Twisted Path 3: Chap 9+10 [BGC][FanFic]

[Twister]

Hiya! :) Hopefully the evil forces of Malkon don't get this post like
they did the first post of Chap 7+8. Weird.
Oh, well. Here are the next 2 chap. and thanks all who have e-mailed me
and said they enjoyed my stories. :)
E-mail always welcome. Heh. B>
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Chapter Nine
------------

In a dark place, hidden deep under Mega-Tokyo, three forms suddenly
began to stir as power returned to the darkened room in which they lay.
The room was large and contained cutting edge and revolutionary equipment
in front of and within it's walls. The owner of the room had been very
careful about it's secrecy and the location of this place could never
be divulged from those who had constructed it.
They had not left alive.
All eyes opened simultaneously on those now awakened and they
quickly sat up from their horizontal positions on the metal platforms upon which
they lay. A screen lit up in their field of vision and three pairs of
eyes regarded the message that flashed there.

------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME DELAY ACTIVATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED.

CAUSE FOR ACTIVATION: SIGNAL TERMINATED DUE TO DESTRUCTION OF
MASTER UNIT.

ACTION RECOMMENDED: CREATE NEW UNIT IMMEDIATELY WITH COMPLETE
MEMORY ENGRAM.
MEMORY RECORDING OF MASTER UNIT UP TO
TERMINATION READY IN MEMORY STORAGE AND
PREPARED FOR NEW UNIT TO REVIEW.

ORDERS: AWAKEN THE TRUE LEADER OF BOOMERKIND.
AWAKEN...LARGO.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Seeing this, the three clones of Largo got off their metal beds
and scanned the room. Despite appearances they were similar to Largo only in
that they possessed the knowledge and experience he had. Their structure
made them stronger than an ordinary 55-C class Boomer but far from
Largo's level. As well, the clones had not been fully engrammed with
Brian J. Mason's thought patterns. Each had only been capable of receiving
portions of Mason's full personality, so as to not become a threat. Largo
had preferred them this way, only Boomers with parts of his mind were
worthy enough to protect his future existence. They had been
programmed to obey his wishes without question and, in the _very_
unlikely case of his demise, his successor. Unfortunately for Largo, he
had changed his thinking and began to think of himself as invincible and
decided the clones unnecessary. He never finished the vital part of
his future resurrection.
And so left them, forgotten. This his clones did not know.
"So Largo has been defeated," muttered Clone One.
"Unbelievable," Clone Two remarked. Each clone's personality was
different from the other as a result of the different portions of Mason's
mind they received.
"It must be so for us to have awakened now. Now we must prepare to
awaken our creator again," Clone Three commanded. "His new body will be even
_more_ perfec..." He stopped as he saw that the fourth metal bed was empty.
The other two followed their companion's gaze.
This was the vital part Largo never completed.
"There's nothing here!" cried out a dismayed Clone Two. "But we _must_
awaken him immediately!"
The programming within each of them demanded this and failure to
comply with their directives would cause all three to shut down. Largo had
planned for his clones to use a duplicate body of himself to place the
original engram of Mason into and then feed in his memories up to his
destruction in order to be reborn. Since there was no body, his clones now
faced a dilemma.
"Can one of us be the new body?" queried Clone One.
After quickly checking with the room's computer, Clone Three shook his
head. "Not possible. Our construction was not intended for full memory engram
impression."
Feeling the conflict starting within him, Clone Two looked around
desperately. "There has to be _something_ we can do! Isn't there anything here
that _can_ store a full memory engram?"
"I don't see how..." Clone One spotted something on one wall that
caught his attention. Walking up to it, he read the label and smiled.
The other two watched as he pressed a sequence of buttons on a panel and a
rectangle came out of the wall, mist swirling about it.
Clone Three walked up to the clearing, transparent covering and looked
at what lay inside the box. After raising an eyebrow, he slowly nodded to
the others' relief.
"Yes. I believe this have will do..."

A few days later....

Nene was wondering at her dining companion's reactions as she
ate what was in front of her with half a mind.
Darlene had invited Nene to have dinner with her, Sylvie, and
Anri. While they all ate, the others were being unusually quiet and
somewhat distracted. Darlene especially for some reason.
*This isn't like them at all...* Nene mused to herself. *It must have
something to do with Darlene's past since that's what she said she was going
to tell me tonight.* Nene ate some more of the delicious meal as she thought
on. *She must have told Sylvie and Anri since _they_ seem awfully quiet too.
What could it be to worry _them_? I hope it's not bad.*
With a sigh, Darlene stood up from her almost finished meal and walked
over to where Nene sat.
"I think I'd better do this in a place where you will believe me."
Glancing at her two employees, she smiled. "I'm sure you two can keep
yourselves busy. Thank goodness you two found a new place to live in, you
_are_ a little loud." While Sylvie and Anri blushed, Nene too when she
realized what Darlene meant, Darlene motioned a confused Nene to stand
up. When she did, Nene was startled by a mysterious darkness that
surrounded Darlene before disappearing to reveal something _truly_ shocking.
Nene's jaw dropped at what she saw.
Standing close beside her, the Crystal Knight waved a hand and both
he and Nene vanished from the apartment. They reappeared somewhere Nene
had never been before: Twister's underground lair.
The darkness returned and left again, leaving Darlene behind this time,
who regarded Nene carefully. She seemed rather lacking in words for the moment
and just stood immobile, slowly looking around herself.
*Hm. Maybe just a tad too much to take in at once,* Darlene mused.
*Oh, well. Better get what I need to show Nene my other side.*
As she left to get some hot water from the kitchen she had long
ago made for convenience, Darlene reflected upon the decor of her
underground home and decided Nene's shock was understandable. She had
practiced both minor enchantments and TK when she had spare time
available to decorate the place. The results were a little mind-boggling
as walls had been etched with TK's incredible detail and colored a bit with
various metals, crystals, and magic. Scenes of knights fighting dragons
were placed beside ones of the Knight Sabers fighting Boomers; a somewhat
amusing sight for Darlene whenever she looked at this. Furniture had
mixtures of mind and magic elements in their creation as well. For
example, a padded chair would conform itself to the seated form and
would massage the body to relax that person.
Walking back and seeing Nene still staring around at everything,
Darlene gently guided her into one of the massaging chairs which
immediately started up, relaxing the stiff Nene. She slowly came
out of her shock as Darlene watched her silently.
Nene looked up at her friend's face. "Wha...wha...what did you _do_
Darlene?!" she stammered out.
"Teleportation."
Not exactly happy with that reply, Nene burst out, "Not _that_!"
How can you be the Crystal Knight?! As the Blue Bullet he's definitely a
_guy_. There's no way you can be..."
Darlene poured some of the hot water on herself and changed into male
form. "Presto chango. Instant guy." Twister had to grin a little, it was
a rare occasion that he told someone about his sex-changing voluntarily.
Nene was understandably stunned. "How...?"
"Well...remember how you met me?" Nene nodded. "Um...I'm not from this
universe and that's where I appeared...without my memory because of something
that happened in the universe I was chucked out of."
His companion was wide-eyed at this. "Another _universe_?? Oh, wow! Is
everyone there both male and female?" Twister's amused snort signaled the
negative.
"Ah, no, Nene. It was something...strange that someone used on me."
Twister supposed he had to tell _somebody_ about the magic part, a
little bit at least...? No, not yet. "I'm...um...not sure how it works."
True enough in a way. He _didn't_ know exactly how he changed forms,
just that it was magic.
Impossibly, Nene's eyes opened wider. *How does she do that?*
"Oh! That's terrible! Maybe Sylia can help you, but...how did you
know about us being the Knight Sabers?"
"My armour can be invisible, Nene. It's not hard to find out things
when you can't be seen."
"Oh. Right." Nene accepted that and smiled, then a thought came to
her. "But..." Nene's smiling face became a frowning one. "...were you a
guy originally?"
"Yes."
"And...when did you get your memory back?"
"It was the hot shower I had after you gave me that first lesson on
the computer. Now _that_ had been a shock."
"So...you knew...you were...a guy...all...the..time..."
Nene's expression was making Twister very nervous. "Uh, Nene...?"
"...all the...time...in my _home_?? When I...changed clothes?!?"
*Uh oh.*
"YOU PERVERT!!!"
Nene, with righteous anger, started towards a hesitant Twister, who
was making no-no gestures with his head and hands as he backed away from her.
"Now, Nene, calm down a second and..."
A piece of stone Twister had worked on to make it smooth and pretty
for use as a decoration was quickly grabbed and thrown by Nene. It was easily
dodged, but there were quite a few things in the room Nene could throw at
him.
Solution? Fly.
When Twister leaped up and started hovering, Nene paused in the act
of grabbing another piece of stone art to stare at him, indignation
momentarily forgotten.
"How...?"
Not wanting to dodge rocks all day for something he hadn't done,
Twister quickly started talking.
"Now hold on, Nene. Did you _ever_ see me looking at you when you
changed?"
Still staring, Nene reluctantly said, "Well...no, but..."
"And didn't you comment once that I was being too _shy_ when you
noticed I was avoiding looking at you when you _did_ change?" Seeing Nene
mull that over Twister decided it was safe and came back down.
"Actually..." Nene looked embarrassed now, "...yes."
"That was one of the reasons why I wanted my own place. My nerves were
being frazzled."
"Oh," Nene meekly said.
Twister sighed. "Look, I wasn't sure how you guys would react when
I remembered who I was so I stayed being Darlene. I _am_ sorry about that."
"And now?" Nene was regarding Twister and wasn't exactly sure how
she felt.
"You guys are my _friends_," Twister stated firmly. "When you asked me
about my past I decided I should finally tell you. I owe you that, after all
you've done for me. I shouldn't have hid it so long from you guys and
I..whoomph!"
Nene had gone into full hugging mode and had targeted Twister, catching
him off-guard. It felt strange for both of them now that he was quite a bit
taller than her.
"You're my friend too, Darlene." She blinked and released the hug so
she could step back and smile up at Twister. "I guess I should call you Twister
now."
"When I'm a guy, yes. It'll make things easier."
The enthusiasm Nene had shown before started up again.
"How did you fly anyway?"
"I have psionic powers when I'm male so I levitated. I used them
to make my suit and a little when I fight Boomers." He chuckled at Nene's
expression when he said 'sometimes' and explained. "I'm still stronger
than I look." Then he grinned. "I'm just wondering if I'll have a repeat
of what you did if I tell Linna I used precognition to help me on the
stock market."
Nene's eyes widened once more, then she giggled. "She'd be so _mad_."
"Hmm... Maybe some things are best left untold. Anyway," Twister
extended a hand to Nene, who had sat down on a chair during their conversation,
"shall I show you my abode? You'll be the first, other than me, who've seen
this place."
Quickly, Nene stood up and grabbed Twister's hand. "Where are we
anyway? How long did it take you to _make_ this place? What have you...?"
"Whoa!" Twister chuckled as they started to explore his secret
residence.
"Let's start at the beginning..."
With a lot of editing of course.

"...and then the crystal's energy sent me into _this_ universe."
Omitting the part that it was an evil spirit who _directed_ the energy and that
he had been using magic to _contain_ said spirit.
"And your memory was gone because of that?" Nene queried as they almost
finished the grand tour of Twister's secret place. She was amazed inwardly at
the _size_ of the place. It was almost the size of a small military base with
it's large rooms, but she did wonder why Twister seemed a little
embarrassed when she remarked on how big it was. The aircraft hanger sized
area really amazed her with it's space since it was mostly empty.
Twister's motorcycle he rode as the Blue Bullet was there as well as
something under a _huge_ cover. Her friend Darlene, *_Twister_, I guess
I should say, but I'll still think Darlene,* had smiled mysteriously and
said it was an experiment he was working on and off on.
"Yes. It wasn't until my hot shower that I regained my memory by
changing back. My perfect memory in this form came into effect then." He
sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I wasn't sure what to do then. Can
you understand my reasons?"
"Well...I guess so. It _is_ a strange story." Nene smiled up at Twister
since he was a lot taller as a male. "But I _do_ believe you...Twister. This
place is great!" She frowned slightly then. "Have you tried to go back? _Can_
you get back?"
"I've...been thinking on how to do it, but I'm not sure how yet."
The fact that his magic was still behaving oddly was the prime reason
for that. And until _that_ problem was solved...his gaze fell upon
Nene. "But I also wanted to help my new friends _here_ before I did leave. I
don't think Genom will ignore the Knight Sabers forever, Nene, and I
wanted to do _something_ that would make you guys better protected from
them." They entered a new room and Twister waved at the contents inside
with a wide smile.
"_This_ should help me a lot."
Nene gasped.
In the middle of the large room was a very large, multi-colored,
crystalline obelisk sitting upon a pitch black pedestal. Some
wires came out of the base to connect to one of the most sophisticated
computer interfacing systems Nene had ever seen and she knew all the most
up-to-date systems available. Other wires went over to several, six-foot
tubes standing by a wall.
"What _is_ that?"
Twister smiled at the setup. "I decided to actually _build_
something using information and software I've obtained from the net as
Firelord..." He nodded as Nene whirled to stare incredulously at him. "That
was me, alright. Since diamond is easily made for me, I hacked into quite a
few places to get the knowledge necessary to build an _optical_-based computer
and spending quite a few months designing and building it on my spare time.
>From _programs_ I've looked at, I created my own operating system for this
unique creation. With the results I've gotten...I think I can safely say that
you are looking at the most awesome computer currently on the planet." He
paused. "By _far_. It's amazing what you can make if you use protected
information from companies connected to the Net all over the globe, and
be able to merge it all together. It's dedicated for breaking security
systems mostly and has already gotten one-third into the Genom
database. Slowly. They don't even know it either." Chuckling at Nene's awed
expression, Twister looked at a box beside the powerful system core. *I
had to create an device of science and enchantment just to get a
connection _out_ from this place. I did _not_ care to dig through a mile
of rock just for a wire connection. _Very_ illegal as well, or it would
be if anyone knew of such a thing, as it can access pretty much anything
that has a connection to the Net.*
Twister said offhandedly, "Care to try it? The memory is pretty
free since I only have a few programs going right now."
"Sure!" Nene rushed to the system, sat down, and immediately started
typing on the keyboard as she felt her way through the system. "How did you
make it anyway? It's _big_."
Looking up at his creation, Twister chuckled. "I used my TK of course.
Took much longer than my armour though..." he mused.
Nene frowned a little as she explored the new system. "It's faster
than anything I've used before, but the interface isn't very good."
"Sorry. I didn't put much work into that since I finished it not too
long ago and I don't _need_ that for a major task, though it's tiring if I do
it that way for long. Maybe...no." Twister looked at the tubes on the wall
as he said that last sentence.
She had noticed his glance toward the tubes she had seen before. "What
_are_ those anyway?"
"Something...different I have to test yet. Likely never."
Suddenly, a message appeared before Nene's eyes on the screen saying
that Dr. Stingray had entered the net. The ADPolice officer was wide-eyed
at this and spun to face Twister.
"You bugged Sylia??!"
"Well, she _has_ been overly curious about 'Firelord' and I added
something to _help_ her avoid detection actually. That's why I called the
system 'Wingman' 'cause it'll cover my rear end when I'm working. Much
easier than just myself."
Nene grinned up at Twister before turning back and begin intensely
typing away again on the computer, trying to talk to Sylia now that she
had access to a powerful computer that wasn't in ADPolice. After
affirming that it couldn't be traced, Twister curiously watched over her
shoulder as Nene initiated the talk session with Sylia.

-Hi Sylia! It's Nene!-
-Nene?!?! Where are you? How did you know it was me?-
-Firelord's showing me his computer and it told me you entered the
Net.-
-You found Firelord?!-
-He found me! *giggle* He's nice.- Twister chuckled behind Nene.
-Who is he?-
-Well, he's handsome.- Nene giggled as she practically felt the blush
Twister had.
-Nene...-
-I don't think he wants me to say right now. His new computer's helping
you on the Net secretly right now.-
-I _was_ wondering why some security hadn't gone off...-
-He says it's the most powerful computer on the planet.-
-Nene, _every_ good user believes their system is the 'most powerful
computer on the planet'. Though...it must be an excellent system to
cover me where I've been.-
-*sigh* It is.- Nene giggled when Twister muttered something about
nonbelievers and politely took her position before the keyboard.
-Hark! Dost mine eyes see disbelief from thy typed words?-
-Firelord, I presume?-
-*bow* At thy command, oh wise one.-
-May I ask your name?-
-Ain't much better than Firelord and it wouldn't help thee anyhow.-
-Very well. Since you know Nene...may I make you a small offer for
helping me gather information?-
-Ah, but that is a task I have already set myself. Like Genom...-
-Don't be foolish. No one has gotten much more than an eighth into
their main system.-
-WHOOPS! *grin* Good thing you didn't tell me that before I got past
the one-third mark.-
There was a long pause after that message. "Hm. Might have blown her
mind there." Nene was trying not to laugh as she remembered _her_ reaction to
Twister's statement before Sylia managed a reply.
-You are already _past_ that point?!-
-Nene _told_ you how powerful my computer is. Works great even though
I need to fill up all that empty storage. Well, it's been fun but I
think I have to go. Ta! Btw, Nene says bye as well.-

Chuckling, Twister closed the connection. "I really have to chuck that
habit of leaving people with their mouths hanging open."
"Sylia's not going to be too happy with that," Nene said worriedly.
"Just say I'll let you play with my system." He looked at her
inquiringly. "If you _want_ to that is..."
"Do I want to?! Of course!" She hugged Twister. "Thank you!"
"No problem. I'll have to teleport you here and back but that's quick
enough. And..." Twister grinned. "as you've seen, there's lots of snacks in
the kitchen. Better watch it though. _I_ can afford not to since I burn it off
darn quickly when I use my powers. Maybe I should arrange it so you can access
from your home..." Nene's brightened mood turned petulant at that part.
"Remember, I know about you and sweets."
She sighed. "I know, I know. I just wonder what I'm going to say to
Sylia when I see her again."
"Don't worry, I'll tell them all when I think they'll accept it
and from your reactions that shouldn't be too long. Just tell her what my
male form looks like, that my computer system is really impressive
looking and that you have no idea where I took you." He had to laugh.
"Nothing like the truth with a few details deleted."
"A few million details Dar...Twister."
"Heh." Standing up, Twister motioned Nene out of the room. "I'll
change back to being 'Darlene', become the Crystal Knight, and take you
back. This concludes Twister Tour's guided explanation to Blow Your Mind
Away."
He and Nene laughed as they left the computer room.

Chapter Ten
-----------

Matagan stood quietly by Quincy's desk as they silently watched
the monitors on the wall. The hidden cameras at the future, now devastated,
Boomer testing grounds had captured everything that had happened the day
before and they were going over the result.
Expressionless, Quincy watched the recording as Matagan marveled at
her superior's calm. They had lost the prototype for the new Boomer
created by the joint efforts of Genom and the American company in the
battle that had taken place in the grounds. The fact that the deadly blue
spider-walker had been destroyed in the process didn't make it any less
costly.
*Damn,* Matagan thought with some heat. *We _know_ who was responsible
for that thing, but we cannot move against her due to the fact that the Chang
organization would not take that very well. They've lost too much as it is
now, which brought this thing on in the first place.* Her eyes narrowed as
the Knight Sabers came into the camera's range. *The Knight Sabers. I did find
out that they were hired by that American to protect him. Still, their
participation in the new Boomer's destruction instead of merely taking their
client to safety does not put them in a very favorable light.*
The Genom executives watched the fight continue until the Boomer locked
itself in a death grip with the spider-walker. The crew's compartment blew
open and one chair ejected the rear pilot to safety. The pilot in front,
however, was caught by one of the Boomer's arms and could not escape. The
green Knight Saber rushed to help the obviously female pilot.
"Now..." Quincy quietly spoke as he narrowed his eyes.
Swiftly, another form that Matagan recognized as the Crystal Knight
rushed out from between the buildings, leaped forward, and cut the
Boomer's arm off with a crystal sword. This resulted in the hand trapping
the pilot to open. The green Knight Saber grabbed the pilot before flying
away. The Crystal Knight vanished.
"What the...?" Matagan burst out involuntarily.
"A stealth device." Was Quincy's response to her reaction. "Smoke from
the damaged Boomer can be seen to avoid a man-shaped area." The display froze
to confirm what Quincy had just told her. "_That_ is why he had not been
seen on the grounds by our security cameras. It is not yet known if
it is totally undetectable."
"Even it just affects _light_, sir, then combining it with a
radar-absorbing material would make a machine totally impossible to detect."
"Yes." He swiveled his chair to face Matagan. "What have you found out
about this...Crystal Knight?"
With a slight grimace, Matagan shook her head. "Not much information
is available and considering that stealth device...I'm not surprised." She
took a deep breath. "His armour seems to employ many abilities of a technology
we have yet to be able to totally explain, though some of our theorists
do not find them impossible. The light absorption abilities of his armour are
likely the source of the suit's power, drawing energy from ambient light so
that lasers merely give the suit more energy to use. Flexible areas reflect
a laser's energy. How powerful a laser it can do so with is unknown. Strength
enhancement is likely a system similar to the Knight Sabers hardsuits, but
radically different in outward appearance. His swords..." She had to shake
her head. "The theorists speculate that they are shells of diamond in the
shape of a sword created from carbon atoms in the air." Smiling sardonically,
she continued, "_How_ they are created is giving some of them headaches. One
idea is some form of airborne nanites, though that does not seem likely. The
energy fist attack is probably a field that draws electrons around the hand
until it creates a plasma energized by the suit just before release." She
shook her head. "That and the stealth device are all we have found of the
suit's abilities."
Quincy steepled his hands together in thought. "I have heard rumors
that it also saved some girl from a fatal injury. Interesting." After a few
minutes, he asked, "Have you found a pattern to his movements?"
"There does not seem to be any pattern or reason, besides stopping
renegade Boomers, that he is using and tracking him coming and leaving the
times when he _is_ sighted fighting has been impossible with that cloak. The
rapidity of his arrival, sometimes even before ADPolice get to the scene,
suggests some advanced tracking and motive systems as well."
"Hmm... Quite the enigma."
"Yes sir."
"Once more information is obtained about this...Crystal Knight we will
have to have a...talk with him. For now, we shall take care of the Knight
Sabers. Their suits are not important to Genom and their interference in
several of our projects so far have decided me to have them taken care of."
He swiveled his chair to face the stilled image of the cloaked Crystal Knight.
"Take only one out first so that the rest will be easier later. You
may go."
"Yes sir." She turned and walked out of the large, dark office.
As she descended in the elevator, Matagan reached down behind her leg
and rubbed at a very faint, white scar.
*Largo may have forced his way in here but the chairman outwitted him
nevertheless. I thought I was dying after that monster destroyed our boomers;
the pain that I _know_ that had been here felt like it. It was gone when
I recovered consciousness. Somehow I was healed, but by who? It looks like
I was cut near an important artery and I would have bled to death
if it had. Also,* Matagan straightened up and regarded the city skyline,
*my head has felt odd ever since that night. I've always followed my
instincts but lately they've been much more accurate.*
Matagan frowned.
*What on Earth _happened_ to me after I fell unconscious that night?*

"I'm telling you, Darlene, that you should go out and go out with a
nice _man_ sometime. I've never heard you even _mention_ anything about trying
to get one yourself. You wouldn't have any trouble _I_ would think."
Darlene was hard pressed not to laugh out loud at Linna's comment.
The foursome, consisting of the usual Priss, Nene, Linna, and herself, were
being treated at Linna's place for supper after a particularly good week
in the stock market. Priss was rolling her eyes while Nene, who knew about
Darlene's position about this, was similarly trying not to laugh as
they all sat around the kitchen table.
A little while after being told about Darlene's male beginnings, Nene
had teasingly brought up the subject of whether or not her friend thought
she and the others were attractive. While Darlene was still attracted to
females, she told Nene that she had regarded Nene and the others as just
good friends while in her female form for too long to think of them in
the way Nene suggested. It seemed weird even to herself but she couldn't
really explain it any better.
"Let's just say I have other things on my mind right now, Linna."
"I hear Sylvie and Anri finally found an apartment," Priss put in.
"Yup. They're great company, but I _do_ like having my house to
myself." To herself, Darlene thought, *And silence at night to sleep too.*
"Like Priss." Nene giggled when both Darlene and Priss made a face
at her at the same time.
Darlene reposited Linna's comment further. "I think you would be in a
much better position Linna, if you _kept_ what _you_ 'got'. You dumped another
one last _week_." She turned to Priss and Nene. "We should set up a betting
pool to see how fast it takes her to drop the next one. Make a fortune
if everybody bets it takes more than ten days."
Linna was about to angrily retort when a, now familiar, sound
reached Darlene's ears. The three Knight Sabers quickly stopped the beeping
coming from their watches and sheepishly looked at her.
She sighed. "Your friend again? Time to go then."
"We're very sorry, Darlene," Nene sorrowfully said.
Darlene waved her hand as she got up from her seat and went towards
the door. "No problem. I've gotten used to it by now." Just before she closed
the door behind her, Darlene commented, "You _really_ should ask Sylia about
those noisy beepers." She swiftly left and closed the door before anyone
could say anything..
Linna and Priss stared in shock at where their friend had left.
"You think she knows?" Linna worriedly asked Priss.
Priss snorted. "Actually, I'd be surprised if she _didn't_ by now.
These watches _are_ obvious." She noticed Nene quickly getting ready to leave.
"_You_ don't look very concerned about this, Nene."
Starting, Nene tried to look confident. "I don't think Darlene would
_tell_ anyone, Priss. She's a pretty good friend."
"Riiight..." Priss thought Nene knew something more, but didn't press
the issue right now since they had to hurry.

An hour later, all four Knight Sabers were suited up and being driven
to their destination by Mackie in the van.
"Why are we going outside city limits again, Sylia?" Linna asked
queriously. "I didn't get all the details straight when you told us before."
Her helmet was currently off so her questioning expression was visible to
the others.
"A valuable piece of experimental equipment was stolen from our current
client a few days ago by a small group of Boomers. Several attempts to recover
it have met with some unusual resistance which our clients are not prepared to
deal with. The piece has been moved to a location just outside Mega-Tokyo and
is isolated enough that our activates will not attract attention. It
appears that it is merely a temporary, not very well defended location and
was only used because there was nothing better available for the moment.
I've been told it will not remain at this position long so we will strike
tonight."
"'Unusual resistance', huh?" Priss snorted. "Sounds like we'll be busy
on this job."
Sylia smiled briefly inside her closed helmet before continuing. "The
building, in which our objective currently resides, is in the middle of a
large clearing. There are no _visible_ defenses which makes me suspect
that there are a few nasty surprises waiting for us." She turned to
Nene. "Nene, you use your suit's sensors to scan the area when we get
there while the rest of us go for the building."
"Sure, Sylia" Nene was glad she would be able to use her
specialty on this job as she knew fighting wasn't exactly her strong point.
Soon the van arrived near the target site and dropped the four off
before leaving the area. Mackie would return when Sylia gave the order to
pick them up later. Moving quickly through the trees, using short bursts
from their jet packs, they soon came near the edge of the clearing with
the small building in the middle. Linna scouted ahead while Nene scanned the
path that would take the others quickly towards the building, and found
some interesting things waiting for them.
"Sylia, there seems to be several remote-controlled mines in random
patterns under the ground that would be invisible to ordinary sensors and
even I'm having trouble clearly seeing them."
"Can you jam them?"
"I'll have to enter the clearing to make sure all of the mines are safe
from here to the building."
"Very well, we'll have to be quick then. No telling if they have
something else to surprise us with if they have the time."
Linna came back and reported what she had seen. "There are three
people surrounding the building. Most likely Boomers."
"They must be decoys so that some poor slob would walk into the mines."
Priss grinned inside the helmet. "Won't _they_ be the surprised ones."
Sylia decided. "Linna, Priss, we'll rush the building and get the
component after destroying the Boomers. Nene, you jam those mines in case they
get the chance to try to detonate them. All right, everybody?"
"Okay!" The other three chorused.
"Knight Sabers...GO!"
Stepping out of the forest, Nene immediately started jamming the mines
using the gear in her hardsuit. Sylia, Priss, and Linna began jetting towards
the building after getting her affirmation that the mines were now safe. Due
to the clear stretch, the Boomers guarding their objective saw their approach,
burst out of their human disguises, and waited for the intruders to come to
them.
Sylia was worried at their behavior. *That's odd. Those
Boomers should appear more surprised than they do. We've gone over
several of the mines already and they should have attempted to detonate
them by now. So why...* Her thoughts were interrupted when she reached
the 55-C class Boomer waiting for her and began her attack with her arm
cannon, which her Boomer barely managed to dodge.
Linna and Priss were starting their engagements as well, expecting
to quickly finish off their fighting partners, when round circles in the
ground popped up and more Boomers of the same type leaped out to join the fray.
"What the Hell??!" Priss shouted angrily when two more Boomers joined
the one she was currently fighting, making her leap and dodge more often. This
was happening with Linna and Sylia too. Fortunately, the Boomers couldn't
attack them three at a time or they would risk hitting each other and not
their enemy. Oddly, they didn't seem to be trying all that hard, but it
was enough to keep them all furiously busy.
"Nene! Why didn't your sensors pick these up?" Sylia called out on their
radio when she got the chance.
"I don't know!" The upset Nene shouted back. "They just appeared on
my scanners. The hiding places they were in must be _very_ heavily shielded in
order to evade my suit!"
"Dammit!" Priss narrowly missed being hit by a heat blast. "Who could
make _that_ kind of goddamn equipment?!"
"Only one company I know of." Sylia quietly said as she fought.
They all thought the same name.
Genom.

Smiling slightly with satisfaction,, Genom executive Ms. Matagan
regarded the scene being shown on several monitors. The target that she
had decided upon was all alone and the others were too busy to help even
if they wanted to.
"Perfect."
One of the few operators working under her on this assignment turned a
head in her direction.
"The second force is now ready for Phase 2."
Matagan's smile vanished and she was all business. "Excellent. When
I give the word, execute it."
The operator who had spoken seemed puzzled. "Why so many, sir?"
"I want the other three _surviving_ members to get the maximum
psychological impact," the smile surfaced again, "as well as making sure that
the blue/pink Knight Saber is terminated." Another reason she kept to
herself.
*I'm not telling an underling that I had some damned strong feeling
that a lot of firepower would be needed.*
After waiting a few more seconds, she calmly said:
"Do it."

Sylia and Linna had destroyed a Boomer each making it easier to fight
now while Priss had destroyed two, leaving the one she had originally started
out with. Their suits were a little battered but Priss felt they should
be able to finish off the remaining Boomers without much more trouble.
Suddenly, a powerful radio pulse was emitted from an unknown source
that easily cut through the interference Nene was generating.
Making every mine in the field detonate.
While the building where the fight was being played out was clear of
mines, the area where Nene stood was not. Several of the powerful mines
exploded around her and she screamed in pain and surprise as the powerful
force battered her terribly inside her suit. She fell facedown on the ground.
"NENE!!" cried the fighting Knight Sabers. The Boomers they were
fighting stopped and leaped towards another area of the now-devastated
clearing, taking advantage of their targets' distracted attention.
However, the clearing was no longer empty in that area. More scanner-
invisible hiding places had been planted there and their contents had jumped
out when the mines had detonated. They were Boomers, but not 55-C's.
Instead, they were BU-88's, or as they were called: Double Eight Ball Boomers.
Made especially for the army, the 'Debbies' were mostly mobile missile
launchers capable of taking out a sizable attacking force with just one unit.
They were modeled after the standard combat boomer, without the bazooka
arm, two feet taller, slightly more bulkier for their size, and pitch black.
They packed five missiles on each leg, two in the torso, and four apiece
on the arms. An additional twenty in a backpack module could be attached to
the back for extra firepower. Their armour was resistant to their own
missile's heat exhaust and cooled rapidly to avoid heat sensors. Mobile,
large, and powerful, they were the ideal missile support system.
Ten now stood in the clearing and were facing a fallen Nene's direction.
Priss saw them in a firing position. "Debbies!? No! Nene!!" She started
for her friend, knowing she would be too late. Linna and Sylia
started moving too when they saw the double eights but their hearts sank
as they realized it as well.
Four of the 88s had their missile packs on and were turned around to
fire them upon the target they had acquired before. Two lone missiles launched
ahead before all of the turned around and forward facing BU-88s sent the rest
of the missiles, trained on the prone figure, to their objective. Some went
high, low, to the left, and to the right, in order for most to hit close
to the target and not be caught in another missile's explosion.
In her angry and horrified rush, Priss saw the first two missiles
hit. First behind Nene and then in front of her. Nene was blown upwards
in the first explosion and Priss had seen her cracked armour begin to
come apart before the second explosion obscured the heart-wrenching
sight of Nene starting to fall back towards the ground.
The other one hundred and ninety-eight missiles that followed...hit.
A fair portion of them detonated well outside Nene's position from the force
of those before that blew, but not enough.
Priss was hurled back by the multiple explosions and fell at her stunned
friend's feet. Silently, Sylia helped Priss back up and the three looked at
the fiery, smoking crater that was where Nene had been. Linna went to her
knees as she realized her much-loved friend was gone and Priss clenched her
fists in a rage.
"A trap."
As the other two slowly looked at their leader, Sylia repeated herself
in a detached voice. "A trap. All a trap to get one of us so that the rest
would be more vulnerable." She paused. "And Nene paid for my stupidity."
Voice saturated in uncontrollable rage, Priss shouted at Sylia, "Like
HELL it's _all_ your fault! NONE OF US SAW IT!! Damn Genom!!" She whirled to
the direction where the Boomers obscured by smoke still stood and
prepared to attack.
Whipping her head around, Sylia divined Priss's action. "NO! I do NOT
want to lose another today!"
"I'm not going to just _stand_ here while those bastards are..."
Linna's grief-filled voice cut Priss off. "What's wrong with the
smoke?" Sylia and Priss turned and saw what she was talking about.
The dense smoke coming from the crater was even now flowing past the
grieving and surprised Knight Sabers on either side while leaving their area
free of opaque smoke. They gasped when a dark but familiar figure emerged,
with smoke hiding his legs, that carried a more than welcome blue and pink
package that didn't look a bit damaged.
"Nene!" They rushed towards the Crystal Knight with suddenly lightened
hearts.
And stopped in shock when they got a better look at Nene's rescuer.
The Crystal Knight's armour was in bad shape. There were large cracks
in every black plate and his shimmering, flexible mesh ripped and torn. Part
of the chestplate was destroyed and a bloody wound in the lower ribcage was
visible. The helmet was laced with cracks as well.
The Knight's eyes were glowing blue like the time when he had destroyed
Largo.
Linna stepped forwards and extended her arms slowly and carefully to
the Knight, who placed the still form of Nene into them. She opened the visor
and cried out with relief, "She's alive!" Greatfully, she looked back up to
Nene's rescuer. "Thank y...OH!" she gasped.
Sylia was relieved beyond belief but was puzzled at her friend's
outburst. "Linna, what..?" Then she and Priss saw as well and understood
Linna's shock.
The dark armour had not protected it's wearer completely. It was now
evident with Nene out of the way and the covering smoke gone. Shattered,
the left arm's armour ended halfway between shoulder and elbow...along
with the arm. This was repeated at the left knee with more shattered
armour.
*How can he be standing?* Sylia was shocked beyond belief. *For
that matter, how did he have Nene in two arms when he has only _one_?*
Priss was more forthright. "How the _hell_ are you _doing_
that??"
The Knight's reply was to turn towards the smoke, step away a
little ways into it, and stop.
"Did you hear..."
"Priss! My God, he's lost an arm and a leg! He could be in shock!"
Linna angrily replied.
"He should also be on the ground unconscious from blood loss!"
"I think he's waiting." Priss and Linna turned to Sylia when she
spoke. "The smoke is dissipating and he's facing the Boomer's direction
exactly." To herself she thought, *What will he do in this state? What
_can_ he do in this state?* Sylia regarded the slowly more visible
Knight.
*I guess we'll see.*

A cold and pleased smile was on Matagan's face as she viewed the now
smoke obscured screen that had shown the stunned Knight Sabers a minute before.
"Nicely done, gentlemen," she addressed her employees. "We will keep
the Boomers around for confirmation, but recall them if the other three attack.
No sense wasting valuable equipment when it will likely take less to finish
off the other three later. A good night's work indeed."
A puzzled technician looked up from a screen. "That's odd," he
muttered.
Sensing something was amiss, Matagan quickly walked over.
"What is it?"
"That smoke is blowing northeast."
She didn't see the reason for his concern. "The problem...?"
"The wind is blowing in a southerly direction. It can't _go_ that way
unless something is _making_ it do that."
Matagan frowned. *That _is_ strange.*
"Sir!" another tech monitoring the screens called out. "Something's
happening!"
Walking back to see for herself, she noticed the oddly-behaving smoke
dying down. A figure was slowly being revealed, as well as the Knight Sabers,
with the green Saber holding an unpleasant surprise.
"No!" Matagan smashed a fist down on a console after seeing the
unexpected sight of a whole blue/pink Knight Saber, startling the tech. She
shook in rage as she realized the only way the Knight Saber could have
survived the attack and glared at the dark figure standing shown on the
monitor.
"_Damn_ that meddling Crystal Knight!"
Her eyes widened as she realized something else.
*That's why so much firepower was needed. But how did I know?*
*_How_?!*

The Boomers were looking angrily at the now revealed group of humans.
They didn't like failing to achieve their mission objectives.
One of the 55-Cs spoke up. "So, you somehow managed to save your little
companion, humans? We can _fix_ that little problem."
"Just _try_ it, junkpile!" Priss shouted.
"We intend to." The Boomer looked to the silent Crystal Knight and
noticed the missing left arm. "Lose something, Crystal Knight?" it amusedly
barked out. "I would have expected you to be crying in pain like the weak flesh
you are but," it saw the glowing eyes and speculated, "perhaps you are _not_
human? Then why save the pink fleshed one? Am I right?" it called out.
From the cracks and tears in the armour, blue light slowly built to
shine outwards. The Crystal Knight raised his remaining right arm, had his
palm facing the grouped force of Boomers, and grated out a raspy reply.
"Wrong."
Blue light flared and became blue fire that filled the cracks of the
Knight's armour. The glowing blue eyes became brighter as he added something
else before Knight Sabers or Boomers could react.
"CRYSTAL KNIGHT...." Blue flame burst out of the armour's tears and
cracks to arc towards the space in front of his outstretched palm. The flame
spiraled together to be formed into an intensely blue, blazing cone with
the wide open end facing the Boomers. It grew in power as the flow
continued.
The eyes then flared.
"...FINAL STRIKE!"
The Boomers saw a small sun appear within the inside of the cone.
Then they were no more.

"NO!" Matagan was furious as the monitors now showed only static. "WHAT
HAPPENED!!?"
Employees worked furiously at their consoles, trying to get the Boomers
reconnected and the hidden cameras around the clearing operational.
Finally, as she was loosing patience, the leader of the technical
group faced Matagan, shaking his head as he gave his report.
"From what we can tell...all of the Boomers we sent have been
destroyed. The cameras from the side-effects."
"What?! Don't give me riddles. Give. Me. Facts!" Matagan icily said
as she tried to regain her temper.
"The brief readings we got from the camera and Boomer sensors tell us
that an EM pulse fried the sensitive camera's circuitry. Not the Boomer's.
They are shielded against a pulse this weak. However, what must have
been some kind of atomic reaction," Matagan sucked in her breath in
shock, "that produced such a strong pulse, likely vaporized the Boomers
just after they registered the forerunning EM radiation."
"Vaporized..."
"And if you ask how..." He shook his head. "I have no idea. Whatever
that strange blue energy was...I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Numbly, Matagan turned to regard the static-filled screens.
*Failure. How do I explain this to Quincy?*
Her mind was blank.

The three Knight Sabers looked on with awe as they regarded what the
Knight had done. Where the group of Boomers once stood, a gouge had been
taken out of the earth. The blast of yellow-red energy had turned killing
machines into atoms and had easily streaked out to cut a wide, fan shaped
area of destruction into the surrounding, unpopulated, tree-covered
region. The fires from the blast were starting to die now since the area was
moist from a good week of rain.
"Priss! The Knight!" Linna shouted.
Quickly, Priss rushed over and caught the Crystal Knight as he slowly
collapsed. She mirrored Linna and held him like Linna was carrying Nene.
"Jeez. His armour's light."
"Good, because after that little display it won't take very long before
someone comes to investigate." Sylia glanced around at the area where the trap
had been set.
"Let's go home."
--
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Darren Steffler a.k.a "Twister"- mail at <umst...@cc.umanitoba.ca>
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