Day Seven eventually showed up. From what I had read in the papers about the Boomer summit, it seemed as I feared: they weren't making any headway towards a solution for the Boomer problems. I had said it in the beginning; this summit was a waste of our time and the world leaders' time, and it proved to be true. Ten days of talks, and they would probably be for nothing at all.

Today, however, I felt that they might actually come up with some ideas. Day Seven might prove to be lucky. Was I being superstitious about seven being a lucky number? Perhaps, but then again, I had the feeling I wasn't the only person out there wondering if today might be the day.

"What's the schedule for today, Sylia?" Nene asked, sipping her coffee.

"Today, we'll be alternating between me and Yumeko, and Priss and Linna," Sylia said. "Nene, you, Linna, and Yumeko will be in one van, and Priss, Mackie, and myself will be in the other. Everyone understand?"

"I don't," I said. Everyone looked at me.

"What don't you understand?" Linna asked, curious.

"I don't understand why I have to sit out if there is going to be a fight."

"It's for your own good," Mom said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "I know you don't like it now, but later on, you'll understand why we decided to keep you out."

"Still sore over that?" Nene asked.

I glared at her. "Of course. If anything happens, I want to help put a stop to it before it gets out of hand."

"We'll continue this discussion later," Sylia interrupted. "We have to get going."

I sighed as we all got into our respective vans and headed out towards the convention center. This was getting old real fast, and I think Nene and Linna could tell, for on our way there, they inquired about why I was so hung up over being left out of any possible fights.

"I thought I explained it ten times already," I said when they inquired.

"Well, yes," Linna admitted, "but that decision was made a week ago. The summit will be over with in three days. I think you can stop with the 'hair-up-your-butt-about-a-little-thing' routine now."

"I do NOT have a hair up my butt about this whole thing. It's just…depressing that I'm being kept out. I want to be there to help."

Linna walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder, looking sympathetic. "I understand. But being a Knight Saber doesn't give you a license to go out in your hardsuit and do whatever you want to do. There are still rules to abide by."

"Yes, I know about Articles 2 and 3 of the Knight Sabers Charter. 'Do not act upon a personal grudge' and 'Do not act without the mutual consent of all the members'." I sighed and leaned against the wall, my arms folded behind my head.

"Exactly."

"Thank God Sylia's never enforced Rule 11." I smiled smugly.

"Don't push your luck," Nene joked. "She just might have to one of these days, at the rate you've been going."

I felt like clobbering her, but Linna shushed me up and had me change into my innerwear before I had the chance to.


Almost the end of another boring day watching over the summit. I sat there and counted down the seconds until we could go home and I could go to sleep. Sitting up here made each second seem like a minute, each minute like an hour. I'd sit there for what seemed like the longest time, and when I'd check my HUD for the time, it would say only a minute and a half had gone by.

I sighed and plopped myself down on the roof where I had perched myself, and looked down at the crowd gathered in front of the heavily guarded entrance. More protesters than ever were gathered there; perhaps they thought Day Seven would prove lucky, too. I looked with interest as they shouted and tried in vain to tell the world leaders inside – they probably couldn't hear them, anyhow – to do something about the Boomers before the summit reached its 'all-too-soon' end. Too soon, they say, I thought dryly. Seems like they shoulda put an end to this thing days ago. If ya ask me, I'd say this has been going on for too LONG.

"You ok up there?" Nene asked over the comm. "You haven't said anything for the past ten minutes."

"I'm fine," I said.

"Three more days, you can hang in there."

"Think we could at least get a pizza up here or something? I've been sitting here starving for the past—"

Almost in unison, I heard Nene's, Mom's, and Sylia's voices all say, "No!!"

I was taken aback by the response. "Geez, it was a joke. But really, I am pretty hungry." At that moment, as if it was its cue, my stomach rumbled.

"We'll go get something to eat after we're done on watch, ok?" Mom said impatiently.

"But…that's not for another three hours."

"You can handle it."

I sighed and said, "Ok, I'll try to hang in there till then."

After another few minutes of sitting there, things got pretty quiet. I sighed and stared at my shadow on the ground. If I'd thought I was gonna go nuts yesterday, then today was pure torture. I would have rather done mountains of homework than just sit there doing nothing. True, Nene had said that the only thing worse than nothing happening is something happening, but damn, even a change from this hot, sticky weather would have satisfied me. It'd been like that since the summit began.

After a little while longer of sitting there, practically nodding off, I ended up starting to sing to myself.

"Omoidashite samishii yoru wa kawarazu ni matteiru tomodachi ga iru koto o…"

"Lovely vocals there, Yumeko," I heard Nene suddenly say gleefully. My eyes widened and I blushed.

"You…!!" I snapped. I heard her crack up.

"Seriously! You might be able to make a career for yourself out of that voice."

"No thanks. I've seen what Mom has to put up with, so that's a definite 'no way'."

"You do sound a lot like Priss, though. It's a pretty sound."

I blushed again. "Even if I did, people would only recognize me because I'm Mom's daughter. They'll think I just joined the singing bit to cash in on her fame. I'd rather make a name for myself elsewhere, and gymnastics is where it's at."

"Got a point there…"

"And don't even bring up the fact that I placed third at the World Championships, either," I reminded her, half-joking.

"Oh, I know, I know. Now if only you could apply those athletic skills to the holographic simulator, you could actually get beyond Level Seven."

"You enjoy teasing me about that, don't you!!" I yelled, starting to laugh.

"But of course!!" she sang out, joining me in laughter.

The summit was pretty boring, yes, but there were more reasons that I kept coming to it than bodyguarding the world leaders and politicians. It was because of moments like this one. It was kind of a bonding thing between us five girls, being able to joke around in the middle of all this serious work. Definitely helped to make the mood a bit lighter…


I lay there on my stomach on the floor of the equipment van, papers and binders scattered around me. So much for Day Seven being lucky; the teachers only piled on the homework even more than they usually did. Holding a banana in one hand and a pencil in the other, I ate as I worked on an essay for my Japanese history class. The topic: How could World War II have ended if the United States had never used the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I sat there scratching the side of my head with the end of my pencil as I thought. Good question, I thought, grimacing as I tried to come up with a reasonable answer.

"That's a hard question to answer," Nene said, reading the question.

"I'd say that they'd probably have sent in Boomers to invade, but I keep forgetting Boomers didn't exist back then," I said.

"That's true."

"Damn it, this is hard!!" I yelled. "I'd almost rather be back on watch."

"When's it due?"

"In three days."

"How long does it have to be?"

"At least five paragraphs. And the teacher said we can't joke around with it, saying the Americans would've blown up the whole place with the satellite weapons or anything. She said we have to be serious."

"Assigning a huge essay a week and a half before finals…" Nene shook her head. "It's just like them to do that when everyone's trying to study."

"Yep." I nibbled on my banana and tapped my pencil on the paper. "They always pull something like this just when we can least afford it. I won't be surprised if a few kids commit seppuku because of all the pressure. A few kids killed themselves last year 'cause of the same thing."

Nene sighed. "I swear, they really should ease up on you guys. If kids are killing themselves because of the pressure, shouldn't that be a sign to the school officials that they're being too hard on everyone? Stupid bullheaded people…" She turned back to the computer monitor and asked Linna and Mom how everything was.

"Just dandy," Linna said in her usual cheerful voice.

"Nothin' happening from my view," Mom added.

"Ok. Just speak up if anything suspicious is going on. Nene over and out."

I crumpled up my paper in anger, cursed, and threw it across the van. It bounced along the ground before coming to a stop at Nene's feet. She looked down, picked up the crumpled paper, and threw it in the trash.

"Having trouble?" she asked, walking over to me.

"Let's just say I'm starting to understand why some of those kids copped out and did away with themselves," I grumbled, putting both hands up to my face and moving them up through my hair to get the bangs out of my eyes.

She put her hand on my shoulder. "It's ok to be stressed out. It's normal to feel overwhelmed, but don't go and do what those other kids did just because of one little essay. It's just that: an essay, something that you'll forget about once you've done it."

"Right…"

Suddenly, I heard an explosion, and the ground simultaneously started to shake. I tried to stand up, but could barely do so what with the ground shaking and all. "What the—" I exclaimed, quite surprised by the sudden move. That was no earthquake…

"What happened?! What happened?!" Nene yelled into the comm as I dashed to her side, asking the same thing.

"An explosion at the convention center!!" Linna yelled back. "Priss and I are going to see what's up!! You and Sylia better come too; this doesn't look good!!"

"Right!!" Nene said, disconnecting. She ran to her hardsuit and started to step into it.

"What about me?!" I asked as she reached her arms into the suit.

"Stay here!" she said as the armor folded itself and closed over her chest and abdomen. "This is probably going to get ugly."

"That's why I should go, too!!" I shot at her, my fists clenched.

"You have your orders!!" Nene shot back at me. I stepped back in surprise; she'd never used that tone of voice with me before. "I'm sorry, but you were told to stay put if anything happens. If we need backup, we'll call for you, ok?"

My shoulders slumped as I sighed and gave in. She slipped her helmet over her head and turned to me. "Everyone will be fine," she tried to assure me.

I looked at her and started to get tears in my eyes. I couldn't stand it if anything were to happen to my Aunt Nene. Just the thought of it made my stomach turn. I shook my head to get them out of my eyes and hugged her.

"Just do one thing for me…" I said, my voice choking. "Just come back alive!!"

Nene was surprised at this show of emotion, and lifted her visor to look at me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me close. "Yumeko…you don't need to worry. I'll be back. I promise."

"You better be!" I said, stepping back, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Remember, we'll call for you if we need help," she said one last time before opening the roof hatch and climbing through. "Later now!"

After she disappeared through the hatch, I stood there, looking through that open space in the roof, and wondered if I would ever see Aunt Nene alive again…


"Isn't this just great!!" I said dryly to myself as I leaped from my perch and headed towards the explosion. How truly ironic that Boomers would be attacking a Boomer summit. It was something that practically begged to occur, in my opinion.

"Hurry up, Priss!" I heard Linna yell to me over the comm.

"All right, already!!" I yelled back, landing in the street. The smoke seemed to fill the air so that I'd hardly be able to breathe if not for my helmet. I ran my scanner for any Boomers, but none showed up on them. Damn, I cursed to myself, trying to peer through the smoke.

"Priss!!" I heard a high-pitched voice call to me. I turned around and saw a familiar red-and-pink hardsuit run towards me.

"What the hell are you doing, Nene?!" I snapped.

Nene stopped in front of me, panting, and said, "Gotta provide some backup, right? Well, here I am. Have you seen Linna or Sylia anywhere?"

"Nuh-uh," I said, shaking my head. "Can't find the Boomers or whoever attacked the building either."

"HEY!!" Linna suddenly screamed over the comm. "We need help over here, NOW!!"

Nene gasped. "That was Linna!!"

"C'mon!!" I said, grabbing her by the arm and running through the smoke towards where my scanner said Linna and Sylia were.

When Nene and I reached the steps to the convention center, we were greeted by the sound of gunfire and small explosions. The little redhead next to me started trembling, but I dragged her up the steps and inside. "Don't chicken out on me now, you hear?"

"But…but…that doesn't sound good at all."

"Does it EVER sound good? Now come—" Before I could finish, a group of freaked-out men ran into us. They were dressed in business suits, which probably meant they were some of the 'big important' politicians that we'd been hired to protect. When they saw us, they screamed in terror.

"No!! Don't hurt us, please!!" one of them said while the others cowered behind him.

"It's ok, we're not going to hurt you," Nene said in as calm a voice as she could manage. "We're not Boomers."

"You…you're not going to kill us then?" another one asked, as if he didn't believe what Nene was saying.

"Of course not. We're here to protect you."

I looked to her and said, "While I'm inside helping the others, how 'bout you get these guys outta here before they get hurt."

"R…right!" she said, slowly nodding before motioning for the men to follow her.

Once inside the main hall, I took a quick look around. God damn, the place was a mess. Turned over tables, scorched rugs, even scorch marks on the walls. It looked like I had gotten there too late, but then I heard the same gunshots that I'd heard earlier. Guess it wasn't over yet, after all. I dashed down the hall, hoping to get there in time to help the others, but then, I was met by a wall of fire heading towards me. I was thrown back onto the floor by the explosion, and when I got back to my feet, I saw a Boomer standing there, waiting for me. I'd say it stood about three meters tall, with black metal plating on its skin for armor, and glowing red eyes that felt like they could see right through me if I dared look at it in them. Its body was swollen with huge synthetic muscles that bulged so much, it made me wonder if they'd pop at any second.

"Boomer…!" I gasped, frozen in shock.

"Well, no shit, Sherlock!!" it said, and promptly charged towards me with amazing speed. I barely had time to react before it swung its melon-sized fist at me. I just barely jumped backwards in time to avoid being hit. It swung at me again, and this time I ducked the punch and punched the Boomer in the stomach with my Knuckle Bomber. The bastard wasn't even fazed by it; it simply stood there for a second, then was on the attack again.

"Shit!" I said to myself, trying to dodge the barrage of punches that came my way.

"Why don't you hold still like a good girl?" it asked, laughing as I jumped over its fist and leaped over its towering body. Landing behind it, I attempted to grab it in a bear hug so it wouldn't be able to move. Once the Boomer was in my grasp, I started to pull on its arms, hoping to, well, disarm it.

"Not so…high and mighty now, are ya?!" I taunted, pulling on its arms.

Suddenly, a familiar voice bellowed out over the comm, "What's going on over there?! Are you guys ok?"

"Shut up!" I yelled, still trying to keep my grip on the struggling Boomer. "We're a bit busy at the moment!"

"Well, I can tell YOU'RE ok," Yume said dryly. "You sound like you could use some help."

"Stay where you are!! I'll tell you if we need help!"

"You sure?" She sounded skeptical.

"Just stay out of this!!" I said, disconnecting before she had a chance to respond.

I knew that Yume was just concerned about us, but that little intervention of hers had distracted me, and that gave the Boomer a chance to attack. I saw it raise up its right leg, and I knew exactly what it was going to do, but before I could raise up my legs to dodge it, it kicked backwards. Its foot slammed into my lower leg, and I screamed as I felt a jolt of pain and heard the sound of a bone breaking. I attempted to keep my grip on the Boomer, despite the obvious pain I was in, but with one thrust of its torso, I lost my grip and fell to the ground.

"God….damn!!" I groaned, grabbing my leg. The Boomer stood over me and laughed.

"You look like you're in pain," it teased. I looked up and gritted my teeth as it crossed its arms over its chest.

"You bastard…!" I said, attempting to stand up, but my right leg wasn't exactly able to hold any weight at the moment, and I fell to one knee, groaning with the pain that simple movement caused.

"This looks like the end for you, Miss Blue Saber," it said, uncrossing its arms and walking towards me, eerily calm.

"Gee, too bad you and I don't see this the same way!" I wisecracked, raising my arm and firing a few railgun needles through its chest. The Boomer didn't even try to dodge the needles, or slap them away, or anything; it just stood there as the three of them went barreling towards it.

"Gotcha!" I said, only to gasp when the Boomer just stood there, the needles poking out its chest, apparently unaffected by them.

It pulled one needle out of its chest, looked at it, and sneered. "You should be careful where you're aiming these things," it said sarcastically. "You could put someone's eye out with these." Holding it in its fingers almost like someone about to throw a dart at a dartboard, the Boomer aimed the needle at me and grinned. For a brief moment, I had a flashback to my battle with Largo, when he'd done much the same thing before spearing me in the shoulder with one of my needles. This can't be happening again, I thought grimly. I tried to get up so I could dodge it, but my throbbing leg refused to do anything, and I dropped to my knees again. Before I knew it, the needle came speeding towards me. A split-second later, I felt something hit my abdomen and jerk my body backwards. I gasped with the sharp pain and slowly looked down, only to see the needle sticking out of my suit, the fresh blood covering part of it. I silently cursed, then fell to my hands and knees, my body trembling with the pain.

"Honestly, I was expecting something a bit more from you," the Boomer said, running over to me and giving me a quick kick in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and snapping off most of the needle. I stumbled backwards a few painful steps, then fell down on my ass, gasping for air. Damn, was this humiliating or what!! I wasn't even outnumbered, and here I was getting my ass kicked!!

I wobbled to my feet slowly, trying to put as much of my weight as possible on my good leg, holding my stomach in pain. "You'll…have to…do better than that to take me down," I said, forcing an evil grin.

"Well, well, she's not down for the count after all," it said, grinning, if you could call the look on its face a grin, anyway. "I'm somewhat impressed."

It was about to make its next move when suddenly, a high-pitched voice bellowed through the hall. "Priss!!" I heard Nene gasp when she arrived. The Boomer turned around to face her and smirked.

"Another one wants to play, eh?"

"Nene…get out of here!!" I yelled, trying to stay on my feet and pull out the needle in my stomach at the same time.

"Yeah, better listen to your friend here," the Boomer advised, chuckling.

"You leave her alone, you jerk!" Nene said, starting to tremble a little. She aimed her laser gun at the Boomer, trying to act like she was dead serious. Honestly, if she was gonna try to 'save' me, she could've at least not looked cowardly about it! She might as well have said, "Leave her alone, but please don't hurt ME!!"

"You honestly think you can hurt me with that little toy of yours?" the Boomer inquired, and started to walk towards her. Almost to my surprise, Nene kept her gun aimed at its head, though she was also taking a few steps back to keep her distance.

"You…you stay away!!" she said, firing off a laser. It hit the Boomer right in the face, but from my view, it didn't do any damage whatsoever. At that same time, I actually managed to yank the railgun needle out of my abdomen, crying out in pain as I did so. I almost fell to my knees again, it hurt so much. Both the Boomer and Nene looked in my direction to see what I was making such fuss about. I held up the needle to them – a good eight centimeters of it was dripping blood – then threw it to the ground.

"Priss…!" Nene gasped in disbelief.

"Heh. What a stubborn girl," the Boomer said, turning around to face me again.

"Don't count me out yet," I growled, the pain in both my leg and stomach excruciating. It was a wonder that I was still conscious, let alone standing up, after what I'd just been through. I'm sure the Boomer was thinking that same thing.

"Oh, I wasn't," it said. "I was hoping to have some more fun with you, anyw—" It was interrupted by a barrage of gunshots from behind, and turned around to see Nene firing at it rapidly, practically in panic.

"Nene, you…idiot!!" I yelled as the Boomer ran at her. She'd be a goner for sure!

Nene stopped firing in time to see the charging Boomer, and ducked as it swung its fist at her. She squirmed between its legs and ran towards me, screaming in fear.

"No no no!!" she yelled, then abruptly turned around and faced the Boomer, preventing it from getting to me without having to go through her first.

"What do you think you're doing?" I inquired.

"You're not gonna hurt her anymore!!" she said to the Boomer, holding out her arms as if she was trying to be a roadblock or something. How un-Nene-like this was. This girl I'd known for almost twenty-four years and had not hardly once tried to show anything resembling courage in battle was here willing to give her life for me. I was awestruck, to say the least. It looked more like something I'd do than her; she was the last person I'd expect something like this from.

"A kid like you is going to try to protect your blue friend from the likes of me?" it asked, apparently quite amused by the sight.

"You don't need to do this for me!!" I snapped.

"You…you have to live!" she said, sounding like she was going to cry. "For Yumeko's sake, and for your own! I won't let you die!!"

"Wh…" Surely Nene didn't mean that she was willing to throw away her life!! It couldn't be!! And yet…it rang so true…

"Oh, I'm so touched," the Boomer said, its voice dripping with sarcasm. "But it's time for battle now, not melodrama!!" It charged towards Nene and me, fully intent on imploding our heads, I'm sure. Nene held her position in front of me, even as it drew ever closer to us. Finally, when the Boomer got about five meters from us, we both jumped to the side at the same time it was swinging its fist, and instead of hitting us, it hit the wall, making a large hole in it.

"You ok, Priss?" Nene asked. When we'd both jumped and ducked, she'd happened to land on top of me, and now, as if I wasn't in enough pain before, having her on top of me only made it twice as bad. I shoved her off of me and moaned in pain as I put my hand to the hole in my suit where the needle had been. Blood was flowing steadily out of it, making a big red splotch in the middle of my grey stomach armor.

"You can't get away from me," the Boomer growled, looking down at us.

"LOOK OUT!!" Nene screamed, throwing herself on top of me. Before I could get her off of me, the Boomer's fist came down on us, and a second later, I heard a piercing scream above me. I opened my eyes – I hadn't realized I'd even squeezed them shut – and I saw Nene with her back arched, screaming in pain as the Boomer's fist hit her in the back. She then went silent and collapsed in my arms.

"NENE!!" I screamed, sitting up and cradling her in my arms. "C'mon, say something!!" I shook her gently, but she didn't respond. I started trembling with anger. This couldn't be happening…Nene had been willing to sacrifice herself to save me, and now she had done it. I shook my head in disbelief, the tears welling up in my eyes.

"I must admit, she was a gutsy girl, albeit wimpy," the Boomer said, watching the scene. I snapped my head up at him, eyes blazing.

"You…" I placed Nene against the nearby wall and slowly stood up, my whole body trembling from both pain and rage. "You dare hurt one of my friends?!"

"I dare," the Boomer answered, making me all the angrier.

"You BASTARD!!" I screamed, activating my jumpjets and flying towards the Boomer. I formed my hand into a fist, ready to blow its head off with my Knuckle Bomber, then suddenly, the Boomer's fist came out of nowhere.

It hit me dead-on in the chest. I felt an extremely sharp pain as my body was sent flying backwards to the floor. The blow made my vision flash white from the pain for a second, and then, everything went black.


My head jerked up when I heard a high-pitched scream blare from the comm. Hands shaking, I picked up the headphone and put it on. Oh God, please don't let her be hurt, I prayed to myself, my wobbling knees barely able to keep me standing up.

"Mom? Mom?!" I yelled. "Are you ok?! Please, answer me!!"

No response.

"Mom, this is your Yume talking to you!! Are you ok?!" I started to panic when there was still no response.

"MOM!!" My teeth started to chatter, I was so scared of what might have happened to her. I wrung my hands and hoped that the worst-case scenario – her getting killed – hadn't come to pass. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I heard a soft moan over the comm.

"Mom, can you hear me?" I tried to ask in the calmest voice I could manage. "Are you ok?"

"S…son of a…" I heard Mom moan to herself.

"Mom?"

"I'm…fine…" Just after she said that, I heard her cry out in pain and then, I heard a thud; I was guessing she'd tried to get up, then collapsed.

"No you're not!!" I retorted. "You sound like you've been through the river!! Is anyone there helping you?"

"If…you consider…a knocked-out-cold Nene any help…then yes."

"Nene's down too?!" My hands started to tremble again. No, no, no, I kept repeating to myself. This couldn't be happening!! Just fifteen minutes before, I'd wondered if I would see her alive again, and now, it turned out that I might not, after all!! I shook my head repeatedly, refusing to believe it, and yet, my heart felt heavy with the truth.

"How…how many Boomers are there?" I asked, my voice shaking like a leaf.

"One that creamed Nene and me…and one that…that Linna and Sylia are fighting," she groaned. "There…could be more, but not from…from what I've seen."

Suddenly, over the comm, I could make out a deep, mechanical voice in the background. I gasped and tried to warn Mom about it. I think she noticed, for I heard her say "Huh…?", but right afterwards, she screamed, and then, her voice came through the comm no longer.

"NO!!" I screamed to no one in particular. I stomped my foot down on the ground, cursed aloud, and ran to my hardsuit. This was more than I could stand. No matter what Sylia or the others had said, I was NOT willing to just sit by while my friends were getting taken down like the Ten Little Indians. I stepped into my hardsuit, and as the armor closed over my arms, legs, and torso, I swore then and there that the Boomers wouldn't get away with what they'd done. As I slipped on my helmet, I could've sworn I heard Mackie yell something over the comm, asking something like, "Do you want to turn this into a kamikaze mission or something?!"

Even though I don't know if he could hear me, I mumbled, "If it's gonna turn into that, then that's fine by me."


I flew over the building in front of me and hightailed it as fast as I could towards the convention center. If I let anything else happen to Mom, Nene, or the others, I could never forgive myself. After all, it was because of me staying out of the fight in the first place that they were in trouble. Hang on, you two, I thought as I approached the front steps. I'm gonna make sure you make it home. I swear it! If I get killed saving you, then fine!!

As I ran up the front steps and to the entrance, I stopped in my tracks. My heart was bumping so fast it felt like it was gonna burst out of my hardsuited chest. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down, which didn't really help any. As I crossed myself, I said aloud, "God help me," and ran inside.

Strange as it was, when I ran inside, I was greeted by an eerie silence. I looked around the entrance hall, but saw nobody. After a few seconds, I quickly remembered what I had come there for, and immediately ran my scanner for the others. Linna and Sylia were at the north end of the building, and Mom and Nene were in the south end, where I was. I sighed with relief as I knew that Mom and Nene were close by, but the strange thing was that no Boomers had shown up on my scanner. Hopefully they just decided to leave, I thought, my legs starting to shake underneath me. This certainly wasn't good… If the Boomers couldn't be detected, then how the hell was I supposed to find them?! I tried to dispel that thought from my mind for now, and concentrated on rescuing Mom and Nene.

A slight booming noise made me jump in surprise. I realized that it came from the area where Mom and Nene were, and quickly ran to where they were. No no no, don't die on me now, Mom!, I screamed in my head.

I reached the area where the noise came from in no time at all, and I was lucky for that, too; in front of my eyes stood a huge black Boomer, holding Mom by her throat, looking ready to finish her off. I popped out my right lasersword and pointed it at the Boomer.

"Hold it," I said.

The Boomer, at the sound of my voice, looked up and directed its attention towards me.

"Ah. So here she is," it sneered. "Mighty Mouse, here to save the day."

Ugh, not another smart-ass Boomer, I thought, disgusted. I decided to play along, however. "Great, a 20th century cartoon fanatic," I teased. "The next thing I know, you're gonna say 'Moon Prism Power Make Up' and KO me with your Crescent Moon Wand!!"

The Boomer grinned, if you could call it that. "Cocky, aren't we."

"Just drop her," I threatened. Somehow I saw it coming, but the Boomer did just that. It released its grip on Mom's throat, and she went dropping to the floor. I gasped and was about to run towards her when the Boomer held out its hand, warning me not to make a move.

"You told me to drop her, remember." There was that evil sneer on its face again.

"You…" I growled. This bastard was just trying to push my buttons, I know, but it was doing a damn good job of it. "You really have a death wish, you know that?"

"Judging from what I know of your past actions, I'd say you're the one with the death wish," it retorted, still with that sneer on its face.

"Hm," I said, lowering my arm, and closed my eyes, smiling. "I admit I was probably a bit reckless in the past, but it won't happen tonight." I opened my eyes and glared at it. "I hope you've made out your will, because you are not going to be leaving here with that head on your shoulders!!"

"I hope you are able to live up to what you say, girl. It would be a disappointment to see you get pounded into the ground without doing what you intended, am I right?"

I grinned evilly. "Oh, I intend to do just that. And I will not be pounded into the ground, like you say. I'm going to rip that head off your shoulders and impale it on my sword for everyone to see!!"

The Boomer returned the grin. "We shall see."

It charged towards me with quite a bit of speed, more than I would have expected from a thing as bulky as it was. It swung its huge fist at me, and I raised my arm to block it. As its fist slammed into my arm, I popped out the lasersword on my left arm and swung at its head. The Boomer noticed the move and jumped back just in time. It charged again, and I jumped up and over it, doing a few flips in the air before landing behind it. It instantly turned around and headed towards me again, to which I responded by running a few steps towards it, and jump-kicking it in the chest with my Leg Bombers. Then, using my Knuckle Bomber, I delivered an uppercut to its head, followed by a slash in the chest with my lasersword. As the Boomer stumbled back, mostly in surprise, orange fluids gushed from the open wound in its chest, spilling to the ground.

"Damn you, girl…!" it growled, its hand to its chest.

"Wanna try me again?!" I snapped, bracing myself for the next attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nene just now coming to, attempting to get up. Get away, Nene, I thought, as if I expected her to hear my thoughts, which she couldn't, of course. Hurry up and go!

"Whatcha standin' there for?!" the Boomer shot at me, charging at me like a rampaging bull. I ran towards it, popping out my lasersword at the same time, ready to finish this bastard off for good. Then, out of nowhere, it did its own version of a spinning kick, turning its right side back, then raising its left leg at me. Before I knew it, I found myself slamming into a nearby wall and slumping to the ground, the right side of my head feeling like it'd been hit by a sledgehammer.

"You…bastard," I groaned, holding my hand to my pounding head, wincing with the pain that caused. I almost expected the Boomer to reply with one of its smart-ass remarks, but it kept on the attack, swinging its fist at my head again. I jerked my head to the side just in time to avoid the fist, and as it crashed through the wall, the Boomer swung at me with its other fist. Almost as if by reflex, I screamed and punched it in the stomach with my Knuckle Bomber, at the same time firing some of my discs through its gut. As the Boomer fell back, I slowly stood up, trying to blink away the double vision that started to interfere with my sight.

"Had…enough yet?" I panted, my head starting to pound again. I winced again at the pain.

The Boomer slowly got to its feet, its front completely orange with artificial blood. I heard a low growl come from its throat; reminded me of a dog's growl. "Had enough, she says," it mocked. Any other 'regular' Combat Boomer, like a 55C, probably would have been dead after all the damage I'd inflicted on it, but not this one. It just stood there, its hand to its chest, looking like it was ready for Round Two. Just how much can a damn Boomer take?!, I asked myself.

"Yume…" I heard a low voice say over my comm. "Stay back."

"M…Mom?!" I exclaimed. Was that concussion already making me hear voices, or was that really Mom I'd heard?!

"Stay back," she repeated, sounding like she was in extreme pain. Trying to make it not look too conspicuous, I peered over the Boomer's shoulder, and there was my blue-hardsuited mom, standing on wobbly feet, looking like she was about to attack. How can she even be standing?!, I thought.

The Boomer, however, without even looking behind its back, already seemed to know that Mom was conscious. "I suggest you don't try anything," it warned her, eyeing me, "unless you want Miss Purple Midget to end up as a smear on the wall."

"Your talk…is getting old REAL quick," she spat back, taking a small step forward, her hand on the hole in her hardsuit. What had happened to her to have her end up in this bad of shape? "Why dontcha just shut up and fight for once?"

For a split-second, the Boomer glared back at Mom, and I took that opportunity to dash forward and attack. I popped out my lasersword, swung it above my head, and with a holler, I cut into its left shoulder and started cutting to its right, trying to decapitate it. The Boomer let out a howl that practically sounded like a dying animal, and grabbed me by the sword I was cutting with. I then jumped up and kicked it in the chin with my Leg Bomber and did a back-flip to get out of its grip. Once I landed, I popped out the lasersword on my left arm, raised it above my head, and slashed down, cutting it from its right collarbone – where it would be if it had one, anyway – down to its right thigh.

Mom decided to lend a hand, and leapt forward, slapped two S-Mines on the Boomer, and leapt away again. I jumped backwards in time to avoid the resulting explosion, which sent a huge fireball all the way to the ceiling and sent scorched Boomer parts flying. A few seconds later, I saw Mom fall to her knees, and I ran to her.

"Mom, are you ok?!" I asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"Been better," she quipped, putting her trembling hand to her chest.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"I was just…gonna say the same thing," she said, pointing at the side of my helmet. I put my hand to it, and realized there were several cracks where the Boomer had kicked me.

"That Boomer gave me a damn concussion, I think. With one cheap-ass kick. That answer your question?" The right side of my head began to throb again, making me groan.

"Cheap shots are what…gave me all these," Mom said, indicating her injuries. I looked her over, trying not to let the double vision get in my way. There were some cracks in the armor on her lower right leg…a hole in the armor on her abdomen, along with a smear of blood…and a few huge cracks in her chest armor. I shook my head in disbelief, which only made my head hurt more.

"Ow," I moaned, putting my hand to my head.

"Easy now," she said, flinching when she tried to stand up. I looked up at her.

"How…how the heck can you stand up on that leg?!"

"Willpower, I suppose." She bent down and pulled me to my feet.

"And what about your chest?"

"Probably the same thing, I dunno. That bastard damn near killed Nene, then he got me here," she said, pounding her chest with her fist, then lurched forward with the resulting pain.

"Hey, watch it!" I exclaimed, putting my hands on her shoulders. "Speaking of which…" I looked over at where I had saw Nene earlier, and saw that she was up and walking towards us.

"Ouch…" she moaned, her hand on her side.

"Nene, you ok?!" I yelled, starting to run to her, when my head started to spin. I stopped and tried to shake it off, then when I felt better, walked a bit more slowly to her.

"Me? I'm in a lot of pain," she whimpered, stating the obvious. "I think…I think I have a couple broken ribs…" She then started to cough violently, making her whole body shake. "Make that…a possible punctured lung too," she wheezed after the coughing ceased.

I looked from Nene to Mom, sighing. "I don't think you can fight in the conditions you two are in."

Mom dismissed what I'd said with a wave of her hand, saying, "Bullshit. Take Nene back, but I'm staying."

"You can't be serious!" I said.

A sudden explosion behind us made us all jump in surprise. I spun around to confront this new threat, and in the cloud of smoke, I saw a large, muscular silhouette.

"Pity," I heard a deep, mechanical voice say. "The armored bitches are still alive."

"Damn straight!" I retorted, clenching my hands into fists. Where the hell were Sylia and Linna when we needed them?! The Boomer looked down at me with glowing red eyes, and sneered.

"So, the child has joined the fight, eh?"

"You…you leave her alone!" Nene yelled hoarsely, holding her side still.

"What could YOU possibly do?" the Boomer spat at her, still sneering. "I know you can't fight worth a damn, and I'm sure your friends know it too."

I got into a fighting stance, sensing that it was about to make its move. The Boomer looked back at me. "What, you don't want your death to wait a few more seconds? This is actually enjoyable, watching you three stand there trembling in fear."

"Who's trembling?" I retorted. At that moment, I realized that Nene and Mom wouldn't stand a chance in their conditions. I had to get them out of here, but the Boomer would probably kill us all in the process…

"Mom, Nene," I said into the comm, the Boomer looking on in amusement. "I need you to get out of here."

"I told you, I'm not leaving," Mom responded, eerily calm.

"You can't fight this thing by yourself, Yumeko!" Nene cried.

"Hey, it's not like dying is on my schedule for this week," I quipped. "I don't think it's on anybody's, actually. But you have to trust me. If you don't leave, you'll be killed!"

"Sorry to interrupt," the Boomer quipped, "but your collect call is now canceled!!" It charged forward and suddenly, it popped out a lasersword of its OWN. My blood ran cold at the sight and shock of it.

"What the bloody hell?!" I yelled, parrying the attack with my own lasersword. The Boomer pressed down against me, and my arm started to shake with the pressure of trying to keep it back.

"Who's to say you're the only one who can have a fancy toy?" it asked, pressing down even harder. I groaned with the attempt to keep it at bay. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it off much longer; this Boomer was much stronger than I was.

"Bastard!!" I heard Mom yell as she whizzed by me and kicked the Boomer in the head with her Leg Bombers. The Boomer promptly responded by throwing her off it with a thrust of its arm, then went back to me, repeating the attack it did before. I gasped in surprise and blocked the sword again, this time using both of mine.

"You're good, girl," it purred. "But…I'm afraid your tactics won't do you any good."

The Boomer raised its leg and kicked me in the stomach. I stumbled back in shock as the Boomer ran towards me again. It raised its would-be lasersword to about shoulder-level, and then with one swooping move, brought it down. I attempted to jump back, but as I felt a sharp pain travel swiftly across my stomach, I knew the move had been futile.

I vaguely heard Nene gasp in shock. "Yumeko!!" she screamed. She was only ten meters from me, but her voice sounded like it was so far away. I heard Mom scream my name too, but in the time it took her to do that, she could have possibly prevented what happened next. While I stumbled back slowly from the latest attack, my arm to my stomach armor, trying to stem the blood that flowed freely through the opening in my suit, the Boomer charged forward and punched me in the face. I didn't even have time to scream as it then punched me over and over, pinning me to the wall with no way to escape. I heard Nene scream again as with one punch, the Boomer sent me literally through the wall, sending me skidding across the floor of the next room on my back.

I opened my eyes slowly, gritting my teeth with the extreme pain that panged my stomach. When my vision became clearer, I slowly recalled where I was and what had happened. And then, as I felt the air upon my face, another realization hit me: my faceplate was broken.

"Oh…shit," I cursed, trying to sit up, only to fall down again, hollering bloody murder in pain. I held up my arm, and saw it was covered in blood, my blood.

"Still conscious…stubborn girl," I heard the Boomer say, crushing rubble beneath its feet as it strided towards me. I put the palms of my hands to the floor, and tried to push myself away, but the Boomer reached me much faster than I could get away, and held down one of my arms with its foot, while the other one was on my torso.

"Oh God no," I said, trying to keep my faint hold on consciousness. How I wished this was all a bad dream. I could just wake up in my bedroom, and everything would be ok. Mom would be sleeping in her bed on the other side of the room, the clock would tick on, and I wouldn't be laying here on the floor with a gaping wound in my stomach and a Boomer standing on top of me!!

"Just give up and die," the Boomer encouraged, pressing down on my ribs with its foot, making me cry out in pain. "You can't fight anymore. Just give up."

"I'm not…giving up," I spat, shaking my head. "No way, nuh-uh." I tried to get up, to get this bastard off of me, but all the strength seemed to have left my body. I was helpless literally under this thing's feet.

"Be that way, but you'll only be harder on yourself," it chided, stepping off of me, but only to deliver a swift kick to my side. I yelled in pain and rolled over onto my injured gut. By now, I was in so much pain, I was gasping, ever wondering why Linna and Sylia had not come yet. I need help, I thought. Somebody…please…

"Die, bitch," it said, stomping on my back. I screamed with the agony it caused me. Before I could even get my breath back, it stomped again. This time, I felt some of my ribs crack.

"Leave her alone!!" I heard Nene scream from the other room as the Boomer stomped on me again.

"Get out!!" I yelled to her just before the Boomer brought its foot down for about the fifth time. "Hurry…up!!"

"If you were wise, you'd listen to your half-dead friend here," the Boomer wisecracked, cracking and breaking a few more ribs as it stomped on me again. By now, I was in pure agony. I'd never been in so much pain in my life. I thought getting shot in the shoulder had been damn painful, but that in comparison to this was like comparing the cuts I had on my face now to getting a limb cut off; they CAN'T be compared.

Just when I thought I was done for, I heard a high-pitched yell, and then an explosion. I felt the great weight of the Boomer suddenly lift off my back and then disappear as the Boomer went flying into the wall.

"YOU should be the one to run away," I heard a familiar voice say. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw a green hardsuit standing there, arms crossed, ribbon cutters dangling from the helmet.

"Heh…L-Linna…" I moaned, forcing a small smile, being on the brink of passing out. "You finally…got here…"

"About time I got to play with another one," the Boomer said, smirking.

"Linna!!" Nene exclaimed.

"Where the hell you been?!" Mom snapped.

"Don't matter to me," the Boomer said.

"Of course it wouldn't," I muttered dryly, still flat on the ground. Mom limped over to me and crouched down next to me.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked.

"What does it…look like?" I responded, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

She chuckled. "Yep, you're still very much alive, all right."

"Priss, Yumeko," we suddenly heard Sylia say, "you should get out of here, now." We both looked to where Linna stood, and there was Sylia right there with her.

"Oh…sure, once we get nearly killed, THEN you get here," I groaned.

"Enough with the talk already," the Boomer interrupted, charging the two remaining uninjured Sabers. Both Linna and Sylia ran at it and decked it in the chest with their Knuckle Bombers. Continuing the attack, they drove the Boomer through the hole in the wall that Linna had made just moments before. While they kept it busy, Mom tried to help me up, lifting me up by my shoulders to get me sitting up. I moaned with pain.

"Oh God," I groaned, starting to cough violently, which made my broken ribs flare up in pain. Nene, who had just arrived, gasped and bent down to support me. I felt the blood build up in my mouth, and coughed it out. Both Nene and Mom jumped back in surprise.

"Yume…" Mom said, shaken up by the sight.

"I'm ok, I think," I said once I was done coughing, wiping away the blood dribbling from my mouth down my chin with the back of my hand.

"Ok? What about this?" Nene asked, pointing to my stomach. I slowly looked down and saw a long gash in the stomach armor of my hardsuit. Around it, the grey armor was stained red with my own blood. My eyes widened at the sight, and at the same time, my head started to swim again.

"It's…just a flesh wound," I said in a pathetic attempt to assure her not to worry.

"Flesh wound, ha. You've probably lost one or two pints of blood, and you say it's a flesh wound," she said, shaking her head.

"Yume, hold still a sec," Mom said, raising her laser gun to me.

"What're you doing…?" I asked, starting to shake.

"Gonna try and stop that bleeding," she said, scooting herself next to me. "Hold very still, and try not to scream." She aimed her laser gun at the side of my armor, and fired, sending a little pink laser across the slash in my armor. I started to scream with the pain, but she quickly slapped her hand across my mouth and wrapped her other arm around me in an effort to prevent me from collapsing.

"What the hell you doin'?!" I snapped once the pain subsided enough for me to sit up on my own. "Trying to put me out of my misery or what?!"

"Heat stops bleeding, right?" she answered calmly. "That probably should slow it down for now, but we still hafta get you outta here before that Boomer comes back."

"No… I'm gonna go and help Sylia and Linna fight that Boomer," I said, starting to stand up.

"You're in no condition to fight, Yumeko, and you know it!!" Nene snapped, standing up and grabbing me by the shoulders. "You know what it did to you before! If you try to fight it in the shape you're in, you'll be killed for sure!"

"If I can still breathe, I can still fight," I told her, "and I intend to."

"You've lost your mind," Mom said. "Even I know better than that."

"Oh, do you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She was just about to answer when we all heard a loud scream, and then Linna came crashing through the wall behind us. I gasped and took a step towards her, then almost fell to my knees with the tremendous pain that throbbed through my whole body.

"Linna!" Nene gasped, walking gingerly towards her and bending down.

"It's…got Sylia…" Linna groaned, pulling herself up.

"Shit," Mom cursed, activating her jumpjets and heading in the direction that Linna had just come from.

"Hang on! Let me help you!" I called to her.

"Oh no you don't," Nene said, grabbing my shoulder, holding me back. "You're practically bleeding to death as it is."

"I need to go help her!!" I retorted, elbowing her in the stomach, making me wince in pain as the pain flared up in my stomach and ribs again.

"Would you stop being so damn stubborn?!" she yelled. The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek as my head was jerked to the side. Raising my hand to my cheek, I blinked in surprise and just stared at her, dumbstruck.

"You can't…get yourself killed," she said, her voice getting choked up. "I'm not gonna let you…throw your life away…"

I smirked, not at the slap, but what I had heard come out of her mouth. "Nene Romanova, I believe I just heard you curse."

She jerked her head up at me, looking positively dumbfounded. "What… Does that matter now?! We're trying to stay alive, and you're making a fuss about—"

"Heh. Forget it," I said, still grinning. "I probably deserved that. But anyway, Sylia's probably still in a world of shit right now."

I hadn't meant for that to be taken literally, but when Nene and I – Linna had gone ahead – reached the hall where Sylia was, that's exactly what she was in. The Boomer had her in both of its hands, grasping her arms, and was pushing them into her, which was essentially crushing her.

"Sylia!!" I yelled, my legs wobbling in the effort to keep me up.

"Let her go!!" Mom yelled, flying towards it with a blur of speed, and kicked it in the head with her Leg Bombers – the ones on her broken leg, no less. She realized that right away, for once she jumped away, she cursed and grabbed it. The Boomer, however, didn't relinquish its hold on the grey-armored leader of the KS, and in fact, actually squeezed her tighter. Sylia screamed in pain.

Linna ran up and spun around twice, sending her ribbons cutting through the Boomer's side. It groaned in anger and orange fluids started gushing from its side, but it still didn't release Sylia.

"She's gonna get crushed!!" Nene yelled.

"Not while I'm here," I assured her, aiming my discs at it, and even though I couldn't aim very well without my faceplate now, I fired a few discs anyway, sending them spiraling towards the Boomer. One of the discs cut into its shoulder, which was enough to get it to drop Sylia.

"You're still alive, you purple midget?" it said, very pissed off now.

"Of course," I said, grinning and panting with the energy that one move took out of me. "I'm not your average fly in the soup."

"Heh. I see," it said. "But now it's the exterminator's turn." The Boomer raised its hand at me, palm in my direction, and then fired.

At that moment, time seemed to stop. Everyone was frozen in whatever position they were in, except their heads were all turned in my direction when the Boomer shot at me. I felt my entire body go numb when it hit me, the explosive feeling traveling through me before exploding out behind me. The blood drained from my face, and I just stood there for a moment afterward, in shock, not believing what had just occurred. And then, I slumped to the floor, my left leg twitching all the while.

Everyone stood there in shock for a moment, and then, the realization hit them that what they had seen was not a figment of their imagination, like they wanted to believe.

"Yu…Yumeko," Nene cried, dropping to her knees and bending over me.

"Oh God, Yume…" I heard Mom say to herself, totally in disbelief.

I opened my eyes slowly, waves of pain traveling throughout my injury-riddled body. Had I just been dreaming when the Boomer shot me? No, I learned. It was all too true. I learned that when I tried to move my legs.

"Can…can you get up?" Nene asked, dumbfounded by the fact that I was still conscious after all I'd been through this night.

I collapsed to the floor again, hollering with the intense pain that movement caused, the tears burning under my eyelids. "I…I can't…"

"You have to get up. Please," she begged, starting to cry.

"My leg's shot through!!" I screamed at her, the tears starting to run down my face. "I can't!!" I broke down right there and let the tears come, my body shaking with the sobs.

"Yume!!" Mom hollered, activating her jumpjets and starting to head towards me, when the Boomer suddenly elbowed her into the wall. She fell to the floor, but being berserk with rage, she instantly got up and tried to come to my side again.

"Don't…push yourself…" I moaned through my tears, trying to crawl towards her, but my leg wouldn't move worth shit. "Mom, don't…"

"You should listen to your half-dead friend over there," the Boomer said, kicking Mom in the stomach, which sent her to the floor.

"Mom," I cried, attempting to crawl on my arms towards her.

The Boomer took notice of me then, and even it almost looked dumbfounded. "Jesus, you're still alive?"

"Crazy as it sounds, yes," I responded, hardly believing it myself.

Linna jumped up at that moment, and using her Knuckle Bomber, punched the Boomer in the back of the head. It turned around and opened up its chest, firing its heat cannons at her. Linna hoarsely screamed as she was thrown back into a pile of rubble. Nene and I watched in total disbelief as the Boomer calmly turned back in our direction and strided towards us. This thing…it can't be invincible! It's a Boomer! There must be a way to kill it…!, I thought, every wound on my body throbbing with the thought of taking any more punishment.

Nene, trembling all over, stood up to defend me. "She's had enough!" she yelled. "This is enough!! Stop it!!"

The Boomer looked down its nose at her, and sneered. "Are you trying to tell me what to do? Not very wise if you want to live."

"Nene…you're the only person who's still standing," I groaned, pushing on my right leg and scooching on my arms towards them. "You wanna be like the rest of us…or what?"

She stood there and contemplated my question for a few seconds, then quickly stepped away and bent down towards me again.

"You're right," she whispered. "You can't get yourself out of here, but…the Boomer's probably gonna kill us if we try to run, so…do we have any other choice?"

"Don't…worry about me," I said. "I'll be…fine."

"You heard her," the Boomer interrupted, then charged at her. Nene screamed and took a few more steps back, not seeing anywhere to run.

"Nene!!" I hoarsely called out to her as the Boomer grabbed her by the arms and rammed her through the wall. I laid there and gaped for a few seconds, then laid my head down on the ground, starting to cry again. How were we gonna get out of here now?! Everybody was either unconscious or unable to get away on their own now.

"How…how…?" I asked myself, the tears running down my face freely again.

"Oh, don't cry, little girl," the Boomer taunted as it came back towards me. "You'll be dead in a few minutes anyway, so what does anything matter now?" It bent down and picked me up by the throat, then slammed me against the wall, still holding me.

"You're…right," I said, starting to chuckle a little bit, in spite of the situation I was in. "I'm probably going to die here, but…the others…they're still alive. And when they come to…and see my dead body here…they're gonna kick your ass."

"You seem so sure of that," it responded, starting to tighten the grip on my throat. I gasped in surprise, but still continued.

"Doesn't…matter…if I die here anyway. Everyone dies eventually, right? …Even Boomers like…you hafta run down sooner or later." I started wheezing from the lack of air. "Either way…somebody's gonna…die here tonight…be it you or me…" My leg was screaming with the pain of being dangled in the air, along with the rest of my body. The wound on my stomach still bled quite a bit, in spite of Mom's effort to stop the bleeding, and I could feel the warm blood running down my leg as well.

"What…are you looking at?!" I spat, a little nervous at how the Boomer was looking at me.

"Your blood," it said, grinning, referring to the blood that ran down the bridge of my nose and onto my cheek from a cut above my eyebrow. "It and your eyes are the same shade of red." The Boomer leaned its hideous face towards me and stuck out its tongue. I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut as it licked up the stream of blood. The moment it finished, I took a deep breath and spat right in its face.

The Boomer wiped away the spit with the back of its hand. "Insolent bitch," it said, and then I felt my head snap to the side as the Boomer backhanded me. I felt something jiggle around in my mouth, along with more blood buildup, and when I spat again, out came four of my teeth. At the same time, I could practically feel the spot under my eye start swelling up.

"Surely…that's not all you've got," I taunted, the right side of my face extremely sore now. "You…coulda taken off my head…if you wanted to."

"Yes," it agreed, "but there's no fun in that." Suddenly, I felt my wind pipe get completely closed off as the Boomer tightened the hold it still held on my throat. I gasped for air, but I couldn't get anything in. Raising up my right fist, I pounded weakly on the Boomer's arm, trying to get it to let go, but of course, with as weak as I was by this point, the move was futile. The Boomer just laughed at my attempts to get free and grinned. How very ironic this was. After having my abdomen cut open, my faceplate broken, getting stomped on, and getting shot in the leg, here I was, getting ready to die by asphyxiation!!

My lungs burned like crazy for want of oxygen, and after what seemed like an eternity, my vision started to blur, and my pounding on the Boomer's arm became weaker. I was trying my very hardest to stay conscious, but now, my whole body was ready to just give out.

I'm sorry, you guys, I thought, squeezing my eyes shut and preparing for it all to end. I tried to help you…but I couldn't… I'm sorry…

And then, my ray of hope decided to show itself at that moment. A sudden explosion rang out through the air as a green hardsuit slammed her Knuckle Bomber into the back of the Boomer's head, followed by a lasersword being slashed into its shoulder. Caught off guard, the Boomer suddenly released the grip it had around my throat, and I went dropping to the ground.


I made it to the Boomer just in time for it to let go of Yume. As she dropped, I leaped and caught her in my arms. I sighed with relief when I looked at her. She was unconscious, and was stark white from all the blood loss, but at least she was still breathing, for now.

"Nice…maneuver there," I remarked as Linna and Sylia jumped away from the Boomer, cradling Yume in my arms.

"Is Yumeko all right?" Sylia asked, snapping her head towards me.

"She's passed out," I said, wincing with the pain that flared up in my leg from the extra weight it had to bear.

"Run!" Linna yelled, bracing for the next attack as the Boomer turned around. "Hurry up!! Neither of you are gonna last here!!"

"Run…" the Boomer imitated, the orange fluids gushing from the gaping wound in its shoulder. "Your purple comrade there didn't run."

"She COULDN'T run," I muttered to myself, forcing myself not to look at the wound in my daughter's leg; it was too painful to look at, let alone imagine what kind of pain she must've been in, let alone combined with her other injuries.

"Ugh…" I heard someone say behind me. I looked behind me and saw Nene stumbling through one of the holes in the wall.

"You ok?"

"No," she groaned, holding her right elbow.

"Well, well, little Pinky's still up, too," the Boomer sneered.

Sylia looked at Nene, Yume, and me. "Go!!" she yelled.

We just stood there, saying nothing. How were we supposed to get away, anyway? It wasn't like we were in running shape at the moment.

"I…can take Yumeko," Nene suddenly said, looking at me. "Your leg can't handle any extra weight."

"You can't hold her with only one good arm," I retorted. "I'll take care of Yume, you just worry about yourself." Yume had jumped in to try to save us; the least I could do was ensure that she herself would get out alive, too.

"I suppose you girls want to fight to the end, eh?" the Boomer interrupted, popping out its own lasersword. "I'm game." I took a step back, clutching Yume in my arms. I wasn't going to let her get killed here if I could help it. Taking another step back, I started to turn and run with her when the Boomer opened up its chest and fired its heat cannon at me. The force slammed into my back, and I was sent to the floor, taking Yume with me.

"Priss!!" both Nene and Linna yelled, stunned.

"No one is running," the Boomer said, closing up its chest again. Nene started to tremble in fear as Linna and Sylia just stood there, contemplating their next moves. I slowly sat up, still holding Yume in my arms.

"So much for that idea," I groaned, wincing at the pain in my back. Then, I heard a low moan come from the girl I was cradling, and I looked down at her.

"Yume…!" I exclaimed as she slowly opened her eyes.

"I can't…take any more of this…" she moaned, chuckling slightly.

"I'll get you out of here, don't worry," I promised, slowly standing up, still holding her.

"Oh, how touching," the Boomer said dryly, observing the scene.

"It's…still alive…?" Yume groaned when she saw the Boomer. "Damn…" Her shoulders shook as she started to sob again, hanging her head.

"You're willing to die to save everyone else, right?" the Boomer asked, looking at all of us. "Well, I can arrange that."

"What's he…?" Linna wondered, starting to tremble a little bit herself. Sylia suddenly jumped back in surprise, and I saw why: the Boomer's eyes were glowing very strangely, like it was about to attack.

"RUN!!" Sylia bellowed to the rest of us.

"Why?" Nene asked, wondering why Sylia was suddenly so panicky. Then, she got her answer. We suddenly heard a loud booming noise, and at the same time, the ground suddenly jerked. We all jumped in surprise, then a few seconds later, an intense heat began to build rapidly in the room.

"Oh SHIT," I said when I realized what the Boomer had done.

"What…is it?" Yume asked, barely conscious.

"…Oh no," Nene said when she realized it too. Almost simultaneously, we all started to run for our lives, Nene, Linna, and me using our jumpjets, Sylia using her flight wings. As I leaped away with Yume, I heard the Boomer bellow, "It's too late!!"

It turned out to be right, for a split-second later, a huge booming noise filled my ears as everything suddenly turned white, and suddenly, I was forced up into the air. I held on as tightly as I could to Yume, but she ended up being ripped out of my arms.

"MOM!!" she screamed, reaching out to me as she was swept away.

"YUMEEE!!" I screamed back, doing the same thing before everything went black.


I opened my eyes slowly, every little spot on my body aching with pain. I blinked a few times as I tried to remember what happened. The Boomer had shot Yume…then it was strangling her…but what had happened after that? I tried to get up, but found myself pinned down by rubble. Then, it hit me: the Boomer had blown up the convention center. But luckily, it hadn't accomplished its agenda: to kill us. At least, that's what I was hoping, because at the moment, for all I knew, I was the only one left alive.

"Hey," I groaned into the comm, "anyone still alive out there?"

"Priss…?" I heard Nene groan; I assumed she was in much the same situation as me. "Oh, thank God. I thought I was the only one left."

"So you don't know if anyone else is alive?"

"I could scan for their life signs, but my ECM system is damaged."

"Try anyway."

"Ok." After what seemed like an eternity, she responded, this time a little more optimistic. "Well, Sylia and Linna's life signs are good."

"What about Yume?!" I asked, frantic. If anything had happened to her…

"…Well, her life signs are on the low side…but she's still alive."

I sighed; at least the worst hadn't come to pass. "Can you scan for their locations?"

"Yeah, but you can too, can't you?"

"My faceplate's cracked, so I couldn't if I wanted to." I sucked in a breath; it was hard to breathe with all the rubble on top of me. The only thing keeping me from being completely crushed was my hardsuit, and even then, it was straining to keep itself from capsizing on me.

"Ok, I found them. Yumeko is about thirty-six meters to your left, Linna's about fourteen meters from me – owie!! – and, um, Sylia is…heading in your direction!!"

"Well, thank God," I groaned, and a second later, I felt part of the rubble get pushed off of my back. "That you, Sylia?"

"I'll have you out in a second, Priss. Just stay still," she ordered, attempting to lift another large piece of rubble off me.

"Do I have a choice?" I replied sarcastically as I felt some more of the heavy weight on my back ease when Sylia lifted off another piece.

"Ok, you should be able to get up now." I very slowly eased my way up to my hands and knees, and yelled in pain when I leaned on my left arm for support. Sylia bent down and helped me up.

"Thanks," I said, putting my hand to my collarbone. "I have to find Yume!"

"Easy, now," she said, holding me back when I started to run towards where Nene had said she was. "You're badly injured yourself, you know."

"Screw that! I hafta find her!!" I activated my jumpjets and leaped towards about where Yume was, and started trying to lift any rubble that I could, only to holler in pain when I tried to lift with my left arm.

"God damn it!!" I cursed, tossing aside a slab of rubble and moving on to another. "Yume!!" I yelled to her as loud as I could. "Can you hear me?!"

No answer. Getting more frantic, I started lifting faster, and even though I was in terrific agony by now, I couldn't let the pain stop me from finding Yume. C'mon, say something, kid, I thought, starting to get scared.

"Heeeey!!" I heard Linna holler from a short distance away. "Could somebody help me over here?"

"Keep looking for Yumeko," Sylia said, opening her flight wings and heading in Linna's direction. "I'll dig Linna out!"

I nodded acknowledgment and kept digging, my whole body numb from the pain that wracked it. My hands started to shake as I feared that I would never find Yume in all of this damn rubble. And then, it happened. I saw an armored hand sticking out of the rubble.

"Yume!!" I exclaimed, starting to dig in a frenzy, even though by now, my left shoulder was so stiff that I could hardly move that arm. "C'mon, speak to me, girl. Can you move?"

The only response I got was a groan.

I lifted up another slab of concrete and tossed it to the side, then bent down and moved some smaller chunks out of the way. Once Yume's arms were uncovered, I grabbed them and dragged her out from under the slabs that were still on top of her. Bending down, I lifted up my visor, took her in my arms, and just held her, tears running down my face.

"Yume, wake up," I said, gently shaking her. "C'mon, Yume. Open your eyes." I looked down at her, looking for any sign of life. Blood was running down her chin from the corner of her mouth, and cuts covered her face, some bleeding, some not. Her skin was so pale that I feared that she had bled to death underneath the rubble. I shook her again, the tears from my eyes coming faster. "Please, Yume…! C'mon!!"

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she squeezed her eyes, then very slowly opened them, letting out a weak moan. "Wh…"

I sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that."

She looked up at me and smiled softly. "Didn't mean…to…"

"We're gonna get out of here, ok? As soon as Mackie gets here, we're gonna get you to the hospital and get you treated, all right? Can you try to hang in there a little longer for me?"

"I've…made it this…far, right?" she said, chuckling, although it looked like it hurt her just to do that. "I'm…so sorry, Mom…I tried to save you all…but I ended up just…just…making things worse."

I shook my head. "You did what you could, don't put all the blame on yourself. I guess…I was trying to see if I could kill that Boomer by myself, maybe that's why I hesitated to call you for help."

"Looks like…I took enough of a…beating for all of us, huh."

"Yeah…"

I heard Mackie drive up in the equipment van about a block away. "You ok?!" I heard him yell when he spotted us.

"Hurry up!!" I yelled to him. "Yume's in bad shape!!"

"Nah," she said, getting a very strange look in her eyes. "I'm ok…you don't need to worry about me…" She started to close her eyes, and I shook her hard to try to keep her awake.

"Keep your eyes open," I ordered. "Stay with me here. Don't close your eyes."

"I feel tired…" she breathed, looking over my shoulder at nothing in particular. "I want to go to sleep…"

"No you don't!" I barked, shaking her again. "Keep your eyes open, damn it!!"

Yume shook her head slowly, looking very dazed. "Mom…I'll be all right…don't worry…Aunt Nene, and Linna, and Sylia, they'll be fine too…we'll be just fine…" She smiled gently, then closed her eyes and slumped against my chest. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine when she did.

"Yume…c'mon!!" I said, shaking her gently. "Wake up, Yume! Hang in there a little longer!!"

"Priss!!" Mackie yelled, stopping the van a few meters from us. "Let's go!! Sis!!" he yelled over my shoulder to her and the others. "Linna! Nene! C'mon, let's move it!!"

For the moment, I remained kneeled on the ground, cradling my teenage daughter in my arms, mumbling a prayer that she would come out of this all right. She was all I really had; I couldn't stand the thought of losing her like this.

I looked up to the sky, looking for a star of hope, or something, but only the black sky greeted me back.