Bubblegum Crisis: Half Moon

by Purple Knight Saber

It is the year 2057. 19-year-old Yumeko Asagiri is back on track with her life, and things heat up when the Knight Sabers get hired to recover, or destroy, the OMS. But what does the girl Yumeko has taken in have to do with it?

7. Emi's trump card

"Twenty-five minutes until we get to Takaya Airfield."

Sylia's announcement came as the rest of us were conducting tests on our suits, to make sure everything was in working order. I opened and closed my wings several times, and checked my Knuckle Bomber to make sure it had enough charges. It did, but given the number of Boomers Sylia seemed sure we could face, 'enough' seemed like the wrong word to use. Sure, it had been upgraded several months ago so that it could hold eight charges instead of six, but that still seemed woefully inadequate, and unfortunately she couldn't up the number of discs I could carry either, so I still had ten to each arm. My Leg Bombers also now had eight charges to each leg, which, again, seemed inadequate, but at least I always had my laserswords. No limit on how many times I could use those, and oh, did I use them a lot. My pulse-strikers remained the same as well; Sylia didn't want to make the power pack any bigger, as it could have interfered with my fighting ability and drawn power away from my other weapons.

Guess I couldn't complain. She always did have a good reason for doing, or not doing, what she did, even if I didn't like it.

"You look calm enough," Emi observed, looking at her scanner every couple of seconds. "I'm a little nervous myself."

"Just gotta think of it as just another battle," I said casually, though I knew it wasn't going to be quite like that. I'd learned from experience that even if it was the usual 55C or 12Bs sent out, sheer number could be enough to overwhelm even the veterans of battle. "Picking up anything yet?"

"No, no combat models, at least. But my stomach just started hurting, so Sylia may be on to something."

"That thing only picks stuff up within two kilometers, right?"

"That's what she said."

"That's ok. If anything shows up on there, just do your thing."

Emi gave an embarrassed smile. "Uh, sure…"

Linna was examining her ribbons, but she lifted up her head and looked at me upon my remark. "Aren't you being a bit cavalier about this?" she remarked.

"Well, it's either that or bite my nails worrying, but it's kinda hard to do that when you're in a hardsuit," I said.

"You're just sounding an awful lot like you did in the very beginning. 'Oh, I can handle it, it's nothing.' Feeling invincible now that you got through that experience at the warehouse?"

"Hey, compared to that, this'll be a piece of cake."

"You only feel that way because you know things could have turned out MUCH worse than they did. But don't let that deceive you into thinking that this battle is gonna be any easier than usual."

"That's assuming there WILL be a battle. But hey, if there is, we'll take 'em down like we usually do."

"Linna just doesn't want you getting careless," Sylia cut in, pulling on her helmet. "I don't either. You do know the risks here."

"Of course I do. I'm just…" I tucked my helmet under my arm and sighed, flashing her a small smile. "I dunno how to put it. I'm just…looking forward to this, for some reason. Sorry if I'm seeming a little too optimistic."

"Optimism is fine, as long as you temper it with realism."

"I know, I know."

"She just wants to kick something's ass," Mom quipped with a snicker.

I couldn't explain it; words didn't seem adequate enough. I really was looking forward to this. Sure, it was a given that something was gonna go wrong and we'd have to fight Boomers, and I'd admit that I'd be disappointed if this turned out to be smooth sailing – nothing ever went right in this line of work, after all – and maybe I really was feeling a bit invincible thanks to my recent experiences. But maybe it wasn't invincibility; maybe it was confidence, confidence I could get through anything, any hellish experience. Nah…maybe I was getting too confident about my assumed confidence; it really HAD been a hellish two days that I would never want to go through again. An adrenaline rush from actually surviving it, perhaps? Maybe, but I certainly didn't recall feeling that way after I'd woken up in the hospital after the summit.

What was this feeling? I really did feel happy, excited. I didn't feel this way after the summit, and I didn't feel this way after any of the beatings I'd taken or getting shot in the shoulder or my standoff at the motel in the States. Granted, this latest thing had lasted a hell of a lot longer, so maybe it was just that much of a thrill when I finally was able to get away from it. I knew it was a huge thrill when I was able to walk without my brace for the first time, do my gymnastic workouts for the first time. Maybe that was it.

I may not have known what it was, but I sure as hell intended on applying it in the battlefield tonight. The damn Boomers wouldn't know what hit them. It was my intention to walk off into the sunset with Emi with the UN people and a pile of dead Boomers behind me. Sure, I was fatalistic at times, but the fact I had a friend's life at stake wanted me to make sure that this mission, if any, would turn out right. It just had to.

But no one ever said things always turned out the way you wanted them to.

"Fifteen minutes," Mackie called out. "Just about—oh shit!!"

The plane began to shake, giving a jerk when something outside apparently slammed into one of the wings. Emi grabbed onto her seat, while everyone else lost their footing and stumbled around. "Looks like our welcoming committee!" Mom quipped, pulling on her helmet.

"Status!" Sylia snapped.

"We've got Boomers firing on us from the ground!" Mackie yelled. "Moderate damage to the left wing!"

"Try to dodge them!"

The plane shook again, this time making me fall on my ass, my helmet knocked out from under my arm. "I'm trying!" he shouted, wincing when the plane shook again as it took another hit. "Damn! Damage to the right wing too!"

"I didn't think they'd be able to detect me," Emi said meekly. "And we're still a ways out from the airfield."

"There's no time to complain about that," Sylia said. "How bad is the damage to the right wing, Mackie?"

Nene looked out the window and replied before Mackie could. "Just caught fire!" she squeaked. "Looks like the vortex generator got taken out! We're not gonna be able to stay in the air!"

Sylia marched up to the cockpit. "You're going to need to find a place to set her down."

"We're still above the city! There's nowhere to put her down at, not in VTOL mode!" Mackie protested. "Unless you're suggesting…"

"Yes. The highway. It's the only spot we can do it without outright crashing."

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not. Do it."

I got to my feet and looked out one of the other windows. "You may wanna do it fast," I suggested. "Left wing just caught fire too."

Sylia nodded. "Take us down, Mackie. Go to STOL mode."

I grunted and snatched up my helmet, yanking it onto my head. It seemed strange that only the wings were damaged, but at the same time, it made sense; if Genom was hell-bent on getting Emi back, they'd have to leave the fuselage intact. No way she could survive if the plane did a nose-dive into the ground. But setting us down, on the highway even, seemed like it'd be a trap too, and Sylia looked like she knew it. Trying to go into VTOL mode would've made us sitting ducks, but at least STOL mode would keep us moving for a little bit longer.

"Approaching Highway 77!" Mackie announced.

"Good. Everyone, hang on. This could be a little bumpy," Sylia warned.

The aircraft started to lean to the right, thanks to the generator getting taken out, and Mackie was doing his damndest to keep it level, but everyone still had to hold on to something to keep from toppling over. As we dropped altitude, I could feel it start to rattle underneath my feet. This was definitely going to be a rough landing, and out the window I could see what looked like mouth cannon blasts fly past us, barely missing the vortex generator on the left wing. I grimaced and grabbed on to whatever I could.

"Hundred feet up!" Mackie shouted. "Eighty…fifty…hang on!!"

The craft landed on the highway with a thud, throwing Mom and Nene to the floor, while the rest of us let out a loud yell of surprise and held on for dear life. I could hear the whole cargo area groan with the impact of the landing, and next to me, Emi was groaning right along with it, eyes squeezed shut. It seemed like a long time before we rolled to a stop, although in reality it was probably only a few seconds. Still, we had no time to get our bearings before Sylia started barking orders.

"Everyone, get to your Motoslaves," she ordered.

"Emi," I said, turning to her, "what's showing up on that scanner?"

"Um…" She looked down at it. "Thirty 55C Boomers…"

"Damn. They're serious! Well, shut them down!"

"Trust me, I'm wishing for it!"

"We're going to Plan B, Yumeko," Sylia said, climbing onto her motorcycle, along with Mom and Linna.

"Okay, and what's that?" I asked nervously.

"We're going to stay here and fight the Boomers. While we keep them busy, you're going to continue down Highway 77 until you get to Takaya Airfield."

"WHAT?!"

"It's the only opportunity we've got. We're going out now, and once we've lured the Boomers away from the KnightWing, you will head west on 77 with Emi." The roar of the motorcycles filled the air as everyone, including Nene, started them up. "We'll keep them busy as long as we can, but if any come after you and Emi you may be on your own."

"Gee, thanks. Can't somebody come with me to provide cover fire or something?"

"Let them fight, Yumeko," Emi interjected. "They're gonna need everyone if they're gonna try to keep them at bay."

"She's right," Sylia said. "And you know what to do if you can't make it there."

"I know," I replied. "I'm not gonna let it come to that, though."

"Let's hope it doesn't. Mackie, open the ramp up."

"Roger!" he called out. At that moment, the ramp opened up and lowered, revealing a group of very pissed-off-looking Boomers in the distance. I stepped to the side, giving the others room to do their thing.

"All right," Sylia said. "Knight Sabers, go!!"

All four took off down the ramp on their motorcycles, promptly changing them into Motoslave form once they were on the street. The group of Boomers in the distance, meanwhile, was making good ground, and started firing their mouth cannons at the approaching Sabers. I grimaced; why weren't any of them shutting down? I ran my scanner; the group consisted of twenty 55C Boomers, ten less than what Emi had picked up on hers. So where the hell had the other ten gone to? I didn't like this at all.

"There!" Emi exclaimed, pointing. Twelve of the twenty promptly froze, having shut down mid-charge. That only left eight for my mom and friends to deal with.

"Why the hell didn't all of them shut down?" I demanded. "They're all 55Cs! They should've all shut down!"

"I don't know!" Emi said defensively, looking just as stunned as I felt. "They should be under OMS control too! Maybe…"

"Maybe what?!"

"Maybe Genom or Quincy figured out I can control it, so they programmed some to be independent of it…"

"Damn. That WOULD be our luck. But where's the other ten?"

I ran my scanner again, looking for Boomers that weren't part of the group on the highway. It didn't take me long to find them; I found them hiding in between buildings on either side of the highway as well as on the rooftops.

"They're waiting?"

"What're they waiting for?" Emi asked.

"Us," I muttered.

Ten Boomers…I could take them on by myself, with Monsoon's help. But I had Emi to look out for, and I knew if I turned my back or was distracted for a second, she'd be caught. If I left her in the KnightWing and went to take them on, at least she'd be safe in the KnightWing, but then again, the Boomers could've blown their way into it and taken her anyway, and Mackie, the only other person in the craft, would be helpless to do anything and would likely get killed. My other option was to head out on my bike with Emi, in the other direction, as fast as the thing could carry me. A third option was that since there were only eight Boomers for the others to fight, that they would get dispatched quickly and then they could take care of the ten that were hiding out. But no…that seemed too easy.

The eight on the highway were quickly killed off, like I'd imagined they would be, and the ten hiding Boomers proceeded to pounce on them like cats on mice. Fortunately, the Sabers weren't any ordinary mice, and they were able to defend against the Boomers' attacks. I even saw Mom pop out of the front of Typhoon III and get up close and personal with one of them, slamming her Knuckle Bomber into one's stomach before shooting several of her needles through its chest.

"Yumeko!" Sylia yelled over the comm. "Get going!"

"R-right!" I affirmed, climbing on my bike. "Emi, get on!"

She climbed on behind me, and I revved up the bike, tucking my lower lip in. This all seemed so wrong. This was going too perfect. But I didn't have any more time to question it. Sylia was right; this was my one shot to get Emi to the airfield, and I had to take it. I waited a few seconds, making sure the remaining Boomers were properly distracted by the others, then charged down the ramp. I did a 180-degree spin, making the tires squeal against the pavement, and sped past the ramp, under the left wing of the KnightWing, and down the highway, the sounds of battle quickly dying out behind me as I kicked up the speed to 150 kilometers an hour, the needle slowly ticking up.

"The airfield is another twenty kilometers away," I said. "We'll be there in no time." No more Boomers were coming up on my scanner, which made let out a sigh of relief.

"Will they be ok? Your friends?" Emi called out over the roar of the engine and the wind blowing against us.

"They did this for a long time before I came around. If anyone knows what they're doing, it's them," I said confidently.

We drove in silence for the next minute or so, Emi hanging on tight to my waist, not only due to the speed we were going at, but it also seemed like she didn't want to let go. After all, in a matter of minutes I'd have to hand her over to the UN officials, and neither of us knew what was going to happen after that. I wasn't supposed to worry about that, and I wouldn't have if it was just the OMS I was handing over. But this was my friend; Boomer she may have been, but she was still my friend, and someone who had saved my life.

"I'm glad I met you," I said. "Don't ever doubt that, ok?"

"I'm glad we met too," Emi replied. She took away one arm from around my waist to look at her scanner again. "Um…Yumeko?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure your friends killed them?"

"What're you talking about?"

"Well…"

She didn't need to finish. At that moment, my HUD bleeped in warning, and on the display came up a number of Boomers, all of them behind us. But it wasn't just ten. There were fifteen, all 55Cs, and a few seconds later, two more came up, types unknown.

"Where the hell did THEY come from?!" I yelled, veering the bike to the left when a blast from a mouth cannon hit the pavement and exploded just to the right of us.

"I don't know! They weren't there a second ago!!"

"Dammit!! It's an ambush!! Hang on!!"

I KNEW it was too easy!, I yelled in my head as I cranked up the speed to 200 kilometers an hour, which didn't add much distance between us and the group of Boomers, as they only picked up their flying speed as well. I had to do a hard right as another mouth cannon blast hit the guardrail, sending bits of metal and concrete flying in front of me, only to bounce off the hood of the motorcycle harmlessly.

"I need some cover fire here!!" I yelled over the comm. "I've got over a dozen Boomers on my ass!!"

"Hold on!!" Linna yelled back. "We've just about got these guys taken care of!"

"Hurry the hell up!!"

She yelped and sputtered, "Wait about two or three minutes!" before disconnecting.

"I don't think I've GOT two or three!!" I growled, hanging another hard left when one of the Boomers fired in front of me, creating a smoking pothole that I very narrowly avoided driving right into. "Emi! Now would be a REALLY good time to shut them down!!"

"I can't!" she hollered. "I have to look at them! That's the only reason the earlier ones did!"

"Damn, so the scanner's useless. Bloody hell. Well, turn and LOOK!"

I barely made out the sound of her whining above the noise of the Boomers' mouth cannon fire, now flanking both sides of me. Weaving around them would be impossible at this point; I just had to drive straight through and pray that I wouldn't soon have exploding pavement on three sides of me anytime soon. But of course, Emi had to stay intact, so I had to factor that in as a reason they were deliberately missing, although 'missing' was too generous of a word. In reality I was barely avoiding each attack, my motorcycle starting to get covered in dings from the flying concrete and debris. And all it would take was one sharp piece to pierce one of the tires for both of us to go down and get lost in a hail of cannon blasts.

"Any time now!"

"I have an idea!" she said, gripping me tight while I yelped when I had to do another hard right to avoid several explosions to my left, one large chunk of concrete bouncing off my head but fortunately not doing any damage besides leaving a dent in my helmet. My scanner still showed the seventeen Boomers behind us, but suddenly four of them faltered somewhat. They didn't shut down, however. Instead, they started firing on the other Boomers, two of them going down immediately. Several of the others began returning fire, sending one of our quasi-allies crashing to the highway.

"Thank God you thought of that!" I said, heaving a sigh. "I gotta find us some cover!"

The next exit we came upon, I took, driving down into a run-down neighborhood a short distance from the airfield. Whatever people were in the streets immediately screamed and took cover as Emi and I sped through, the remaining Boomers still hot on my tail.

"Too bad only four were OMS-controlled. They really had this planned," I grumbled. Of the seventeen Boomers chasing us, ten were now dead, including three of the four Emi had taken control of. Five were still on our tail, but wait…that still left two unaccounted for. I ran my scanner again; the five were all 55Cs, which meant the two unknown ones had headed elsewhere. Maybe the Sabers were catching up and they'd gone to distract them? No; another run of my scanner said they were still far enough away to not be a real threat yet. If I stopped right now, they'd be here in two minutes, but I couldn't afford to stop. Sure, I could take on five 55Cs, not easily, but I could do it if I needed to. But that would've left Emi wide open, and I couldn't do that. Even if there were only two I was fighting, one could still fight me while the other would make a move for her. I had to shake them somehow!

I bit my lip and did something I shouldn't have attempted at this speed, lest the tires get shredded, but I decelerated, hard, coming almost to a complete stop, tires squealing loudly but thankfully staying intact. The five Boomers, not expecting the move, all zoomed right past us but came to a stop not long after. The one that Emi still had in control took the opportunity to slam its fist into one of the others' chests, making orange fluids gush out as the other Boomer returned the favor, grabbing the other's skull in both hands and proceeding to crush it. While they were caught in their tangle, I turned my attention to the remaining three. Before they could make any moves, I opened up my pulse-strikers, sending them into convulsions. I took aim with my MDD and, closing them up at the same time, fired, sending two discs through the closest Boomer, making it drop dead as it took one to the head and one to the chest, slumping in a pool of its own orange blood. Revving up the accelerator again, I spun the motorcycle and took off in the opposite direction, the last two Boomers hot on my heels and REALLY pissed off.

"Crap crap crap!!" I screamed as they turned their full firing power on me, firing away as fast as they could with their mouth cannons, blasts flanking me like they'd done on the highway, one chunk of concrete actually hitting me square on, cracking my visor. I shook it off and braked hard, turning my bike so that it squealed and slid down the street sideways. I sped up again and headed down a narrow alleyway, hoping it might've been just narrow enough so that the Boomers couldn't follow me, but no such luck. They were just barely able to squeeze through.

I looked up and noticed some scaffolding, smirking to myself as I got another sense of déjà vu. It felt like I'd just pulled a trick similar to this, but here I was, about to try it again, albeit from below. I aimed straight up and fired three discs, sending them cutting into the scaffolding. It buckled, then came tumbling down just as Emi and I got to the end of the alleyway. Instead of the sound of mouth cannon blasts, the only sound behind us was that of the scaffolding collapsing, right on top of the two Boomers.

I gave a shake of my head. Had my helmet not been on, I would've wiped the sweat from my brow. "Whew!" I breathed. "You ok back there?"

"Yeah," Emi squeaked. "Where'd you learn to drive like that?"

"Driving school," I quipped.

"How far are we from the airfield?"

"Another six kilometers. We should be able to cover the rest of the distance in a few minutes."

"What about those two Boomers?"

"After my pulse-striker scrambling and the scaffolding coming down on them, I don't think they'll be a problem anymore."

"No, I mean the other two. The two weird ones that just vanished."

"They'll probably show up soon enough. And if they do, hopefully the other Sabers will be here to keep our asses covered."

"Sorry, but you're going to have to cover your own ass," a voice bellowed from above, followed by three distinct 'ping-ping-ping' noises that struck the ground in front of us. I brought the bike to a halt to take a look at what had been fired. In the street in front of me, three railgun needles stuck out from the asphalt. It had definitely sounded like a railgun, but those needles weren't from Mom's railgun; the needles were too long. And the voice certainly wasn't Mom's either. Me and Emi turned to look behind and above us, and on top of one of the shorter buildings was one of the unknown Boomers, arms crossed as it stood in an amused pose. It was grey in color, almost with a silver sheen, and aside from a cannon mounted on its right arm, I couldn't detect any other obvious weapons.

I aimed with my left arm and fired three discs at it, two hitting through the torso while the third glanced off its shoulder. It stumbled back for a moment, then regained its footing and activated its jets, coming down off the building right for us.

"Let's GO!!" I yelled, bike peeling out as I took off, mind racing. I'd never seen a Boomer with a railgun like that before, and admittedly, it had brought back memories of our Tower raid in the States last year. Madigan had had a railgun-style pistol, something I hadn't seen before or since. And now this Boomer, and probably the other one, had one too. Just great. I just prayed that they wouldn't start copying my discs anytime soon as well.

Dodging explosions along the highway had been hard enough; there were at least a half-dozen instances where I should've crashed or gotten burned to a crisp. But dodging railgun needles wasn't something I though I'd ever have to do, and it was proving to be much harder. Not only were they smaller, but they could still be just as lethal if they hit the right mark. I was able to dodge the first spray of them easily enough; five needles all hit to my left, and all I had to do was adjust my course slightly. However, the next grouping, four needles, all hit the street in front of me, lined up in a nice row. I had to make a slightly hard left to get out of the way of those.

The bastard's testing me!, I thought as the Boomer began spraying them all along the street in front of me and along both sides; I managed to avoid them, barely. They were spaced apart just enough that I was able to drive between them. It was trying to see if I'd panic and inadvertently drive into one of them! I wasn't about to fall for that. As I'd told Emi, I'd learned to drive from the best. But why test me out? I knew all it would have to do to end this thing and get Emi was to fire one right through my skull. But if my gut feeling about the bastard was right, it was that that move would have been far too easy. It probably would've wanted to drag this out, make it fun.

Emi yelped and gripped me tight. "One hit right behind me!!"

"It's playing with us!!" I said. "Don't worry, I'll play the son of a bitch's game." I opened up the comm. "Sylia, where the hell is everybody?!"

"We're on our way!" she assured me. "But we've just come across one of your pursuers."

The other grey one, I thought. "Careful, it's got a railgun like Mom's."

"We know. How are you faring?"

"This guy won't get off my ass!! How long are ya gonna be?"

"A few minutes."

I disconnected. That was what Linna had told me a few minutes ago, just a few more minutes. Damn it! I growled and turned, letting my right hand doing the steering while I took aim with my left arm. I fired two more discs at the Boomer, one glancing off of its hip, and the other taking out a small cannon it was about to fire from its left arm. I was about ready to cheer, but then the Boomer fired with its regular laser cannon, hitting something in front of us. I turned to look, and saw that the wires keeping the traffic lights suspended at the next intersection had been severed. They were gonna come down right on top of us. I swerved to the right to avoid the sparking wire, which I managed to do, barely, but then came another 'ping' noise, and then I felt something hit my arm.

I screamed as the sound of puncturing metal and flesh hit my ears, pain flooding the entire limb as I suddenly couldn't keep a good grip on the handle with my right hand anymore; the muscles refused to contract. "Shit!!" I spat, only to feel the motorcycle hit something and start shaking violently; I'd run over some of the needles the Boomer had shot into the street. It must've done that right after shooting me.

"Oh no!!" Emi cried, grabbing me tight.

"I'm gonna need…to drop the bike," I said through gritted teeth; this pain was unlike anything I'd felt before. It was surreal. "Hang on as tight as you can."

Having one flat tire on a motorcycle would have been bad enough; having both of them flat meant we were both in very big trouble. Luckily I was in my suit and Emi was a Boomer, or we'd both get killed trying to drop a bike with two flat tires. Still, I had a feeling this was going to really hurt, and I found out a lot sooner than I wanted to. Emi had just gotten a good grip on me when suddenly, the bike lurched, tossing us both off of it. We both screamed, and upon hitting the pavement, hard, Emi was torn away from me, and I continued to bounce down the street for what seemed like forever, hollering the whole way. I could find no way to stop myself from rolling and bouncing off the pavement; I could only wonder if this was what a tin can felt like when it was kicked.

Finally, a building stopped me, and I slammed into it full force, the wind forcefully expelled from my lungs as my back came into contact with the brick wall. I slumped to the ground, struggling for breath, trying to get my bearings. Where was Emi? Where was that lousy Boomer? All I was definitely aware of was how much my body hurt, and how much more badly this railgun needle was making my arm hurt. I managed to get up on my knees, grabbing my arm when it started throbbing again. I winced and tried to grab it, the front part of it sticking out the front of my arm. I had to pull it out.

"I'm impressed," the Boomer said as it walked up to me. I instantly brought up Auto Motoslave Mode on my HUD; hopefully Monsoon hadn't been damaged too badly to be able to revert. I knew I wasn't gonna be able to take this thing on, not in my current state.

"By what?" I wheezed, getting to my feet, my left shin throbbing as I did so, making that leg threaten to give out from under me. "That I can still stand after taking your cheap shots? No one ever said Boomers played fair."

"Maybe not." It slammed its fist into the brick wall, just inches to the left of my skull, making a hole in the wall. "I could turn you into a metal pincushion right now if I so wanted," it reminded me, pieces of brick falling at my feet. "And all that little 33D down there would be able to do is watch."

I snapped my head to the right. Several buildings down was Emi, just now getting to her feet, her hoodie jacket now mostly in shreds from rolling and bouncing down the street. "Don't touch her," I growled, turning my focus back to the Boomer. "Your battle is with me, not her."

"It's just a machine. Why should you give a damn whether I take it with me or not?"

"Because she's not just a machine to me." I popped out the lasersword on my left arm. "And I promised…that I…would protect her. Sorry. You're gonna have to make me into that pincushion if you want to take her with you."

"How very noble of you." It took aim with the cannon mounted on its right arm, the barrel starting to glow as it charged up. "But I'd prefer to see you melted against the wall."

I was about to charge with my lasersword, but before I could even begin to make the leap, a blast out of nowhere blew the cannon right off the Boomer's arm. It turned to see where the blast had come from, only to be met with the form of Monsoon slamming into its body, sending them both tumbling to the ground. I wasn't about to stick around to watch the action; I limped into the nearest alley, giving weak tugs on the needle, trying to get it dislodged from my arm, but it seemed like it was stuck. I couldn't get it to give at all.

I heard the sound of running outside the alley, and a moment later, Emi appeared, her forehead and left cheek covered in road rash, and a piece of flesh hanging off her right cheek. She pressed it back into place, and a few seconds later I could see something under the flesh moving. She was refusing with it, her own skin.

"Oh no," she moaned, coming up to me. "Look at you."

"Yeah, I know I look like a human piñata," I groaned. "Don't worry. It looks worse than it feels…though I admit, I feel like hell." Not to mention I was sure I would need to sit in a tub of ice in the morning. My whole body felt like one gigantic bruise.

"Can you get the needle out?"

"I think it's lodged in the bone." I gave another pull, and yelled out when a new shockwave of pain shot through my arm and up into my shoulder. I fell against the wall, panting, sweat trickling down my face. "Can you…give me a hand?"

She nodded and grabbed hold of the needle. Pressing one foot against the wall, she started tugging, me immediately letting out a shout of pain. She gave me a worried look, then tugged again, eliciting another yell from me. It felt like she was going to rip my arm off! She bit her lip and gave me a nod, letting me know this one would probably be it. I just returned the nod and tried to relax, but ultimately, feeling the needle rip through my flesh again as Emi pulled it free from my arm was anything but.

"AAAHHH!!" I saw stars as my head slammed back into the wall in shock, letting out a moan as I slid down onto my ass, grabbing the wound. "God dammit!! Ow!!"

"Can you move that arm?" she asked, bending down.

I flexed my elbow, making my upper arm protest the movement heavily, as blood began seeping from both holes left in the suit. "Y-yeah," I said, wincing. I actually was feeling a bit lightheaded. This pain was definitely unreal, unlike anything I'd felt in three years of fighting Boomers. "Barely. What about you?"

"I'm ok," she said. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

Why was she asking questions at a time like this? "This? You mean protecting you? Because I said I would."

"You're not going to be able to keep this up. Even if that Boomer just outside this alley gets defeated, there will only be more waves of them. A third wave will come, then a fourth, whatever it takes to get me. You and your friends will eventually get worn down, and already you can't really fight anymore."

"I've gotten through worse. Don't talk like we're already beaten! I'll get you to Takaya Airfield, ok?! So don't talk like that!!"

"We're still five kilometers or so away. We're not going to make it."

"I'll fly you there on my back if I have to. My wings still work."

"We need to be realistic here. Sylia told you that if you can't complete the transfer, that you need to shoot me. At this rate…"

I growled and flipped up my visor. "Look at me, Emi!! Look at me! I told you, I won't let it come to that! It won't!! I meant it from the bottom of my heart! We've gone through too much together for me to just give up on you!"

"You won't be giving up…" She looked down at the spheres attached to my hips. "What are those?" she asked, which sent a chill down my spine.

"B-bombs," I said. "Bert…gave them to me. Why? You're not thinking of asking me to use one on you, are you?"

"If it comes down to it…shooting me isn't going to be enough. You're going to want to leave no trace of the OMS for Genom to find."

I was horrified at what she was suggesting. Blow her up?! She was insane! She knew I'd never do that! I grabbed her by the shoulders, ignoring the pain that once again flared up in my arm as a result. "We'll find a way, ok?!" I snapped, feeling the tears building up in my eyes. There was no way I was going to let her die, not if there was another way to complete this mission. There HAD to be another way! "The others will be here in just a little bit! They'll…they'll help us! You have to believe in them!"

"More Boomers will just come."

"And we'll handle them! But please…don't give up! I'm not giving up yet, not now! We're too close!" I staggered to my feet, renewing the sharp pain in my shin as I put weight on it again. It didn't feel like it was broken, but it still hurt like hell. "Let's just get as far away from Monsoon and that Boomer as we can. Let them duke it out…while we make our way to the airfield."

Emi shook her head and pushed herself to her feet, flashing me a smile. "I always figured you to be the fatalistic type," she remarked.

"I usually am. Since when did we switch roles?"

"When I became the target instead of you." We both jumped when explosions hit in the street just outside the alley, Monsoon charging through the flames. It went by almost too quick for me to catch it, but I thought I could see it was missing an arm. And still, it was going at it. "Your friend Monsoon isn't going to last much longer, it looks like."

I grunted and detached the bomb that was attached to my left hip. "Looks like I'll lose this Monsoon to an explosion too. Déjà vu all over again."

"What're you doing?"

"Borrowing your idea."

I shuffled over to the end of the alleyway and pushed my visor back down, clenching the bomb in my hand, watching as Monsoon and the Boomer did their dance in the middle of the flaming street, the Boomer pinning Monsoon down with gunfire, while Monsoon responded with several large blasts from its arm cannon, putting holes in the Boomer's chest. The Boomer, however, just seemed to shake them off, and I could see them start to close up.

Damn, it can heal itself. I'll just have to make this count then, I thought, sliding back slightly. Bert said it would turn the inside of the D.D. into slag inside of a minute. If I take him at his word, this one should be enough to blow the sucker apart. I don't know for sure, but I'll just have to find out!

I swallowed hard and tracked the duo's movements as they took their battle up and down the street, each of them practically taking turns going on the offensive. One moment it was my one-armed Monsoon on the move, and then it would get pinned back with fire and the Boomer would be the one on the attack. They never stood still for more than a few seconds. I cursed; that would make it hard to throw the bomb at a particular spot, since I wouldn't know if they'd be there when it would go off. I just had to hope that someone would take a nasty injury and the other would stay to finish it off. As much as I didn't want that injured party to be Monsoon, somehow I just had the feeling it would be.

"Dammit, keep the bastard still," I growled.

The Boomer and Monsoon both stood back, then made a simultaneous charge against each other, locking each other's arms together. Monsoon may have only had one arm left, but it was just like me in the regard that it would just not give up. It puts its remaining arm to good use and gave a pull, using its thrusters – damaged from when I'd run over the needles in the street earlier – to provide some aid. The Boomer thrust a fist into Monsoon's torso, crunching metal reaching my ears as fluids began gushing out of the newly-formed hole. That hardly deterred Monsoon; the move only seemed to give it more resolve, as it gave one more tug, and with a howl, the Boomer suddenly stumbled back, missing its left arm, orange fluids gushing from the stump.

"Damn you," it growled, opening up its shoulders to reveal to me what looked like laser cannons. The Boomer fired them both, sending two green-colored lasers plowing right through Monsoon's torso, sending it stumbling back, unable to defend itself. The holes exploded, and Monsoon fell onto its back onto the street, now missing its other arm, utterly crippled.

I cursed to myself again; Monsoon was my Motoslave, after all. How dare this son-of-a-bitch Boomer try to take it apart! Unfortunately, I was going to have to sacrifice it, as this was my chance. I saw the Boomer walk up to it, standing over it as it prepared to deliver the final blow to Monsoon. With my thumb, I pressed in the middle of the sphere until I heard a click, then acted like it was a bowling ball and threw it underhand, letting it roll into the street in the direction of the Boomer, seething and grabbing my arm after I did so; even that small movement made me see red with the pain.

"Hope you don't mind doing this for me again," I quipped, managing a small chuckle. I turned to Emi. "C'mon!"

Emi at my side, I hobbled in the other direction out of the alleyway, not bothering to keep count of how long it had been or how long we might have before the bomb would go off; 'inside of a minute' was quite a bit of a range of time, now that I thought about it, and as much as I wanted to see the fireworks, I didn't think it necessary to have front-row seats, as it were. But still, given that I'd had these bombs for almost a year, part of me cryptically hoped that they didn't have an expiration date.

We managed to get out of the alley in short order, but just to be on the safe side, I had us both cross the street we came upon as well; I had no idea how big this blast was going to be, but if I knew Bert, who was a show-off if there ever was one, this would be a big one for sure. Once we were across the street, we both ducked down behind a parked car, and no sooner had Emi gotten down on her knees than I was proven right.

The boom was so loud that one would've thought the bomb was on this street instead of the next one over, and the ground shook ever so slightly, making the windows of the car we were behind rattle. I stood up quickly, gasping at the sight of a thick pillar of smoke, tinged red by the setting sun, rising from behind the buildings we'd just fled from and high into the sky. Tiny pieces of debris began falling on us like rain, but after a few seconds it lessened.

Emi dusted herself off as she got to her feet and took a look. "Wow," she remarked. "Look at that."

"Yeah." I rubbed my arm. "Aw, man, Sylia's gonna kill me for losing Monsoon again." I let out a small laugh. It was true this was the second Monsoon I'd gone through, but based on the stories I'd heard about Mom back in the Sabers' glory days, she went through a lot more Motoslaves than I did. Me having lost only two practically made me look like the responsible one!

"You know what? I don't think she'll mind."

"Don't tell me you were gonna finish that with 'as long as you're ok.'"

"Actually, I was. How did you know?"

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "I just did."

She smiled. "I guess we can go ahead and get to the airfield now. They're probably still waiting."

"After all the hell we went through to get this far, they better be! I don't know about you, but I don't like getting beat up for nothing!"

I opened up my wings, and after running a few quick tests to make sure they were still in working order, I beckoned Emi to climb onto my back so we could get going. Even in a hardsuit, five kilometers was still a ways away, and I couldn't very well use my jumpjets without frying Emi to a crisp. Flying, the old-fashioned way, seemed to be the quickest and best bet.

"Are you ok to fly?" she asked as she was about to climb on, nodding at the condition of my suit apart from my wings. It was covered in dings, dents, little scorch marks from the explosions we'd dodged…but still, nothing that compromised the workings of my suit. Cosmetic damage, as far as I was concerned, though it still hurt to go bouncing down the street at over a hundred kilometers an hour. That was something I never wanted to feel again.

"Don't you worry about me," I assured her. "I can handle…"

I trailed off as another warning signal bleeped in my helmet. Another Boomer? No way, I had just… I looked up just in time to see a laser blast coming our way, and jumped on top of Emi as we both leaped to the sidewalk to avoid it. It hit the pavement and exploded just feet from us.

"It was a nice try!" a voice laughed. "Very clever. But the only thing you took out was your friend."

I growled and got to my feet, the source of the voice just above me. I looked up, and on a nearby roof was the grey Boomer, scorch marks on its chest and still with only one arm, but otherwise looking no worse for wear.

It leapt down from the roof onto the sidewalk. "You didn't think I noticed you hiding the whole time?" it chided, striding in my direction. I took a step back, only to flinch as the leg threatened to buckle again. "Just waiting to make a move? Oh, it was clever, I grant you that. I almost didn't see the little thing in time. But unfortunately for you, you'll have to get a little luckier than that to take me out, little girl. A lot…LOT luckier."

"And it's just YOUR luck that you're not taking on any ordinary little girl!" I declared, getting into a fighting stance. "Everyone knows not to mess with the purple Saber!"

"Heh. I must have missed that memo."

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to forward it to you right now."

"So do it, child."

Though Monsoon taking off the Boomer's left arm left it with no railgun, no needles didn't necessarily equal no problem, but it was about as big an advantage as I was going to get. The Boomer opened up its chest to reveal a heat cannon, and right as it fired, I rolled to the right, getting up on one knee to fire two discs, one cutting just below its remaining arm, and the other plowing into its stomach, orange fluids gushing out the back as the disc came out the other side. The Boomer closed up the heat cannon and charged at it, lunging with its remaining arm. I jumped back and popped out both laserswords, readying them before charging myself. I plunged one into the right side of its chest and pulled it out, more fluids gushing from that wound as I brought down the other one onto its head, splitting its skull.

"Not so fast," it warned, grabbing that arm with its one arm, squeezing tight. I grunted and tried to pull away, withdrawing the sword, but its grip was too strong. I got the one on my left arm ready, so I could cut off its hand and get free, but before I could do anything it growled and tossed me aside, sending me skidding across the street, the sidewalk halting my skid as I slid into it.

"Emi, RUN!!" I screamed as I rolled to the side just in time to avoid the Boomer's fist coming down. I heard it slam into the asphalt right where I had just been, the crunching noise almost deafening to my ears. I turned my head to my right again and saw it lunging at me, enraged. I drew a fist back and right when it was in my face, I slammed it into the Boomer's own face, setting off my Knuckle Bomber. I drew the arm back quickly, as another flash of pain in my upper arm made itself known, and got to my feet, watching as the wound on its skull I'd inflicted with my sword gradually closed up.

Damn it! How am I gonna use that other bomb?!, I wondered as the Boomer got up and attacked again, its face already on the mend. I backpedaled several steps, to trick it into thinking I was going to run away, and for a brief moment I thought it was going to work, but it kept on the charge, and I went on the attack again as well. Again, waiting until it was just close enough, I did an aerial flip, slamming one of my Leg Bombers into its chin. Upon landing on the ground again, I twisted my body and did a spin on the ground, slamming it again into one of its ankles, making it lose its balance, if only for a second.

Another backward flip and I was on my feet again, both swords again at the ready. I charged again, but the Boomer, looking like it was taken off guard by my last attack, suddenly recovered, and swatted me down hard, making me let out a yell as I slammed into the ground. It reached down and picked me up by my neck, making sure to squeeze just hard enough, I noticed, to make me need to gasp for air.

"Cocky little bitch, are we?" it inquired, though it wasn't really in the form of a question. "You'll need more than fancy moves to outwit me."

"Well, you know what they say…" I said, "the bigger they are…"

Both my swords were still out, so I went to cut off the bastard's arm again, if only to get some breathing room, literally, but the Boomer saw that coming a mile away; it was an obvious move, and one I should've known better than to make right off the bat. The moment my sword came up, it tightened its grip around my neck, then spun and threw me, right across the street, into the front of a shoe store, my back slamming hard into the brick wall, knocking the wind out of me. I struggled to get to my feet, but the farthest up I got was to my hands and knees before the Boomer came charging again, letting out a holler as it rammed its knee into my side and subsequently punched me right through the wall, throwing me back into several rows of shelving, bricks, miscellaneous footwear, and other debris scattered around me.

I let out several coughs and grabbed my side, rolling from my back onto my other side, groaning as pain throbbed throughout my body. Coughing again, I pushed myself up to my knees. I took a look at my arm; it was still bleeding, the blood now running down the length of my arm and onto my Knuckle Bomber. I made a fist with the hand on that arm and looked up, seeing the Boomer just standing there, looking at me. I made a low growl; now I was REALLY in a bad mood.

"Son of a…bitch…" I groaned, struggling to get to my feet, but my legs refused to do much of anything. They were like jelly underneath me.

The Boomer still just stood there, but rather than make some smartass remark in reply, like I'd expected it to, it opened up its mouth to fire its mouth cannon. The blast connected at the entrance to the store, and then, a split-second later, it exploded, sending me screaming as I was thrown to the back of the store, the shelving and everything else joining me along the back wall, half-burying me.

"That takes care of you," it said. "Now for the other one…"

"No…" I groaned, pushing myself up on my arms, both those and my shoulders heavily protesting the movement. My arms trembled, threatening to give out. I blinked, shaking off the double vision that started to tread in on my sight. No, I wasn't going to go down like this. I had to defeat this thing! "Bastard…stay away…"

My right arm, still bleeding, started to give, but I forced it to stay up. Having put up with two days of pain, I couldn't let something like this stop me. I had to help out Emi. She certainly couldn't face that Boomer by herself. She was lethal in her own right, but by no means was she a Combat Boomer. She stood about as good a chance as any regular person did. I tried to turn myself onto my back, but my legs were pinned down by the shelves that had been blown back and collapsed on top of me. So much for pushing them off. I reached for a nearby one, grabbing ahold of it, first with my right hand, then my left once I got something of a good grip on it.

"Come on, come on…" I gave a tug, and I could feel the weight shift on my legs, but they were still definitely pinned. Gritting my teeth, I tried again, and this time the shelf I was grabbing onto shifted, making a squeaking noise against the tile floor as I ended up pulling it more towards me. I reached for the far edge of the shelf, grabbing with both hands, the top half of my torso now more or less on the shelf, and gave it one more shot, grunting with the effort. Even with the power the suit provided, getting myself free from some lousy shelving was definitely no easy task.

I stopped and panted, flexing my right hand. I could barely move that arm now, and the pain was starting to make me feel lightheaded again. Who would've thought a needle could hurt so damn much?! Of course, getting a shot was different from having it shot through your arm and bone, but…I still had no idea it'd be this bad.

C'mon, just a little more, just one more… I grabbed hold of the shelf again and pulled, grunting as I put my full strength into my arms and shoulders, making them strain with the effort. But finally, I could feel my legs budge somewhat, and with one last holler, I flipped over the shelf and landed on my back, now dislodged. I winced and bent my legs several times, then rolled over and stumbled to my feet, knees shaking; if they weren't sore before, they were definitely beaten and bruised now. Each small step I took towards the front of the door, I winced, holding my arm as it began throbbing anew. My body just didn't want to do anything anymore.

Not much longer…a few more minutes, I kill that Boomer, get Emi to the UN, and then…then I strangle the UN people.

I crawled over the last pile of debris, then stumbled out of what was left of the door to the shoe store, falling to my hands and knees as my body gave out. I pushed myself back to my feet, swaying, head swimming as double vision threatened to impede on me again. Had to think about Emi; had to keep fighting, no matter what. I looked around, but the streets were empty, at least as far as Boomers went. I knew it couldn't have gone far, unless it already had Emi. I swallowed hard at the thought. If it did have her, the son of a bitch wasn't going to get much farther with her. Pain be damned, I'd tear the thing apart if I had to.

My HUD beeped, and I turned to the left, just in time to see my copper-haired friend running out from a nearby alley, sans her jacket, screaming. The Boomer emerged a second later, tearing said jacket off of its head as it marched towards her. I popped out one of my laserswords and went towards it.

"I'll kill you!" I yelled. "Get your ass over here and fight ME!"

The Boomer turned to me and growled. "Little pest," it said, and it swinging its one arm at me was the last thing I saw, besides stars, before I was swatted to the ground like a fly being hit with a swatter. Dazed for a moment, I sat myself up, holding my head, groaning. This was definitely getting annoying. I had to make sure the damn thing knew its place, that place being impaled on my sword. But just as I started to get to my feet, the Boomer reached out and grabbed Emi by her right arm.

"STOP!!" I yelled, falling to my hands and knees again when I tried to get up.

"Let go!!" Emi yelled, yelping as the Boomer pulled her close, pinning her torso and right arm against its own torso with its arm. Kicking her legs wildly, she pounded on its arm with her free arm, which didn't do much of anything as it only held her tighter.

I staggered to my feet again. This was enough. "Son of a bitch!" I screamed, firing two discs at it, severing its arm just below the shoulder. But strangely enough, the arm didn't fall to the ground or release Emi like I'd expected. It stayed in position. I frowned and ran my scanner; why the hell wasn't it acting like it was supposed to? A moment later, I got my answer; the Boomer's mass was shifting somewhat, not so much that it made a visible difference, but…what did it mean?

I took another look, and gasped in horror; I saw numerous small tendrils snaking out of the Boomer's torso, leeching on to its own arm and onto Emi's body hungrily. Emi screamed as they latched onto her right arm, then onto her head and shoulders, kicking even more wildly than she had been before.

"It's fusing!" I gasped.

"Stay back!" Emi yelled.

"Don't let it fuse!! Block it! Do something!"

She shook her head. "I can't!" she cried. "It's too much. I can't stop it."

I let out a yell and fired another disc, this time at the Boomer's knee. It cut into the joint, making it spew out orange fluids as it dropped to one knee, but the action made Emi yell out in pain. It had already fused with her well enough to make her feel its pain. Which also meant…

"Oh shit," I breathed. "The OMS. Emi…"

She nodded helplessly. "I know. If it continues to fuse with me, it'll…be able to access the OMS. I can block access right now, but I can't hold it for long." She looked at me with new determination. "It can't attack while it's fusing with me. Why do you think it's not moving?"

I grunted and grabbed my arm. "I'll get you free…I will…" I took several steps towards her, but by now my legs felt like two sticks of butter. Just standing up, they were barely holding me up. With me walking, they were just begging for mercy.

"RavenKnight?"

"Huh?" I blinked; what did she just call me? She hadn't just…

"What is your mission?" she asked.

"My mission?"

"Yes. What is it?"

I blinked back tears. It couldn't come to this. It couldn't. "To recover the OMS and take it to the UN…or destroy it if there is no other option. By any means necessary." I stopped in my tracks and shook my head. "Emi…"

"If this Boomer manages to completely fuse with me, it will have access to the OMS, and you and your friends will be finished. It'll be all over." Tears began running down her cheeks. "I don't want that to happen. Please…"

"But WHY?!" I didn't understand; why was the damn Boomer fusing with her?! I'd thought it was supposed to take her back to Genom, not try to get access to the OMS itself! Was it a mistake in its programming, giving it too much free will so that it itself would want the ultimate power? Or did Quincy really just not give a damn anymore? I didn't get it!

"Please," she begged, but in a strong voice. "I'd rather you live for yourself and your friends…than die for a Boomer like me."

"But you're not just a Boomer! You're my friend!"

She grimaced and struggled some more, but it was useless; the tendrils were stretching further onto her shoulders and her pinned arm. "I really appreciate what you've done," she said, "but I want to help you complete your mission. Give me your other bomb. I don't want to leave anything left, for Genom or ASI or anyone else to find. I want it to end here. No more of this. I don't want to see any more needless, mindless suffering! I'm going to end it here!"

"I can't," I moaned. "I'm not going to martyr you…"

"An unintended martyr, perhaps I am. I just want my death to be worth something. I'm sure everyone does. I want to make it count for something." She reached out with her free hand. "Please…give me the other bomb."

I looked down at the remaining bomb, attached to my right hip, still intact through this whole ordeal. I detached it and held it up for her to see. "Once I press the middle…" I said, "I can't undo it. It'll detonate in less than a minute. Are you sure this is what you want?"

She grimaced and struggled some more, groaning. "Y…yes," she said, looking like she was in great pain. "It won't be much longer until it'll have control. Let me have it."

I dusted off the bomb, biting my lip as I did so, tasting the tears that had broken free and streaked my cheeks. I didn't want to believe she was asking me to do this. It had always been a possibility that I'd have to kill her if I couldn't turn her over, but I kept telling myself it wouldn't come to that. I'd sworn it wouldn't. And despite my best efforts…this is what was happening, what was going to happen. Through the time I had known her, even when she was briefly my enemy, she had never lied to me. If there was another way to get her out of this, I knew she would have told me.

I pressed in the middle. When it clicked, I hurled it towards Emi, and with her free arm, she reached out and caught it, hugging it close. I could see tendrils of her own start to form on her free arm, snaking onto the bomb. She was certain about this.

"I'm sorry," I choked. "I hope you forgive me for this."

"I have nothing to forgive you for. We only knew each other for a little while, but for that little while, I had my big sister."

I chuckled and nodded, new tears running down my cheeks. "Y-yeah…"

"I had fun being with you. I hope you feel likewise."

"I do…I do."

"Tell your friends I thank them for their friendship and camaraderie in this too. I know I won't be around to watch after you anymore, but you'll be okay. You're a strong person, RavenKnight. You're the strongest person I know. I feel privileged to have been your friend."

"I'm…proud to have been your friend as well."

She gave me a smile, the kind smile I had seen so many times before. "You'll be okay. I know you'll be just fine." She looked down at the bomb, then back up at me, still smiling somehow, despite the moment. "You better stand clear."

I nodded and took a step back, opening up my wings. I wished there was something else I could say, but she was right; the bomb was due to go off any second, and the time for any sort of casual conversation had passed.

"…Goodbye, Emi."

"Goodbye, Yumeko."

I took off into the air, taking one last look down at the sight below, the Boomer and Emi, tangled together in a fatal dance. I sped off, landing on the rooftop of a building a block down from where the battle had been, legs shaking, my whole body quaking. I hugged myself, feeling my tears soak into the padding around my jaw. I didn't want to believe it. I'd just handed my friend a death sentence. I turned around, thinking about going back, finding SOME sort of way to get that Boomer off of her, but it was too late.

At that moment, an explosion rocked the air, sending a large pillar of smoke into the sky, dominating the nearby landscape. I frantically ran my scanner, hoping that somehow, just maybe, that maybe she had unfused from it and tossed it away or something. But…

My scanner turned up nothing. No Boomers of any sort.

"Emi, no…" I staggered backwards, then forwards, dropping to my knees. "No. Emi, I'm sorry. Emi, please don't…no…" I pounded the ground, screaming. "NO! EMIII!! EMI!!"

I started bawling right then and there. She was gone, really gone. A Boomer, a friend, willing to give her life so that a girl she barely knew but had come to love could keep on living. Just like Michiko, she had given her life for me. Why? For this? This was nothing. This wasn't anything worth dying for. The OMS, screw that! I would've given my own life to keep hers going, and she knew it. Everyone knew it. There had to have been some other option, some other way to keep her alive! There had to have been! But now she…

"Yumeko," a gentle voice said, a hand falling on my shoulder. I spun around, fists ready, only to stop when I saw a green hardsuit bent down, looking down at me.

"L-Linna?"

"Is Emi…?"

I nodded and sniffled. "She's gone. I…blew her up. There was nothing…I could've done. The Boomer fused with her, and she said…it'd control the OMS if it completely fused, and…she told me to…to use one of the bombs…" I slammed my fist into the ground again. "Damn it!! Why?! I should've done something else, anything else!! SOMETHING!"

She hugged me. "I'm sorry, Yumeko. I'm so sorry."

"I know she never lied to me before! She said there was no other way! But there must've been! If you and Sylia and Mom and Nene…if you'd all been there to help me, we could've found a way! There HAD to have been another way!! Linna, TELL me there was another way!"

"I can't," she sighed.

I sniffled and just shook my head, taking a look at the sky again. The pillar of smoke was still there, curling around and around as it rose higher into the sky; and to the west, after a helicopter passed overhead, I noted that the sun had just disappeared behind the horizon, the clouds where the sun had just been being the same color as the hair of my friend.

I had known her for exactly eight days. Just eight days ago, she was a girl I had found in an alley while I was on my way to find dinner. Today, she had become a hero.