I don't own these characters or profit from them.

Burst Angel Episode 24: Alternate Ending

Meg stared up at the scarf caught on the piece of reckage. Her heart twisting she forced a smile and turned away. Jo had taken down her enemies. She had never been able to shake her need to fight and Meg was happy that at least she had taught Jo to fight for the right reason. "Goodbye Jo…" She pulled Jo's jacket around her shoulders and started walking.

"Wait a second!" She turned around for a closer look. The scarf was tied to that pole! Scrambling up the rubble to where the scarf was tied. Taped to the side was a note. She picked it up and read it. "Oh my god…"

Amy sat back and watched on television as people began picking up the wreckage and cheering as they overtuned police cars. RIPT was down for the count. Then her phone began to ring. "Yes?"

"Amy, it's Meg. Jo and Sei have been kidnapped."

"Meg and Sei were kidnapped?"

"No, Jo and Sei were kidnapped!"

"Sorry Meg, force of habit."

"They want a billion yen or they'll kill them."

Amy said, "Well we can't pay them off or they'll kill us anyway." She paused. "But just in case you can buy time if they are watching for money transfers. Go talk to Sei's grandfather and ask for the money. If nothing else we can use it for bait. I'll call Leo and see if we can come up with a plan."

"Thanks…"

"Hey, why didn't they get you too?"

Meg flinched and rubbed the side of her head. "They left without me. I don't have time to get into the details."

Amy smirked. "She knocked you out."

"Shut up!" The phone clicked off.

Amy chuckled and said, "Loser."

Jo was pinned up against a steel wall, held in place with magnetic field generator and the metalic bracelets on her wrist and ankle. Her right arm and left leg were now robot replacements. Her cuts, burns, and broken bones were4 all bandaged up while she lay against the cold metal surface.

The purple haired gang boss, the same man who had helped her rescue Meg, sat at a table not too far away. "Sorry to leave you up there like that, but considering what you did to the guy who pulled you and your friend there out of the rubble, I think it's best if you remain stuck until your friends come to get you." He smiled nervously. "Nothing personal. But you're dangerous. Besides we ain't too sure how those cybernetics are going to respond to you. It's nothing personal."

"I understand." Jo said.

Sei squirmed in her chair. "So why am I tied up?"

"You used to be a high ranking officer in an enemy syndicate," he said. "Until I have confirmation that the cops and your old friends are down I ain't taking any chances."

One of his men went over to Jo and looked her over. "Come on boss, can't I play with her a bit?"

"I wouldn't," he said.

Reaching out the man began pawing Jo's tiny breasts. "What's she gonna do? Those restraints can hold-" Jo's human leg shot out and kicked him across he face on an arch as the magnetic field she had torn it away from reingaged and slammed it back down, crossed over the other one. He flew across the room, his teeth flying in another direction.

"Told you," the boss said. He nodded to his scared men. "Pick him up and go see the doctor."

Sei's grandfather paid out the money without a second thought and added a bit more just to be on the safe side. Meg thanked him and went to the meeting place. When she did she found herself at a large warehouse in one of the worst areas of town. Inside she stood in the only lit area surrounded by darkness.

The men came out to greet her, making the usual comments about how pretty she was and what they would like to do to her. Meg ignored them. Her eyes were on the leader. "Where are Jo and Sei?"

"Right here." He snapped his fingers and the lihts came on.

Meg gasped. Sei was badly bruises and it looked like she had been… well in an explosion actually. Jo looked a lot worse. Most of her skin was a dark purple bruise and Meg's eyes travelled immediately to the missing limbs as their replacements reflected the light.

Swallowing she tossed him the case. "There is your money."

"You ransomed us?" Sei asked.

"We just asked for a bit of cash for saving your lives and setting Jo there up with those temporary prostetics." He winked. "Like I told you, she should really get to a doctor and get some replacements. Those won't be much good in a fight." He looked at Meg. "The switch to let her loose is on the wall over there. See you around." He and his men disappeared into the shadows.

Meg walked over to Jo. Glaring and gritting her teeth she lashed out with her right hand, slapping her across the face. "You bitch! I can't believe you knocked me out and left me like that."

Jo didn't even flinch. "I had to do it."

"You're lucky I'm not wearing a gauntlet like you were." She pouted, her lower lip sticking out. "So, are you ready to run away with me now? You beat all the bad guys, can we leave? And you promise to stay with me forever and ever?"

Jo nodded. "Yes."

"Good. If you had said no I was going to leave you here." She moved over to Sei and began untying her. "Sei, we're not going to be coming back. Leo is leaving with that Osaka chick and he gave me Django."

Sei rubbed her wrists. "What about Amy?"

"She wants to stay with you," Meg said. "She already put through the adoption papers."

"Really?" Sei smiled. "So if I had happened to die then legally she would have been entitled to inherit my family's entire fortune."

"I'm sure she never even thought of that," she winked at Jo who smiled a little. Then she went to the wall and flipped the switch.

Jo landed on her feet, stumbling sharply. The machines were low quality and when she moved various machine sounds came from inside. "Damn these things are crap." She took a step. "And they're heavy as hell."

"We'll get you some new ones later, after we leave town." Meg moved over and Jo put her arm over the smaller girl's shoulder's, smiling as Meg's breasts rubbed against her. "I don't want you running off anywhere anyway."

"Good prstetics are expensive." Sei said. "If you can stick around I could…"

"No, we'll be fine," Meg said. "I want to get out of Tokyo as soon as possible. Possibly out of the whole country. In about a day everyone will know what RAPT was planning and I don't want to be here when it hits the fan."

"Where will you go?"

"Better if you don't know. But we'll be in touch in a while, when things settle down here wioth you and them." She winked. "Just make sure nobody tries to take up where RAPT left off or Jo will have to come back and if that happens I'll be really pissed."

"I'm shaking in my boots." Sei said. Meg giggled and she and Jo walked outside where their mecha was waiting. After they left she wondered, "What did she mean when she said me and them?"

It took a week for Sei to track down the gang that Meg had paid off. She broke in surrounded by her private security forces. The gang's leader smiled at them. "Something I can help you with?"

"You charged my family over a billion dollars in US currency to release me? Did you honestly think you could get away with that?"

The gang leader sttood up. "What are you talking about?"

"The ransom Meg paid for me and Jo."

"There was no ransom!" He said. One of his men moved on one of Sei's and got gut checked witht eh rifle of a gun. "Hey, watch it."

"I saw her pay you."

"I know. And like I told you then, that was about two hundred thousand yen for the medical assistance we gave you two. I even gave her a discount because I still owed Jo for stoping a psycho for me a few months back!" He shook her head. "Why would I rip you off? Since you took down the cops and syndicates we're making a fortune setting up as the new heads of the underground. We wouldn't even need your money!"

Sei frowned. "But Meg took…" She paused. "No way."

The gang lord got it and grinned. "Oh that's good. Hey, if you want to get that money back from those girls, can I watch?"

Sei bit her lower lip and grinned. "Those double dealing little bitches." In her earpiece she could hear Amy laughing. She looked at the gang lord. "So you're in charge of th whole underground now?"

"Getting there."

Sitting down on an old and very dirty couch Sei crossed her legs. "Then maybe we can do some business."

Kyouhei was working in a small restaurant in Paris as a pastry chef. He had gotten the job after finishing his training and was very well paid because he had previous experience as a personal chef. His manager came in the back where he was cooking and said, "Kyou, some ladies out here wish to give their regards to the chef."

"Really?"

"Yes. And they are very beautiful too."

Taking off his apron and doing a quick check in the mirror much to the manager's ammusement, he went out. "Did someone ask for me?"

"Hello Kyouhei," a familiar voice said in Japanese.

Kyouhei stared in shock. Meg and Jo sat at a table, decked out in designer outfits. Meg wore a clingy yellow top and blue skirt with matching yellow pumps. Her hair was pulled back in an eleborate braid and was half red and half purple.

Jo sat across from her, sipping a bit of juice through a straw. She wore a white sundress with sunflowers on it and a straw hat. Her hair was long and she had a shiny new artificial leg and arm and her hair was down past her shoulders. He was so surprised that she was in a dress that he would almost have never recognized her if she were not playing with a switch blade knife that was flicking in and out of her cyborg arm. She was actually smiling. Both of them had matching small gold wedding rings on their ringfingers.

"So Kyou," Meg said. "Jo and I have this big new house out in the country nearby. We were wondering if you might be interested in a job as our personal chef. I hear you've gotten even better since we last saw you."

"Uh…" He flashed back on all the dangerous things he had to do before. The close calls, the near death experiences.

Suddenly Jo's ear rang and she brushed aside her hair. Kyouhei could see an earpiece phone. She looked at Meg. "We have a job. Someone wants us to escort some weapons to the border. They think it could get a little dangerous."

Meg nodded and glanced over the Kyouhei. "Well?"

"Uh, I have to give my boss two week's notice," he said.

Jo nodded. "See you then."

The sun was momentarily blocked out by a large mecha appearing overhead. Around them people gasped in shock. When the shadow passed Meg and Jo were gone.

Author's Note

I just saw Burst Angel and thought the ending could use a slight tweek. Especially since if you look that scarf is tied in place. Even the audio commentary mentioned that one. So here is how I would have ended it. Goodbye Jo my ass. Tell me what you think. Also keep an eye out for my new book "How to be an Anime Character" available from Amazon this February.