some of the characters are a little different.....
Sleazy Bob's. Gathering place of the lowest dregs of society. Located in downtown Neo-Tokyo, it was surrounded by death and decay; a whole different type of life.
Inside wasn't much better. People were passed out on the floor. Whores were trying to sell themselves while the drunks were busy drowning in pools of their own vomit. The lighting was horrible. That was probably a good thing though, considering the type of people that frequented this dive.
Back in the corner, by an antique jukebox playing some old rock and roll song from the 1980s over and over and an archaic video game machine featuring a game called "Ms. Pac-Man," five young men sat around a rickety old table drinking cheap booze that was more water then not.
"So," said Kaneda. "What are we gonna do 'bout the Clowns?" Being the oldest of the group, at a respectable nineteen, Kaneda was naturally the leader. He glanced around the table at his friends.
Across from him sat Shichiroji. He was slightly shorter than Kaneda, and had a rather large build with strong, calloused hands. He was a whiz with motorcycles. Next to Shichiroji sat Hideki. Being only thirteen, Hideki was the youngest of the group, but by far not the least experienced. He had already taken down nine Clowns.
On Kaneda's left was was Kayashi. He was the weapons expert of the group. It was rumored that he could make a pipe-bomb out of a Twinkie and a stick of gum. He was a regular MacGyver. Finally, on Kaneda's right was Tetsuo. He was fifteen, and the only one of the group to have made it past the eighth grade. He and Kaneda were cousins, and both were orphans.
"Let's find out where they're hangin' and shoot 'em full of holes!" suggested Shichiroji, who had obviously been enjoying his alcohol a little too much.
Kaneda sighed. "Shichiroji, would you please, for once, think with your head and not your gun?"
"Gee, sorry Kaneda," he muttered.
"Any other bright ideas?" Kaneda asked, turning to Tetsuo.
Scratching his chin, Tetsuo said, "I heard from this guy at Choril's that the Clowns always hang out at the, uh, hotel down the block. They'll probably go there later tonight."
"Good work, Tetsuo," Kaneda said. Tetsuo smiled. "Around two we'll head down there and take care of them. They oughtta be pretty tanked by then." Words of agreement were uttered all around the table.
Kaneda sat back in his chair, his back resting against the wall. As the rest of the group began to talk amongst themselves, Kaneda closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. I hope I know what I'm doing, he thought. This will be Tetsuo's first big fight. Hope nothing happens to him.
As the night wore on, and the group continued to talk amongst each other, a motorcycle pulled up the front of the bar. No one seemed to notice. Seconds later gunfire burst out, shattering the window. Everyone dove for the floor.
"It's a clown!" shouted Hideki over the gunfire. A bullet embedded itself into the floor mere centimeters from his legs. "Let's get 'em!"
From underneath the table Kaneda pulled out his gun and started firing into the street. The rest of the gang quickly followed suit. Several long moments passed. Guns were blazing and voices were shouting. Anything that was moving got shot at. After a minute or so, the Clown was out of ammunition. Kaneda and his gang were also out of ammunition. Long tension-filled seconds passed. Two more motorcycles slowly rumbled up the street to join the first one. Through the smoke and debris they could faintly be seen. They started talking in low voices, apparently excited about something. One of them gestured towards something down the street. The others nodded in agreement. After throwing a few quick glances into the bar, the three Clowns drove away.
Slowly, most of the patrons picked themselves up from the floor and dusted themselves off. A few would never stand again, and nobody would miss them.
"There goes anudda winda, Bob!" one of the drunks said.
"Shut yer trap, screwball!" came the reply. The drunk muttered something, and stumbled his way over to a still-intact seat.
Reloading their weapons, Kaneda and his gang made their way to what was left of the door. "Be damned if them wasn't Clowns!" said Hideki. "They got some nerve shootin' the hell outta our bar!"
"Yeah!" agreed Shichiroji. "Let's go kick their asses!" He, along with Kayashi and Hideki, ran for their motorcycles. Tetsuo stayed with Kaneda, expecting a reprimand for the outburst. None came.
"For once, Roji," Kaneda said, holstering his gun in his jacket, "I couldn't agree with you more!" Shichiroji beamed; praise like that didn't come often. Tetsuo just shrugged and ran for his bike. Kaneda did likewise.
Jumping onto the fire-red bike, he pused the "start" button and the small nuclear engined flared to life. Reving the throttle several times, he waved his hand in the direction the Clowns went.
"Come on boys, let's ride!" he shouted, shooting off down the street. With squeeling tires and burning rubber, the rest of the gang followed. It was time to stomp some Clown ass.
* * *
"Can you believe those punk-ass kids thought they could hide from us?" asked one of the Clowns, the one who had shot up the bar, as they made their way down the street to the whore house. He let out a thunderous bellow, loud even over the roar of the motorcycles, and looked to the companion on his left. The other Clown was a bear of man. His huge, muscled arms bulged out of his vest. His legs, long and massive, were almost too big for the bike he was on. Streetlights glinted off of his bald head. He turned his head and grinned, showing his teeth. All seven of them.
The middle clown laughed again, and turned towards his other companion, quickly swerving out of the way of a rather large pothole. This third Clown was the exact opposite of the large one. His clothing hung off of his small, sinewous body. He had long black hair, pulled back in a pony-tail.
"Are we still going to Miyako's tonight?" he asked, not diverting his gaze from the road.
"Sure, I 'spose we could do that!" the middle Clown said. There was a few moments of relative silence. He heard a quiet humming noise behind him. Recognizing it as the sound of a Z25-F, a small motorcyle built for speed, he turned his head to take a look.
"Sonuvabitch!" he swore to himself. A fraction of a second later there was a loud noise and a flash of light. That light was the last thing the Clown ever saw. An instant later the right side of his face vanished in a spray of blood and bone. Tetsuo rocketed by laughing, smoke still wafting from the barrel of his gun.
The Clown let out an involuntary gurgle and fell off the bike. Carried by its momentum, the bike continued for several moments. It started to weave, then rolled over. The two remaining Clowns deftly split apart and avoided getting caught in the ensuing explosion.
The larger Clown waved towards an alley on the right, and receiving acknowledgement from his partner, quickly took the next left. The other Clown turned into the alley.
Kaneda and the rest of his gang pulled up to the dead Clown as Tetsuo made his way back, his gun still drawn. "Nice shot," said Kaneda. He turned off the cycle and walked over to the dead Clown. Kicking him in the ribs, he knelt down and began searching the pockets.
"What d'ya want us to do wit 'em?" asked Kayashi. "We can't just leave him here."
Satisfied that he had found everything of value, Kaneda stood up. "Yeah, you're right. Kayashi, Hideki, take this piece of trash somewhere he won't be found." They immediately followed the order. "Tetsuo, Roji, you go find that fat Clown and take him out. I'll take the small one."
"Right, Boss!" said Roji. Starting up his bike, he and Testuo took off.Kaneda jumped on his cycle, started it up, and shot of towards the other Clown. He knew he had turned right, but other than that he had no idea where he was.
Turning into the same alley as the Clown did, Kaneda was surprised to see him at the other end talking on a cellular phone. As the Clown talked he was looking around in an anxious manner.
"Probably calling for backup," Kaneda said to himself. I'll fix that! He pulled his gun out, took aim, and shot. He hit the Clown. Almost.
Missing by no more than a centimeter, Kaneda blew the phone out of the Clown's hand. A moment later he saw Kaneda. "Shit!" he yelled, running for his bike. Kaneda put his gun away and took of down the alley, manuevering around the piles of garbage and broken crates. The Clown made for the highway.
"Oh, great," muttered Kaneda. He opened up the throttle and chased after him. The Clown was quite a ways up the road, so Kaneda throttled the bike some more. The front wheel was beginning to slightly lift of the road.
Rounding a corner, Kaneda found himself on a long straight-away leading to the governmental part of the city. "Nowhere for that bastard to hide now!" laughed Kaneda as he attempted to close the gap between him and the Clown.
Pulling up next to to the Clown, Kaneda reached for him. The Clown had other ideas. He smashed Kaneda's arm with a metal pipe. "Damn!" sore Kandea, pulling away from the Clown. He could see huge skyscrapers looming in the distance, getting ever closer by the moment. The CLown saw this too and decided he needed to take out Kaneda soon. Reaching into his vest he pulled out a gun. Aiming it at Kaneda, he fired.
Lucky for Kaneda, he sat low to the ground with the steering column shielding him somewhat. The bullet hit the column, destroying the circuits. Kaneda lost the ability to steer the bike.
"Oh, Christ!" he swore, vainly attempting to move the handle bars. "Bullet must've severed the break line as well!" he muttered, squeezing the brake to no avail. The Clown, satisfied that Kaneda was thoroughly screwed, took the next offramp, leaving him to his impending doom.
Closing fast on the buildings, Kaneda quickly ran out of options. He'd tried everything but nothing had worked. In a last-ditch effort, Kaneda jumped off of the bike.
Hitting the ground at over a hundred fifty kilometers per hour, Kaneda did his best to roll with the impact. It didn't help much. His arms and legs were broken, as well as his hip, collar bone and seven ribs. His spinal column cracked. Lying on the ground, drifting into unconsciousness, he heard his motorcycle crash into one of the buildings and explode. The last thing he thought of before everything went dark was how much a new motorcycle was going to cost him.