For most of the next day, I worked out as much as I could, preparing myself physically and mentally for my assault on Genom Tower. My wounds hurt like hell as I punched away at the punching bag, throwing in a few kicks too, but I knew that I would have to live with it; I knew this would probably be a suicide mission, and the pain I'd probably end up in would be far worse than this.

Mom, watching me on the sidelines, looked like she knew I was up to something, but didn't press it. Knowing her and what she'd been through, she was probably thinking I was just letting out my aggression, which wasn't entirely off the mark. It had been five days since I found out about Michiko's death, ten since Boh had stabbed me. And to be blunt, I was pissed.

Pissed. Fed up. Hell-bent on revenge. All of those terms fit me pretty well at the moment. I remember Mom had told me that the others could never understand why she always needed to go out and nearly get herself killed in the name of avenging someone. And she had told me that no matter how bad the wounds she sustained were, the emotional pain of having lost the person was so much worse. "It's probably why I lived through a lot of shit when anyone else would have died," she'd said.

And now, I understood why she thought that. None of the others had gone through what she had. Now I knew what she said had to be true. The pain of finding out my best friend of ten years was dead overrode the worst pain from my stab wounds, the pain from being shot through my leg, the pain from being slashed across the stomach.

And he would pay. What Boh had dealt to me and Michiko, I would make sure he got back twenty-fold. And what Quincy had dealt to Tokyo…I could never pay it back enough. But I guess shooting him through the head would have to do.

I almost chuckled at the thought of what Michiko would probably say. "What do you mean you're gonna kill Quincy?! That's insane!! You couldn't do it, you've never hurt anybody! …Except Eiji and anybody else that picked a fight with you, maybe…"

Ah, but that was exactly the point. Quincy, Boh – hell, Genom in general – had picked a fight, and I was going to answer the call. I wasn't going to let Sylia, Mom, Nene, and Linna fight this battle. It was mine, and I was planning on fighting it myself. I needed no one to do it for me. This was my fault, and I was going to rectify it.

Even though I knew today would probably be the day I die.

Going to Genom Tower on my own…even an idiot would've known it was a suicide mission. And I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But…even though I knew it was suicide, I wasn't planning on just letting them kill me; I was going to at least accomplish my objective first before going down.

Kill Quincy and Boh.

In late afternoon that day, as the sun was starting to set, I was at the elementary school playground where Michiko and I had first met, hanging upside-down on the monkey bars. As I just hung there, the blood rushing to my head, I just stared into space; was I really going to go through with this? One assignment we'd had in my eighth-grade class was to write what we would do if today was to be our last day alive. And as I hung there, I asked myself the same thing: was this how I wanted my last day on Earth to be? Didn't I want to do anything else? Was this how I planned to go out, in a blaze of glory?

I could still change my mind; nothing was definite, yet.

No, I thought. I have to do this. So nobody else will suffer anymore, not like I did. Genom had wreaked havoc on the city for over twenty years; it just so happened that I only got fed up with it after they'd targeted my friend for death.

Life's a bitch, ain't it?

"God, you look like shit," I heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes and saw a guy standing there, gaping.

"What do you want, Masahiro?" I sighed.

"Just didn't expect to see you here. So what happened to your stomach?"

"It doesn't matter." I threw myself up and grabbed the bar my legs were wrapped around, let them hang down, then let go and dropped to the sand. My stab wounds started to sting horribly then, and I grabbed my stomach, whimpered, and fell to one knee; that movement probably wasn't the best thing to do at the moment.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked, bending down to touch my shoulder.

"Don't even come close!!" I snapped, still on one knee, grimacing in terrific pain. "Besides, what're YOU doing here?"

"Uh, I was just walking home. My bike broke down." Masahiro sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Say, um…are you ok? Y'know, about Michiko?"

"She was my best friend, how do you THINK I feel?!"

He frowned. "Geez, don't need to get bitchy about it!"

"Oh, shut up! You only miss her because you slept with her!!" I wobbled to my feet and swept my hair out of my eyes. "And if you think this is a good time to hit on me, you're dead wrong! This is not the right time! My friend's dead, and I've got stab wounds to keep me company in my misery. Don't try anything, or you're gonna get more than a knee in your balls!!"

He stepped back and put his hands in front of him. "Hey, ok! I believe ya!" He then raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you got stabbed?"

"That's what the marks are on my stomach," I said flatly as I marched to my motorcycle. "I'd rather not talk about it."

As I climbed onto my bike and pulled on my helmet, Masahiro had to ask one more thing.

"Look, Yumeko…I want you to be careful, ok?"

"Oh wow, you didn't call me 'baby-doll' for once," I remarked dryly.

"Hey, you think I haven't noticed all the shit you've been through these past months? I'm serious!"

"I appreciate your concern," I said, at the same time thinking, Not really, "but I don't need you, of all people, worrying. God knows what's going through your mind." I started up my bike. "Oh, and tell Tsubasa to go to hell for me, ok?"

Before he could respond, I roared off and down the street. See ya, not gonna miss ya, I thought almost gleefully. I'd told him to 'say hi' to Tsubasa for me because, well, I wasn't exactly planning to stop by his place and tell him so.

I had some planning to do…and some goodbyes to say.


When I got home, Mom seemed a bit distracted by something, which was a bit unusual for her. Sure, she worried about me a lot, but it was obvious that wasn't what was on her mind.

"Tsubasa came by while you were gone," she said, her hands on her hips.

"That's funny, 'cause I ran into Masahiro too," I said. "Why'd he come by?"

She sighed as her eyebrow twitched, turning her back to me. "Well…let's just say he came to send his regards about Michiko."

"His regards? What does he consider 'regards', saying 'Sorry about the kid, now would you hop into bed with me right here and now'?" I asked dryly. Mom frowned.

"…Something along those lines," she said, not elaborating. There was something else that happened, I could tell, but Mom didn't say what it was, and I decided not to push on it.

We sat down and had dinner, eating in total silence, Mom alone with her thoughts, and me alone with mine. More thoughts continued to race through my mind; was this going to be my version of the Last Supper? Was this going to be the last time that we'd be sitting down together at the same table? The thoughts were so rampant that the food seemed to lose all its flavor, and I lost my appetite. Mom looked up from her plate when she saw me push away mine.

"Not hungry?" she asked.

I stood up and walked over to her, and gave her a hug.

"Mom…I just want to say I love you," I said, trying not to get all emotional about it.

She slowly wrapped her arms around me and held me close. "I love you too, Yume," she said softly.

We just stood there and held each other for a moment; it wasn't often that we actually said it to each other. I guess we were two of those people that thought our love would be expressed through how we treated each other; why would we actually need to SAY it when we knew it to be true? But I knew this might be the last time for me to say it, and I had to get it out before it was too late.

It was just now I realized that anything can happen, at any time…and that I would have to say "I love you" as often as I could, for it might be the last words that person might hear from me before I die. With Michiko, other than saying bye, the last thing I'd told her was to not forget her English homework. Her English homework! Damn, how stupid of me to say something like that!

I wasn't making that mistake this time. I wanted the last thing Mom to hear from me to be "I love you," and not some crap about waking me up on time for school tomorrow or something.

I wanted her to know that I appreciated her for everything she did, despite the way I came into the world.

I wanted her to know she was loved. And that although sometimes she could be a bit overprotective, it was understandable; she didn't want me to go through the same things she did. And although she acted like that, I appreciated it.

And I wasn't going to go out and die without letting her know I loved her.


At midnight, I woke up. It was time to go on my mission.

I got dressed, pulling on a tube top, my leg sleeve, jeans, and my jacket. After pulling on my socks and shoes, I gently took Michiko's necklace off my desk and put it around my neck. A piece of her was going to be out there with me tonight.

I walked out to the kitchen with a piece of paper and a pencil, and sat down to write my farewell to Mom.

My dear Mom,

I've decided to go out and avenge Michiko. I just can't take it anymore. I can't just sit back and let Genom or Boh or anybody hurt anyone else. I know that you and Sylia, and Linna and Nene, were planning an assault on Genom Tower, but this is a mess I made, and I feel obligated to clean it up myself. I listened in on your plans, even though you didn't think I was listening, and now I know how to carry out mine. I'm well aware that this is bullheaded of me to do, and I know full well that I'll probably end up dying in the line of duty, but that's part of the job description, isn't it? If I can prevent anyone else from suffering, it'll be worth it.

But rest assured, if I'm going to go down, I'm not going to be taken down easily. I'm not going to just roll over and let them stomp on me, not like that Boomer did to me at the summit. I'm not just doing this for Michiko, although I admit she's the main reason I'm going out. I'm doing it for the people of Tokyo too, so they don't have to suffer. And I'm especially doing it for you. I love you, and I don't want you or the others to die because of something I started.

I don't apologize for doing this, but I do apologize for causing you so much pain. Please give my regards to Sylia, Linna, and Nene. And tell Michiko's parents that she didn't die in vain. I will make sure of that.

I will always love you, Mom. You know that. Thank you for taking care of me these seventeen years. Thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for letting me have the experience of being a Knight Saber and fighting alongside you and the others.

And thank you for being my mom.

I love you,

Yume

By the time I finished writing, I found myself crying, several of the tears falling and landing on the paper. I quickly wiped them away from my face and stood up, walking to the bedroom. I stood there for a moment, looking at Mom, who was curled up in her bed, unaware of what I was going to do. The tears welled up in my eyes again, and this time I didn't wipe them away.

"Goodbye, Mom," I whispered. "I love you."

I turned and walked to the door, looking around at the apartment one last time before departing.

I'll show them, I swore as I marched down the stairs and outside to my waiting motorcycle. I'll show them that hell hath no fury like a Knight Saber scorned.


About halfway to Sylia's place, it started to rain. For a moment, it was déjà vu; it had been like this on the night Boh tried to kill me. And how appropriate that it would be doing the same thing on the night that I would return the favor.

After I reached her place, I walked through the hallway to the suit-up room. We might as well settle this here and now, I thought as I started to strip my clothes. This 'game' of yours will end tonight, Boh. I started to take off my leg sleeve, but decided to leave it on; I would probably end up needing it. I decided to keep Michiko's necklace around my neck too, it would be under my innerwear, but I wanted a part of her with me if anything was to happen.

After I fastened the back of my innerwear, I walked over to my hardsuit, but before I stepped into it, I just stood there for a minute, gazing at it. This could very possibly be the last time I was to don it; was I ready? I took a breath, then stepped into the suit. I flinched when the stomach armor closed itself over me, but the pain subsided after a few seconds. After making sure my flight wings and everything were in working order, I walked over to my jacket and took out something I knew I'd need: the last of my morphine. I figured if I got hurt bad, then maybe it would numb that pain up so I could fight better…or maybe I was just being wishful. Either way, I dropped a few drops of the morphine on my tongue and swallowed it, hoping for the best.

I put on my helmet, then walked to the enclosed garage, where my Motoslave, in its motorcycle form, was being kept. I started it up, letting it run for a second, then said aloud, "Well, Monsoon, this just might be our last ride. I hope you're up to it." I sighed and smirked. "Let's do this thing."

And with that, I started on my journey to Genom Tower.

But first, there was a place I needed to stop by at, to pay my respects.

Being that Sylia's building was smack-dab in the middle of downtown Tokyo, I had to drive for a little while, but considering where I was going, it didn't really matter to me. I drove for about fifteen minutes before reaching Yokohama Memorial Cemetery, and when I reached the iron fence, I parked my motorcycle and jetted over the fence.

In the middle of the cemetery, there was a clustering of cherry blossom trees, and underneath one of the trees was the headstone that marked Michiko's grave. I landed near one of the trees, and after scanning for anybody that might be nearby, I walked slowly to my friend's grave and knelt down in front of it, taking off my helmet. The pouring rain started to drench me, but I paid no mind to it.

"Hi, Michiko," I said, my voice shaking; what exactly was I supposed to say? "It's me, Yumeko. I was on my way to Genom Tower, but I figured I should stop by here first. Y'know…I always thought that…that you would outlive me. Die an old woman, asleep in her bed, comfortable." I sighed and tried not to let emotion overwhelm me, but it was hard; this was my dead friend I was talking to. "And me, well, with how I am, I guess I figured I would die like Evel Knievel or something; isn't being a Knight Saber pretty much the same thing as being a daredevil, anyway? I didn't think it would ever end up like this, no way.

"Well, um, anyway, I'm going to Genom Tower to get rid of Boh, and hopefully Quincy too. I'll never forgive them for what they did to you. I was their intended target, so…so I dunno why they went after you instead. And well…uh, when we last talked, I remember you saying that the Knight Sabers are just a small group, and what could we possibly do to bring Genom down? The Knight Sabers may be a small group, but I'll personally show Genom what just one of us can do."

I heard a clap of thunder, but I didn't flinch; for what was going to transpire tonight, it seemed appropriate. "I know this is going to be suicide, and I'm not going to make any promises about whether or not I'm going to come out alive. I didn't promise anything to Mom, and I didn't promise anything to anybody. We're all going to die eventually; I figured that out the hard way, several times. I guess I should just say that…that…" I wiped the tears from my eyes. "…That if things go as I expect them to, then we'll be together in a little while. It's so hard trying to carry on living without you, Michiko!" I put two of my fingers to my lips, then pressed them against Michiko's headstone. My vision was now so blurred with tears that I couldn't even read the inscription on it. "It'll be all right soon. This'll be over soon, but whether it'll be over for me or for them, I don't know. I guess I'll find out in about half an hour or something like that."

I sighed and brushed my soaked bangs out of my eyes, still kneeling on one knee. "No more tears tonight… This is probably going to be my final battle, so whatever happens, I'm not going to cry and beg for my life or anything. Whatever will happen, will happen…

"Oh, remember that essay we had to write in our literature class, about our views on fate? I wrote that we control our own lives, and I still believe that now. This fight hasn't been pre-scripted by the powers that be; me and Boh are going to control it, and I'm going to try and turn it in my favor. But if I end up killed, then that's what's going to happen… I'm not scared of death anymore; I think I can face it knowing that I fought my hardest, and that you will not have gone unavenged…"

"Who's there?!" I heard a voice call out. I turned and in the dark, I saw a light; it was a security guard with a flashlight, heading towards me. I brushed my bangs out of my eyes again, then stood up and put my helmet back on.

Once the guard reached me, he shined his flashlight on my torso, then gaped and slowly raised the light until it was practically shining in my eyes. "You're…you're a Knight Saber!" he gasped.

I merely nodded.

"What's a Knight Saber doing in a place like this?!"

"I just came to visit a friend," I sighed, gazing at Michiko's headstone again. "But you don't need to call for backup or anything. I was just leaving anyway."

"W…wait a sec!" he stammered.

I didn't wait for him to finish what he was going to say; instead, I punched him in the face, making him crumple to the ground, unconscious. I couldn't have anybody in my way, and besides, it wasn't like I was going to kill him; he'd probably be awake in about another hour. I bent down and turned off his flashlight, apologized, then opened up my flight wings and jetted away, flying over the trees and the iron fence before landing next to my motorcycle.

"Ok, Genom Tower, here I come," I said aloud as I took off on my bike again.

I got on the highway and headed east towards the looming tower. My heart pounded as the full realization of what I was going to do started to sink in. I was really going to storm Genom Tower? By myself?! Just how crazy was I?! Well, it didn't seem too crazy to me; I didn't want my friend to have died for nothing. Genom was after me to begin with, and here I was, coming right at them. They wanted me, they were gonna get me.

Once I passed a sign that indicated I was in district 4, I knew that was my cue. I opened up my flight wings and leaped off my motorcycle and into the air, at the same time bringing up Auto Motoslave Mode on my HUD. In a matter of seconds, Monsoon had changed into its Motoslave form. It jetted up into the air, and I deactivated my wings and went falling down, landing on its shoulders.

"Ok, we're going to the west side of Genom Tower, Monsoon!" I ordered. "You gotta take me up to about the 100th floor, then blast a hole through the wall so I can get in and give that bastard a piece of my mind!" And a few discs through the head, too, I thought sardonically.


I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes; didn't seem like I could go to sleep and stay that way. The last few nights had been like this. I yawned and looked over at Yume's bed, and was about to crawl out of my bed when I had to take a second glance. Yume's bed was empty.

I didn't think much of it as I stepped out of bed, stretched and yawned again, and shuffled to the kitchen to grab something to drink. I figured maybe she got up and did the same thing I was doing now, and passed out asleep on the couch while watching TV or something. But that wasn't it at all. When I went into the living room, the TV was off, and there was no Yume on the couch. I went into the kitchen, and she wasn't there either. There was nothing there except a piece of paper and a pencil on the table.

I bent down and started to read. The moment I saw those first three words – My dear Mom – I knew it wasn't going to be good. And by the time I finished reading the note, I was trembling. My daughter was going on a mission of revenge and not expecting to come back alive! How was I supposed to react to that?!

"What does she think she's doing?" I whispered to myself, dropping the note. I just stood there in shock for a moment, then raced to my bedroom to throw on some clothes. She's lost her freakin' mind!!, I thought as I yanked on my boots, grabbed my jacket, and ran out the door and down the stairs to the parking lot. Me, I knew that losing a friend could make you do some stupid things, but this…was just plain INSANE!! I admit I tried that very stunt after Sho's mom had died, but Sylia had been there to stop me from doing it; I realized later it was a stupid idea.

But no one was there to stop Yume. And I knew if I didn't stop her, she was very well going to get killed.

I ran out into the pouring rain, helmet in hand, when I happened to look up towards Genom Tower. Even though it was raining hard, I could still make out the silhouette of the tower…plus a grey plume of smoke coming from one of the higher floors. It took a moment for it to sink in; it could've been just from the fact I was still half-asleep, but when I rubbed my eyes and looked up again, the sight was still the same.

"Oh dear God, she's actually doing it," I said to myself, gaping.


Finally, after all this time, I was face-to-face with the man behind all of the Boomer rampages. The guy that wanted me picked off. The person I was sure that had sent out Boh to spy on me and kill me.

Quincy, Genom CEO.

"Hello there, purple Knight Saber," the old man greeted me with when I stepped into his office through the hole in the wall Monsoon had blasted. "At last, I get to meet you."

"I didn't come here to chat," I spat at him. "But…I do want to know a few things before I kill you."

"Kill me?" A smirk started to form on his lips. "Why, Yumeko Asagiri, what makes you think you can do that?"

My body jerked when he uttered my name. "Just shut up. First, I want to know how the hell you know my name!"

"If you want me to be honest, I'll tell you how I know you're the newest Knight Saber. I've known it since March. Since the summit. Remember anything about the summit?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I inquired, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I only got shot in the leg and had a Grade IV liver laceration. Nothing really worth remembering."

"Oh, I think you'll remember this." He pressed a few buttons on his desk, and on the opposite wall, something like a TV screen appeared. "You'll be able to see it much clearer on the Multivision."

The screen was fuzzy for a moment, then appeared what seemed to be some kind of surveillance footage. In the corner was the date 16 March 2055 – the date the two Boomers stormed the summit. I gulped, then the footage appeared, a bit grainy of course, but clear enough that I recognized the inside of the convention center. There was no sound accompanying the footage, which I thought was a bit strange, but that thought was quickly dispelled from my mind when I saw what part of the attack this particular clip was showing.

I recognized myself in the footage, standing there in a fighting stance while Mom and Nene stood nearby, looking at me. And then, out of nowhere, the Boomer's lasersword came down on me, and I blocked it with my own. The battle from the Boomer's view suddenly jerked for a moment, and then I remembered why – that was when Mom had kicked the Boomer with her Leg Bombers. After a moment, the view returned to normal, then the Boomer brought its sword down on me again, and this time I blocked it using both of mine. I saw the Boomer kick me in the stomach, then raise its sword and…and swipe me across the stomach.

My body jerked as I recalled that, but now that I was seeing it from a different view, I realized just how bad it had been. From the Boomer's view, I could see the blood quickly staining the stomach armor on my suit, and me stumbling back with my arm to the wound to stem the blood flow. Then, the Boomer charged towards me and decked me in the face. I gasped as I saw the glass of my faceplate shatter and my face became exposed.

"You look as if you don't recall that," Quincy muttered, eyeing me as I watched the clip.

So that was when my faceplate was broken, I thought, my body having gone numb. "The hell I've gone through since that night…it's been because of that one moment, am I right?" I mumbled. "But what made you think it was me? The red eyes and brown hair?"

"You've heard of face prints, right?"

"Yeah."

He smirked. "Simple. I compared the face print I have of you at that moment to the ones I have on file of everyone in Tokyo, and the name Yumeko Asagiri came up as a match. It's impossible to say it wasn't you; no two people have the same face print."

I felt a drop of sweat run down the side of my face; he knew everything. Every damn little detail about me. I'd been screwed over since the very beginning.

"One thing I want to know before I kill you…before the Boomers started to come out again, a female Combat Boomer ambushed me and tried to kill me. You'd probably know something about that, right?"

Quincy smirked again, which confirmed my thoughts.

"Well…why did you send it after me if I didn't know anything at the time?"

"First, answer me this," he said, his hands folded over his desk. "What makes you think you could possibly kill me? Why did you come by yourself?" He smiled, which unnerved me a bit. "Ah well…like mother like daughter."

"W…what do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, my voice shaking.

"Your mother came to Genom Tower on her own once. She fought Largo. You've heard of him, right?"

I nodded slowly.

"Do you know she was a mere child of nineteen when she and him fought? Very interesting. And here is her whelp, at age seventeen, attempting the same thing."

"W-what makes you think my mom is a Knight Saber?"

"Anybody with a brain would realize that if you were a Knight Saber, then wouldn't her own mother know about it? Or, even better, be one herself?"

I said nothing.

"Do you want proof?"

"You have none. You're bluffing." I had said that, but in reality, I was trembling in my hardsuit. This would explain everything!

"Oh, am I?" he asked curtly. "Watch the Multivision and see for yourself."

I turned to look at the screen again, and another clip had come up; this one was dated 5 March 2033. The other clip had been from a Boomer's viewpoint, but from the looks of this one, it was obvious the footage was from a security camera. To the left, I saw something get blown out through the wall, and I gasped as I recognized the blue hardsuit falling to the next level below. I watched as Mom pulled something out of her shoulder, flung it away, and stood up, fist clenched. Quincy tapped a few buttons, and the clip froze; after tapping a few more, it zoomed in on the hardsuited person's face, and the moment I saw those red eyes and the determined look on her face, I knew it was Mom.

So he'd known all along. For the past twenty-two years, he'd known Mom was the blue Knight Saber. But why hadn't he made a move? And suddenly, it was clear now. It was clear why that female Boomer had come after me and not her…

Quincy had been planning on sending out Combat Boomers again, and he might have suspected the Knight Sabers were just waiting for them to come out again. And he didn't want anybody to help them, so…he sent out that female one to kill me.

That was why Mom hadn't answered when I'd asked her if anyone else knew about her identity.

Because she had suspected this same thing.

"You son of a bitch," I growled, snapping my head in his direction.

"No need for curses now," he said matter-of-factly, grinning widely. "It appears you've been doomed since before you were even born. This was all laid out before you were even conceived. What does it matter to you now?"

I stomped over to the front of his desk and glared at him for a moment. After a brief tense-filled silence, I grabbed Quincy by the hair with one hand and shoved my beam cannon in his face with the other. "I was a perfectly normal kid until that night! My life has been hell since then!!" I snapped, feeling like I was going to go crazy. "No, wait, correct me on that. It's been a real hell ever since the Boomer summit! And ever since Boh stabbed me and killed Michiko, I've been really living it! My life didn't go to hell in a hand basket, no. It was already there from the moment I took a step into that convention center!"

"And?" the old man asked casually.

"You've made my life hell. You made mine hell while in the same breath taking away Michiko's. And I'm not going to let you get away with it!!"

"You're shaking," he noted, smirking. "You don't have the guts to shoot me, do you? That's fine. You're human, I suppose it's a natural response."

"Then how do you explain what YOU'VE done to the people of Tokyo over the years, huh?! Only a cold, heartless bastard like yourself could kill innocent civilians day in and day out and not bat an eye about it. You're not human! You're even crueler than a Boomer! I don't even know what to consider you!!"

"So are you going to shoot or not?" he asked, practically daring me to do it.

"How does it feel to stare down the barrel of a beam cannon? I don't know how many times I have, but it's about time you knew the feeling of knowing that whatever breath you make at this moment could be your last." I took a breath. "It's about time the people of this city were done dealing with the likes of you. I know I am." I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth, and fired. I had been holding him by the hair, so when I fired, I felt him jerk backwards violently. I stood there for a moment, then released him, letting his body drop to the desk. I opened my eyes and looked down at him; his head was pretty much a bloody mess that looked like it had white hair on top. But there was something else too…

Metal?

"WHY YOU--!!" I screamed, spinning around to the Multivision when I heard his laugh a moment later. "You bastard, you couldn't even face me YOURSELF?!"

"Stupid child!!" he laughed, grinning widely and looking down his nose at me. "You cannot kill me!!"

I got tricked! I don't believe this!!, I thought, feeling positively stupid.

"You really thought it would be that easy? Big mistake, girl. And your last!!" He turned his eyes towards the wall. "Boh?"

I turned to where Quincy had been looking at, and when I did, I saw a panel open, and through it stepped Boh. I frowned when I saw him.

"About time you showed up," I grumbled. "You're the real reason I came here, anyway." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Multivision was now turned off. It was almost a relief; at least I wouldn't have to hear Quincy's laugh anymore.

"I've been detecting you for the past fifteen minutes," he said casually. "Didn't bring your friends to help you?"

"I don't need them. You're a rat, and I'm the exterminator, here to get rid of you." If that wasn't reminiscent of what the Boomer had said to me before shooting me in the leg, I didn't know what was. "It's cleanup time."

Boh smirked. "Why did you come, anyway?"

"You killed Michiko. And I'm here to make sure her death wasn't for nothing!"

"She was in the way," he said, that smirk pasted to his face. "She would have ruined our game. What else was I supposed to do?"

So he admits it, I thought. "Shut up! She was my best friend, the only person who really knew me! If I was your real target, why the hell did you kill her instead?! Just to torture ME?!"

"Oh, trust me, I was trying to kill you. But Miss Yamazaki interfered. She's the only reason you're still alive. I thought I told you that." He started to walk towards me. "Oh well, you're here, so we can continue now. There's no one to interfere here."

My scanner picked up something else behind Boh, and when I looked to see what I was detecting, Boh took a glance in that direction, too. "Ah, I see you noticed I brought some friends of mine. Ok, you two, come out."

From the same panel in the wall that Boh had stepped out of came two Boomers, and I gasped when I saw them both.

"They…they look like…!!" I gasped, starting to shake. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but to no avail. There was no way!!

"Yes. They look just like the two Boomers you fought at the summit. They were designed that way deliberately. Bring back any memories?"

The two Boomers just stood there, glaring at me. I stood my ground, trying not to appear too scared. I was fighting them again! I'd barely won against just the first one by myself, could I really take on both of them at the same time?!

"Don't worry, Yumeko," Boh said, grinning. "I won't let them rough you up too much. I want the privilege of killing you myself."

"This is OUR fight!" I snapped. "Are you going to have those two bastards fight it for you or what?!"

"Oh, they're just going to have some fun with you, that's all."

I sighed and grumbled under my breath. Fun, he said… "If we're going to fight, let's not do it in here. It's too small of a place to fight in."

He grinned again. "I agree. How about we go outside through the new exit you made, hmm?"

I turned and ran towards the hole in the wall and leaped out, activating my thrusters to make sure I would land on the next level of the Tower ok. The two Boomers followed, one landing on each side of me, about fifteen meters apart from me each.

"I believe this is where your mother fought Largo all those years ago. How appropriate, eh?" Boh called down to me as I looked back up at him.

I didn't answer.

"Not very talkative, are you? Well, anyway, this is your last chance to run away if you want to live…for another day, at least. Still going to fight?"

I popped out the lasersword on my right arm and glared up at him, only mumbling one thing before this battle would start.

"Shall we dance?"


"This kid's gone NUTS, I swear it!!" I kept saying to myself as I approached Sylia's place. And if I heard any smart-ass comments from Linna or Nene once they heard about this, I swore I was going to strangle them.

Once I reached the Lady 633 building, I leaped off my bike, tore off my helmet, and ran inside and down to the suit-up room as fast as I could. I wasn't going to let Yume get killed if I could help it!! What does she think she's doing? She knows it's suicide, but she's doing it anyway!!, I thought. That was one of the things that I kinda wished she didn't inherit from me…

When I reached the door to the suit-up room, I practically slammed my hand onto the fingerprint scanner. Once it scanned my fingerprints, it said "WELCOME, PRISS" on it, then the door opened. I just started to run through when I saw my three friends all looking at me.

"You…you guys know?" I asked, panting.

"Well, the smoke from Genom Tower sorta gives it away, doesn't it?" Linna asked dryly.

"Not to mention the missing hardsuit and Motoroid," Nene added.

"Priss, were you planning to go out on your own to go stop Yumeko from getting herself killed?" Sylia inquired.

"I would've let you know even if you weren't already down here before me," I said, shaking my head.

"Uh-huh," Nene said, not quite believing me.

I frowned and marched over to her, grabbing her by the shirt. "This is my seventeen-year-old daughter we're talking about!!" I yelled at her. "It's not going to do any good if I get killed along with her because I went on my own!!" I dropped her and took out the note that Yume had written to me, and Sylia took it and read it aloud to the others.

"She's gone nuts," Linna mumbled, paling after Sylia was done reading it. "What makes her think this is all her fault?"

"I don't think she wants us caught up in what she thinks is 'her' mess," I grumbled. "Dammit, it wasn't her fault her faceplate got broken!!"

"It wasn't her fault Michiko was killed either," Nene agreed.

"Well, there's only one thing to do, and that's to go save her from herself," Sylia said, walking over to her hardsuit. "We need to hurry."

Linna, Nene, and I just nodded and started to change into our innerwear. Yume, what do you think you're trying to do?!, I wondered.


For this only being the second time in the past five months I'd been in a battle, I was faring pretty well. Maybe it was because I'd fought these two types of Boomers before, even though they'd very nearly killed me the first time. Or maybe it was just because Boh wouldn't let them kill me, wanting that privilege for himself. Either way, for the moment, I had the upper hand.

As the black Boomer – the one that I recalled had no built-in weaponry in it – charged at me, I leaped over it, did a flip in the air, and kicked it in the back of the head with my Leg Bombers. At the same moment I landed on the ground, it turned around and charged again, and as it swung its fist at me, I ducked it and fired two of my discs through its chest. This guy hasn't changed one bit, I thought as the Boomer stumbled back, growling. Same old sloppy tactics. This Boomer I knew I could handle ok, but it was the other one that worried me.

Practically on cue, the other Boomer ran at me and popped out its lasersword. For a brief moment, I had the image in my mind of it slashing me across the stomach from those five months ago, and I backed away. But when it was only feet from me, I popped out my own lasersword and parried the Boomer's as it came bearing down on me. While I was struggling to hold it back, I heard the black one regain its composure and come charging again from behind me. I grinned and leaped into the air just as the black one arrived, and the two Boomers almost hit each other, but stopped and looked up at me as I was in the air.

"Damn, almost had 'em fighting each other!" I said with mock disappointment, grinning as I landed again.

"Heh…she's gotten better," I heard Boh mutter as he made his way down to the level where the Boomers and I were.

That Boomer did that same move on me before slashing me, I thought. No way was I gonna fall for it twice!

The black Boomer came at me again, but this time I just stood there and let it come. But instead of throwing a punch like it did before, it swung up its leg at me, and I gasped in surprise as I jumped over it. At that same moment, the other Boomer flew towards me, lasersword ready. I landed and immediately had to jump back as it swung the lasersword at me, barely missing my head. I stood back, bracing for their next move, when I felt blood start to run down the right side of my face.

"Whoa…TOO close!!" I remarked as the Boomer held up its sword again; the tip of it had my blood on it. I raised a hand to my helmet and felt the slash mark in it. Too close for comfort!

"You're lucky you jumped back, girl!" the Boomer growled, sneering. "You're pretty good for someone who was crippled a few months ago!!"

"Crippled?" I smirked and shook my head, wagging my finger at it. "Never call me a cripple!!" I started to run at the Boomer, who then opened up its chest and fired its heat cannon at me. I opened up my flight wings and flew over the blast, taking to the air. The Boomer looked up and followed suit, activating its jumpjets and giving chase. As it fired its mouth cannon, I flew out of the way and took aim with my MDD, firing a few discs, which went through the Boomer's chest. Not much to my surprise, it still kept going. I deactivated my wings, and as I came down, I popped out my lasersword, ready to cut the Boomer to pieces, when out of nowhere, I felt something slam into my back. I yelped in surprise; musta been the black Boomer. Before I could recover, the other Boomer kicked me in the stomach, sending me hurtling down to the ground and skidding for a ways on my back before finally coming to a stop.

"S-shit!!" I cursed through gritted teeth as I tried to sit up, only to fall back down on my back again, groaning in pain. The pain in my stomach…it was like I was being stabbed all over again. I could feel the wounds start to bleed again. They must've…opened up again!!, I thought grimly.

"Ha!!" Boh laughed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Your stab wounds giving you some trouble, Yumeko? Maybe you should've let them heal up before coming here!"

"Shut up…!" I groaned. For once, he was probably right…

The Boomers landed on the ground nearby, and strangely enough, just stood there, almost letting me have time to get up before attacking again. I slowly wobbled to my feet, holding my stomach with one arm while popping out the lasersword on my other. It was then I looked down, and gasped when I saw a long streak of blood, leading from where I landed up to where I was standing now. At the same time, I felt a dull pain in my back, up near my shoulder.

Boh merely smirked at my reaction. "Nasty wound there," he remarked.

I gotta finish this quick, I thought, even though the fight had only been going on for a few minutes.

"C'mon, I can take you all on!!" I challenged, at the same time signaling for Monsoon. "You guys are holding back, I can tell!! You were so much tougher than this at the summit!!"

"We're not quite the same ones that you fought there," the Boomer with the lasersword said, taking aim and firing at my feet. I leaped in surprise; the blast had left a small crater in the ground. Geez, if that thing had hit me in the leg like it did before, I'd be screwed!, I thought, blood as well as sweat trickling down the side of my face.

"That does it," I grumbled, getting into a fighting stance. The Boomer and I charged at each other, me with my lasersword, the Boomer with, well, its mouth cannon, from what it looked like it was gonna do. It opened up its mouth to fire, and then I heard the black Boomer come up behind me. I smirked, then dropped down and did the splits on the ground, at the same time firing discs from both arms through their heads. While they were left reeling, I leaped up and rammed the sword Boomer in the stomach with my Knuckle Bomber, but I didn't stop there.

I shoved my hand deeper into the Boomer's gut, feeling around. And then, I felt something solid and hard. I grinned as I grabbed it, then tore it out of the Boomer.

"Is this the infamous Black Box?" I asked, holding it up to the Boomer while grinning widely. I threw it to the ground, then I raised my foot and with one stomp, crushed it.

"Damn you!!" the Boomer growled.

Boh looked impressed.

"Now I think I can say the fight's fair," I quipped. "I don't have access to one of those satellites, and I figured it'd be fair if you didn't either. Anymore, anyway." My stomach wounds started to sting, and I winced and put a hand to my stomach.

Monsoon arrived at that moment, and I added, "Ok, NOW the fight's fair. Two-on-two. How's that sound?"

I was interrupted when I heard the black Boomer come at me again from behind. I turned around and with one swipe of my lasersword, cut its arm off, from the elbow down. It swung its other fist at me, and I took to the air again to avoid it. The Boomer followed, using its jumpjets. From up here, I could see Monsoon fighting the other Boomer, and I grinned. That Boomer, however, didn't seem too content with fighting my Motoslave, and fired its mouth cannon up at me. I barely dodged the blast, and then the black Boomer came up and hit me in the upper arm. I screamed as I felt a bone break, then quickly deactivated my flight wings and landed on the ground again.

"Hmph, quicker than I thought, I'll give you that," I mumbled as I rubbed my arm. "Lucky hit though, that's all it was."

The black Boomer landed and growled. "You will die this day!" it fired at me.

"I think not. Boh won't let you," I quipped, firing two discs at it. The Boomer's body jerked as they went through its stomach, and as it tried to recover, I opened my wings and took to the air again. I pushed them as hard as I could so I could get higher up in the air. After going up about one-hundred or so meters, I suddenly deactivated them and decided to take a free-fall.

The Boomer looked up and saw me coming down hard and fast towards it, and activated its jumpjets and headed up. That's right, come to me, I thought gleefully as I popped out my lasersword. When the Boomer was about twenty meters from me, I raised my lasersword above my head, ready to cut it in half. I was using my broken arm, so I bit my lip, knowing this was going to hurt. Right when the Boomer was close enough for me to see it open its mouth, ready to fire its mouth cannon, I swung my sword down and cut into its head, and as I continued to fall, ended up cutting the bastard in half.

It didn't all go so smoothly, though. I was down to its stomach when, in a last-ditch effort to beat me, it thrust its remaining fist into my stomach. I screamed as I was sent crashing into the ground below, again, bouncing once I hit it.

"There goes…two of my ribs," I groaned, half-joking, wincing as I put a hand to my side, which was throbbing to no end now. I started coughing, and could taste the blood in my mouth. "Shit…"

"You're in over your head, Yumeko," I heard Boh say. My eyes fluttered open, and through blurry vision, I saw him walking towards me. I tried to get up, but fell back down again, the pain throbbing through my whole body.

"Damn…you…" I groaned as the blackness started to cover me again.

As I passed out, his only response was a satisfied smirk.


When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't at Genom Tower anymore. I was floating alone in a black void. I looked around, wide-eyed. How had I gotten here? This seemed just a little too familiar for comfort…

"If I'm floating to heaven again, I'm gonna hurt somebody," I swore, folding my arms over my chest.

"Why would you do that?" I heard a voice ask. I turned around and saw a familiar girl walking towards me.

"N…no way," I gasped. "M-Michiko…"

"Hi," she said, grinning. "Yumeko, what are you doing?"

"Uh, well, I WAS fighting, but…then I ended up here."

"You don't want to fight anymore," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder and shaking her head. "You'll just end up dead."

"I know that! That was a risk I was willing to take! It's not like I'm not gonna die sometime anyway."

"Oh, Yumeko, always the stubborn one." I raised an eyebrow; something didn't seem quite right about Michiko here…

"I'm sorry for…for not protecting you," I said sorrowfully. "I should've made you get a ride home with me. If I hadn't let you walk home, you'd still be alive. I was the one that was supposed to die, not you! You…you were least deserving of this position!" I wiped the tears from my eyes.

Michiko just smiled. "You're right. It is your fault."

"Huh?"

"You should've known this would happen. You always had me get a ride home with you, and this one time I wanted to walk home, you decided to let me do it instead of forcing me to get a ride. Because of you, I'm dead."

"M-Micchan…!!"

"You let Boh throw my body in the dumpster in that alley like a piece of trash. And on top of that, you took my necklace. That's not like you, Yumeko."

"I…I only took the necklace as something to remember you by!" I protested, eyes wide. This definitely wasn't like Michiko…

"You took some of my CDs from my bedroom too…"

"Hey now!" I grumbled. "I can explain that! Your mom was going through your things and wanted me to take some of them, since she figured that would be what you'd want. You cherished my mom's CDs like nothing else, so I took those. What's so wrong about that?"

She sighed. "Well, if you wanted them so much, you could've asked for them while I was still alive."

"We borrowed each other's CDs all the time! You know that!" This isn't Michiko, I thought. It's not… This isn't the girl I was best friends with…

"Why did you become a Knight Saber?" she suddenly asked. "You said that they said they needed somebody young and full of energy to help them out, but…maybe they just needed cannon fodder for the group."

"Say what?!"

"Somebody for the Boomers to pound on while they did the real work. Oh well, whatever you want to do is fine. I can't tell you any different. Oh, and isn't Priss a Knight Saber too?"

"M-Mom?"

"Who else?" she quipped. "I figure if you're a Knight Saber, then she must be one, too. Talk about a family business. Hmm…"

"What now?" I inquired, now very suspicious.

"Do you suppose it's fate that made you a Knight Saber like she is? Like mother, like daughter? It must be. What else would it be?"

And suddenly, something clicked in my head. This definitely wasn't Michiko. She didn't believe anything like that.

"You're not Michiko," I declared, frowning.

"Huh?" She smiled innocently. "Of course I am."

I shook my head. "You're not her at all. The Michiko I know didn't believe in fate, just like I don't. She believed that if people want their dreams to come true, then they have to do what it takes to make them come true. She knew that things wouldn't just come to people, that they would have to work for them. And once she found out I was a Knight Saber, she did say that it wasn't her place to tell me to quit or stay, but she also said that she'd support me in whatever I did. And she never belittled me like you're doing now. She was never a smart-ass, or snobby. She was the sweetest, most beloved girl in the whole world. Everyone that ever met her knew that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Now tell me, Boh, what the hell do you think you're trying to pull on me, huh?"

The smile faded from the fake Michiko's face. "Boh? Boh's not here."

"Of course you're here. You're here trying to play mind-rape games with me, and I'm not falling for it!!" I yelled. "Get out of my head, now!!"

"Out?" The fake Michiko started to dissolve in mid-air.

"Yes! Out!! I'm still very much alive, and if you think you can take me down from the inside, you're dead wrong!!" I smirked. "Us Asagiris are too smart for that."

"Hmph," the fake Michiko said, almost completely dissolved. "With the way you both think, one would say that your blood is so hot and thick that it would clog before reaching your brain. So for you to say that is quite an oxymoron."

"Oxymoron, my ass! How do you think we've stayed alive through all the shit we've been through?! Certainly not from being weak at heart!!" We were quite the opposite – we were stubborn, almost too stubborn for our own good, but our stubbornness did save us several times.

The fake Michiko was gone from my sight now, leaving only me in the black void. I looked up and yelled, "Boh!! Get out of my head now!!"

Only the sound of my own echo greeted me.

"Get out!!" I repeated.

Same thing.

I grumbled, took a deep breath, and screamed.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

And suddenly, everything went black again.


My eyes fluttered open slowly, my head feeling groggy. I blinked a few times, then after a moment, I realized something wasn't quite right. I couldn't move at all. I looked up, and saw Boh, a blank expression on his face, stare into mine, parts of his head attached to my helmet. And then, it clicked: he was on top of me, fused with my hardsuit.

"W-what are you doing…?" I asked weakly, my whole body aching with pain.

He smirked. "You really are stubborn," he said wistfully, his eyes glowing that familiar red like the Combat Boomers I'd faced before did with their eyes. "Just like Michiko was before I killed her."

"Get offa me…" I moaned, hardly able to move my arms at all.

"Let me show you the images of your friend's death," he breathed. "So you know exactly how she died before you join her."

On my HUD, some grainy footage started to come up, and suddenly, I realized what this was: what had happened from Boh's viewpoint. Unlike the footage that Quincy had showed me on the Multivision, this footage came with the audio as well as the visual footage.

"Ok," I could hear Boh's voice say. He held up a cellphone and started talking. "She's leaving the gym now with a friend of hers. I believe this would be the right time to strike."

"Don't do anything stupid," a woman's voice said from the phone. "You've done well. Don't mess it all up now."

"I won't, ma'am."

"Follow her. And the moment you get her alone, kill her! The first attempt to get her was thwarted by that robot of hers, and I will not tolerate another mistake."

"Heh. Fear not. I will not let you down." He turned off the cellphone, and picked up something on his sensors. "Oh, who do we have here?"

He detected someone standing outside the alley, and after scanning for who it was, he chuckled. "Michiko, care to talk?"

A gasp could be heard, followed by frantic running. Boh turned and ran after her, and after running through some winding alleys, he grabbed Michiko from behind by her necklace, snapping it off as she tried to jerk herself away. After dropping the chain, he grabbed her by the shirt and spun her around so they would be face-to-face.

"B-Boh, what are you doing?!" Michiko demanded, trembling.

"You didn't happen to overhear my conversation, did you?" Boh asked.

Michiko shook her head frantically, looking scared out of her mind. "N-n-no, I didn't hear anything!!"

"Why did you run then, hmm?"

She fumbled for something to say. "Yumeko…you're planning to hurt Yumeko, aren't you!! But why?!"

"Oh, you've probably figured it out by now, haven't you? Your friend's little secret?"

"Secret?"

"Don't play innocent. It won't work."

"D-don't hurt Yumeko! I won't let you hurt her!!" Michiko started to get tears in her eyes.

"You know too much, little girl. And I can't let you go out and tell anybody. You've heard the saying 'Dead men tell no tales,' right?"

She started to cry. "No, please! I won't tell anybody! Please, let me go!"

Boh shook his head. "I can't let you go. This is the only way to make sure you keep this secret. Too bad for you."

"You can't!" she pleaded. "No, don't do—"

She was cut off when Boh plunged a knife into her stomach. She gasped, then moaned and started to close her eyes, then her body jerked again as she was stabbed a second time. Boh jerked her closer to him, then raised the knife and plunged it into her chest once…then twice…and a third time. And Michiko, my friend Michiko, mumbled, "Yumeko, sorry…" before closing her eyes and slumping against Boh's chest. He picked her up, walked over to a nearby dumpster, and tossed her in, closing the lid.

"She got her blood on my shirt," Boh said casually. "I guess I'll have to go change before going over to Miss Yamazaki's place."

The footage ended there, and I was left in shock, totally and utterly numb.

"M-Michiko…" I stammered. It was the one thing I had hoped wouldn't be true, that she suffered before dying. But no, she was alive throughout the whole thing, and pleaded for her life, and even apologized to me before dying. The tears welled up in my eyes, from sadness and from rage, as well as horror. She had not deserved to die like that!

"You son of a bitch," I growled as Boh's face came back into view. "You…you scum, you bastard, you piece of shit!!"

"Now, now, what's with the name-calling?" he asked, smirking. "You wanted to know how she died, right?"

"Yeah…and you're gonna really pay now…" I managed to lift up my arm – damn, did it feel heavy – and shoved my hand into the side of his head, taking aim even as he started to fuse with it.

"What are you doing, Yumeko?" His eyes started to glow red again.

"I've had enough of this. It's time to put you down like…like the dog you are…" And with that, I fired my beam cannon. The blast went through one side of his head and exploded out the other. Boh's eyes grew wide, and the glowing in his eyes began to flicker, then he suddenly fell to the side, having defused from my hardsuit.

I laid there and panted for a few seconds, then heard an explosion from behind me. Sitting up and holding my arm, I turned around and saw that the sword Boomer and Monsoon were still going at it. I looked to my right and saw the two halves of the black Boomer, and grinned.

"Ok!!" I said to myself, slowly standing up. "We've got this thing wrapped, it looks like!!" It was me and Monsoon against this one Boomer; the odds had turned in my favor. I popped out the lasersword on my left arm and activated my jumpjets, jetting towards the Boomer.

As Monsoon swung its fist, the Boomer blocked it with its arm, and as it heard me speeding towards it, turned to face me, only to be greeted with a Leg Bomber to the face from me. I landed and swiped it across the chest with my lasersword, followed by a few discs through the stomach.

"That was for what you did to me at the summit!!" I growled. "I'll never forget that!" I winced as my stab wounds and my leg started to throb again.

"About time you woke up," the Boomer quipped. "I wanted to have more fun with you, anyway." It smirked.

I beckoned for Monsoon to come up behind me, and once it did, it opened its front up. I limped to it and climbed inside, the armor closing itself over me. Now combined with my Motoslave, I got into a fighting stance and declared, "It's time to finish this!!"

"You think being combined with that thing will help you any?" it inquired, sneering.

"Sure it will. I tore out your Black Box, so you can't use that anymore." I grinned behind my visor, despite the pain I was in. "This fight's gonna be mine." This was only the second time I'd ever been combined with my Motoslave, so maybe I was just spouting off nonsense, but that mattered not; I couldn't afford to lose this fight. I would do whatever it took to win.

"Child, that attitude will be your downfall!" the Boomer yelled as it charged at me, popping out its lasersword. I ran forward as well, and when the Boomer was about to swipe its sword, I went and grabbed it.

"What?!" the Boomer said, in disbelief. I grinned evilly as I twisted the sword, then ripped it out by its 'roots'. The Boomer hollered in pain as it grabbed its arm, fluids gushing from where the sword used to be. Whoa, I should do that more often, I thought, grinning again as I broke the sword in half and tossed the pieces aside.

"Whatcha gonna do now?" I teased. I aimed the gun Monsoon had mounted on its arm at the Boomer and fired, blowing two huge holes in its chest and sending Boomer fluids pouring out of them, spilling to the ground. Amazingly enough, though, the bastard still wasn't dead!! In fact, it went on the charge again, and as I leaped over it to avoid it, it reached up and wrapped both arms around my left leg. I hollered in pain; it was my bad leg, after all.

"Once a cripple, always a cripple!!" the Boomer spat as it swung me around and threw me into a nearby wall.

Thank God for the Motoslave's extra armor, I thought wearily as I wobbled to my feet. That woulda really hurt! I barely had time to react as the Boomer fired its mouth cannon, ducking just as the blast grazed the top of my shoulder. I was too distracted avoiding that blast to even notice the next one, coming from its heat cannon this time. The force slammed into me, pinning me against the wall, but thanks to the Motoslave, I didn't even get fazed by it.

"You know…" I said, panting, "you really should know better than to call me a damn cripple!" I winced again when my leg started to throb. C'mon, don't give out on me now, I thought as the Boomer charged again. Not yet! Just give me another minute or so!

I leaped out of the way of the Boomer's fist, and it went slamming into the wall, making a large dent in it. Turning around, I fired my guns at the Boomer again, but it ducked and aimed its palm at me, firing. The blast blew the gun off of my Motoslave's right arm, and I started to tremble, shaken by the close call. That was too close, I thought; I would've wiped the sweat from my brow if I could. Can't let the bastard do that again…

"Now YOU have one less weapon as well!!" the Boomer taunted.

"That doesn't matter," I replied, smiling.

"How so?"

With the gun on my Motoslave's left arm, I fired rapidly at the ground at the Boomer's feet, which caught it off guard. While it was distracted by the flames the explosions caused, I leaped over the Boomer, landing behind it, and caught it in a bear hug.

"This is how so!!" I said, yanking on its arms, trying to rip them off.

The only response I got from the Boomer was a chuckle. What's it laughing about?, I wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Stupid child, you know nothing about Boomers," it growled; I swore I could see it smirking. I tensed up my body, ready to rip its arms off with one mighty tug, but then, I found out something that would complicate that plan JUST a little bit.

I couldn't move the Motoslave's arms.

After a moment of confusion, I figured out why: the Boomer was fusing with it!!

"Holy shit!!" I cursed, trying to yank away, but suddenly, I got an electrical shock from my own Motoslave. I screamed as the shock continued for several seconds, then ceased. "What the hell's going on?!"

"I control your machine now!" the Boomer declared, making Monsoon shock me again. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. I certainly had not expected this! I hadn't known these particular Boomers had fusion abilities.

And then, something popped up on the Motoslave's HUD. It was a countdown, counting down from 30. "What now?" I grumbled aloud.

"You tore out my Black Box, you bitch!!" the Boomer spat. "So I'm taking you down via another way!"

The son of a bitch is gonna blow himself up!!, I thought as another shock came from Monsoon. Shit, I shoulda known he'd have a last resort! Damn it all!! This thing had a Plan A, Plan B, AND Plan C! Damn, I should've counted on that, but…I had been so caught up in wanting to avenge Michiko that it must've slipped my mind.

Crud.

"Let…me…GO!!" I screamed, trying to yank myself away again, only to get an even bigger shock than before. "Damn it, Monsoon, STOP it!!" I scolded, trying not to let the pain distract me from finding a way out of this. The countdown was at 18 now, and counting down. I had to think of something fast!

Then, in the midst of my panic as the countdown reached 12, something clicked in my head. Maybe not the entire Motoslave was under the Boomer's control. Please, there's gotta be something the Boomer doesn't have control over, I prayed inside as I did a quick scan of the Motoslave's systems, getting yet another shock and crying out in pain from it. I had to think of the Boomer as a virus, and check for whatever the 'virus' hadn't infected. After a moment, I looked through the results of the scan as the countdown was at 5.

I laughed aloud like a maniac when I saw the results: the emergency ejection system was the only thing I had control over. All right! All RIGHT!!, I thought, ecstatic.

4…3…

"Time for me to leave," I said slyly, grinning widely.

"What do you mean?" the Boomer asked.

2…1…

"I mean, sayonara!"

…0.


We were in Sylia's plane, on our way to Genom Tower, when all of sudden, a distant booming noise filled the air. I was about to pull on my hardsuit helmet, but when I heard the noise, I dropped it and ran to the cockpit.

"What the hell was that?!" I yelled.

"Take a look!" Mackie said, pointing. I looked at where he was pointing, and there was the summit of Genom Tower, up in flames.

Nene peeked over my shoulder, and all she could say was, "Whoa."

"Isn't that where we detected Yumeko at?" Linna asked. "Sylia, do you think…?"

I turned to look at Sylia for her reaction, but all she did was cross her arms over her chest and nod, her face still as stone.

I heard Mackie curse, and when I turned to look at him again, he had a worried look on his face.

"What now?" I demanded. "Is Yume ok?!"

"The signal from her Motoslave stopped," he mumbled.

"It…it stopped?!" I shook my head; there was no way… "It doesn't mean she was in it though, right?"

"The signal, before it stopped, indicated that it was in Motoslave form, and not Motoroid form, so…she was in it."

The blood drained from my face. Yume couldn't be gone…she couldn't be… She was my daughter, there was no way she could be dead! Damn it, she KNEW this could happen, but…she did it anyway!

"She's not…she's not…" I repeated, taking a step back.

"Priss, m-maybe you should sit down," Linna suggested, looking much how I felt.

"They're gonna pay!!" I swore as I grabbed my helmet and started to run towards the rear ramp. Linna and Nene both jumped to hold me back.

"Wait a sec, Priss!!" Linna yelled.

"Let GO, Linna!!" I snapped. "They killed her!! They killed her!!"

I was cut off when Sylia came up and punched me in the stomach. I instantly fell to my knees, trying to get my breath back.

"Priss, at least let Nene scan for her before you go off like a lunatic," Sylia ordered.

I coughed, holding my stomach. "What'd you do that for?!"

"How else was I supposed to stop you? Nene, scan for Yumeko."

"Right!" the redhead affirmed, putting on her helmet. We all stood around and listened anxiously as her suit started beeping and making other noises. After a few seconds, Nene slowly lifted up her visor and started to laugh like an idiot.

"W-what is it, Nene?" Linna asked, eyes wide.

"I don't believe it!!" she laughed, holding her stomach, she was laughing so hard. "She pulled it off!! She made it!!"

Linna and I just stood there for a moment, then we started to cheer. Yume was alive!! Somehow, I knew she wouldn't be taken down that easily!!


I stood up on wobbly feet, trembling all over. That had been too close. Almost right at the moment I managed to eject out the back of Monsoon, the Boomer went up in a huge ball of fire, throwing me back a ways and temporarily knocking me out. And now, as I took a look around, everything around me was engulfed in a sea of flames. I lifted up my visor and just stood there, gazing at them. It was an eerily pretty sight…well, for someone who'd been on a mission like this one, at least.

I looked down at my hardsuit; it had various little scorch marks on them, including some cracks on my arm where the black Boomer had kicked me and broken my arm, but other than that, I guess I wasn't in too bad of shape.

I heard a movement on the ground next to me, and when I turned my head to look, there was Boh, looking up at me, most of the skin on the left side of his face totally gone, exposing the real Boomer skin. His clothes were in tatters, probably from the explosion.

"Hmph. You," I said.

"Brilliant. Just brilliant," he groaned, still smiling. "For a moment, it looked like you were going to go down, just like you expected to."

"I didn't think you'd still be alive. What do you think you can do now?" I asked, my voice filled with ice.

"I congratulate you, Yumeko. It's been a pleasure fighting with you. A pleasure getting to know you."

I quoted a line from an old song. "My friend, before your voice is gone…one man's fun is another's hell." I frowned. "It may have been fun for you, but for me, it wasn't fun at all. As far as I'm concerned, you're getting off easy. But me, I have to live with the loss of Michiko for the rest of my life. I can never forgive you for taking her away from me…and from her parents, and from everybody that loved her."

He smirked, and in a strangely mechanical-sounding voice, he inquired, "What are you going to do about it? You can't bring her back."

"You're right, I can't." I took aim at him with my beam cannon. "But I can get rid of you, just like I've intended to do ever since you stabbed me."

"Humans…always out for revenge. Always have the need to be superior. Why can't you just admit that Boomers will reign supreme one day?"

I smirked for a moment. "I, for one, am not going to be content being bossed around by a bunch of brainless robots like Boomers. And I'm sure that others will realize that we can live without them doing every little thing for us."

"But then your band of mercenaries will no longer be needed," he said, smirking.

"I'll be glad when we're not needed anymore. People shouldn't have to live in fear. They shouldn't have to lead the life that I've led for the past year. And putting you down will be a fitting start to the new era," I said coldly.

As I started to charge up the beam cannon, Boh merely grinned. "It's too late. Boomers are already well-woven into the fabric of society. You can't possibly remove them without taking apart the fabric as well."

"That's what the Boomer summit was for, though. And perhaps if those two Boomers hadn't interfered, the world leaders would have come up with a way to get rid of them."

"It's possible. But you'll never know."

I took aim again. "Oh, we will. And I'm going to be there when it happens. Goodbye, Boh."

I fired a blast, which hit Boh upside the head. On my HUD, Boh's life signs spiked for a moment, then wavered, and then declined until they flat-lined. At the same time, the glowing in his eyes flickered, then went dead. It was over.

I bent down and closed his eyes, then stood up again and looked down at his body. Boh, you weren't such a bad guy. I actually kind of liked you, I thought as I heard the sound of approaching police cars and helicopters. Too bad you were my enemy.

I sighed and opened my flight wings, then took to the air again. Once I got above the flames, I flew away from the summit of Genom Tower, hopefully leaving it behind for good. This was a mission I hoped I would never have to repeat.

I flew for a ways, and once I knew that I wouldn't be spotted by the police, I landed on the roof of a nearby building. I looked up and was in awe at the sight of the summit of Genom Tower completely in flames. Just a little something to remember me by, I guess, I thought, chuckling. It kinda looked like a huge torch.

Monsoon, you did your job well, I thought, remembering that it had gone up along with the Boomer. You sacrificed yourself to help me defeat those Boomers, and you helped me get into Genom Tower. And for that, I thank you.

I winced and rubbed my arm; it had started to hurt again. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and now I was starting to feel all my wounds. Aw, hell. They'd been worth it. Compared to expecting to be killed, I guess the wounds I had sustained weren't too bad.

Mom, Linna, Sylia, and Nene hadn't needed to fight this fight, after all. I'd done it all myself, with the help of Monsoon. And as my vision got blurrier, and the darkness started to engulf me, I had to thank them. If I hadn't known about their planned assault, I couldn't have carried out mine.

Thanks, you guys, I thought as I collapsed.


"Have you found her yet?!" I asked Mackie as he looked below in the flames for any sign of my daughter.

"I'm trying as hard as I can, Priss!!" he snapped. "But we gotta watch out for the police, too!"

"She probably got out of there once she heard them coming," Linna theorized. "At least, that's what I think."

I marched out of the cockpit and sat down, mumbling curses under my breath. Nene was looking out of one of the windows, on the lookout for her, and suddenly, she gasped.

"I think I see her!" she exclaimed. I got up and ran to the window and took a peek out. I squinted and on the roof of a building a short distance away, I thought I saw a figure, but it was hard to tell. I put on my helmet and scanned that area, and sure enough, the signal from Yume's hardsuit popped up.

"Mackie, turn left!" I yelled. "We found her!"

"Roger!" he affirmed.

"That girl…she really is your kid, Priss," Linna said, grinning. "And admit it, you thought she was a goner."

I lifted up my visor and smiled. "Fine, I will. But you thought so, too."

She nodded. "Yeah, I admit I did."

"We're almost at Yumeko's location," Sylia said, looking out the window.

"Ok, Sylia," I said, pressing the button to open up the rear ramp. I ran towards it as it opened up, and leaped out.

"Wait for me!" Nene called out, leaping after me.

I activated my thrusters to make sure I would land ok, then I leaped from building to building till I got to Yume. She was passed out on the roof, her visor lifted up. I bent down, lifting up my own visor, and took her in my arms.

"You did good, Yume," I sighed, smiling softly.

"Is she ok?!" Nene asked, running up to us.

I stood up, cradling my daughter, and smiled. "She's fine." Other than a cut up near her hairline, from which there was a trail of dried blood all the way down the side of her face near her ear, and some cracks and scorch marks on her hardsuit, she looked fine to me.

I turned to look at Genom Tower, and grinned at the realization that my daughter had done that all herself. Nene lifted up her visor to look too, and returned the grin.

"She's been a lot of trouble," Nene said, still smiling, "but she's been worth it."

"I would die for Yume," I mumbled to myself. "And she almost returned the favor. But she's my kid, after all. She ain't going down so easily, just like her mom."

Nene nodded in agreement, still looking at Genom Tower.

"Gonna come back up, or are ya gonna walk home?" Linna joked over the comm.

"We should get out of here before we draw attention," Sylia said matter-of-factly.

"Roger that," I said, looking up at the plane hovering above us, and me and Nene jetted back up to the rear ramp.

After closing the ramp, I took off my helmet and Yume's, and sat down with her in my lap, cradling her.

"She ok?" Linna asked, now just in her innerwear.

"She's fine," I replied. I kissed her on the forehead as tears started to well up in my eyes. She had been anticipating this to be a suicide mission, and I thanked God that it hadn't turned out that way. "She just needs some rest."

"What do you suppose happened to Boh?" Nene wondered.

Sylia smirked. "From the looks of things, I don't think we have to worry about him anymore. My scanner detected three dead Boomers on the summit of Genom Tower, two of them being the same design as the ones we fought at the summit, and the third one had the same design as a typical 33D Boomer, which is what Boh was."

I grinned. "Yep, I'd say Yume cleaned up!"

Linna walked up to me. "Priss…"

"Yeah?" I looked up at her.

She smiled softly. "I don't know what you and Yumeko think, but I, for one, am glad that she joined the Knight Sabers. There's a lot that we couldn't have done without her."

I smiled wearily. "Thanks, Linna."

I felt Yume stir in my arms, and when I looked down at her, she was just coming to. "Hey, Yume!" I said softly.

She looked up at me, eyes half-open, and smiled weakly. "Mom…"

"You did it, kid. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks…" She leaned her head against my chest and heaved a sigh, still smiling weakly. "Do you think that after…after what I did, Sylia will use Rule 11?"

Everyone in the plane, including me, started to laugh out loud.

"I should hope not! After what you went through?" I joked.

Sylia chuckled and turned to Mackie. "Take us home, Mackie."

"Sure thing, Sis!" he responded, returning the chuckle.

I normally wouldn't be one to brag, but how many moms could say that their seventeen-year-old daughters helped to save Tokyo? I was willing to bet I was the only one. But then again, I was probably also the only one that would let their daughter become a vigilante to begin with! I admit it was a job that didn't suit everyone, but Yume almost looked born for the role.

My kid, Yumeko Asagiri; daughter of singer Priss Asagiri, high school student, aspiring Olympic star, and Knight Saber. Now that's something to put on a résumé!


A few days later, I was going through my dresser drawers, looking for stuff that I thought I should pack. I took out a few pairs of jeans, folded them up, and stacked them neatly in my suitcase. After closing that drawer, I opened up the one that held my sweatshirts. I took a few of my favorite ones out and put them in with my jeans.

"Well, can't fit any more in this one," I said aloud, zipping it up. I picked it up and hauled it out to the living room, and threw it on the couch with the other two suitcases I'd filled up.

"Do you want to take your trophies with you, Yume?" Mom called out from our bedroom.

"My trophies?"

"Yeah." She peeked her head out the door. "Did you saw off your cast?" she asked, pointing to my arm.

"I did," I admitted, grinning mischievously. "It was driving me nuts. And so is this bandage." I scratched at the one wrapped around my head.

"So what do you want to do with your trophies?"

"You can keep 'em here. I can't take every little thing with me."

She sighed and walked out into the living room. "I know that. But you worked hard for those. You sure you don't wanna take 'em along, just to keep you inspired when you're wondering why the hell you're training for the Olympics?" she added, grinning impishly.

"I don't need the trophies for that. Just the image of that Olympic gold medal around my neck will help," I said, grinning. "And besides, it's not like I'm going away forever. You need something of mine here to remind you of me, just like I need something to remind me of Michiko." I twirled the necklace chain around my finger, then realized what I was doing, and stopped; Michiko had often done this same thing with it. "Heh, must've rubbed off on me…"

"And now, we're going to the news conference," the newscaster suddenly said on the TV. Mom and I turned to watch.

A spokesman for Genom walked up to the podium, cleared his throat, and started to speak.

"Good afternoon, everyone. As you know, the Tower was attacked a few days ago, causing significant damage." Mom and I both laughed; the only things that had been damaged were Quincy's office and the summit of the Tower. "Quincy has decided to inform the people of Tokyo that he will be taking a leave of absence from the position of Genom CEO indefinitely."

"What the hell?" Mom said aloud.

"No kidding," I agreed. What was he doing that for?

"For the time being, the acting CEO of Genom will be vice-chairman Katherine Madigan. Miss Madigan?" He beckoned her to come up to the podium. After a moment, a lavender-haired woman walked up to the podium and spoke.

"Quincy has asked me to be the CEO of this fine company for the time being, and I feel deeply humbled by his request," Madigan said. "I promise you that as long as I am asked to hold this position, I will do whatever I can to eliminate the group of criminals that everyone knows as the Knight Sabers, and to ensure the safety and viability of the city of MegaTokyo."

Her voice is so familiar, I thought, frowning. Kinda sounds like the woman that Boh was talking to on the phone before he ran into Michiko… I turned to Mom, and she looked positively pissed off. She gritted her teeth, then slammed her fist into the open palm of her hand. Whoa, what's she so mad about? Does she know something about this lady?

There was a knock on the door, and I turned and went to answer it. When I opened the door, there stood Nene, with a manila envelope in her hand.

"Hi, Yumeko!" she said in her singsong voice.

"Hi Nene!"

She walked into the apartment, and saw the look on Mom's face. "What is it, Priss?"

"Madigan's the Genom CEO now," she grumbled, still gazing at the TV screen.

"She is?!" Nene looked at the TV, and paled when she saw it was true.

I wish somebody would tell me why the hell having some gal named Madigan as Genom CEO is a big deal!, I thought, feeling left out.

"This makes me sick," Mom spat, turning off the TV.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Nene asked, turning to look at me. "You don't have to go into hiding to avoid Genom's henchmen."

"It was my idea," Mom mumbled.

"It…was?"

She nodded. "I don't think anybody should have to spend their teenage years going out to protect the city from Boomers. I want Yume to have a chance at a normal life."

"But…" Nene started to get tears in her eyes. "You would send away your own daughter?"

"It's not like I WANT to!!" Mom fired back, tears welling up in her eyes as well. "But I love her. And I don't want her to go around having to watch her back every second! I'm doing what's best for Yume. I…I can't be selfish, not when she could get killed because of it. I've got Sylia's support on this, too…"

"I'm not going away forever," I said, trying not to cry myself. "I'll come back soon, when this whole thing dies down."

Nene wiped the tears from her eyes, her hands starting to tremble; she knew what that possibly meant.

"Well, um, here's the things that I made up for you," she said with a shaky voice, handing me the manila envelope. I opened it and looked at its contents. "I made up a fake birth certificate, ID, Social Security card, those sort of things."

"What's the name on here?" I asked, looking at the ID. "Rocío? That's my new name?"

"Well, you can't really hide out that well if you're using your real name." She was trying not to cry again. "And you've often been mistaken for Hispanic, right? Because of the way your skin looks? So I picked out a Hispanic-sounding name. Where you're going, you'll be known as Rocío María Monterrey."

I wrinkled my nose as I repeated the name several times. The last name may as well be 'mentira' -- Spanish for 'lie' -- as far as I was concerned. And wasn't 'Monterrey' a type of cheese? I turned to Mom, taking the bandage off of my head, and asked, "Do I look like a Rocío to you?"

She smiled weakly. "Not really," she admitted, "but probably because I've only known you as Yume." She walked over and gave me a hug, making me wince when the wound on my back started to hurt. "And no matter what your name is changed to, you'll always be Yume to me."

I smiled. "You ain't gonna see nobody named Rocío at the Olympics next year though! I'm gonna use my own name, so people all over will know that Yumeko Asagiri got a gold medal in gymnastics instead of some girl that nobody ever heard of."

"That's the girl I raised," Mom said, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"So…if or when you come back, are you going to rejoin the Knight Sabers?" Nene asked, looking curious.

"Of course! I can't just quit after my rookie year!" I joked. "I'll always be a Knight Saber. And besides, you guys will probably need my help."

Nene nodded. "Yeah, that's probably true…"

"Oh, you'll be back," Mom joked. "Once you've been to Tokyo, you ain't going nowhere. Once you're here, you're stuck."

"Except for the occasional escape, under the disguise of a world tour?" Nene asked, playing along.

We all laughed at that remark.

The mood was interrupted when the sound of three pagers going off simultaneously filled our ears. "I think we know what that means," I said, smiling as I turned off mine. It had been so long since I heard that sweet sound…

"I should hope so," Nene joked, turning off hers.

"Up for one last outing, Yume?" Mom asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Hell yeah!" I exclaimed, nodding vigorously.

"Let's go then! And the last one there doesn't get to kill any Boomers!"

All of us ran out the door – me making sure to lock it behind me – and headed down the stairs to our waiting vehicles. For a moment, my leg twinged, but I paid it no mind. This was going to be the last time I was going to go Boomer-bashing with my friends, and I wasn't going to miss it for the world.

By the time I reached my motorcycle, Mom had already started hers up and was pulling on her helmet. "Let's try to make this one extra-fun, ok, Yume?" she asked, winking.

"I'll be sure to," I said, starting up my bike. "Try to save one or two for me."

"Sure thing."

She drove off, and I was just backing my bike out of the parking space when I saw Nene was having trouble with her scooter.

"Stupid thing!" she yelled, smacking on the handles with her fists.

"Having mechanical trouble?" I teased.

Nene gave me a goofy grin, wagged her finger at me, and shook her head, kicking the scooter in the side. I smirked as the scooter started up. "I think I got it," she said smugly.

"I see that," I joked. "I'll see you at Sylia's place!"

As I drove off down the street, Nene pulled on her helmet and waved to me. I waved back.

It was such a strange feeling. When I'd gone to Genom Tower four days ago, I thought for sure that would be my final battle. But as it turned out, I survived that assault, and now today's battle was to be my last. And tonight, I would get on a plane and head off to start a new life, start over and try to lead a normal life. But…I'd never had a normal life to begin with, to be honest. Not everybody had a famous singer or Knight Saber for a mom. And my dad, he wasn't even in the picture.

As I was riding my motorcycle down the street, some lyrics from an old song started to play in my head…

There's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust.
There's a reason why people don't stay where they are.
Baby, sometimes love just ain't enough.

I honestly didn't know when or if I would be coming back to MegaTokyo. Mom wanted me to live elsewhere so I could live something resembling a normal life, and to hide out from Genom's ever-watchful eye, but I had agreed to go for a reason other than that. I agreed to go because right now, there were just too many memories for me in Tokyo. The friendship between me and Michiko had blossomed here; we'd grown up together. And now, it would be just me.

A part of me really wanted to stay in MegaTokyo; after all, if I hid out, wouldn't that mean that we had let Genom win? But Mom didn't see it that way. She had told me that she loved me too much to put me in any more danger. And so, she was sending me away to live in the suburb of some faraway town, even if it meant we might never see each other again.

A most selfless act by her. That's what it was.

But no. I wasn't planning on staying away forever. Mom was right; it was something about the atmosphere of this city that drew people here to live and make their homes, and I couldn't possibly stay away for the rest of my life. There was no way.

Someday, I didn't know when, but someday, I would be back by my friends' sides, helping to protect the city of MegaTokyo from Boomers. And when I came back, I would make sure that Genom would once again face the wrath of a Knight Saber scorned.

But until then…I had a whole new adventure laying in front of me.