Boogiepop Returns VS Imaginator Part 2

by Kadono. Kouhei

  BOOGIEPOP RETURNS: VS IMAGINATOR PART 2

  © KOUHEI KADONO 1998

  First published in 1998 by Media Works Inc., Tokyo, Japan.

  English translation rights arranged with Media Works Inc.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted In any form without written permission from the copyright holders.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or deed, is entirely coincidental.

  Seven Seas and the Seven Seas logo are trademarks of Seven Seas Entertainment, llC. All rights reserved.

  STAFF CREDITS

  English Translation: Andrew Cunningham

  Layout and Graphic Design: Nicky Lim

  Assistant Editor: Jason DeAngelis

  Editor: Adam Arnold

  Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

  Visit us online at www.gomanga.com.

  ISBN: 1-933164-23-9

  First printing: April, 2006

  Liberation Edition: Sue Dunham

  OCR version 1.0

  * * *

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Front Matter and Art

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Afterword and End Matter

  * * *

  SEVEN SEAS’ COMMITMENT TO TRANSLATION AUTHENTICITY

  JAPANESE NAME ORDER

  To ensure maximum authenticity in Seven Seas’ translation of Boogiepop and Others, all character names have been kept in their original Japanese name order with family name first and given name second. For copyright reasons, the names of Boogiepop creator Kouhei Kadono and illustrator Kouji Ogata appear in standard English name order.

  HONORIFICS

  In addition to preserving the original Japanese name order, Seven Seas is committed to ensuring that honorifics -- polite speech that indicates a person's status or relationship towards another individual -- are retained within this book. Politeness is an integral facet of Japanese culture and we believe that maintaining honorifics in our translations helps bring out the same character nuances as seen in the original work.

  The following are some of the more common honorifics you may come across while reading this and other books:

  -san - The most common of all honorifics, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Generally seen as the equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs., etc.

  -sama - This suffix is one level higher than “-san” and is used to confer great respect upon an individual.

  -dono - Stemming from the word “tono,” meaning “lord,” “-dono” signifies an even higher level than “-sama,” and confers the utmost respect.

  -kun - This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys’ names to express either familiarity or endearment. It can also be used when addressing someone younger than oneself or of a lower status.

  -chan - Another common honorific. This suffix is mainly used to express endearment towards girls, but can also be used when referring to little boys or even pets. Couples are also known to use the term amongst each other to convey a sense of cuteness and intimacy.

  Sempai - This title is used towards one's senior or “superior” in a particular group or organization. “Sempai” is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to upperclassmen as “sempai,” though it is also commonly said by employees when addressing fellow employees who hold seniority in the workplace.

  Kouhai - This is the exact opposite of “sempai,” and is used to refer to underclassmen in school, junior employees at the workplace, etc.

  Sensei - Literally meaning “one who has come before,” this title is used for teachers, doctors, or masters of any profession or art.

  * * *

  “A new possibility…

  occasionally consumes all things like itself…

  before self-destructing.”

  Kirima Seiichi (VS Imaginator)

  * * *

  One year earlier…

  Just before dawn, the coldest wind of the day swept across the world.

  A girl was standing at the edge of the silent school roof.

  “……..”

  The wind whipped her long hair about roughly, as if trying to tear it out.

  Unaffected, she stared back at the shadowy figure that stood with her on the roof.

  “It's a shame, really,” she said with a thoroughly groundless and unsettling smile floating across her face. Not because she was happy, not because she was amused, nor even because she was, instead, much too sad -- there was no reason for it. She just smiled, but with her eyes alone -- her mouth remained locked in a straight line.

  “Ultimately, you too are unable to free yourself from the 'here' and 'now.' Such a shame.”

  “……..”

  The other figure remained silent. It resembled a pipe more than a human with the shadow of the school building enveloping it, leaving it only partially visible.

  “But no matter how long you wait, nothing will ever begin. Eventually, you will float mournfully away, just as your name suggests... vanish with a little pop.”

  She put her hand to her mouth. Her shoulders shook slightly.

  She was laughing.

  The gesture was incredibly natural. How was it possible for anyone to laugh so unaffectedly? It was quite a mystery.

  If her feet shifted a mere ten centimeters, they would find themselves heading swiftly towards a sharp impact with the ground below. But this precarious position had no influence on her laughter.

  The shadow beside her didn't move. It showed no signs of emotion. It was as if it didn't even know what laughter was.

  “Don't you agree, Boogiepop?”

  Addressed by name, the shadow stepped forward.

  “Say what you will. Either way, you are finished here. There is nothing else for you.” The shadow's voice was somewhere neutrally between that of both male and female genders.

  “Hmmm... finished? Really?” The girl failed to flinch before the advancing shadow. She stood her ground. “I think I've barely begun. I don't even have a name yet...”

  A cloud lit ever so slightly by the rays of the rising sun passed by in the darkened sky above. The wind was extremely strong.

  “Then I shall name you now. Existences like yours were dubbed “Imaginator” by the father of the Fire Witch.”

  The shadow continued towards the girl, feet never pausing. The girl was unmoved. She nodded quietly.

  “I read that book too. But it's an awfully prosaic name, isn't it? It lacks romance. How unlike you,” she said, mockingly.

  Her long black hair was now pulled at an almost perfect right angle to her head, as if pouring ink into the river of air around them.

  “Romance... ? I have no such thing. Only normal humans do,” the shadow said, producing an arm from beneath the cloak that covered its body. There was a knife in its hand.

  Faced with the blade's sinister gleam, the girl's lips at last curved upwards.

  Curled into a look of pure confidence.

  “'Love is like snow that falls in April. Unexpected, yet not unforeseen... out of season, it chills you to the core.' Who was it that said that?”

  “…….. !” The shadow stopped in its tracks.

  Because the girl had taken a step backwards, there was nothing b
ehind her and nothing below her.

  “The end of the beginning is also the beginning of the end, Boogiepop. You stopped me here... but that is just the beginning of the next ending.”

  Smiling broadly, the girl's body plunged from the roof, falling towards the garden below.

  There was an ugly, unpleasant sound. The sound of something splattering.

  “……..”

  The shadow stood where it was. It did not rush to the edge and look down.

  It did not need to.

  A vision of the girl floated in thin air in front of the shadow.

  “I have plenty of time before I actually hit the ground. Will you be able to find me before I do?”

  The vision smiled -- once again, only with its eyes.

  Then it gradually faded away, melting into the air.

  Left behind, the shadow stood, knife in hand.

  The wind stopped.

  The sudden silence gave the impression that all movement had left the world.

  On the ground below, a body lay, broken open like a flower that has bloomed. The stain it left behind would take a great deal of time to remove.

  But that was all a year ago...

  Boogiepop

  returns

  VS Imaginator Part 2

  PARADE

  INCLUDING

  “Do You Lie?”

  and “The Sacrifice of Victor”

  * * *

  I

  Nightmares begin before you are aware of them.

  They are extremely difficult to predict or prevent.

  -- Kirima Seiichi (VS Imaginator)

  The mountain was not far from the city center. It had been carefully leveled off, with staircases built up the slopes. But despite the size of it, there was nobody there. The earth was exposed, with nothing growing or living on it besides a few tufts of brown grass barely managing to get through the winter alive. In a few more weeks, weeds would spring up everywhere, and the ground would look even less pleasant, but for the moment, it was simply desolate. Piles of steel and other building supplies lay abandoned, never to be used, near half-- constructed towers left to forlornly rust away.

  Five years before, there had been plans to turn this mountain into an amusement park, with the groundwork having been completed three years ago. But problems with the developers had led to the land becoming repossessed by the bank, which in turn tried, unsuccessfully, to put the land up for auction. Unable to find any buyers, the lot ended up abandoned, the amusement park construction frozen, waiting absently in the faint hope of things getting worked out.

  The land was surrounded by a tall fence that cast long shadows in the sunset, like stripes across the ground.

  A large round shadow fell across those stripes, and leaping down inside the fence came the silhouette of an almost spherical human. As he vaulted the two and a half meter tall fence, his graying hair flew upwards, displaying the torn up flesh where his right ear had once been.

  It was Spooky E. An overloaded convenience store bag hung from his left hand.

  He clicked his tongue, and fussily straightened his hair.

  Through the knotted hair, he scratched at his wound. Blood welled up, getting into his hair, but Spooky E paid it no mind, and kept on scratching, putting his nails into it. It had been almost a month since his ear had been sliced off, but his incessant scratching had prevented the wound from healing. As a synthetic human, Spooky E's healing abilities were far greater than those of an average human, but he was scratching it so persistently that his abilities were unable to compensate.

  As his fingers carved away, he walked further into the unfinished amusement park.

  He reached a strangely-shaped tower, like a spiral reaching towards the sky.

  The entrance was blocked -- not only bolted shut, but also wrapped in chains.

  “............” Spooky E never even glanced at it. He took a short step backwards.

  And, just as he had the fence, he crouched down and took a flying leap all the way up to the third floor, through the empty window frame.

  The floor inside was covered in dust, and garbage carried by the wind was strung here and there. Kicking the mess out of his way, Spooky E stumped across the floor towards the inner staircase. The elevator was an empty shaft, and even if it had been finished, there was no power.

  He climbed to the top floor which was the only one that had had glass placed into its window frames. Viewing this sight, it was as if the construction crew had been working from the top down.

  At last, Spooky E stopped picking at his wounded ear, and sat down in the middle of the empty floor, taking out of the plastic bag onigiri and a pair of sandwiches. It was his lunch, and he was starving.

  As if a thought had just struck him, he took one of the cell phones that hung at his waist, and dialed at an unsettling speed, all ten digits in less than a second.

  The phone barely had time to ring before a girl answered. “This is Kasugai.”

  “Command 700259,” Spooky E said, cramming an entire ham sandwich into his mouth.

  “Understood. Command accepted,” the girl's voice became suddenly mechanical. “Preparation complete. Awaiting details.”

  “Go to the city library and get the key hidden between the Hungarian Dictionary and the Hungarian Phrase Book.”

  “Understood.”

  “The key is for a coin locker at the station. Take the medicine inside and pour it into the drinks at the fast food restaurant you work at. One tab for every three liters.”

  “Understood.”

  “That's all. Command 7 00259, transmission complete.”

  “Understood. Transmission complete. Proceeding to action.”

  Spooky E hung up.

  He put the phone back on his belt, took off another one, and dialed another number.

  “Who is it?” snapped an angry-sounding boy.

  “Command 5400129,” Spooky E muttered.

  “Understood,” the boy said instantly, his voice turning mechanical, just like the girl's had.

  “How many members are on your team currently?”

  “Seven.”

  “Not enough. Make it twelve. This week.”

  “Understood. How?”

  “I don't care. Threaten them, force them, just get them in your group.”

  “Understood.”

  “When you have twelve, take to the streets, and cause a disturbance between Sixth Street and Eighth Sheet. Report who fights back.”

  “Understood.”

  In this instance, “disturbance” meant extortion and theft.

  As he was speaking, a different phone on Spooky E's waist began vibrating.

  Unhurriedly, Spooky E continued his conversation with the boy. Finally, he concluded with, “That's all. Command 5400129, transmission complete.”

  “Understood.”

  Only then did he finally answer the incoming call.

  “What?!”

  “FS450036 Periodic Report.” The voice sounded like an adult woman in her late twenties. But once again, it lacked expression, and was totally mechanical.

  “Any problems?”

  “70% of the spiked cream has been sold. 70% of all customers have come back to the shop, but there have been no noticeable changes.”

  “Send the details like always. Begin stage two on the spiked customers. . .regardless of results.”

  “Understood.”

  In this fashion, from this forgotten, deserted location, munching on convenience store junk food, Spooky E continued giving instructions to the “Terminals” he had brainwashed and hidden throughout the city. He made a seemingly endless series of calls, while receiving an equally endless number. How many people had he brainwashed? Apparently, an unimaginable number. He was like a scalper with tickets for all the hottest gigs.

  They divided roughly into two camps-- those who gave people drugs, and those who observed the results.

  But there were also a few unrelated calls.

  “They say he co
mes out near the expressway overpass.”

  “Someone saw him running along the river.”

  “Rumor has it a shadow like him was seen on the Twin City roof.”

  Calls like that.

  These calls always made Spooky E sullen. Especially the third one, where he shouted, “I know!” into the phone.

  “Shit!” he roared, once the flood of calls subsided. “God damn that Boogiepop!”

  He ground his teeth so hard that blood spurted out of his ear stub.

  He thrust his hand into the plastic bag, but it was empty, simply making a dismal rustle.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  He tore the bag to pieces.

  Flinging the garbage aside, he stomped up to the tower roof, footsteps echoing.

  (Unforgivable! I'm gonna tear him apart with my bare hands! !)

  On the roof, a strong wind was blowing, just like it had when he faced his 'enemy.'

  (He mentioned the Manticore... that fugitive Tarkus was after. But it sounds like he already finished it off... but I'm not telling Axis about him! He's my prey! Nobody else's!)

  He glared at the seven cylinders that stood on the roof.

  They didn't really stand out much among the other building supplies left abandoned here. Even if someone were to notice them, they would never guess they had been placed here much later. But inside each of them was a 'disinfectant' strong enough to bring 'death' to every living thing around.

  (If it comes to it, I'll use these on him if I have to.)

  Blood spurted out of his ear stump again. He stopped it with his hands, and whispered, “But... but that other name he said... 'Imaginator.' What the hell is that?”

  Spooky E stood for a moment glumly, then his expression suddenly sharpened, and he glared down at the park below him.

  “Mm... ?”

  Someone was standing at the locked gate at the entrance to the park.