I laid back under a tree in the park, folding my arms behind my head as I gazed up at the sky and watched the puffs of clouds drift by. With no one around, I could finally truly relax, just relax, let loose, enjoy myself. I could hear the birds chirping up in the tree, and I smiled as I listened to them.

Until I heard a loud crack of thunder.

I bolted up, and suddenly the park had disappeared. It had been replaced by an eerie darkness, and I was the only one in it. I looked around, and saw the trees, the grass, the people, everything was gone.

"What the hell's going on?" I demanded as I stood up. "What IS this?"

"Your demise," I heard an eerily familiar voice say. I spun around to face the direction of its origin, and there was a black-haired boy standing there, his hair tied back in a ponytail.

"B...Boh..." I growled. "You're dead."

"Oh, am I?" he asked curtly, striding towards me. "Boomers don't die. You know that. They merely get too damaged to function. I can come back anytime, you know. All they have to do is repair the damage you did when you blasted me. And then we can continue our little game."

"The game was over when I killed you!" I retorted.

"No, it's not," he said, shaking his head, starting to smirk. "You're hiding out, aren't you? Hence the game is still in play. It's merely been stalled for the moment, because Genom doesn't know where you are. But they will find out, and you know that."

"And how are you so confident they will?" I asked, smirking. "As far as they're concerned, Yumeko Asagiri has disappeared off the face of the planet."

"True, but the girl by that name is still around," he replied, grinning. "Your name may have changed, but you're still here. And they will find you."

"Tell them 'good luck' for me, 'cause they'll never figure out where I am."

"Oh, is that so?" Boh folded his arms over his chest. "Well, they could just force it out of your mother, or Miss Yamazaki."

"They...they wouldn't hurt my mom, or Linna!" I snapped. "I'm the one Genom's after! And besides, they'd sooner die than let Genom find me."

"If that is true, then this game will be taking quite an interesting turn. But then again..."

"Then again what?" I inquired, getting unnerved at the look on Boh's face.

"If your mother or Miss Yamazaki is hurt, or killed, they know you'll come out of hiding. Because you'll be so enraged that you let them get hurt that you'd never forgive yourself if you didn't do anything." He smirked again. "Am I right?"

I clenched my hands into fists and gritted my teeth. Boh couldn't be right...

"You're lying through your teeth," I growled, though the possibility of Genom going after my mom or my friends was too great to ignore.

"Yumeko, have I ever lied to you?" he asked, grinning as he got that annoying glint in his eye.

"Shut the hell up! Get out of here!"

"Out? You're the one who let me in, remember?"

"You forced yourself in, when you fused with my hardsuit!" I snapped. "Not exactly an invitation!"

"Perhaps. But I'm here to stay. You know what they say, right? That a person is always kept alive as long as they're in your memories?"

"Shut UP!"

"Yucchan..." I heard a girl that I recognized as Michiko say. I gasped as she stepped into my view from behind Boh.

"M...Michiko!" I gasped. "Boh, don't you bring her into this any more than you already have! She's suffered enough!"

"Perhaps, but you haven't," he said, smirking as he gestured in Michiko's direction. Suddenly, she screamed and faded from my view.

"You...you son of a BITCH!" I screamed.

"One by one, you will see your friends die just like that. All for you. How does it feel to know that your friends will be sacrificing themselves for you? Will it pacify you to know that it will be because of you that their lives will have ended prematurely?"

"Shut up!"

"Why should I? It's true, is it not? Their deaths will hang on your conscience, and do you really want that? Do you, Yumeko? Is Michiko's death not enough weight on your conscience?"

"One more word about Michiko, and I'm gonna send you back to hell where you belong!" I yelled.

"You needn't worry about that, Yumeko. That's the least of your worries. You'll be joining her soon enough." He turned his back on me, then turned his head towards me and did that salute thing he always did. "Adieu."

"Get back here, Boh! I'm not done with you yet!"

"You've said that before, and I'll say this again as well: You never even started."

"Boh, get your ass back here! I mean it!"

He just kept on walking, and eventually faded from my sight.

"BOH!"

Everything turned even blacker than it already was, and the next thing I knew, I snapped my eyes open again, only to find myself laying down. I looked around; I was in my bedroom again. The son of a bitch, I thought as I sat up and ran my hand through my sweat-drenched hair to get it out of my face. What he had said about Mom or the others possibly being targets...I was hoping it wasn't true. But if Genom got desperate enough to find me...then it was entirely possible they'd go after my Knight Saber friends to force the answer out of them. They can't be targets, they can't be, I kept thinking as I sighed and leaned back on the pillow. I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to them...

Just before I was going to close my eyes, I turned my head and looked at the clock on the nightstand. In big red numbers, it said 5:31 AM. I sighed to myself; no use in going back to sleep now. I crawled out of bed, and after making it, I brushed my hair and tied it back in a ponytail, then pulled on my leg sleeve and got dressed in some exercise clothes. Maybe a jog around the block would clear my head.

After eating a bagel for breakfast, I put my shoes on and headed out the door, starting out with a brisk walk, then working my way up to a jog. I could see that the sun was already rising, and I smiled; I hardly ever got up early enough to see the sun rise. I'd seen lots of sunsets, but this sunrise had a beauty all its own. The sky was colored a pale yellow and blue, with the clouds tinted a shade of pink. I wished I had my camera with me.

I still didn't know this neighborhood too well, so I confined my jog to this street. After jogging around the block about three or four times, my leg started pleading for a rest, so at the end of the block, I stopped and walked slowly back to the house. Once I was inside, I pulled off my shoes and took a look at the clock. Six o'clock...still early enough to have time to take a shower and have some peace and quiet before Mikhaila would wake everybody in the house up. I walked to my bedroom and grabbed some regular clothes before walking into the bathroom to take a shower.

I wonder what Linna would say if she found out I was up this early, I thought with a smile as I let the hot water beat over me. That jog really helped me wake up. I can kinda see why she always takes a morning jog now. I saw another positive thing about waking up at this ungodly hour – that little jog I took had loosened up my leg, even though it had started to ache. Hey, this just might help get my leg back in shape. I should try to do this every day.

After I got out of the shower, I dried myself off, blow-dried my hair, and got dressed. Once I walked out, I saw Mikhaila standing there, not looking too pleased.

"Other people here need to take a shower too," she snapped.

"I've never seen you take one in the morning. You're usually too busy playing with your make-up," I quipped.

"Go fig. The one morning I DO decide to take one, I'm held up by YOU," she grumbled as she walked past me and slammed the door in my face.

I'm guessing she's not a morning person, I joked to myself. While she was in the shower, I decided to look through my homework and make sure I had it all done, then sat down and watched some TV. When I checked for the time again, I saw it was almost seven o'clock. I stood up and walked outside and to my waiting motorcycle, and after starting it up and letting it run for a minute, I took off towards Xania's house.

When I got there, she was sitting on her porch, looking bored out of her mind. "Hey!" I yelled to her.

"Rosho!" she exclaimed, her face brightening. She jumped to her feet and ran to me, her tail flipping back and forth. "You're early!"

"I know," I said, lifting up my visor. "I got up a little earlier and took a jog, and I figured I'd get here before I killed too much time." Xania laughed.

"You don't seem like the type of person who'd get up at the break of dawn," she said, grinning.

"I'm not. I try to sleep as much as humanly possible, but unfortunately, school beckons us," I groaned. "I feel like ditching. What about you?"

"I'll ditch with ya," she said. "Just seems like the kind of day that says for us NOT to go to school."

"I know what you mean," I agreed, laughing.

"Here. Gimme your backpack."

I handed it to her, and she grabbed hers as well and went inside. A minute later, she reappeared. "I put them in my closet."

"Ok. So, where should we go?"

She thought for a moment. "Well...aw shit, I'm usually not up this damn early! I dunno what's open right now and what's not!"

"Neither do I. I've only been here a little over a week," I joked. "Well, what about the park? We could sit there and relax for a little while before heading over to the mall or somethin'."

"I dunno when the last time I went to the park was. But, as long as we're over there, can we do one thing?"

"What is it?"

She grinned shyly and adjusted her shades. "Well...on our way there, could we buy a loaf of bread? So we can feed the crumbs to the geese?"

I laughed. I didn't think Xania would be interested in that sort of thing. "Sure. Sounds good to me. Can you tell me where the nearest store is?"

She climbed on the bike behind me and said, "Yeah. I'll tell ya where to go."

-----

After Xania bought us a loaf of bread, we drove over to the park, and after climbing off my bike, we walked by the playground, and it wasn't long before a flock of geese came into sight, picking at the grass with their beaks. I smiled as I walked towards them, making sure not to step in any of the little presents that they had left scattered all over.

Xania opened the loaf of bread and took out a piece, tearing it up into crumbs. "C'mere, little goose," she said, crouching down as she held out a piece. Two or three geese waddled towards her, and after she looked at all of them for a few seconds, held it out again. Before I knew it, one of them had snatched it out of her hand and was swallowing it.

"What, you've never done this before?" Xania asked as she looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "You look surprised."

I shook my head. "Never have," I admitted.

She handed a piece of bread to me. "Here. Try it," she said.

"You sure they won't bite?"

"Nah, they wo-- OW!" She leaped a mile in surprise when a goose behind her snapped at her tail. "You little bastard!" she snapped.

I started laughing. "Won't bite, eh?" I joked.

Xania rubbed her tail and winced, managing a grin. "Ok, they might if you're not careful..."

I stared at the piece of bread in my hand, then slowly tore the bread into pieces. I saw a goose waddle towards me, and I smiled as I crouched down on my knees, my leg feeling slightly stiff from the movement. "Hey there," I said. "Want some bread?" I held out a piece of bread to it, and it waddled a little closer. And before I could react, it snapped at me, and when I looked at my hand, the piece of bread had disappeared.

I laughed. "Hey, that was cool!"

Xania grinned and shook her head in disbelief as she tossed some pieces to some of the other geese. I started doing the same, and then, all the geese started swarming around us. When I walked to Xania to get a few more pieces of bread, I looked behind me and saw some of the geese following in hot pursuit, squawking their protests.

"Hey, I need to get some more, ok?" I joked, laughing as I grabbed a few more pieces. I tore those pieces up and tossed them at the geese, which then swarmed around them and gobbled them right up.

"Oh no you don't," Xania joked when she saw a goose sneak up behind her. She stuck her tail straight up in the air. "You ain't doin' that twice, buster!" She looked at me and grinned. "Remind me never to dangle my tail around geese."

"I will," I laughed.

It wasn't long before the entire loaf of bread was gone. And when our little feathered friends realized that, they swarmed around us, practically pleading for more.

"Methinks we should run," Xania advised, half-joking as she took a step back.

"I have to agree," I concurred, grinning as the geese looked up at me, beaks open. "We'll have to get through these guys first though."

"Easily done."

Xania abruptly grabbed my hand and broke into a run, and we both laughed as the geese tried to chase us as we ran down the path and back to my motorcycle, trying to avoid stepping in goose poop the whole way. By the time we did get to my bike, we were both laughing so hard, we were holding our sides.

"Damn geese can be so fun!" Xania laughed, almost doubled over in laughter. All I could do was nod in agreement and snicker as I put on my helmet.

"Where should we go now? We still have the whole day to kill," I said.

She looked at me and thought for a moment. "Back to the grocery store."

"Why?"

"To get some aspirin for ya. You don't look too good."

"You're not too far off," I admitted, wincing as I put a hand to my stomach, which had started to throb. I took off my helmet and ran a hand through my hair, sighing.

"What's wrong with it anyway?" Xania asked. "You've been complainin' about it since I met you."

I looked around to make sure nobody else was around, then said in a low voice, "This is why," and lifted up my shirt enough so that Xania could see the marks on my stomach.

"Holy shit," she whispered, her eyes wide in shock as she bent down to get a closer look. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"I got stabbed, a little over three weeks ago."

She traced her finger over the long scar and asked, "How'd you get this?"

I sighed and gently shoved her hand away. "Don't touch it, please."

"S...sorry."

"It's alright, but the memory of how I got that one is still a little too fresh..." I pulled my shirt down.

"Your dad must be a real bastard to do all of this shit to ya, Rosho," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "No wonder you had to come here to avoid 'im. The fuckin' son of a bitch..." She slammed her fist into the open palm of her hand, seething.

"It doesn't matter anymore," I said, darting my eyes away. "It happened a while ago..."

"It don't matter how long ago it happened! It still happened, didn't it? You can't change that! And obviously, that's not all that happened to ya!" She pointed at the scar on my shoulder.

"No, it's not. Take a look at my back."

I turned around, and pointed at a spot on my upper back, near my right shoulder. Xania pulled the neck of the shirt down slightly, and I could practically feel her grimace.

"That one looks like it just healed up," she groaned. "Looks fresh."

"It still hurts a little bit," I said, rubbing the spot. "I guess the tissue is still healing up. How big is the scar? I can't look at it too well."

"I'd say a good three inches long, half-inch wide," she said, grimacing.

"That big?" Why am I acting so surprised? I thought as Xania nodded. After how much blood I lost from that wound, I shouldn't be.

"That cut looks like it healed up, too," she said, putting her finger on the spot on my forehead where I'd been cut.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Shit, girl, talk about battle scars..."

"I have my fair share of 'em, on the outside as well as the inside," I said, sighing. "What about you?"

"I wasn't abused like you were. I guess if I have any, they're all in here." She pounded her chest with her fist.

"Xania, I'm...I'm sorry."

"For what? It all happened years ago."

"But still, for a little kid to have a childhood like that..."

"I don't want to bring it up!" she snapped, making me jump in surprise. "It was a fuckin' hellhole, and I'm glad I left it behind! I never want to go back there again! Not in my mind, not EVER! I left that place behind when I was ten years old, and I'm NOT goin' back!" Xania was so mad that her entire body was shaking now.

"I...can relate..." I said slowly.

"The fuckin' Social Services people were tellin' me, 'Everything's gonna be ok now,' but is it ok! IS it! I may be out of there, but..." She took off her shades and wiped a tear from her eye, then put them back on. "Son of a..."

"If you need to cry—" I started to say.

"No," she said stubbornly. "I'm not cryin'. NEVER am I gonna shed a tear for THEM! If I'm ever gonna be cryin' over somethin', it's gonna be somethin' worth cryin' over!"

It's ok to cry for your lost childhood, Xania, I thought. Really, it is...

"You don't need to act tough around me," I said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright."

"Who says I'm ACTIN' tough?" she protested.

"I know how this stuff can tear you apart!" I yelled. "I used to be like that too! But a lot of shit has gone down, and I just can't do the act anymore! I can't keep pretending everything's ok when it's NOT ok! Dammit, I can relate!"

"I know that," Xania said, her voice hoarse as she looked at me with a look that said she really did know. "Look, Rosho...let's make a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I won't ask about your past if you don't ask about mine. That way, neither of us'll go off on each other like we did just now."

"You weren't going off," I said, shaking my head.

"What do you call it then?" she inquired.

"Venting. Letting it out."

She snorted. "My foster mom keeps sayin' that God doesn't give ya any more than you can handle. I guess we've both proven that guy wrong, eh?"

I smirked. "Well, we're still standing, aren't we?"

Xania returned the smirk. "I guess. So, deal?"

"Deal."

We shook hands, then I put on my helmet again and climbed on my bike. "So where should we go now, Xania?"

"I said earlier we should go to the store for somethin' for your stomach, remember?"

"Oh, right," I chuckled, my stomach incidentally starting to hurt again. "But what about afterwards? Where should we go afterwards?"

She shrugged as she climbed on behind me. "Well, where do YOU wanna go?"

"Hmm...I haven't been to the mall yet. Maybe you could show me around there."

"Ok! I'll tell you how to get there once we get that aspirin for ya."

"Speaking of which..."

"Huh?"

"Don't hold onto me so tight," I half-joked. "You're hurting me."

"Oh! Sorry."

As we drove off and headed towards the grocery store, I couldn't help but think about how Xania reacted when her life with her real parents was brought up, and about how she said she wasn't physically abused, but that all her scars were inside. They weren't visible like mine were, but I saw a little bit of them in her temper outburst. It made me wonder just what her old lifestyle had been like prior to being put with her foster mom. But I had agreed that if I didn't ask about her past, then she wouldn't ask about mine. Oh well...it'd be that much easier to keep my real life a secret from her, although I'm sure Xania was dying to know about my past almost as much as I wanted to know about hers.

If I ever did tell her the truth about my past, I thought, would she even believe me? C'mon, me, a Knight Saber, AND daughter of one of the most famous singers on the face of the Earth? Hollywood would have a field day with my life, I'm sure.

And of course, there was still the matter of the dream I had had... Was it a warning, a premonition of sorts? Or was I just worrying too much, like I was wont to do? Aw hell...what was I thinking? If I was ever worrying too much, especially lately, then it was for good reason. First, about somebody watching me behind my back, and then when Michiko disappeared... I guess it didn't hurt to worry 'too' much anymore.

-----

"So, you gonna be mailing them out tomorrow?" I asked Nene as we walked down the hallway towards Adrienne's apartment.

"Yeah," she said, nodding.

"How long is it gonna take for 'em to get to Yume?"

"I'm mailing them express, so about four or five days, maybe a week."

"Did Linna and Sylia record some vidletters too?"

"Yep!" Nene patted her purse on the side. "Got 'em in here. Did you record yours?"

"Yeah, here." I handed it to her, and she slipped it into her purse as we reached the door to the apartment. I knocked on the door, and after a moment, Adrienne answered.

"Hi, Priss," she said, bowing. I nodded my head in response.

"Did you get it recorded?" I asked.

"I did. Come in." She beckoned me and Nene to enter, so we did, and sat down on the couch while she went to her bedroom. After a moment, she came back with the vidletter in her hand. Handing it to me, she looked at Nene and asked, "You're Miss Romanova, right?"

"Yes," Nene said, nodding.

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good with names."

"That's alright. We haven't seen each other very much." She sighed. "How have you been?"

"I've seen better days," Adrienne sighed.

"Kenji still at work or what?" I inquired. "I don't see him around." She sighed and nodded. "Did he record somethin' on the letter too?"

"He did, after I pestered him about a hundred times."

I sighed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nene was looking at a shelf on the wall. When I looked as well, I saw what she was looking at: a photo of Michiko and Yume together, taken when they were about thirteen. I smiled and said, "They really loved each other..."

"They did," Nene agreed, nodding solemnly as she cast her eyes to the floor. "They were like sisters."

"I miss them both," Adrienne said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Michiko's gone, but...I know Yumeko wouldn't let her memory die."

"You won't either," I said. "And I promise I won't."

"We should go," Nene suddenly said, standing up. "I think we've overstayed our welcome."

"No, no, it's alright," Adrienne said, looking at her.

"No, we really have to go," she insisted, eyeing me as she tapped her pager, which she had set to vibrate instead of beep. I noticed mine was vibrating too, and stood up quickly.

"Nene's right," I quickly said as Nene and I headed to the door.

"O...ok," Adrienne said, looking a bit confused at how we were acting. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Tell Kenji hi for me," I said before leaving the apartment. Once we were out in the hallway, heading towards the elevator, I grumbled under my breath and turned off the pager. "Another rogue Boomer..."

"Nothing we can't handle," Nene said, grinning.

"I've rarely seen you kill one by yourself," I quipped as we reached the elevator.

"Hey!" she protested as I pressed the 'down' button. "It's not my fault!"

"Need to learn to fight, that's all."

Nene and I stepped into the elevator, but right as the elevator doors were about to close, I saw a large hand grab one of them and force it open. I stifled a grimace as I recognized the man that stepped into the elevator with us.

"Hello, Priss," Tsubasa said, smirking. "Where you rushin' off to?"

"Out," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nene looked from me to Tsubasa, then back to me. "You know this guy?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Hi, cutie-pie," he said, eyeing Nene and grinning. "Are you a friend of my bitch here? You look too gentle for that."

"I'm not your bitch," I snapped. I looked at the screen above the door, and it said we were at the third floor now. Damn, this thing could never go fast enough!

"Oh, really?" He took a step closer to the redhead next to me, who was looking more than a bit nervous, and grinned again. "Maybe I could make your friend here my bitch."

I didn't even have to think; I snatched my gun out of my jacket, cocked it, and shoved the barrel in his face. "Don't you dare touch her," I warned.

"G-gee, thanks Priss," Nene said, backing up as far into the corner as she could go.

Once the elevator reached the first floor, the moment the door opened, Nene darted out while I kept my gun aimed at Tsubasa. "Get going," I whispered to her. "I'll catch up."

"Ok," she said, nodding and running out the front doors of the apartment building.

"You wouldn't shoot me," Tsubasa said, smirking.

"Just try me," I snapped as I stepped out of the elevator, my gun still aimed between the bastard's eyes. "If you EVER touch ANY of my friends, I swear the only way you'll be able to get around again is in a wheelchair." He started to step out of the elevator to come after me, but I shoved the barrel in his face. "Get back in there, you rotten son of a bitch," I said through gritted teeth.

"Priss, Priss," he said, sighing as he shook his head in mock disbelief. "Still playing the role of the tough girl. But I know you're not all that tough." He grinned evilly.

"Just because I haven't killed anyone doesn't mean I'm not tough," I retorted. "But they do say there's a first time for everything. May as well start with you." And with that, I slapped him across the face with my gun, turned around, and walked out of the building.

"HEY!" he yelled, running after me. "Get back here!"

I frowned, turned around to face him, and kicked him in the stomach, then punched him in the face. "I've had ENOUGH of your bullshit!" I yelled. "Stay the hell away from me and my friends if you want to keep the use of your legs, you hear me?"

Suddenly, he regained his ground and grabbed me by my jacket, then jerked me forward so that he was practically in my face. "And you listen to ME, you little whore," he hissed. "If you think you can ever take down Tsubasa, you're a fucking moron."

"Just shut your trap," I said, bringing my knee up between his legs. He almost instantly crumpled to the ground, and as I walked away, I mumbled, "Not as tough as you used to be. Gotten soft?"

"You...little..." he groaned, struggling to get to his feet.

"Or, maybe you're finally starting to act your age," I spat, giving him the finger as I walked away.

"You ok?" a wide-eyed Nene asked when I walked up to my bike and put on my helmet.

"I thought I told you to get going," I said flatly as I climbed onto my bike and started it up.

"Why? We can't go out without you anyway," she replied in a low voice as we both drove out of the parking lot and down the street.

"Know what kind of Boomers we're fighting this time?" I asked, trying to get my mind off of that bastard Tsubasa.

"Nope. I guess we'll find out when we get there." She paused. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

"Y'know the kid that kept hitting on Yume?"

"Yeah. Masahiro."

"That was his dad, Tsubasa."

Nene grimaced. "I see where Masahiro got his attitude from. You seem like you've known him a while."

"Hey, when you've got a boy hitting on your daughter, you're bound to know his closest relatives sooner or later," I said dryly, speeding ahead of her.

That fucking bastard Tsubasa, I kept repeating in my head over and over as Nene and I approached the Lady 633 building. What does he think he's trying to do! Even after all these years, he hasn't changed at all. You'd think he'd learn to lay off after what Yume and I have done, but...aw hell, this is Tsubasa here! And look at who his son is! As if THEY could ever change!

-----

"What kept you?" Linna asked as Nene and I started to change into our innerwear.

"Uh, we ran into some trouble," Nene said quickly as she pulled off her shirt. "Priss took care of him, though."

"Do I really want to know?" she asked dryly. I just kept silent as I pulled off the last of my clothes and yanked my innerwear on. That damn Tsubasa...he'd commented that I was still playing the role of the tough one, but he should've been the one to talk. He was at least five years older than I was, which meant he was pushing fifty. But at least I made him eat his words. He'd had it coming for a while.

"How many Boomers today, Sylia?" I asked after I donned my hardsuit, picking up my helmet.

"Three. Two of them are 55Cs, and the third is a 33B," she replied coolly.

I raised an eyebrow. That didn't seem normal to me...normally they were all the same type. "Heh, maybe Madigan's trying to make it more fun for us," I quipped.

"Fun, she says," Nene groaned, rolling her eyes before she put on her helmet. "You just want an excuse to use your Motoslave."

"Nah, that'd be Yume you'd be referring to."

"You sure? She only used hers twice."

"Yeah, but remember the first time she tried it out?"

She nodded as we all climbed into the equipment van. "I do. And afterwards, she was saying she was never gonna use it again because it was too hard to handle." She laughed.

"Apparently it wasn't the last time though," Linna sighed, forcing a weak smile as she sat down. I sighed and nodded in agreement. Hell, that situation Yume'd gotten into practically warranted using her Motoslave, so even though she hadn't had much experience fighting with the thing, if I was in that situation, I would've used it too.

The ride over to where the Boomers were on the rampage was one of the quietest ones I could recall. It was only our second battle since Yume had gone to the States, but...that wasn't it. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who had a feeling that something was amiss about this latest outing. Maybe it was just because there were two types of Boomers out, but I could smell a rat here. And it wasn't Madigan.

"I'll take care o' the 33B," I said, climbing onto my motorcycle as we were just about at our destination.

"I'm not complaining," Nene said, laughing nervously.

"What, don't you want the fighting experience?" I asked dryly.

"Against one of THOSE? No thanks."

"Priss, you ok?" Linna asked, lifting up her visor. "You're acting kinda funny, though it might be just me."

"Funny? How?" I inquired.

"You just seem like something is bothering you, that's all."

"Nothing's bothering me. I just wanna get out there and kick a few Boomer's asses."

Linna shrugged. "If you say so."

"Priss," Nene said over the comm, "is this about—"

"Don't bring it up, ok?" I snapped. "Just forget about it." How strange...Nene acted like she hadn't been spooked at all by Tsubasa, despite it was her first time meeting him. Maybe she was just acting like she was tough, but of course, we all knew better than to believe that charade.

"Get ready," Sylia warned us.

"Roger," Linna and I said as the sides of the van opened up. As the hydraulic booms deployed so that I was hanging over the street on my bike, Sylia and Nene climbed to the top of the van, bracing themselves. And then, I heard Sylia's call.

"Knight Sabers, go!"

Right then, my motorcycle and I got dropped onto the street, and after revving it up, I sped ahead towards the looming Boomers. I was practically licking my lips in anticipation for this battle, the adrenaline was flowing so strongly through my veins.

"Nene, try not to get in the way, all right?" I asked dryly.

"I won't," she replied with much the same tone. "Besides, I'm your only link to Yumeko. Even if you WANTED it to happen, I wouldn't get in the way."

"Boomers at one o'clock!" Linna yelled, leaping off her motorcycle and making it transform into its Motoroid form.

"Save the 33B for me!" I answered. "That thing's ass is mine!"

"Priss, stay on guard," Sylia ordered over the comm.

"Gotcha."

It wasn't long before the familiar form of the BU-33B appeared in my sights. I couldn't resist letting a feral grin spread across my face as I brought up Auto Motoslave Form on my HUD, and Typhoon III transformed into its Motoslave form.

"Heh. Someone came out to play," it quipped when it saw me.

"You're not gonna be laughing for long," I said as I activated Typhoon III's jumpjets and jetted towards it. The Boomer charged at me, but got blasted through the chest for its trouble. While it stumbled back from that attack, I ran up to it and grabbed its arms.

"Still laughing?" I inquired as I yanked on its arms, trying to rip them off.

"Damn you!" it cursed, firing its heat cannon at me. The force slammed into me, almost making me lose my grip on the Boomer's arms, but thanks to the Motoslave's armor, I wasn't even fazed.

"Too bad you caught me in a bad mood today," I growled as I managed to rip the Boomer's left arm off, fluids gushing out of the stump and spilling to the ground. "'Cause I feel like ripping something to shreds right now. I guess you'll be the one to have that honor."

"Lousy armored bitch..." the Boomer sneered, taking a swing at me. I leaped to the side to avoid the punch, then returned the favor, sending my Motoslave's fist right through the thing's chest and out the back, sending more orange fluids gushing out in the process. After withdrawing my fist, I opened up the front of the Motoslave and fired a few needles through the Boomer's head. While it stumbled back from that attack, trying to rip out the needles with its one remaining hand, I slapped an S-Mine on its chest and jetted up to the roof of a nearby building, and got a bird's-eye view of the resulting explosion.

"Anybody need any help?" I asked over the comm.

"Not me," Linna said. "Just killed one of the 55Cs."

"The other one is finished," Sylia replied. "Let's get out of here."

"Where's Nene?" I inquired.

"I'm w-with Sylia," Nene said, voice shaking. "I'm ok, just had a close call with one of the Boomers, that's all."

I was about to reply when I heard the noise of a helicopter nearby. I looked up and saw one hovering above the battle scene. "The hell is up with that chopper?" I wondered aloud, frowning as I scanned it. I detected three people in the helicopter, and one of them was looking out. After zooming in on who it was, I couldn't hide my grimace of disgust.

Madigan.

She was watching us? I thought, grimacing again when I saw her smirk. What's she up to?

If I had a bone to pick with anyone from Genom, it was that lavender-haired bitch. She was the one who sent out Boh to kill my daughter, and just might've had something to do with when that group of Boomers kidnapped Yume when she snuck out to help us a couple months ago. She's dead. She is SO dead, I thought, taking aim with my Motoslave's biggest guns.

"Priss!" Sylia yelled over the comm.

"What?" I snapped, locking onto the helicopter.

"Let her go."

"Why the hell should I? She's put us all through hell, especially Yume!"

"It's not worth it. Let her go."

"Damn it, Sylia..." I kept my aim on the helicopter, resisting the pressing urge to shoot that helicopter down right then and there. Why didn't she want me to shoot Madigan down? After what she had done?

"Priss, let her go. That's an order," she said sternly.

After a long moment, I sighed and dropped my arms to the sides, frowning as I watched the helicopter fly away. "Shit..." I muttered to myself.

"Let's get back to the van," Sylia said. A moment later, I saw her, Nene, and Linna all jet towards the van, and I reluctantly followed, but not before taking another look at the fleeing helicopter.

You got lucky, I thought, frowning again. You won't be lucky next time though, not with me around. If you think you can get away with what you've done to my daughter and her friend, you're sadly mistaken.

-----

After we got back to Sylia's place, we all went up to her penthouse to unwind for a little bit before heading home. But after what I had seen tonight, it was hard for me to do much of anything in terms of relaxing. What the hell was Madigan up to, watching us fight? And why didn't Sylia want me to shoot her down? Didn't she want her to pay for what she'd done?

"Tell me why I shouldn't have shot her down right then and there," I demanded. "You know she would have deserved it!"

"You're right, she does," Sylia admitted blatantly.

"Then why did you make me let her go?"

"The Knight Sabers have a reputation to maintain," she said slowly. "Besides Genom publicly accusing us of interfering with the summit in March, shooting down the woman who has only been CEO of Genom for two weeks would not help matters any."

"C'mon! People know it wasn't us!"

"But Genom is really good in the propaganda business," Nene mumbled to herself, nursing her cup of coffee. "And Sylia's right. We're still trying to get our image back, and shooting her down would only add to our troubles."

"Nene and Sylia have a point," Linna sighed, running her hand through her hair. "But I do understand why you wanted to shoot her down. I wish I could too, actually."

"What, has everyone turned against me?" I remarked dryly.

"No," Sylia said. "You have your reasons for wanting Madigan dead, and I can't change your reasoning. But I do have my own reasons for why she should stay alive."

"And what would those be?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest, annoyed.

"Well, like I said, the Knight Sabers are trying to rebuild their image, and killing Madigan would not help matters any right now. And besides, at the moment, she does not pose a threat."

"At the moment," I repeated. "What about three months from now, or six? Dammit, Yume's life is at stake here! I just want to protect her!"

"I know that. But killing Madigan right now would not help keep her safe. On the contrary, it might endanger Yumeko even more."

"How so?" Linna asked.

"Madigan likely has deep connections inside Genom. It's entirely possible there are contingency plans in place in the event of her untimely death."

"So¼you're saying she's like a catalyst?" I asked.

"Exactly. Things may seem dire right now, but if anything happens to Madigan, we could be setting off something ten times the magnitude. We're not prepared for something like that."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Nene asked, wide-eyed. "Just because Madigan isn't after US at the moment doesn't mean that she's not plotting some way to find Yumeko."

"She is not plotting anything," Sylia replied. "I've had Fargo give me regular updates on Genom's activities, and there is nothing going on that we should be suspicious about."

"Maybe we should let Yumeko know about this," Linna said. "So she can be on her guard."

"No," I said firmly. "She's not gonna know about any of this."

"Why not?" She looked surprised at how I was acting.

"Yume's in California for a reason, you know!"

"Priss is right," Sylia said. "Yumeko is in Sacramento to lead a normal life, not to be worried about anything going on over here. She needs her rest right now. And besides, after everything that has happened, I don't think she needs another reminder of why she's over there, especially after losing Michiko."

"She's probably beating herself up over Michiko's death as it is," I mumbled, gazing out the window at the Tokyo skyline. "Letting her know about this situation isn't gonna help her."

Nene sighed and stood up, grabbing her purse. "I'm beat. I'm gonna head home now if that's ok."

"That's fine," Sylia replied. She looked at Linna and me and said, "You two may go too if you want."

"All right," Linna said, standing up and stretching.

After I grabbed my jacket and put it on, I headed out the door and walked down the hallway towards the stairs. As I started to head down the stairs, Linna ran up next to me.

"Priss," she said as we walked down the stairs together, "I can't blame you for being upset about Sylia having you let Madigan go, but...she does have a point."

"I know," I sighed, scratching the side of my head wearily. "I just want Yume to be safe!"

"And I don't blame you for that."

"Damn, why does this have to be so complicated!" I grumbled. "Madigan really deserves her ass to be kicked at the least, but if she dies..."

"Sylia only said that it's possible there are contingency plans in place. It doesn't mean that there ARE any in place right now. But...knowing her, she won't want us to take any chances."

"What's so funny?" I inquired when Linna started to smirk.

"Are you SURE nothing's wrong?" she asked, still smirking. "You took down that 33B awfully fast. You can tell me if something happened today, you know."

"If you really wanna know...Nene and I ran into Tsubasa today."

"Tsubasa?"

"Masahiro's dad."

"Oh. What did he do?"

"The usual bullshit," I grumbled. "He started to hit on Nene, and I told him to leave us alone, but he didn't, so I taught him a little lesson."

"Would this 'lesson' involve a knee to the groin?" she asked, grinning. I nodded. "I still have the feeling there's something else going on."

"Tsubasa's a bastard that's been bugging me and Yume for a while. Nothing else to say," I said as we reached the parking garage. As I pulled on my helmet, I asked, "So what did you put on your vidletter to Yume? Just wondering."

Linna thought for a moment as she unlocked the door to her car. "Well, I asked her what life is like over in Sacramento, and I also told her that she should let her wounds heal completely before she starts training for the Olympic trials. I also said that she shouldn't worry about what the Knight Sabers are doing. I mentioned that we've been doing this since 2031, and we know what we're doing, and that we can take care of ourselves." She looked at me intently and said, "What now?"

"The trials...they're in May, right?"

"Yeah. In Osaka. Why?" Right after she said that, she went pale and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh God...she'll have to come back here for those!"

"Yeah," I said in a low voice, casting my eyes to the ground. "And she's already said she's going to use her real name and not the one Nene gave her."

"And I doubt she'd play for anyone else besides Team Japan..." she sighed. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of that until just now..."

"Hopefully all of this'll be over with by then." I climbed onto my motorcycle and started it up. "I'll make sure of it."

"We will," Linna said firmly. "Priss, we're not going to let anything happen to Yumeko. I promise that."

"I know nothing's gonna happen to her. So help me God, I'll die before she gets involved in this any more," I swore.

Linna's only response as I drove away was to nod solemnly.

All of us knew this would be a bitch to pull off, to make sure Genom or Madigan would cease to be a threat while ensuring Yume's safety. Damn, Sylia, I hope you know how you're gonna have us pull this off, I thought. I know you know Yume can't hide forever. And Madigan's not gonna be patient and just wait till May for her to show up, either. Who's gonna make the first move, her or us?