ninja and snipers.  I guess the question is who.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Akiko did say it was government.”  Chiaki pointed out.  “Someone with a chip on their shoulder who Velma riled up, and then pointed--”  She stopped before finishing that sentence.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s wrong?”  Lara asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That logo.”  Chiaki whispered.  “The one on the uniforms of the ninja.  I remember it now.  I know the person who executed this contract.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You know them?”  Lara asked.

    The Samurai nodded, and she had a vaguely worried look in her eyes as she replied.  “He had a martial arts school called ‘The Solution’, and he was using his students to commit crimes.  I defeated him, and he was arrested.  Then he took the name of his school as his own nickname, and began hiring out his former students.  I’m not entirely sure when he started hiring out snipers as well.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Snipers are easy to get,”  Lara pointed out.  “They’re usually already trained by the military, or are self-trained rural anarchists.”

    Chiaki stared at her for a moment, and then laughed when she realized Lara was joking about the last part.  “That always impressed me about you, Lara, how you can laugh during the most dire situation.”

    Lara shrugged.  “It’s how I deal with it, so I don’t feel unimaginably terrified.  So I guess we have to find this Solution guy and bust him before he kills me?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And me.”  Chiaki added.  “He likely would see killing me as a bonus for humiliating him.  And Akiko too...he’s really into scorched earth destruction.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We have to find him first.”  Lara pointed out.

    The Samurai nodded in agreement.  “They got here somehow.  We have to go outside and find the vehicles they arrived with.  The plates and contents will provide many clues.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They’re going to be guarded.”  Lara pointed out.

    Chiaki smiled.  “That...is where you come in.”


---


    This wasn’t Lara’s first moment as a super-hero.  She understood completely when she heard Chiaki’s words, only a split second before the Samurai opened a hidden emergency exit into the alley next to the building.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hit them hard.”  Chiaki warned.  “They will be prepared.”

    A moment later, the Asian nearly regretted her words as the alley lit up with a blinding blue/white flash of electricity, accompanied an instant later by a deafening explosive ‘boom’.  There was smoke, and the unmistakable smell of burned flesh.  Four ninja lay quivering on the concrete, thinking they were hidden alongside the building.  

    Chiaki took the keys off of one of them.

    The car did indeed contain a big clue - a GPS on the dash, while turned off, revealed the origin point of its last navigation request once it was switched on.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Bingo.”  Chiaki whispered.  Then she climbed into the driver’s seat and prompted Lara to get in.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why are we stealing their car?”  Lara asked.

    Chiaki explained, “Their master likely has cameras around his compound.  We don’t want him escaping before we ever get to his door.”

    As she spoke, she tapped the button on the GPS screen to reverse the directions.  She drove out of the alley quickly, just as the police arrived.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why don’t we send the cops after him?”  Lara asked.  “We know two detectives, after all.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Money.”  Chiaki plainly replied.  “The Solution has an obscene amount.  He lives in Gothametropolis, which means his money gets him far indeed.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We have to go to GMY again?”  Lara sighed, and sarcastically added,  “Great.”

    The GPS announced their arrival just as they passed a set of cameras at the gate of a compound surrounded by high concrete walls, tipped with razor wire.  Then Chiaki stopped suddenly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s wrong?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He knows we’re here.”  Chiaki said.  Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, staring at a target that Lara could not see.  “He’s going to escape.”

    And just as she said that, a car zoomed down a parallel driveway neither of them noticed, and left through a metal door further down the wall.

    The Samurai threw the car into reverse and backed up into the street violently enough to squeal the tires.  She then put it in gear again and took off after the other car.

    Engine roaring at full throttle, they raced down a residential street at dangerous speeds, flying past parked cars and through one stop sign after the other, staying on the tail of the other car.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m depending on you, Lara, so please keep your eyes open.”  Chiaki was referring to the blonde using her abilities to keep them from being killed in a crash.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We’re being followed.”  Lara pointed out, noticing the two other cars chasing them at high speed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“More ninja.”  Chiaki replied.

    The lead car skidded to a halt in front of the Foundation.  It seemed like too much of a coincidence; but the fact was The Solution knew it was the most complex - and easy to hide in - publicly open building in GMY.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Keep the ninja busy.”  Chiaki asked Lara as she stopped the car very close to the building.  “There will be more coming.  Make them follow you indoors, in case there are more snipers.  I must go after The Solution.”

    Lara got out first, and made sure she was between Chiaki and the ninja who were just exiting their cars.  She then turned and ran after the Samurai.  Then she stopped.

    There were sirens.  Nobody could have called police that quickly...unless they were called by The Solution, via Mayor Klein, coming to arrest the wrong people.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I hope this ends quickly.”  Lara whispered as she ran inside.


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin