BGC Presents: Bubble Gum Explosion: Episode #2: Night of Terror Part 1

Date: Tuesday, January 2, 2035

Last year was rough on everyone. Not only were there the typical boomer rampages, but with the current outbreak of crimes that were committed by normal people, the AD Police and the Normal Police were swamped. Nene was content to know that with the Knight Sabers back up to full strength once again there would be a drop in the rampaging boomers. Or so she hoped. Something about having Shaelynn as a member of the Knight Sabers did not sit well with her. It also did not sit too well with Linna as well. She did not know what it was, but what she did know was that Shaelynn's problems with Linna would eventually cause a rift to form in the Knight Sabers. That was something that she knew could not be allowed to happen. In fact Nene believed that Sylia was trying to prevent that from happening as well.

She remembered how much that they had to do in order to convince Shaelynn that he would be valuable help. It was not an easy task, because Shaelynn found fault with every single rule of the Knight Sabers. How in the world could one person be so picky and yet so nice all at the same time she will never know. Especially the one that stated no solo actions. Nene could tell that Shaelynn was not the type of person that would let rules bog him down. Nene had no idea what was said, but she could tell that Sylia had said something to him that made him agree. If she only knew what was up between the two of them. For that matter why was he being so secretive with all of them in the first place. She wondered if he really trusted them at all.

Linna was still not happy with the fact that they would be working with an Esper. It was common knowledge between Sylia, Linna and her that Shaelynn was an Esper and he wanted it to stay that way for some time to come. What bugged her the most was the fact that Linna hated Espers so much. Nene still wanted to know what it was about Espers that Linna hated so much. On top of which Nene knew that Shaelynn was still not being as truthful as he could be. She was of the opinion that he was still hiding something from them. The only question being was what was he hiding and why?

Letting out a long sigh, Nene waited until her shift was over and then she would be able to meet Shaelynn for some dessert. He had promised her that if she was able to get better in physical combat then he would treat her to six weeks of desserts. That was when he had the time. She knew that his time was divided between his shop and Com-Tech. Plus with the way that Sylia was acting lately it was beginning to become obvious to her and Linna that she was starting to become emotionally involved with Shaelynn. Nene was curious as to what was said that caused such a change in their leader. She wondered if Shaelynn said something right.

It showed back in September of last year when Sylia was nearly killed by The Hacker. Shaelynn had stayed by her side until she was able to do things for herself. Nene thought that was very sweet of him. It was the first time that she saw a gentle side to Shaelynn. She wondered if the rumors that she heard about him were true. Nene thought that Shaelynn was another Priss. After she saw his gentle side, she knew different. It also laid to rest the suspicions that he was more than human. Of course Nene had her doubts about that all together. She wondered how the rule of not getting involved with a man would apply to their first non female member. As she thought about it, she came to the conclusion that Sylia probably never intended to have any male members in the first place.

Looking at the clock, Nene saw that it was now time for her to be off work. Walking over to the time clock, Nene wondered if today would be quiet, or if it would be a busy day as usual. Shrugging, Nene clocked out and waited for Shaelynn to pick her up. Since her scooter was in the shop Shaelynn had offered to take her to and from work.

******

Shaelynn woke up, as usual, half wrapped up in the covers of his bed. He could swear that this was a conspiracy to never allow him to get a good nights sleep. Pulling himself out of the tangle of sheets and quilts, Shaelynn wanders to his bathroom to wake up. Finishing his shower, Shaelynn got dressed and decided what he was going to do that day. He finally decided on going to his shop to work on several of his custom jobs that he had taken on in the past three months. On top of which he had to take Nene to work. She had wrecked her scooter last month and he was working on it as well. It still amazed him how she was able to wreck it the way that she did.

By around three in the afternoon, Shaelynn saw that it was time to treat Nene to her dessert for today. It was a part of his bargain that he made with her. However, he also told her that she also needed to exercise off all of the sweets as well. Wether or not she listened to him was another story all together. Frankly he did not care one way or the other. It was her life and if she wanted to ruin it then it was none of his concern. Closing the shop early that day, Shaelynn then went to pick up Nene and then they went to the malt shop that they agreed on when she fulfilled her end of the bargain that they made. It amazed him that one woman could put away so much dessert and then still be able to fit into a form-fitting suit of power armor. Then again so could he and he would not even gain a pound.

"So Nene, how was work," Shaelynn asked.

"Long and tiresome," Nene said as she sipped on her chocolate shake. "You know I've been meaning to ask you about Sylia."

"What about her," Shaelynn asked. He was over sensitive about her since she was nearly killed on one of their missions at the end of 2034. Since then he was edgy about every mission since then.

"Well what I wanted to ask you if you two were a couple or not," Nene asked.

"Well yeah we are," Shaelynn said as he took too large of a bite of his banana split. Shaelynn got an ice-cream headache and it made Nene giggle. "Why do you ask?"

"Well Sylia has been avoiding my question constantly. So I thought I would ask you instead," Nene said.

"Well Nene we have been together for some time. Our relationship is kinda awkward at best. I mean I have never had a girlfriend at all and well this is Sylia's first relationship as well."

"Then you don't know about him then?"

"Who?"

"Well there was this guy that she was friends with in highschool. Let's just say that she wanted to be even closer to him but always kept her distance due to the fact that she wanted to remain focused on school. Plus what I found out about him was that he was kinda of quiet and shy. You could almost say that he was cold to everyone. Nobody knew why he was that way. He could of had anyone but chose either not to, or did not have anyone that was interested in him."

"How did you find this out?"

"I asked your computer to help me out."

"Nene I am shocked," Shaelynn said. "You asked Michael to help you? The person that you were talking about was me. She told me this just recently. Yes I was shy and not for those reasons. I was not cold, just trying to be friendly, but with what I am it is kinda hard to be friends with anyone. You should know the reasons why I could never get close to anyone?"

"No I don't know why."

"Well Nene it has to do with my powers and the fact that I was ridiculed by people for having them."

"Oh, I see." Nene said feeling very guilty.

"Nene, there is a reason that we haven't said anything yet. The reason is because we are trying to keep our relationship personal and that is it," Shaelynn said. "Please don't tell Linna. Ok? Besides I don't want to be thinking with my heart on another job."

"I won't," Nene said. "Besides we have to be at Sylia's in a few hours anyway. She says that it is time for us to upgrade our suits."

"Let's discuss this in the car," Shaelynn said as he indicated the two new people that had just entered the building. One was about Shaelynn's height and was built like a tank. The other person was a woman that so beautiful that every person in the building stopped and stared at her. Both male and female customers were finding it hard not to stare at her. Shaelynn could tell that she was a 33-S. She moved with too much grace to be anything other than a 33-S. Then again he could be wrong about that as well. He had only seen one normal human that moved with that amount of grace. That person was his mother. The man with her on the other hand was a mystery to him. He wondered if he was a very cleverly disguised boomer or not. He knew that if he had to defend himself against him there would be no way that he could without displaying his powers.

Getting in the car, Shaelynn could swear that they both turned and watched him. Not giving it much thought at the moment, Shaelynn drove off to Sylia's place. On the way over Shaelynn decided to continue the conversation with Nene.

"Now why does Sylia want to upgrade now," Shaelynn asked.

"Well this is the regular time that Sylia upgrades the suits," Nene said. "Besides I am sure that your suit could use an overhaul."

"Nene, I just updated my suit's programs last week."

"You know that Sylia will be upset with you!" Nene said as she playfully jabbed him in the ribs. "If she found out then I pity you. She could cut you off."

Shaelynn winced in pain at Nene's comment. He also squirmed just a little bit in the seat.

"Not funny Nene," Shaelynn said as he glared at her. "I really don't appreciate that type of a remark."

"Sorry about that," Nene said. "But you know that she will be upset with you."

"I am aware of that and quite frankly I am not concerned," Shaelynn said with an icy edge to his voice. "If she want to complain about it then she can take it up with me personally."

With that the rest of the trip was made in silence. Nene was wondering why Shaelynn was being defensive. Perhaps there were some things going on that she did not know about. Nene knew that Shaelynn was not the type of person to share what he was feeling. In doing that he reminded her so much of Priss it was not funny. Some times it was scary how he would be so cold to people. It made Nene shiver a bit to think about it.

'Then again, the rumors about him might be true after all,' Nene thought.

She only wished that he was seeing her instead of Sylia since she could have been able to get him to open up more. Maybe she was kidding herself or maybe she was just being honest with herself when she decided that Shaelynn and Sylia were best for each other. As she looked at him she got the feeling that he was still acting cold to everyone. This was beginning to unnerve her. In fact she was a bit scared.

Scared because she did not know if he would turn on her and attack her. She remembered that it was last year when he nearly attacked Linna for accusing him of trying to save his own hide. Nene knew differently, and tried desperately to stop Shaelynn from killing Linna. Fortunately she did not have to try to hard since all Shaelynn did was scare the crap out of Linna.

Shaelynn, on the other hand, was deciding how he was going to tell Sylia that he needed to resign from the Knight Sabers. He had been offered a job that was worth going solo for a while. He planned to keep his relationship with Sylia and maybe after Christmas he would ask her to marry him. Yet that was moving too fast, so he put that idea on hold until they had been together for at least two years. That would be fine if he survived that long. He was not kidding himself that the mission that he had might be his last. Then again that was what he thought of every mission that he went on since he started this campaign against Genom.

When they arrived at the training facilities, Shaelynn went into the changing room and put on one of the measuring suits that Sylia insisted that everyone use. It was tight and quite frankly Shaelynn hated it. Once he got it on, Shaelynn padded into the main training room. As he surveyed the room he noticed that the room had various devices that measured different things.

'Too complex,' Shaelynn thought acidly. 'I never needed this much equipment to test myself.'

Even though he was smart, he could not even begin to understand everything that those machines did. Glancing at Linna, Shaelynn noticed that she was laughing at him. The mental static that she was broadcasting was enough to drive Shaelynn crazy. Ignoring her, Shaelynn walked over to the control panel that Sylia was at. Looking at the read out Shaelynn saw that Nene was now on level six of the reflex training simulator. He was impressed none to say the least. Now if he could only convince her to try a bit harder. Maybe, just maybe she could achieve level seven before the year was out.

"Hey there Sylia," Shaelynn said as he came up beside her. "So what is it exactly that you needed me for?"

"Well I am building you a new suit and I need to make sure that you are up to my specifications as far as combat goes," Sylia said coldly.

"My suit works fine for me," Shaelynn said matter of factly. "Why would I want to have a different suit?"

"Let's just say that I would feel comfortable if your suit was not sending Nene's scanners into near burn out," Sylia said.

"I am sorry, but I need the power output that high in order to preform up to my standards," Shaelynn said. "Besides, my suit is the only one that would work if I decided to step up my speed and agility."

"How does it do that," Sylia asked. This was the first time that she had heard that Shaelynn could do something like that. "You never left that data for me."

"Whoops I knew that there was something I forgot to leave for you last week," Shaelynn said. He did not leave it with her for a reason. "Easy way to explain is to test my reflexes twice and then you will see a difference."

"I see," Sylia said. "Nene you have one minute left."

In that one minute Shaelynn saw that Nene could not get the last attack point. When Linna walked over she was amazed that Nene had managed to get even two of them.

"Elimination," Sylia said over the speaker.

When Nene came out of the room Shaelynn was shocked that she did not clear that level yet. Nene was sad that she did not clear it like she thought she could.

"Not a bad attempt Nene," Shaelynn said. "With some more practice you should be able to clear it."

"What were you two up too last month while I was gone," Sylia asked.

"Well Sylia I have been working with both Nene and Natasha in teaching them martial arts," Shaelynn said. "Besides it was in my off time and I did promise my sister that I would train her anyway. I was planning on teaching my sister because of the fact that there is the possibility of that stalker coming after her as well. Besides, I decided to include Nene in it as well. It gave her something to do as well."

"Still I would rather you didn't do that," Sylia said.

"Sylia, look after what happened the first of last month I am not going to take any chances," Shaelynn said wincing under the unspoken tone that was put into that statement. "I am not taking chances with anyone anymore."

"Well you are up next and yes I will test you twice," Sylia said. She was not quite sure as to why Shaelynn wanted to be tested twice, but she would humor him.

As soon as Shaelynn stepped into the room, Sylia started the reflex tester.

"We will start you at level one and gradually work up from there," Sylia said.

"Fine," Shaelynn said in a slight huff. He still did not see the point of having her build him a suit when what he had worked just perfectly.

As soon as the test began, Shaelynn could see that this was going to be easy. He managed to clear the first three levels in under two minutes each. Levels four five and six were cleared in three minutes. When he cleared level seven Sylia called a halt to the testing.

"Shaelynn, would you mind coming back in here please," Sylia asked.

"Sure Sylia," Shaelynn said and then disappeared from the testing room and reappeared next to Sylia in the control room. "What do you need?"

"Well I noticed that you are already at level seven after the first test." I was wondering how in the world you got so good for the first time in here," Sylia asked in amazement.

"Sylia, there are some things that I need to tell you about my suit that I would much rather discuss with you privately. If that is ok," Shaelynn said. 'Seven by her system is only Level three on my system. I still haven't cleared my level four yet.'

"That would be acceptable," Sylia said. "Now shall we try level eight or redo level seven again?"

"Let's redo level seven one more time and this time you will see what I was telling you about," Shaelynn said. "Keep this measurement separate from the first one ok?"

"Alright," Sylia said.

This time Shaelynn cleared level seven so fast the other three of them could not even see his movements because he was moving at an accelerated rate.

"Dear god!" Linna said in shock. "I had no clue that he could move so fast!"

"Sylia that was what I was trying to explain to you," Shaelynn said as he walked into the room. He was a bit shaky from the return to normal movement. Something about moving that fast always had its flaws. This was his biggest problem. Shaelynn would feel like rubber for at least two hours until his system was used to moving normally.

"How did you manage to move so fast," Linna asked.

"All I did was use my Esper abilities to augment my agility and reflexes to only two times that of a normal human," Shaelynn said as he carefully walked over to them. "I could have went as high as four, but not without severe damage to my nervous system. I was pushing it when I saved you from being crushed by that boomer back in September of last year. Then I pushed myself to three times."

"I had no idea that Espers could do that with their powers," Sylia said.

"Not all can," Shaelynn said. "There are only three that I know of. I think that there is a fourth. However, those three can do what I just did, but they are able to pull six to eight times and they are very dangerous if they do that."

"So what you are saying is that there are four, maybe five that can do what you just did," Linna asked.

"How did you get four or five out of what I just told you," Shaelynn asked.

"I just added you to the other three and made a general assumption from there," Linna said.

"Oh," Shaelynn said feeling very dumb. "Yes that is right there are four or five me included that can do what I just did."

"So your safe limit is two times," Nene asked.

"Yup. Three is pushing it and four would do some irreversible damaged to my nervous system. And that can be very bad. Especially if I want to do other things."

"Like what," Nene asked.

"Never mind Nene," Shaelynn said as he dismissed that question with a wave of his hand.

"How fast were you moving in there," Linna asked.

"That was at twice human movement," Shaelynn said. "However, it is not without its share of problems. I am still shaky right now. I will get better in a bit."

"What else are you able to augment," Sylia asked.

"Well let me see. I can augment my strength in my upper body for about five minutes before I start to get tired. Other than that nothing else," Shaelynn said.

"How much does that go up," Linna asked.

"Only to one and a half times that of a normal person my age," Shaelynn said."I can't augment my strength at the same time as I augment my speed and agility."

"I see," Linna said. She was not as apprehensive as she used to be when she first met him. Now that she got to know him there was no doubt that there would be times where he would have to bail them out of several tight spots. If only he was not so likable then she could actually hate him. But there was something that was still nagging at her about him. Something about him was familiar and yet was not. Linna still did not trust him like she could trust the others.

"Sylia now do you understand," Shaelynn asked.

"Yeah I do, but what I want to know is which measurements to use," Sylia said as she looked at the conflicting measurements. "You are obviously faster when you enhance yourself and have a reflex speed that I don't think the suits can match."

"Well Sylia, here is what I will do," Shaelynn began. "I will show you how to adjust your programs to build a suit that will work within both of the measurements that you took."

"Both," Sylia asked in shock. "There is no way that the suit can handle both of the programs."

"I will help you with it later," Shaelynn said as he finished the testing that Sylia needed him to do.

"Linna can you take me home," Nene asked. "I think they need time to be alone."

"I was about to suggest the same thing," Linna said. "It was getting too hot in here for me."

******

Shaelynn casually regarded them with a look of wonder and amazement. It bothered him that they thought that he was going to do something unspeakable. They apparently did not know him that well. He was a gentleman and would never even think about it. In fact when he did think about it, the thought would make him blush. As soon as they left Shaelynn walked back into the changing room to put back on his regular clothes. While he was changing Shaelynn got this feeling that something was going to happen tonight. He did not know when it would happen or what it was, but all he knew was that something would happen. Once he was dressed, Shaelynn walked back out to where Sylia was. She was going over the two different sets of measurements that she got from Shaelynn's testing. As he got closer, Shaelynn could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong.

"Sylia what's wrong," Shaelynn asked. "Was it something that I said?"

"No it is not you," Sylia began. "I was just remembering what happened last month."

"It wasn't your fault," Shaelynn said as he wrapped her in a tight embrace. "You couldn't know that there were twenty Bu-12b combat boomers in that building. Nene's scans showed that there were no boomers in that building at all."

"But we almost died," Sylia said. "I did not want to have to bury you, Linna, and Nene as well."

"It goes with the territory and with the lives that we lead," Shaelynn said. "I knew that from the first moment that I put on my 'Blue Knight' armor back in August of 2034."

"True, but you have had it easy in comparison to us," Sylia said.

"Not exactly," Shaelynn said. "Every 'lost' shipment of boomers that went berserk I was the one that had to deal with them. I was by myself when I had to destroy them."

"But how did you find them so fast if you were alone," Sylia asked.

"I had Michael's help," Shaelynn said. "He gave me enough warning so I could get my suit on and get going."

"I see," Sylia said. "But what I still don't understand is how they knew that we were coming."

"On that it was simple tactics that allowed them to overpower us," Shaelynn said. "We are lucky to be alive. "Yet I couldn't help but wonder who that kid with the golden hair was that helped us."

"That is a mystery that will need to be left for another time," Sylia said. "Now if you can show me what you were talking about earlier?"

"Sure thing," Shaelynn said as they started to work well into the night on his new suit. Shaelynn knew that working on anything was a good way for him to clear his mind of any worries that he might have had. Sometimes it could be good and other times that could be bad. In this case it was good.

******

After Linna and Nene left Sylia's place, Linna was upset. Nene could tell that she was not happy and yet Nene could not understand why. Nene could see that Linna had a tight grip on the steering wheel.

"Oh, he makes me so mad!!" Linna hissed.

"Linna what in the world did he do that has made you so mad," Nene asked tentatively. "What did he say or do that makes you think this way?"

"It is the fact that I still think that he can't trust us," Linna said. "Nene we were a family. You, Priss, Sylia, Mackie, and Me. Now we have lost two of them and now this - this outsider has came in and thinks that he can take Priss' place. I think that it is time that someone tell Sylia that he needs to leave."

"Linna, you were only like this after you found out that he was an Esper. Plus when he told us that he blocked our memories of him telling us that he was the 'Blue Knight.' Besides it was Priss that said that Shaelynn should take her place."

"No. She said that the 'Blue Knight' should take her place. Not Shaelynn," Linna said very angrily.

"Is that all that is bothering you?"

"No, Nene that is not all of it, There is some things that happened to me after I was orphaned by the boomers that killed my parents."

"What happened? I mean if it is none of my business then I don't want to know."

"Nene, the reason that I hate Espers so much is because when I was only sixteen I was attacked and abused by an Esper," Linna said as she nearly started to cry.

"Linna, I never knew," Nene said in shock. She caught the unspoken thought that was evident in what Linna said. "Did they ever catch him?"

"No and that is why I don't trust Espers at all. In fact I hate them all," Linna said with enough venom in her voice that she managed to scare Nene.

"Not all are bad," Nene pointed out. "Look at Shaelynn for example, he would never hurt any of us."

"I don't care," Linna said. "He needs to leave."

"Linna we will be out gunned again if the need should arise," Nene said. "Besides who are we going to get on such short notice?"

"I don't know or for that matter care," Linna said as she gripped the steering wheel tightly. "As long as Shaelynn is gone by the time of our next job."

"You know that Sylia won't like it," Nene said.

"Well she is breaking one of the rules about not getting involved with some one," Linna pointed out.

"Well technically you have broken it a time or two yourself," Nene said. "Besides this person is one of us. So I don't think that it counts."

"Still," Linna said as she pulled up in front of Nene's building. "I am going to talk to Sylia first thing in the morning about making him leave."

"What ever Linna. I personally don't think that he should leave," Nene said. "Well I will see you later."

With that the two friends went their separate ways. Linna was still mad as a hornet. She did not like the idea of having this outsider in the Knight Sabers. He was an unknown and it did not set well on her nerves that if he wanted to he could see all of her secrets and use them against her. Finally getting back to her apartment Linna went in and went to sleep.

******

Shaelynn half woke up with a splitting headache. It felt as if someone was playing roller derby in his brain. He had no idea where he was and for that matter what had happened. He felt something next to him and under his arm as well. It was warm what ever it was. Not to mention soft as well.

"Aw man what in the hell happened last night," Shaelynn asked himself. "Wait a minute who, or for that matter what is under my arm?"

Looking down he saw that there was a woman, well at least he thought it was a woman, with black hair that was snuggled up close to him. He could not see the person's face since it was pressed into his side. Apparently, who ever this was managed to sneak into his house and fall asleep next to him.

"Nope, this not my sister Natasha," Shaelynn said as he laid there trying to block out the ringing in his head. "She never did this to me. At least she had better not do something like this."

Scooting across the bed, Shaelynn fell out and on to the floor.

"Ow! Since when did I have such a small bed," Shaelynn asked himself. "I remember having a queen sized bed and that was at least a full sized. Red carpet? Since when did my house have red carpet?"

Pushing himself up to one arm, Shaelynn noticed that there was definitely red carpet on the floor. Then all of a sudden he got very cold.

"Why is it drafty," Shaelynn asked. Looking down, he saw that he was not wearing a thing. "What happened to my clothes? And for that matter what happened after Sylia and I finished working on my suit? I mean I can remember anything but I can't even remember what happened for the last twelve hours."

Looking at the clock, Shaelynn saw that it was 10:30 am. Then it struck him as to where he thought he was. Grabbing his shorts and putting them back on, Shaelynn then went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. As he soaked in the tub, Shaelynn was starting to go over what might have happened in those missing hours.

"Well let me think either A. The person in the bed with me and I did something that I might regret or B. I got so shit faced drunk last night I have no clue what happened," Shaelynn sighed. "I am inclined to believe that it was B that happened. Or maybe it was a little of both. But I don't know. Only the person that I woke up next to knows. Hell for all I know it could be a guy."

Shaelynn then thought of what might of happened if it was. He also thought of ways to kill that guy, if it was one, for what they did. He was loyal to Sylia and that was the only one. He did not like guys in that sense. While laying in the tub, Shaelynn could hear someone banging on the door. Clutching his head in his hands and then mentally shouting 'GO AWAY,' Shaelynn sank farther under the water so only his nose was above the water line.

******

Sylia was woke up by the pounding on the door. As she got up she noticed that Shaelynn was not in bed. Scanning the room she noticed that his clothes were still here and well her headache was not as bad, but she did have one. She remembered everything that happened last night. To be quite honest she was surprised if not baffled that things went as far as they did. Pulling on a robe, Sylia walked down the hall to the door. Looking out of the peep hole, she saw that the person standing in front of her door was Linna. Unlocking the door and opening it she let Linna in.

"Linna do you know what time it is," Sylia asked.

"It is 10:30 in the morning," Linna said. "Besides I need to talk with you anyway."

"What about," Sylia asked. She was shocked that it was that late.

"It is about Shaelynn."

"What has he done that needs to be addressed?"

"Nothing. We want him gone, pure and simple. We want him out of the Knight Sabers and more importantly out of all of our lives."

"You and Nene want this?"

"Yes we both do, he is an outsider and we are family. He doesn't belong with us."

"So what do you propose that I do about his suit?"

"It is your design you can take it from him."

"No it is his design and I can't take it from him," Sylia said as she looked at Linna. From out of the corner of her eye she saw that Shaelynn's clothes had disappeared from the chair that they were on. "Linna do you realize what you are asking of me?"

"Yes I do Sylia, he was never one of us and quite frankly I don't trust him."

"Why don't you trust him?"

"Well for one thing his photographic memory is the main problem," Linna said. "And. . ."

"No Linna the main problem is that I am an Esper is that it," Shaelynn asked as he materialized in the room. "Look if you don't want me as a Knight Saber then you should say it to my face. I am sick and tired of people not telling things that deal with me to my face."

"How did you know?"

"You were broadcasting so loud that I could sense your thoughts while I was soaking in the tub. You should learn to shield those thoughts better."

"For that matter what in the hell are you doing at Sylia's place at this hour?"

"That is what I kinda want to know as well," Shaelynn said as he sat down by Sylia.

"Still, Nene and I both want you gone."

"No, you mean you want me gone. If there is one thing that you should have known about me is that to lie to me is demeaning. Even if I don't read your thoughts your strong emotions will get by my shielding. Besides what in the hell have I done to you that pissed you off so badly?"

"You are an outsider and are not even one of us."

"What does my being an outsider have to do with any of this? Sylia and Nene have accepted me, so why can't you? If you really feel that bad about me being a Knight Saber, then there is no choice. I must tender my resignation from the Knight Sabers. Sylia you know that if you enforce rule eleven that would mean my death and then how would you feel?"

With that Shaelynn gathered up the rest of his belongings and teleported out to his car. As soon as he put his things in the back seat of the car he then teleported his suit out of the charging unit in the suit room and into the trunk of his car. After retrieving that he drove off for home.

Inside Sylia's apartment, Linna was glad that Shaelynn had left. Sylia on the other hand was taking this really bad. Yet she was not showing it. She knew that she would have to enforce rule eleven, but she knew that she could not bring herself to do it. Something about needing to execute the person that she was in love with did not sit well with her.

"You know that you have to kill him."

"I am not going to. If you think that he is a security risk then you deal with it."

"Sylia, I have never seen you so upset about something like this. Did you have feelings for him?"

"That is none of your concern. Now if you will excuse me I need to get some things done."

"Of course Sylia," Linna said and then quietly let herself out.

'Oh Linna why do you have to be so stubborn about this,' Sylia asked herself. 'There is no way that we can handle any of the jobs that have came up without a fourth person. Shaelynn, why did you have to go and quit like that? I thought that you cared so much about me that you would not let anything like this break us apart.'

Picking up the phone she dialed Shaelynn's home number. After the fourth ring the phone was answered.

"Hello," Shaelynn said.

"Shaelynn we need to talk now!!" Sylia said and put an urgent tone to it. "I am coming over to your place and we need to talk."

"Fine Sylia I don't care if you come over. You know the door is always open to you," Shaelynn said. "When can I expect you?"

"By one o'clock," Sylia said.

With that she hung up the phone and started to get ready to go over to Sylia's place. She was going over in her mind what Shaelynn had said, or for that matter, not said. There was an unspoken edge to the way that he said that he quit. It was almost as if he did not want to or was only saying that for Linna's benefit. If this had happened in the year after she created the Knight Sabers, she would have enforced rule eleven. Now she was not so sure that she would. A similar incident like this occurred back in 2033 when Priss said she quit after she had to kill her best friend Sylvie. Something made Priss come to her senses and she rejoined that night. She hoped that whatever might happen it will not take that for Shaelynn to come to his senses. As soon as she finished getting ready she left her place and went over to talk to Shaelynn.

******

After Shaelynn got off the phone with Sylia, he decided to do a little investigating into Linna's background. The files that he was looking for was not hard to find. Plus on top of that they were not as protected as the information that he got on Sylia. He found that she was orphaned after her parents were killed in 2027 by a malfunctioning boomer. The other bit of information that he found was dated in 2028 she was admitted into Tokyo General Hospital. It was discovered that she was attacked and abused by a gang of Espers. Also he found out that a man brought her in and then left her there. The man seemed to match his description perfectly. Since then she has decided that all Espers are bad and can't be trusted.

'Linna I am sorry for what happened to you,' Shaelynn thought. 'But I am not one of those people. I half of the time hate having my powers. Yet I have them and I have to live with them constantly. I have to avoid physical contact because I don't want to deep scan someone. If only you knew how it pained me to see you like that. It was wrong for them to do what they did to you.'

Sighing, Shaelynn went about his routine and finished picking up the front room so there would not even be a single scrap of trash on the floor. About one o'clock he heard Sylia's car pull up in the drive way. Walking outside to greet her, he saw that there was another car that was pulling up behind hers. Shaelynn resisted the urge to teleport down beside her. He decided to be like a normal person and walked down to meet her. As they met half way, Shaelynn could see that a man stepped out of the now parked car. He was just a little shorter than Shaelynn and had very short black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing an expensive suit and tie. This was no ordinary man, of that Shaelynn could tell. The others four that got out of the car with him were of varying heights and builds. Two of which were tall and well muscled. The other two were of about average build.

'Boomers,' Shaelynn thought. 'Well at least two might be.'

When the man approached, Shaelynn could tell that the two tall men were not human. Or at least he thought they were not human. The man himself had an air about him that just screamed threat.

"Ah Mr. Benton," The man said. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Daniel Dumas."

"Pleased to make you acquaintance, Mr. Dumas," Shaelynn said. "What can I do for you?"

"Well you see I was just transferred to this branch of Genom and I was just curious as to who all of the local personalities are," Dumas said.

Shaelynn regarded him with some suspicion. There was more to this than was being let on. Why in the world was he interested in the local personalities? This was a point that Shaelynn kept in the back of his mind.

"I didn't catch your title," Shaelynn said.

"I am the new Executive Vice President of Genom," Dumas said with a very large hint of pride in his voice. "I answer only to the Chairman."

"Yes that is nice," Shaelynn said cooly. 'The little shit is trying to pump me for information. Not a chance!' "Now if you don't mind my girlfriend and I need to talk about some things."

"It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Benton," Dumas said and walked back to his car.

Shaelynn and Sylia then went back into the house to have their discussion. Shaelynn could tell that Sylia was hiding something and it bugged him to no end that she was not being very open with him. Then again the same thing could be said about him as well.

"Sylia call me crazy but I think that there is more to his little social call than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?"

"How many Executive Vice Presidents do you know comes directly to someone like me and tries to start a conversation? I know by my count none."

"The same here unless he is after something more. I don't trust him."

"Neither do I. Now what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Why did you quit?"

"Because I am not the type to rock the boat as it were. I prefer to make sure that all is happy."

"Shaelynn, I don't buy that lame excuse. You never budge for anyone and now you do? What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing, I just feel that by my still being with your organization, Linna and I will eventually butt heads and that could get ugly if worse comes to worse."

"Why must you continually not tell me the truth? If you don't want to see me again then say that."

"Sylia you are jumping to conclusions. When have I ever lied to you?"

"You haven't. That is why I find this hard to believe. Is what you are telling me the truth?"

"About Linna yes. Look I am sorry, but until she understands that I am not her enemy then I can't work with you. At least officially."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well I will be able to help you three, and from what I have been hearing you will need my help."

"How so?"

"Well it seems that who ever The Hacker was working for, will more than likely try to come after you three again. I am really getting sick and tired of the constant threats on your life and on mine."

"Well as you told me it goes with the territory."

"Ouch! I deserved that. But I am serious about the threat that the person that The Hacker worked for."

"How dangerous is he?"

"Well from what I managed to gather from my sources, he has big help."

"How big?"

"Big as in Genom sized help."

"I see. What I don't understand is what does he or she have against the Knight Sabers?"

"I don't know. But on a personal note. You still having those nightmares?"

"Yes I have been. I wish that they would stop."

"How bad are they?"

"They are worse than what the last ones were. I thought they had stopped."

"What are these about?"

"Well I am with you and we are looking for something. Then this man approaches us and then takes me from you. As you try to fight back, he becomes almost non-human for a minute and nearly kills you," Sylia said still shaking.

"Sylia I am still here for you," Shaelynn said as he hugged her tightly. "You know I will always be."

"I know and I am grateful," Sylia said. "Now I must go. I have some errands that I have to do."

"Don't forget to see your mother," Shaelynn said. "She is worried about you."

"You never told me how you found her."

"Another time," Shaelynn said. "I will talk to you later."

"Bye." Sylia said as she left the house.

******

Nene was not at all happy. She was told by Linna that Shaelynn had just quit. Things were not looking good as far as Nene was concerned. They were back down to three members and it looked like that it would stay that way for some time. For some reason Leon was also in a bad mood as well. It was almost as if she could guess what got Leon upset. There was a renegade boomer that went berserk last night and there was no help from the Knight Sabers. She wondered why Sylia did not hear about it. Or for that matter why Shaelynn did not hear about it and go deal with it himself. There was this kid who looked to be about eight or nine years old with spiky blond hair that just casually took out the boomer and then apologized to every one for the mess that was made. It seems that the new chief was pulling the same stunts that went on back in 2034. He did not even allow the deployment of the armored troopers again. It was almost as if this chief was being manipulated by some company to cause the AD Police to be ridiculed. Nene could hear that Leon was getting very pissed off.

"Makkankousapou!!" Was yelled from the office. Then there was a large purple flash of energy and all of the office windows shattered plus a loud explosion.

Everyone in the room outside of the Chief's office took cover under their desks when they heard the explosion. Nene was the first one to peek out from behind her desk. What she saw walk out of the office was not Leon but a person about his height. He had green skin, and pointed ears, pinkish ridges on his forearms. He was wearing a blue body suit and a white cape and turban.

"Now dose anyone else want to tell me that we are under-staffed," The man asked sounding very much like Leon.

"Leon, you shouldn't blow you cool like that," Daley said as he came in the room.

"Oh sorry Daley," Leon said as he returned to normal. The whole room looked as if they wanted to kill him. "Well it is the truth. We are not understaffed, but we are under armed."

"Leon you didn't kill the chief did you," Nene asked.

"No I didn't but if he does that again I will give him the early retirement that he deserves," Leon said.

"And you will be out of a job," Nene pointed out. "Maybe even in jail."

"Oh good point," Leon said as he rethought his position.

"Has anyone found out who the kid that took out that boomer last night is," Leon asked.

"Nope!" Daley said. "We have a thought that he might be an Esper. There is no proof of that yet. However, I would not rule out that possibility at all."

"True," Leon said. "But what worries me is that the Knight Sabers were nowhere to be seen at all. I wonder why?"

"I am sure that there was a good reason that they did not show up," Nene said.

"What makes you say that Nene," Leon asked.

"Call it a hunch," Nene said innocently.

The rest of the day passed with out too much trouble. When Shaelynn came to pick her up after work, Nene had a ton of questions to ask him.

"Why in the world did you quit," Nene asked point blank.

"It was because of Linna that I quit," Shaelynn said. "Eventually her and I would have got into a fight and then my temper would flare and something would happen."

"Still I am sure that you two could have worked things out between you," Nene said.

"I doubt it," Shaelynn said. "As far as Linna is concerned I have quit. However, I will still help you three out as best as I can."

"I see," Nene said. "Do you know anything about a kid with spiky golden hair?"

"Why do you ask," Shaelynn asked. "I know he helped us back in December of last year but I did not think he showed up again."

"Well he did last night. When we didn't show up that kid did," Nene said. "You don't suppose that he's an Esper do you?"

"Well since he helped destroy twenty Bu-12b boomers with us, I wouldn't be surprised if he is," Shaelynn said.

"Still what dose that have to do with why you quit?"

"It doesn't."

"Will you come back to the Knight Sabers?"

"No I will not," Shaelynn said. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are," Nene said. "We do need you."

"I know that you do and I will still help you all out, but not as one of you," Shaelynn said. "You know I never wanted to join in the first place."

"That is all that I can ask of you," Nene said as she then sat quietly.

Shaelynn dropped her off at her building and the drove on home. Nene noticed that he did not even take her to get their usual desert today.

"Hmpf, maybe he forgot about it," Nene said as she walked into her apartment.

******

As soon as Shaelynn got home his mind was spinning. He did not want to leave the Knight Sabers but he had to in order to protect them. He knew that they did not need protecting, but in this case he feared for their lives. There was still some things that he had to do and that required enough leverage to do it. Leverage that he did not have while under Sylia's rules. His latest job offer entailed destroying a prototype cyberdroid that if finished could be used as the perfect killing machine. Something about this job struck him as odd. He did not even get a name or anything from this person. This was not at all odd. In fact he was worried that he was being set up to get killed. All he knew was that it was dangerous and had to be destroyed. Shaelynn felt that the boomer was a threat to everyone. In this case he could have been right. Coincidently, that was the same thing that the Knight Sabers had been asked to destroy as well. This was all too convenient and it was that convenience that made Shaelynn even more paranoid than usual.

He also had the problem of the stalker that was still on the loose as well. It became imperative that Shaelynn stop him before someone else died. This time around it would have been his youngest sister Natasha. Shaelynn knew that his hands were tied as long as he was with the Knight Sabers. The threat of him killing his little sister loomed over his head like a storm cloud that was ready to rain on him. Also the problem of Akira loomed over his head as well. Shaelynn had to admit to himself that he was scared of Akira.

"There was no way I could stop that stalker while being under Sylia's rules. I have to act on that by myself," Shaelynn said as he sat down.

"You could have asked the others for help as well," Michael prompted as he switched on. "It would not have hurt your high and mighty code of honor to ask for some help. Well would it?"

"No it wouldn't have. Besides the Knight Sabers can't act on grudges," Shaelynn said. "I sorta feel responsible for what happened to Priss."

"How so?"

"I should have never tried to be nice to her at all," Shaelynn said. "It was my getting involved with her in the first place that caused her to die.

"Now there is where you are wrong," Michael said. Look at it this way, if you did not befriend her, then she still would have died and Akira would still be after the other three as well. Except for one small difference."

"What is that?"

"They would not have known that he was after them. And for that matter they would have all been killed last moth as well," Michael said.

"Oh, you are mean."

"No, not mean. Just telling you what would have happened if you had never gotten involved," Michael pointed out. "It was by your choice that you got involved with them."

"That is true," Shaelynn said. "Still I feel guilty for letting her die."

"You couldn't have been in two places at once. Besides, I know that Sylia is upset that you quit," Michael said. "I know that you have your reasons, but look at it this way. By quitting you have put them at a disadvantage for the job that you four were supposed to do tonight."

"Which reminds me Michael, I need the 'L-type' equipment for tonight's job."

"The 'L-type' equipment is still experimental," Michael said. "There is a possibility that you will rip yourself apart if you use it."

"That is the chance that I will have to take. If that happens then it happens," Shaelynn said. "Besides, I don't think that cyberdroid was made by Genom proper. I think that whoever was the Hacker's superior is the one that built that cyberdroid."

"What is your basis for that assumption?"

"Well it was something that The Hacker said," Shaelynn began. "He said something to the effect of he needed to kill me and 'they' were going to kill the Knight Sabers."

"Still there is no reason for you to use the 'L-type' equipment," Michael said. "I won't be responsible for this excursion."

"Michael, look all I wanted you to do is get the equipment ready for me," Shaelynn said. "I was not asking you to put the thing on my suit."

"I would hate to have to tell Sylia that you were killed by your own foolishness," Michael said.

"What ever Michael," Shaelynn said coldly. He was not in the mood to discuss Sylia at the moment. "I need to destroy that Boomer before it destroys everyone that I care about."

"What about our commission for the job?"

"Call this a job of conscious," Shaelynn said. "Besides I still have more than eighty-percent of what I made on the last job I did with the Knight Sabers."

"I see," Michael said. "You are a very brave man."

"I know." Shaelynn said and then vanished.

******

Across town, Daniel Dumas was plotting his next move. He was upset that his pawn was unable to destroy that shop owner. Dumas figured that he would have to destroy that shop owner's mental resolve and then take away the one person that he loves.

"Mr. Benton if you think that you are safe, then think again," Dumas said with a slight growl. "Then I will make sure that your girlfriend will have nothing more to do with you."

"Mr. Dumas, we have found where Ms. Stingray lives," A man said as he walked in the room.

"Excellent!" Dumas said. "Inform Eric and Danielle to intercept Ms. Romanova and Ms. Yamazaki. I want you to intercept Mr. Benton and keep him busy."

"Understood."

"Oh and Carl don't fail me," Dumas said with an angry glare.

"U -understood Mr. Dumas," Carl said as he backed out of the room.

"I must prepare for my talk with Sylia Stingray," Dumas said. "I wonder how I should go about pulling her away from him? I think I will be creative about it. Yet I must do it in such a way that his infernal mental abilities doesn't detect it."

With that, Daniel Dumas left his office to start his plan of making Shaelynn's life miserable.

******

Sylia had just returned from Shaelynn's place. She was still not convinced that what Shaelynn said was the truth. They were close to each other and she did not think that this was the real Shaelynn talking. There was no excuse for what he was doing.

"I am sure that he had good reasons for what he said," Sylia thought as she looked over the details of their job that they were doing. "I still can't help but wonder why he did that though."

"Could I say some thing?"

This caused Sylia to snap out of her reverie. She looked around for the source of the voice. What she saw was a small card-like object sitting on the table next to her.

"Oh it is only you Michael," Sylia said when she recognized the card. "What do you have to say?"

"Well the fact that Shaelynn is kicking himself for quitting," Michael said. "He feels that he is indirectly responsible for your brother's death and for Priss' as well."

"Does he know that it is not his fault?"

"He does, and doesn't seem to care," Michael said. "Plus there were some things that he had to do that he couldn't do while he was a part of the Knight Sabers."

"Such as?"

"Well there is the threat of the stalker that is still at large. And the fact that Akira is also out there as well."

"He was planning to take them on by himself?"

Just as Michael was about to answer there was a knock on the door. Sylia picked up the card and put it in one of her pockets and then went over to the security cameras. As she looked at them she saw that the one that was outside her door was acting up. The audio was working though.

"Who is it?"

"It is someone that you haven't seen since high school," The voice on the other end replied.

Deciding to risk opening the door, Sylia went to the door and unlocked it. Opening it just a crack, Sylia saw the same man that was at Shaelynn's earlier. It was Daniel Dumas.

"What do I owe this social call for?"

"Sylia, I would like to know more about you as a person."

"Mr. Dumas, my life is private. I discuss it with no one."

"Are you sure about that? I was told that you and your boyfriend confide in each other your deepest secrets and desires."

"How do you know that?"

"I have my ways. One of which is closer than you think."

"You are lying."

"Take it as you will, but I will say this much, he does not trust you as much as he says he does."

"You really expect me to believe you."

"No, I don't expect you to believe what I say. I want you to ask him about the nature of a job that he did back in 2033."

"What job?"

"The job that caused the death of forty-five Genom employees and the destruction of a Boomer prototype."

"Why should I ask him?"

"Because he will never tell you the truth."

"Mr. Dumas, I think it is time for you to leave now."

"I was just about to leave."

"Good day to you."

'Oh and Sylia, you and the Knight Sabers will not live past this month we will see to that!'

With that Daniel Dumas left her apartment. As she walked over to the security terminal, she noticed that the video camera was working again. Sylia was left with a feeling of fear and terror. Yet she could not explain why in the world she felt like she did.

"Sylia, what is wrong," Michael asked.

"Michael, do you know what he was talking about?"

"Sorry, I wish I had more information on that. I was not on-line at that time."

"I see."

"Oh and to answer your last question before we were interrupted, Yes he was planning to take them on by himself."

"Why? That would be crazy for him to do that."

"Yes I know it would be. I think by doing this he will have fulfilled his need for vengeance on them."

"Vengeance? I do not think that I follow what you are saying."

"Sylia, look at it this way, the stalker is still at large and is after his sister. He swore that he will do what he should have done in the first place. Akira is another matter all together."

"Oh? How?"

"Well he will come after you and Linna first and then cause Nene to go insane. I believe he will use the tactic of letting her see him just enough to make her paranoid and then when she is about to loose her sanity kill her."

"That is mean."

"No one ever said that Akira was a nice person."

"I see."

"You have a job tonight don't you?"

"Yes we do. I only wish that Shaelynn was with us on this one."

"I understand and don't worry he still cares about you greatly. He just has a very strange way of showing it."

"That is so true."

With that exchange Sylia leaves her apartment and takes the elevator down to a sub-basement where all of the equipment is stored. She was disappointed to lose Shaelynn as part of the team. However, it did not sit well with her that he was being so evasive with her. She actually thought that he trusted her. When in fact with the way things were looking, he did not. Looking at the empty recharging unit, Sylia had to wonder if he would ever return. Shaking that feeling out of her mind, She remembered that their suits needed to be prepared for their job that night. As soon as she finished she went over to Shaelynn's shop to talk to him. She was bound and determined to get the truth out of Shaelynn even if she had to beat it out of him.

******

Shaelynn had just finished adding the experimental weapon packs to his suit. It was amazing how much work that he had put into them since September of last year. When he stepped back and looked at it, he saw that the suit looked like a deadly instrument of destruction. In fact it was just that, deadly to whoever it was that opposed him. Shaelynn had to shudder in near-terror as he looked at suit. It almost scared him to see what he had created. Looking at the clock on the wall, Shaelynn saw that it was getting late. Stripping out of his jumpsuit, Shaelynn then stepped into his modified suit.

"I may have to stay on setting two," Shaelynn said as the last of the clamps fastened down. "I have to find the Boomer before I start to get exhausted. If I don't find it by then, I am dead."

"Shaelynn, is there anyway that I can talk you out of this insanity," A voice said from behind him. "Don't blame yourself for my death."

Looking around, he saw no one behind him. Shrugging, Shaelynn put his helmet on and then left the shop.

Shaelynn was going over in his mind how he was going to destroy that cyberdroid. He knew that the equipment that was on his suit was capable enough to destroy several boomers at once. The one thing that he had to admit to was the fact that if he made one mistake in using his modified suit then he would die. That was a chance that he was willing to take. It was enough to know that a boomer existed that was powerful enough to destroy several city blocks by itself.

"Of course Largo could do that on his own," Shaelynn said to himself as he flew off in the direction that he thought the boomer was in.

The instant that Shaelynn left a transparent figure walked out of the shadows. It was wearing a red motorcycle outfit and had auburn hair. Its red eyes had a pained look to them. It was almost as if they were pleading with him to stop his destructive course.

"Shaelynn, it was not your fault. I should have listened to you. How much longer must you carry that guilt," The figure asked into the night and then faded away.

******

Sylia had arrived at Shaelynn's shop over an hour later. She was planning to ask him to help them with the job that they had to do. She had no idea that what she was asking him to do was exactly what he was doing at the very moment. Sylia was still reeling over the fact that there was someone aside from Shaelynn that knew about her other life. In fact it irritated her that some one inside of Genom knew. That alone was frightening unto itself. Knocking on the shop door she got no answer. She figured that he was not answering the door for some reason.

"He's not in there," A voice said.

Turning around, Sylia saw a child that was sitting on the hood of her car. He was wearing an orange martial arts gi with a blue under-shirt and a pair of calf-length black boots. His hair was wild in places and it stuck straight up in the front. His brown eyes was wide with wonder.

"Then where is he," Sylia asked him.

"He left on an insane mission to destroy a boomer," The child said.

"I see," Sylia said to herself. "What is your name?"

"Greg." He said with a sniff. "Are you his girlfriend?"

"Yes I am Greg, but why did he leave," Sylia asked.

"Dunno," Greg said.

"I see. Can I take you home to your parents?"

"Mother died during the quake and Father just died recently. I was raised by my older brother and his wife for a while but then they were killed in a riot last night when a boomer went berserk downtown."

"So you are alone," Sylia asked. This disturbed her. She was talking to a child that had all of his remaining family killed the night before by a boomer that they should have dealt with. And where were the Knight Sabers? She was detained by choice and the others did not know about it until it was too late.

"Yes I am. I am usually taken care of by Trey's parents," Greg said. "But Trey's father never liked my father that much so I did not stay there long."

"Well Greg how about you stay with me for a while then?"

"Sure I would like to."

As they were about to get into Sylia's car, another kid flew in and landed next to the car. He was wearing a dark blue martial arts gi and looked as if he was built like a small tank. As he landed his hair went from golden to lavender, and his eyes went from a light blue to a darker blue. Greg turned around and saw his best friend standing there.

"Trey-kun!!" Greg said as he ran over to greet him. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to help some fool in armor," Trey said. "Who is that lady?"

"I never asked her name," Greg said. "She is the girlfriend of the shop owner."

"Oh well say good bye to her and then come on and let's go," Trey said as he gave Sylia a scathing look.

"I can't I am going to live with her."

"What?!"

"Yes it's true," Sylia said. "I can't let him stay on the streets."

"But Mom would throw a fit if she knew."

"Tell you what, how about I take him to where he will be living and then you two can go have your fun afterwards," Sylia asked them.

"OK that is fine with me," Trey said.

"What color is the armor that is out trying to stop the boomer," Sylia asked.

"Blue and Silver," Trey said. "Hurry Greg and get back here as soon as possible."

"Ok I will," Greg said and got into Sylia's car.

As soon as he got settled, Sylia drove back to her building. When they got up to her apartment Sylia started to make a couple of phone calls. As soon as she got off of the phone, she saw that Greg was looking around her place.

"You are going to go help him aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are going to help him destroy that boomer with the others."

"How did you know?"

"By the sound of your voice when you were talking to your friends on the phone," Greg said. "I promise I will not tell anyone what I know."

"Please don't tell your friend Trey either."

"Oh that is right I need to go help Trey out," Greg said and then walked out to the porch. He concentrated and then was in his form that allowed his best movement and strength. His hair was standing straight up and was golden in color. His eyes were now a light blue. Sylia saw the increase in power and rushed out to the porch.

"Greg, is there something wrong?"

"No I just have to help Trey with a boomer that is all," Greg said and then flew off.

Sylia was concerned that Shaelynn was doing something that she would regret. As she waited for Linna and Nene to show up, Sylia tried to focus on her link with Shaelynn. All that she got from that was determination and the drive to destroy that boomer. It bothered her that Shaelynn was going on a suicide mission. They were barely together and now she was faced with the fact that she might lose him. It was the first time in thirteen years that someone actually cared about her. More as a person than as a leader or surrogate parent. Some how Shaelynn had managed to work his way into her heart in such a way that she thought was not possible. Yet now she thought that he might die. The thought of that happening nearly brought tears to her eyes.

A few minutes later Linna and Nene walked in the door. Nene was concerned about what Sylia wanted. Linna could not even care what was going on.

"Sylia what is going on," Nene asked.

"Nene it is about the job that we are going to do," Sylia said.

"What about it," Linna asked.

"It has become apparent that Shaelynn is also after the boomer as well," Sylia said calmly.

"Wasn't he supposed to be with us on this job anyway," Nene asked.

"Yes he was supposed to, but he is not," Sylia said.

"It's good that he is not. He would only have gotten in our way," Linna said.

"Linna, I am surprised by what you are doing," Sylia said in shock. "First you demand that he is kicked out. Then when he quits, you still have nothing but bad things to say about him. Why?"

"Because he is an Esper," Linna spat. "What else is there to say but that?"

"Linna, he was the heavy artillery," Nene said. "He was the one that Priss wanted to succeed her."

"I still don't care," Linna growled. "He should die for all I care."

"You owe him your life Linna," Sylia pointed out. "In fact we all owe him our lives. He has saved us on at least two occasions."

"Still I don't like it," Linna growled. "But I will help."

"Thanks Linna," Nene said.

"Ok let's get suited up and find him," Sylia said.

"Right," Linna and Nene said together.

******

Shaelynn was at a loss as to where to find the boomer. He had searched the entire west side of district one, where it was reported to be. That sucker was toying with him. How in the world was he going to deal with a boomer that was outsmarting him at every turn. He was not in one of his better moods since he was using a piece of experimental equipment to fight the boomer. Then to make matters worse he had been lectured by his own computer. He had no idea of the limits that the equipment had or what the consequences that its use would have on him. He was already under a considerable strain by staying in the suit's second setting for this long. Two minutes later he had found the boomer. It was more like the boomer had found him. It burst out of a ramen shop that was in the heart of Tokyo for several years. This boomer was massive. It stood fifteen foot tall. It was a menacing sight. Shaelynn had to keep himself from screaming in fright. It was painted a deep black and crimson. It had no apparent weapons on it except for its fists and the ever present mouth cannon. Everything about it screamed threat and dangerous.

"Damn, I can't believe that Genom made something like this," Shaelynn swore.

The boomer advanced on him and was swinging wildly. On several occasions, the boomer came close to hitting the back mounted generator on Shaelynn's suit. He did not want to use the small blasters that were on the arms. It would drain his total suit power. If that happened then he would be a sitting duck. The boomer did connect with a punch to the chest. Even though he was armored, Shaelynn flew through the building and into several tables. The tables shattered under the strain of the weight that was placed on them. He barely missed several patrons that were in the building. Pulling himself to his feet, Shaelynn looked around at the patrons. He saw that they immediately cleared out of the way. As soon as they left the building, Shaelynn then opened up three of the small blaster lenses on his right arm.

"This ends now!" Shaelynn snarled. The three lenses started to glow with a light blue light. Then all of the built up energy then lances out and impacts in the boomers chest. Shaelynn could see that where the boomer was hit, the chest had caved in and was damaged. It caused the tables and chairs to twist and contort into odd shapes. The walls around the hole that he was punched through crumbled as well.

The boomer gave an unearthly howl and flew off. Shaelynn was getting exhausted.

"What does it take to destroy that thing," Shaelynn asked himself. "Well I need to step up my speed and agility. I better go to four times."

Concentrating, Shaelynn made an adjustment to his physiology and then he felt the untapped reserves spring to life. Shaelynn felt new speed and endurance course through his being. As soon as his system normalized with the adjustment, Shaelynn flew off to look for the boomer.

******

Sylia and the others arrived at the shop some forty minutes later. They saw the remains of the battle that took place. The people were still hanging around looking at things.

"What happened here," Nene asked as she looked around.

"Looks as if someone twisted the tables into pretzels," Linna commented.

"It - it was a man in blue armor that did that," one of the patrons said in shock.

"Shaelynn did that," Sylia asked herself. She had no idea that he had that much power.

"Sylia, you mean that Shaelynn did this?" Nene asked over their suit communications channels.

"That is what it appears to be," Sylia said. "I do not understand what he would be using that would cause metal to twist and bend like this."

"Should we even go after him if he has that much fire power?" Linna asked.

"We should," Sylia said. "We were hired to destroy that boomer that he is taking on by himself."

"Sylia are you crazy," Nene asked.

"No Nene I am not crazy," Sylia said. "It is a suicide attempt to take on that boomer alone."

"I have his suit signal," Nene said. "It is faint, but I have it."

"Where is it," Sylia asked.

"By a warehouse on the outskirts of town," Nene said. "According to my readings his suit has only a little amount of power left."

"Then let's get going," Linna said. She did not hate Shaelynn as a person, but she hated him because he was an Esper. On top of which she was in his debt for saving her life.

Linna and Nene took off first leaving Sylia at the site to look at the damage that was caused. She began to wonder what exactly was going on.

'Shaelynn, what are you trying to accomplish?'

Several minutes later, the sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance. Looking up, Sylia saw the familiar shapes of police cars. As they got closer, Sylia decided that she did not want to be here when they arrived. Igniting her flight wings she set off in the direction that the others went.

In flight she felt something touch her mind. At first she thought that it was Shaelynn, but the way that it felt was not Shaelynn's usual gentleness. It was rough and cold. Then as quickly as she felt it the touch was gone. It bothered her since she had never been exposed to too many Telepathic Espers before she met Shaelynn. Sylia put that in the back of her mind and tried to focus on what was going on at the moment. Which was their current job.

******

The blue hard suit kicked up debris and dust as it settled to the ground. As Shaelynn glanced around he noted that the area had seen better days. Rundown and abandoned warehoused lined the street. What could be expected from this section of town that was out this far away from all civilization. Their windows broken out and all pretense at being weather tight long gone. Garbage and other debris littered the street and alley ways between the warehouses. It was obvious that nobody had made legitimate use of any of the warehouses in several years.

"Great, that little shit of a boomer almost appears to know that I've got limits with this 'L type equipment' on my suit," Shaelynn grumbled. "I need to destroy it quickly before I drop from exhaustion. At least out here on the edge of Mega Tokyo I don't have to worry about innocent people getting hurt."

At that moment Shaelynn heard the sound of flight jets behind him. Spinning around, he caught him self before he fired.

"Damn! this is not what I need right now."

As three hard suits stirred up more debris and dust as they settled onto the street near him.

"Saber Prime what are you doing here," Shaelynn panted.

"We've come to help you." Sylia gently reached out a hand as if willing Shaelynn to accept her offer of help and placed her hand on his shoulder. The power coursing through his suit could be felt even through the gloves of her hard suit.

Shaelynn's blue hard suit flinched away from Sylia's touch. "Don't touch me! I'm at my physical limits with this suit."

"Are you crazy," Nene asked. She was scared and it was evident in her voice. "What are you trying to prove?"

"No I am not insane Nene, and I am not trying to prove anything," Shaelynn said. "This thing needs to be destroyed. It can make Largo out to be an angel. And that ain't saying much."

"Are you planning on doing that at the cost of your own life," Sylia asked.

"If I need to I will," Shaelynn said. "It's not as if I would be missed."

"That would be one less Esper then," Linna snapped.

"Linna, you had better stay the hell away from me," Shaelynn snarled.

"Shaelynn, come back alive," Sylia said. She obviously did not hear the comment that he made.

"Don't go thinking with your heart," Shaelynn said. "It's dangerous. I should know."

With that, Shaelynn knelt down and aimed both arms at the door. A pair of braces deployed and imbedded into the ground. Then energy started to form in the palms of his hands. The ground around him was starting to rip up as all of the energy that he was controlling. The others could see large pieces of metal start to twist and contort. Sylia had to back away from him as she felt the legs on her suit also start to bend in ways that she did not design it to bend. The other two also decided to step back as they saw a large ball of greyish-black energy forming in Shaelynn's hands. Shaelynn then threw the energy at the door causing them to buckle and implode.

"What did you use," Sylia asked.

"Forced gravity wave cannon," Shaelynn said as he got up. He was breathing heavily from the exertion. Sweat dripped down into his eyes on the inside of his suit. It stung and he had a hard time focusing.

"I didn't know you had something like that," Linna said in shock.

"Problem is this is an experimental weapon," Shaelynn said as he caught his breath. He couldn't wipe the sweat out of his eyes like he wanted to. "The only problem with that cannon is the amount of energy that it requires."

"What is the recharge time," Sylia asked.

"Two minutes," Shaelynn said. "That was the large cannon that I used. I am not defenseless with this suit."

"Oh," Nene asked.

"I have small gravity blasters as well," Shaelynn said. "I need to get going. I only have several hours of power left in the suit."

As soon as he was able to, Shaelynn ran off into the building to face the boomer alone. He had to put that boomer down or he would end up dead.

"We had better follow him," Nene suggested.

"Why," Linna asked.

"Because he only has thirty-minutes of power left," Nene said. "I am worried that he might not survive."

"We better help him," Sylia said.

"Why should we help him," Linna asked.

"Because if we do not, then he will die," Sylia said.

"Ok fine," Linna snarled.

As soon as everything was settled, the three of them followed Shaelynn into the building. This was the first time that they saw the boomer that they had to destroy.

"Is that it," Nene asked.

"Looks that way," Linna said. "I wasn't expecting it to be so huge."

"Let's get to it," Sylia said. "We were paid to stop it."

"Understood," Linna and Nene said together.

As they got closer, they saw that the boomer was severely damaged in places. Sylia was trying to find Shaelynn in the room. She saw Shaelynn slowly rise to his feet. His suit was showing signs of damage.

"Linna, Nene, we have to destroy that thing," Sylia said.

"Sylia, you don't have to tell me twice," Nene said.

"I'm going," Linna said. "I can't allow him to die."

As soon as it was decided, the Knight Sabers started their attack. Nene went to check on Shaelynn. She saw that he was alive.

"Why Nene," Shaelynn asked. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I think of you as an older brother," Nene said. "Besides, Sylia and I don't want you to die."

"Thanks," Shaelynn said through a wheeze.

Shaelynn then rejoined the fight against that boomer. The fight was long and dangerous. It took a strength of will for Shaelynn to dodge out of the way of the boomer's punches.

"What does it take to kill it," Sylia asked.

"Have you used that wave cannon on it," Linna asked.

"Don't have enough power," Shaelynn said. "If I used what I had left then I would be unable to move."

Shaelynn blatantly lied to them. He knew that he was almost ready to be ripped apart. If he used up what little power he had left then he would die.

During the Knight Sabers' assessment of the boomer, the boomer plowed into all of them from behind. All three Knight Sabers and Shaelynn went flying. Shaelynn managed to stop the others from hitting the walls. However, that act cost him dearly. Shaelynn slammed into the wall and went limp. Sick black smoke was rolling out of the back of his suit. Electricity was arcing out as well. A small trickle of blood flowed out from underneath the helmet.

Linna was the first to see Shaelynn hit the wall and crumple to the ground. This time Linna attacked the boomer with a ferocity born of rage. She threw her daggers into the holes that were caused by Shaelynn's solo assault. The electricity caused the boomer to freeze up. Linna then used her mono-molecular ribbons to slice it up. Nene, screamed in pure terror. She had never seen someone get hurt as bad. All three of the Knight Sabers ran over to where Shaelynn was laying. They did not want to touch him for fear that they might do even more damage to him. Suddenly, Shaelynn started to move on his own. All of the Knight Sabers breathed a sigh of relief. Shaelynn managed to roll himself over onto his side.

"Shaelynn are you alright," Nene asked.

"No I am not alright!" Shaelynn spat. "I am fucked up."

"What is wrong," Sylia asked.

"My whole nervous system is shot to hell," Shaelynn said as he tried to catch his breath. "I tried pushing my system to four times and now I am paying for it."

"Don't move," Sylia said. "We will get you out of here."

"That boomer is not destroyed," Shaelynn said. "It can pull itself back together from very small pieces."

"What," Nene asked in shock. "How?"

"Well it has an advanced damage control system," Shaelynn said weakly. "Gravity is the only thing that stops the thing from repairing itself."

"So that is why you have the gravity blasters," Sylia asked.

"Yeah that is it," Shaelynn said.

As Shaelynn tried to sit up he saw that the boomer was starting to pull the parts that were cut off back together. In what would be only thirty seconds, the boomer had completely reformed and was coming after the four of them. It looked as if all of them were going to die real soon. However, That was not the case. Because at the last minute they could hear two voices yell out:

"KameKame Ha!!"

"Phoenix Buster!!"

With that, two beams of energy hit the boomer in the shoulders and torso. All of them looked up and saw two kids floating in through a hole in the roof.

"What in the world," Nene asked.

"Two Esper children," Shaelynn said. "We need to save them as well."

"How," Sylia asked.

"Help me to my feet and I can destroy the boomer," Shaelynn said. "My suit will be useless after that, but I will not let those two kids die."

"Fine," Sylia snapped.

That bit of anger snapped Shaelynn out of his plans. He had never heard Sylia get so angry at him. This bothered him.

"I don't want you to die either," Shaelynn said thinking that his earlier statement had angered her.

Nene helped Shaelynn to his feet. She had no idea what was going on. All she knew that he was going to destroy that boomer some how.

"Are you going to use that cannon again," Nene asked.

"I have to," Shaelynn said. "That is all I have that will destroy it."

As soon as he got on his feet, Shaelynn then knelt down and activated the cannon. This time a large ball of energy formed in his hands and before he threw it, Shaelynn sent a message directly into the two kids' minds.

'Move it. And I mean NOW!!' Shaelynn mentally said to them.

Almost instantly the two kids moved. It was not a moment too soon since the gravity wave slammed into the boomer crushing it into a small ball.

Shaelynn, then crumpled to the floor exhausted and hurting all over. He was drained and his suit was showing signs of falling off of him.

"Bring him," Sylia said dispassionately.

Linna picked up Shaelynn and supported him as he attempted to walk. She was not happy with him.

"What were you trying to prove," Linna asked.

"I didn't need or want your help," Shaelynn snarled.

"Drop the heroic crap," Nene said. "You would have been killed."

"No I wouldn't have." Shaelynn said as he wrenched free of Linna's support. Shaelynn then fell flat on his face.

"You can't even walk," Nene said. "Plus you suit is all but destroyed. And I don't think you can use your Esper Abilities."

Sighing, Shaelynn allowed himself to be picked up and carried. For some reason Sylia was being unnaturally quiet. The silence puzzled him.

"Sylia, what is wrong," Shaelynn asked. All he got was silence.

'I see. She's mad at me,' Shaelynn thought with a resigned sigh. I didn't think it would last. I really did a number on myself with this escapade. I should've listened to Michael on this. Fortunately I have just enough energy to 'port to the shop, pull this wreck off and 'port home.'

"If anyone cares about me, you know where to find me," Shaelynn said and then in a blink of an eye vanished from Nene's arms.

"I wasn't aware that he still had some energy left," Linna said in shock.

"It does not matter," Sylia said. "Let's just head home."

******

Shaelynn appeared in his shop in a heap. As he appeared the part of his brain that was blocking the pain released all of the impulses that said he was in pain. Shaelynn was in agony. He howled in pain as all of his body protested the extremes that it was taken to. He barely was able to eject the suit off and then teleported home and into a bath tub of hot water.

"Crap, I was so stupid," Shaelynn swore as he laid in the tub. "I should have listened to Michael."

"Yes you should have," Michael said as he switched on. "I told Sylia what you were planning."

"I kinda figured that one out on my own."

"I had to. You were being unreasonable."

"No I wasn't being unreasonable."

"How bad off are you?"

"Nothing that a few days of bed rest won't cure."

"You have other injuries that you need to attend to."

"Such as?"

"Your broken ribs and other parts as well."

"Michael you are a pain."

"No I am not. I am just worried about you. You are the one in pain."

"Well I will need to get to a hospital to be looked at."

"I'll have Sylia come get you."

"NO!"

"What? Did you two have a falling out?"

"No we didn't, but I think she is mad at me for some reason."

"Ok I will have Jessica come get you."

"Thanks Michael."

"Where will you be?"

"Asleep in my room."

"Ok."

With that Michael switched off. Shaelynn managed to get dried off and then teleported himself into his bed. Some twenty minutes later, Shaelynn could hear someone walking into his room. His head hurt so he did not open his eyes at all.

"Alright who ever you are you have exactly two seconds to leave my house before I make you leave," Shaelynn growled.

"Correct me if I am mistaken, but you are in no position to back that threat up," the person said.

Opening his eyes to slits, Shaelynn saw that it was not his sister Jessica, but Sylia was standing there instead.

"Michael I thought I told you to call Jessica," Shaelynn snapped.

"I did call Jessica and she said that this is your own damn fault and you should deal with this on your own," Michael said. "I am truly sorry."

"So that is how it is then," Shaelynn said with a heavy sigh and blinking back tears. "Even my own family has betrayed me. Now I am truly alone."

"You are not alone," Sylia said. "You left so suddenly and we were planning to take you to a hospital. Why did you leave?"

"Because you are mad at me," Shaelynn said. "Don't try to lie about it. Remember we are connected."

"You are right, I am mad at you," Sylia said. "I want to know why you did not tell me what you were doing."

"I couldn't tell you with out compromising my position," Shaelynn said. "If I said something then I would not have been able to complete this job."

"You are telling me the entire truth," Sylia asked. "I want the truth about what you have been doing. And I mean all of it."

"How about after I get healed up here," Shaelynn asked. "My ribs and other parts are killing me."

"Alright," Sylia said and then helped him to his feet. "Can you stand?"

"Not without support," Shaelynn said. "I seemed to have overextended myself."

"Just lean on me and we will manage," Sylia said.

"Thanks," Shaelynn said with a lopsided smile.

Sylia could not believe how light he was. She was expecting him to be heavier. She was able to get him to her car with out much trouble. The ride to the hospital was made in silence.

Once they got to the hospital, Sylia was able to help him in to the waiting room and got him to sit down. Shaelynn was not in a good mood. He had some busted ribs and maybe more injuries than that.

A few minutes later a doctor came over to check on Shaelynn.

"What happened to you," The doctor asked.

"Rock climbing and I fell twenty feet," Shaelynn said.

"You are lucky to be alive," The doctor said. "Are you some kind of Esper or something?"

"Or something," Shaelynn said.

"I need to know the truth," The doctor said.

"Yes I am an Esper!" Shaelynn snapped. He then winced in pain.

"Alright let's get him into the emergency room," the doctor said. Sylia then helped Shaelynn to his feet and then into the emergency room.

As soon as Shaelynn was in the emergency room, the doctor was able to see exactly what was wrong with him. It turns out that he had broken over half of his ribs. Also he had managed to almost turn his insides into Swiss Cheese.

"Well you are a hurting individual," The doctor said.

"No shit I am," Shaelynn snapped. "How bad off am I?"

"Well over half of your ribs are broken and your nervous system is almost shot," The doctor said. "It amazes me that you are even able to move."

"Yeah well I manage," Shaelynn said through gritted teeth.

"You will need several days of bed rest in order to get better," The doctor said. "Are you his wife?" The doctor asked Sylia.

Shaelynn started to blush. He had no idea that he was going to ask that.

"No I am not," Sylia said. "We are just dating that is all."

"Either way someone needs to stay with him to make sure that he gets better," The doctor said.

"OK fine," Shaelynn said with a sigh. He did not feel like arguing the point.

"I will bandage your ribs for you and then it is up to you to take better care of yourself," The doctor said as he started to wrap Shaelynn's ribs.

As soon as he was finished, Sylia took Shaelynn back to her place. As soon as she got him settled into the guest room, Sylia went to make some tea for herself. She found that it calmed her down immensely. Taking her tea with her down to the guest room, Sylia was determined to get all of the answers that she wanted. And even some answers that she deserved.

"Shaelynn, now tell me the truth about what you were doing," Sylia said.

"Ok," Shaelynn said with a sigh. HE then winced at that simple act managed to send daggers of pain all the way up his spine. "I wasn't exactly truthful about how long I have had my suit. I have had it since 2029. I have been doing jobs for people at a fairly decent price."

"So you are a mercenary then," Sylia asked.

"Yes I am a mercenary, but I will not kill in cold blood no matter how much I am paid," Shaelynn said coldly.

"Why?"

"Because to murder a person is wrong."

"Even if it means protecting yourself?"

"That is entirely different."

"How so?"

"Sylia, that is self defense."

"Have you had any jobs that entailed killing people?"

"Yes, I have only had one such job."

"Who did you have to kill?"

"You guys."

"Us? Why?"

"Well it seemed that someone considered you a threat and decided to have you killed. I refused to take the job on the grounds of conflict of morals."

"And that person's response?"

"Nothing yet."

"They will respond you know that?"

"I am aware of that. I won't let them hurt any of you."

"You can't do much in your current condition though."

"You are right Sylia."

"One thing I must know however, why on earth did you want to tackle that boomer alone?"

"Well the honest truth is because it was causing problems and it was a job of conscious more than anything."

"You were doing it with out getting paid?"

"Basically. Besides that thing was powerful. I did not want anyone getting hurt or killed by it."

"You must realize that your acting alone will eventually get you killed."

"If that is my fate then so be it. Sylia listen I am sorry if I have a negative attitude, but you must understand that I love you to much to see you hurt. That is why I do what I must."

"I understand. Well you need your sleep. Get some rest Shaelynn."

"I will."

With that Sylia left the room and went to take care of other things that she had to do. Sylia wanted to ask him about what he was doing back in 2033. She figured that what Dumas told her was a lie and did not believe it. Yet something was not right about what he said. She hoped that when he was better, he would tell her what was wrong. It was at this time that Sylia started to think about all of Shaelynn's actions. He was acting as if no one would miss him if he did die. This most recent escapade was the final thing that she would take from him.

******

Shaelynn felt as if a weight was lifted off of him. He finally told Sylia what was going on in his life. He only hoped that she understood his motivations.

"I don't know what I should do," Shaelynn said as he laid there. "As far as my relationship with Sylia goes I wouldn't be surprised if it is over between us."

Looking around at the room that he was in, Shaelynn saw that it was decorated very conservatively.

"Nice decoration," Shaelynn said as he looked around. "Well I need to recuperate so I better go into a deep sleep."

With that, Shaelynn settled down and went to sleep. It was not a typical sleep since his whole body was demanding that it needed time to repair itself.

While Shaelynn slept he sent out a telepathic probe to his sisters. In that probe he wanted to know why they did not care about how he was doing. It seemed that Jessica blamed him for the death of Tommy. Kim was ignoring him. Natasha was yelling at him for his stupidity. Pulling out, Shaelynn woke up with a start. Looking around, he saw Linna sitting next to his bed. Her expression was grim.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Linna said.

"Linna, how long have I been sleeping," Shaelynn asked.

"A couple of days," Linna said. "We've all been worried about you."

"What has happened," Shaelynn asked as he sat up. "Last thing I remember doing was talking to Sylia and then I went to sleep."

"We had a job and all of us were nearly killed. It was because of those two kids that you saved, managed to rescue us," Linna said.

"Is she alright," Shaelynn asked.

"Sylia barely survived," Linna said. "Now don't go off the rocker here. The boomer that we were fighting was similar to what you destroyed."

"Was it destroyed," Shaelynn asked.

"This one was yes. We managed to destroy it," Linna said as she went to leave. "Now you rest. You still aren't 100% yet."

Shaelynn was not about to go back to sleep. Placing a foot on the ground, Shaelynn went to test his balance. Sure enough he was able to move with out twitching badly.

"Well I guess I was not that bad off," Shaelynn said with a shrug.

Standing up slowly, Shaelynn tried to walk. It was tough at first, but he was able to get back most of his movement. First thing that Shaelynn did was walk around the room to make sure that he was fine all around.

Feeling satisfied with himself, Shaelynn walked down the hall to Sylia's room. He hoped that she was alright and not too badly hurt. Using the walls to steady himself as he walked, Shaelynn managed to get to Sylia's room.

******

Sylia heard the door to her room open. She thought that it was Linna that was coming in. She did not realize that Shaelynn was up and moving. When she looked up from her newspaper she saw that Shaelynn was standing next to the open door.

"What are you doing out of bed," She asked as she went to help him into the room.

"I am feeling better," Shaelynn remarked dryly. "I've had worse."

"You have?"

"Back in August of last year to be exact."

"So how are you doing?"

"If you mean as far as my Esper abilities I am back up to peak condition."

"I mean mentally."

"Oh that, well in that case I am better."

"That is good to hear."

"I have a question to ask you."

What do you want to know?"

"What exactly happened Tuesday night after we finished working on that project?"

"You mean you forgot what happened?"

"Yes I did forget. In fact I am missing about twelve hours of memories and they are from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning when I woke up."

"I thought that you would never forget something that special?"

"What did we do," Shaelynn asked with a slight bit of hesitation.

"You know what happened and you are choosing to forget it," Sylia said getting upset.

Mulling it over for a bit, Shaelynn came to the conclusion that he really did not want to. When the realization hit him, Shaelynn started to blush.

"Ah I see so that is what we did," Shaelynn said as he composed himself.

All he saw was Sylia nodding her head.

"Anyway, was there anything else that you wanted to tell me," Sylia asked.

"No, there is nothing else that I want to tell you."

"Not even that you want to return to the Knight Sabers?"

"Sylia, as much as I want to return, I can't."

"Why?"

"You know the reasons why I can't."

"Would you care to share those reasons with us," Linna asked as she walked in the room.

"No Linna I won't tell you the reasons why I will not come back," Shaelynn growled. "The way between us has been cleansed and as far as I am concerned you owe me nothing."

"What are you talking about," Linna asked as she tried to figure out what he was saying.

"I am saying that there is nothing that binds us together," Shaelynn said. "As far as I am concerned I have not debt to you at all."

With that Shaelynn walked out of the room. Sylia was still not happy with the way that Shaelynn was acting. Linna was being difficult as usual. It was strange that when ever Linna dealt with Shaelynn she was always hostile to him.

"Linna, why are you hostile to Shaelynn," Sylia asked.

"I can't help but hate him simply because he constantly hides things from us. It seems to me that he can't trust us," Linna said as she started to fume.

"I don't think that is the entire truth."

"It is the truth."

"No it is not the entire truth."

"Ok Sylia, this is the entire truth. I have never liked Espers since I was attacked in 2028."

"You were attacked by an Esper?"

"Actually it was a group of Espers that attacked me."

"That is horrible."

"The last thing that I remember that night was a man beat them off of me and then carried me to the hospital."

"Do you know who it was that saved you?"

"Unfortunately I do not know who it was. I wish I did."

"Why do you have to take your hostilities out on Shaelynn for?"

"Since then I have hated Espers because they were the ones that attacked me."

"I understand that Linna, but this attitude is driving away the person that was meant to help us."

"Do you think that he will forgive me for my actions?"

"I think that he would, you need to go to him and ask him."

"I will after he has had time to cool down."

"Good idea Linna."

******

Shaelynn found himself back in the spare bedroom. Something about the last boomer that he destroyed bothered him. It was almost as if he was set up to fail that mission and die in the process. Laying down on the bed, Shaelynn started going over in his mind all of the things that happened over the last three days. Then it hit him. He had been set up and the person that did it also tried to kill the Knight Sabers as well.

Running back down the hall to Sylia's room Shaelynn burst in her room in a flurry.

"Is there something that I can help you with Shaelynn," Sylia asked.

"Sylia that boomer that I destroyed was a set up. I don't think that I was supposed to live after encountering that monstrosity," Shaelynn said in a rush.

"Shaelynn I have something that I would like to ask you," Linna said.

"Ok I am listening," Shaelynn said.

"I was wondering if you could find it in your heart to forgive me for the way that I have been treating you," Linna said. "I have blamed you for what happened in my past and that was wrong of me."

"Linna, listen to me I can kinda understand what you went through. I don't pretend to fully understand but if it is any consolation I can forgive you for what you have said," Shaelynn said

"Thank you," Linna said

"But you have to realize one thing about me. I have things that I can't tell anyone. If I do then I compromise my position and could very well be killed."

"If that is what you must do then I will respect it."

"Will you come back now," Sylia asked.

"I can't now," Shaelynn said. "I don't think that I will ever will be able to come back."

"Why," Linna asked.

"Ok this I will tell you since it pertains to you all," Shaelynn said with a sigh. "Last year after our fight with The Hacker, I received a job offer that entailed me killing all of you. Now before you start to get bent out of shape I want you to know that I refused to take the job."

"Why did you refuse," Linna asked. "Could it be that you are attached to one of us or something?"

"More a long the lines of the or something," Shaelynn said obviously lying.

Sylia gave him a scathing glare that made his hair stand on end.

"Yes Linna I am attached to one of you three," Shaelynn amended. "That was part of the reason. The other part is because I will never take a human life in cold blood."

"Are you saying that you will not kill someone at all," Linna asked in shock.

"No I did not say that," Shaelynn said. "I will defend myself if I have to."

"But you said you would not kill someone," Linna pointed out. "Does that mean that if someone was trying to kill you then you would not attack him in return?"

"That is a different story," Shaelynn said. "Needless to say, that because of my reluctance to kill you, the boomer that I destroyed three days ago was designed to destroy me and kill the three of you in the process."

"Why did they want to kill us in the first place," Sylia asked.

"Because the person that wanted me to do it believed that you were a threat to him," Shaelynn said as he started to shudder. "Unfortunately I have no idea who it was that hired me. I don't really think that I would want to find out either."

"Is that the truth, or is this a lie that you want us to believe," Sylia asked as she stared at him.

"Yes, it is the truth," Shaelynn said as he squirmed a bit in his seat. "I have no reason to lie to you about this since it involves your safety as well as mine."

"Would you mind telling us what happened back in 2033 with a Genom research center," Sylia asked.

"It would be breaking the trust of the person that I did the job for," Shaelynn said. "I am sure that you would say the same if I asked you about the situation at Aqua City back in 2032."

"How did you know about that," Sylia asked.

"I was tailing Mason and I happened to follow him to Aqua City. Believe it or not I was trying to find out what he was up to. I think I figured that out when I saw the satellite strike," Shaelynn said casually.

"Who were you working for at that time or can you say that," Linna asked.

"Well if you must know I was working for me," Shaelynn said as he nearly laughed.

"I don't think that I follow you," Linna said with a confused look on her face.

"You see no one knows aside from you and Natasha that I am the 'Blue Knight.' All anyone knows is that he is my bodyguard and works for COM-TECH," Shaelynn said smugly. "So technically I was working for myself."

"I get it now," Linna said. "So now why were you trailing Mason again?"

"It seemed that he was trying to achieve something so insane that if he proceeded on his current course of action then he would have been killed," Shaelynn said.

"What was he trying to do," Sylia asked.

"Well he was trying to take over Genom and in effect rule the world," Shaelynn said. "His first targets were the Esper Community. Of which I might add that there are only a handful of them to start with."

"How many exactly," Linna asked.

"Only about sixty-seven in the entire world,' Shaelynn said. "The thing is, only about twenty are in Japan.

"Who are the ones that live here in Japan," Sylia asked.

"Let me see," Shaelynn began. "There is Myself, The Hacker, who I might add is very much dead. Akira Asagiri is one and is still at large. The two kids that I saved the other night, I believe that they have at least one or two members of their family is an Esper. I know of two at the AD Police that are Espers. Plus there was this group of Espers that I beat the living shit out of for assaulting some girl. I wonder if she is alright?"

"Do you have any idea what happened to her," Linna asked.

"Well last time that I thought about her was after I took her to the hospital," Shaelynn said as he recalled the event. "I worried about her for several months after that. I only hoped that she was alright. Then I started to hide behind my work and never did anything else."

"What about the gang that you beat up," Linna asked. "What happened to them?"

"Oh them, Well let's just say that they are all vegetables right now," Shaelynn said. "I really don't know how I did it but when the haze cleared I noticed that they were alive but in a such a state that they did not know what happened to them. Personally I thought that they should have been castrated."

Sylia and Linna both recoiled in shock. For the first time they understood why Shaelynn never got angry. It amazed Sylia that he had such control over his rage.

"Shaelynn, you did not have to do that for me," Linna said. "I am grateful that you did though. Thank you."

"Linna why are you thanking me," Shaelynn asked in confusion. "I don't ever recall meeting you except for the first time in Hot Legs last year."

"We met one other time, it was seven years ago," Linna said. "I was the one that was attacked by that group of Espers."

"You were the one," Shaelynn asked in shock. "I had no idea it was you."

"Yes it was me, and I thank you for what you did," Linna said. "I am glad that you saved me."

"Linna, I couldn't allow you to be hurt."

"Does that include all of us?" Sylia asked.

"Yes Sylia that includes all of you as well," Shaelynn said. "I would be distraught if something were to happen to any of my friends. Now I must go. I have something that needs to be rebuilt and it will take all of my free time that I have. I will see you two later."

As soon as he left the room, Linna could not quite understand why Shaelynn wanted to help her. She figured that he did it out of kindness and left it at that.

"Well Sylia I think that I found out all that I wanted to know," Linna said. "I have to be at work in a few hours so I will see you later."

"Good bye Linna," Sylia said. "Remember that we have a meeting tomorrow."

"I will and thanks."

As soon as Linna left, Sylia needed to talk to Shaelynn. She had some things that she needed to tell him and it was not going to be easy. It involved her calling off her relationship with him. As much as she did not want to, she had to. She was unsure about how he would take the news. She loved him a lot, but his reckless abandon had managed to infuriate her once too often. It was his willingness to sacrifice himself in order to kill that boomer that irritated her the most. Apparently he did not care about his life or the fact that he was hurting her in the process.

Wiping away the tears that were forming, Sylia went to Shaelynn's shop to tell him what was on her mind.

******

Shaelynn arrived at his shop after leaving Sylia's. Thoughts were going through his head. Some of them were not good. Others were just plain scary. How in the world was he going to deal with someone that was now out to kill him. Well Shaelynn figured that this person could take a number and get in line behind all of the other crazies that wanted him dead as well. He was afraid that whoever was after him would try to use Sylia to get to him. If only he could understand what was going on. Shaelynn had his suspicions as to who might want to kill him. Quite frankly he hoped that he was wrong. This was unlike what Akira was going to do to him. This person was upset that Shaelynn did not take the job. Now he was wanted to eliminate Shaelynn and make it out to be an accident.

At the moment he needed to rebuild his suit. He knew that if he had his suit back in working condition, then he might be able to find the person that wanted him dead and deal with him. Shaelynn knew that it would mean compromising his code one more time.

"I still don't understand why I swore that I would never kill a human," Shaelynn asked himself. "I made that code after I did what I did to the group that attacked Linna. It was stupid to do such a thing."

"Not necessarily," A voice said.

"Oh Michael it is only you," Shaelynn said as he jumped in fright.

"You know in a sense that code of morals that you have has saved many lives."

"True, but it has also impeded me from putting an end to certain things that has been going on."

"Such as?"

"Well for example the stalker that killed Priss. Also in particularly Priss' older brother."

"Are you serious about killing them?"

"I am left with no other choice Michael, Akira wants to kill Sylia. That stalker will kill Natasha if I don't do anything about him."

"You still blame yourself for Priss' death don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Honestly, why do you blame yourself for it?"

"Because Michael, I feel responsible for causing all of this chaos in the first place."

"Don't feel responsible for her death. Even if you had not gotten involved, she would have still been killed by him. And yes Akira would still have went after the Knight Sabers."

"I see."

"Shaelynn, you must understand you are not a god."

"Michael quit trying to play philosopher here. I really don't need it."

"Sorry I did not realize."

"I know you didn't. But you must understand that I hate being patronized."

"I have a point you know."

"I realize that."

"Shaelynn, I swore that I would not tell you this, but I think that you should know this."

"Know what?"

"Well I found out that Priss had fallen in love with you."

"She what?!"

"Yes I found out that she had actually fallen for you."

"But why me? I am not anything that she could fall for."

"But she did."

"What did she see in me?"

"I have no idea."

"Still Michael I have to do it. If not me then who will stop them?"

"You realize that you can't just simply throw away your morals as you see fit."

"Give me one good reason why I can't?"

"Who would trust you ever again?"

"Michael, you don't understand. I can't keep a vow that was made in stupidity."

"It wasn't stupid."

"Yes it was. I was eighteen when I said what I said. You had no idea what I was going through. I had just lost my parents, my sister was attacked the night before, and then I find Linna was attacked as well. I couldn't stand it anymore."

"That may be, but you have to understand that if you insist on this course of action then I am sure that Sylia would not want anything to do with you."

"You can't be for sure about that."

"Of that you are right. I don't know if that would be the case or not."

Sighing, Shaelynn started to work on what was left of his suit. Eventually he heard the sounds of someone opening the door to the shop. As he turned around he saw that a man was standing in the door. He was well muscled and looked as if he had the speed to use the power that he had. Casually flipping a tarp over his suit, Shaelynn walked over to the person in the door.

"Can I help you," Shaelynn asked.

"I want to talk to you about a Ms. Sylia Stingray," The man said.

"What about her," Shaelynn asked cautiously. "First off who am I dealing with here?"

"Ah my name. How rude of me," The man said. "My name is Carl McCray. I was wondering how well you know her."

"Well enough."

"Could you explain that?"

"No I can't, and besides why are you so concerned about her in the first place?"

"Because she is in possession of a piece of equipment that my boss wants."

"Get real. Whatever equipment that your boss thinks that she has, she doesn't. Besides what would a lingerie shop owner want with it in the first place?"

"I see that she has you deceived as well."

"Deceived? How?"

"Well she is in charge of a mercenary band called the Knight Sabers."

"You must be sick in the head to think that she would be in charge of the Knight Sabers. Besides I can't see her in powered armor."

"But it is the truth."

"Yeah right. Besides if she was their leader, as you claim she is, what would she want with that equipment that you say that she has?"

"The equipment that she has is a forced gravity wave blaster."

"Get real, I would surmise that whatever the weapons that the Knight Sabers have is good enough for them. What in the world would they want with a gravity blaster in the first place?"

"They could use it to destroy certain types of boomers that Genom was planning to release.

'You idiot, you managed to tell me exactly what I wanted to know. And besides I am the one that developed the forced gravity wave blaster in the first place,' Shaelynn snorted mentally.

"Listen Carl I am very busy and I have to get back to work. Now please go."

"Well thank you for your time," Carl said and then left.

A few minutes later Shaelynn sensed that Sylia was coming to his shop.

"What were you two talking about," Sylia asked as she walked in.

"Well he was under the impression that you had something that they wanted. I told him that you had no need of it," Shaelynn said. He was obviously hiding something.

"What was it that he thought that I have?"

"Let's talk else where I believe that we are being spied on," Shaelynn said as he started to scan the area around his shop. Sure enough he found the person that he was talking to. Concentrating, Shaelynn sent a shaft of mental energy right at him. All he did was send a loud mental scream at him. It was enough to send him away in pain.

"Now what did he think that I have," Sylia asked.

"He believed that you had a forced gravity wave blaster," Shaelynn said.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I did not think that you would have any need for one. Besides you are just a fashion store owner."

"So you never hinted that I had a double life?"

"Well he seems to know about it. I told him that I did not think that you did."

"That's good."

"Could we talk back at my place?"

"I suppose, besides I have something that I need to discuss with you."

"Ok, let me get cleaned up here and then we can go."

As soon as Shaelynn washed his hands, he was ready to go. As they walked out of the shop together, Shaelynn could sense that she was troubled by something. He did not want to pry into her mind, but this bothered him. Shaelynn figured that he could wait to hear it from her.

Shutting the shop down, Shaelynn was convinced that no one would get in. However, his paranoia got the better of him and Shaelynn activated the security system on his shop. As soon as that was finished, he got in the car with Sylia and they drove off to his place.

When they arrived, Shaelynn went to pull off his dirty work clothes and pull on a shirt and jeans. As he walked into the living room, he could see that Sylia was looking over several of the pictures that were on the mantle. All of the pictures were of Shaelynn and his two younger siblings. In each picture he looked happy. Shaelynn quietly walked up behind Sylia and waited. He could tell that she was saddened by something. He wanted to reach out and take her into an embrace. Yet, something about this situation did not sit right with him. As he was about to say something, he heard her say something.

"Shaelynn, I wish I did not have to do this," Sylia said sadly. "But I can't put up with your willingness to sacrifice yourself every time that the odds are difficult."

Shaelynn was left speechless. He had no idea that she felt this way.

"I wish that you knew that what you are doing is hurting me a lot," Sylia said this time while wiping away a tear. "I wish I did not have to do this but I guess it is over between us."

Shaelynn's heart sank. He now knew what was bothering her at the shop. Silently teleporting to the kitchen, Shaelynn grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and walked down to the living room once again. He had to make himself forget what he had just heard. When he stepped into the living room this time he saw that Sylia was sitting on a couch.

"Sylia was there something that you wanted to talk to me about," Shaelynn asked as he sat down.

"What I want to talk to you about is us."

"Ok, what about us?"

"I don't think that we should be together anymore."

"Why?"

"I can't tolerate your attitude any longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Your willingness to sacrifice yourself. Do you realize that what you are doing is hurting me?"

"How is that hurting you?"

"Every time you want to tackle something alone I fear that I am going to lose you. I don't want to lose anymore people that I care about. Especially not you."

"But I come back alive."

"Still there is the chance that you will not. I don't want to lose you."

"I will be fine. Besides there is a reason that I do what I do."

"At that reason is?"

"I don't want to see any of my friends get hurt by what Genom releases."

"But you realize that you might die doing what you are doing?"

"As long as those that I care about are still alive."

"But what about me?"

"Sylia, please understand I don't want you to suffer any more."

"But how do you think that I will feel if you die?"

"Well you would probably mourn my death and then go on with your life."

"You are only half right. I would mourn your death yes, but you are the only one that has managed to work your way into my heart. I do not think that I could go back to my normal life."

"Do you really want to call it off between us?"

"I am afraid that I must. At least for now," Sylia said as she was about to start crying.

"I understand," Shaelynn said as he embraced her tightly. Shaelynn knew that this would be the last time that he would be able to do that.

"Is that all you have to say," Sylia asked. "You are not even going to do anything to stop this?"

"Why should I? I respect your decision and I can live with it," Shaelynn said as he pulled away from her. "If that is what you want I understand."

Sylia was shocked. She was not expecting Shaelynn to be this agreeable. She half-expected him to make a big fuss. All he did was give her one last loving embrace and then walked off to attend to other business. This disturbed her. He did not even let out one protest. Seeing that what she came here to do was done, Sylia let herself out and left.

******

As soon as she left, Shaelynn teleported over to his shop to finish working on his suit. He needed to get his mind off of what he had just been told. Something about working always put his mind at peace. However, he needed to understand for his own sake what had just happened. He understood that she was angry with him for wanting to sacrifice himself. Yet what he did not understand was why she had to make a big deal out of it. Was this her way of saying that she wanted him out of her life forever? He thought that she would never want that.

"She needs some space I realize that now," Shaelynn said with a resigned sigh. "Yet why did she have to break up with me? If she wanted me to give her some space then she could have said that and I would have stopped coming over to see her as often as I have been. OH well I knew that I would have done something eventually to call this off and it seems that I did."

As he continued to work, the hairs on the back of his neck started to stand on end. Stopping his work for a minute, Shaelynn looked around the shop for any signs of danger.

The feeling came too late. He could hear the sounds of metal expanding at a frightening rate. Then the blinding flash of white light. The shop was exploding around him. He only had seconds to act. On a whim Shaelynn picked a place and Teleported there. Fortunately he knew the location well. It was the Training room in one of the Sub-basements of the COM-TECH building. However, before he could celebrate his escape, he felt something heavy hit him across the back of his head. Shaelynn had managed to catch a glimps of the person that hit him. It was a man in a black body suit. His hair was long and came down to his waist. It was spiky all over. He had the lightest blue eyes and his face was locked in a scowl.

"So Mr. Benton you thought that you could escape us. I will make sure that you suffer horribly before I kill you."

At that Shaelynn lost consciousness.

******

Getting in her car, Sylia could swear that she could feel their link go dead. She knew that their link was the last thing that he wanted to have to remind him of her. Sighing, Sylia drove back to her penthouse. As she arrived, Sylia wondered just what was going on in Shaelynn's mind.

"Michael are you still here," Sylia asked out loud.

"Yes Sylia I am still here," Michael said.

"I want to know what is wrong with Shaelynn."

"Why is there something wrong with him?"

"If you call not having one complaint about our break up a problem then yes there is something wrong with him."

"He did not even complain?"

"No he did not, just said that he understood and respected my decision."

"And that is odd why?"

"Michael, I expected to have to hear him argue about it."

"Sylia, you have to understand that Shaelynn is kinda funny that way. He never really argues, all he does is just agrees in such a way that he makes his argument right there."

"But why?"

"Sylia his thinking is this 'Love with out reservation.' He built his world around you and now he is in shock."

"That was stupid of him."

"No Sylia that was stupid of you for breaking up with him for the reasons that you did."

"But I wanted to have him think about what he was doing to me."

"What he was doing to you? How about what you were doing to him?"

"What was I doing to him?"

"You have shut him out. Sylia, his whole family has turned a deaf ear to him. They don't even want to see him at all. Now who are you going to turn to when your life turns into rubble?"

"I will rely on myself from now on."

"Sylia what will happen when you can't rely on yourself for matters that require help?"

"I will manage."

"Sylia, Shaelynn bought you an engagement ring last month. He was going to purpose to you after Christmas."

"He wanted us to be married?"

"Yes he did. He loved you so much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you."

Just as she was about to respond her phone rang. Seeing that it was both audio and visual she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Sylia, this is Nene there has been an accident?"

"What kind of accident Nene?"

"Shaelynn's shop was destroyed a few hours ago."

"What?"

"Yes I am afraid that it is true. Several witnesses saw Shaelynn go in there and then never come out. Then the entire shop was destroyed. The AD Police could not find a body. All they could find was the remains of his suit. Sylia I am afraid that he has turned up missing."

"Thank you for telling me this," Sylia said as she broke the connection. "Michael, would Shaelynn do something stupid like try to kill himself?"

"No Sylia he would not," Michael said. I believe that his shop was bombed and he escaped the blast."

"I hope that you are right Michael. I hope that you are right."

With that Sylia just broke down and cried. She had no idea what had happened to Shaelynn or why anyone would want to kill him. All she knew that he was gone and with him went a piece of her heart.

The End For now.

Any and all comments can be directed to

Constructive comments will be listened to. non constructive Flames will be given to the Lord High Master EnmaDaiou for burning.

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