Hi! I fixed what comments I got for 30-37 so I'm sending this to make sure
the rest of part 3 is checked. As always C+C welcome!
If I get nothing back I send this sucker to RAAC. ;) (shock people to see
Part 3 right after Part 2 ^_^)
I'll wait until it's okay to post. Then..... POW!
Twister.
| Twister (also known as Darren Steffler ;)
| e-mail at twister@tendo-dojo.ranma.net
| Home Page at http://www.winnipeg.freenet.mb.ca/~fmw675/
| Big Heapum Fan of: Ranma 1/2, Bubblegum Crisis, Dirty Pair, Gundam, and
| the rest of the known anime universe.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
====================
"I still can't believe I'm doing this," Wadderson muttered as the group
crept down a large and dark passageway.
"Shh!" the Knight Saber hissed.
The blonde woman gave the green hardsuit a glare, but quieted. She had
the feeling that she had fallen into one of those weird sci-fi/action films
she had used to watch as a kid. Here she was, a woman who used to be a man
following a high technological combat hardsuit, and her partner beside her
was now supposedly a werewolf. Probably the only normal person in the group
was her boss, Inspector McNichol, who was following behind them as the
group's rear guard. Their 'ally' was supposedly doing that somewhere, but he
was being cautious. His partner Daley didn't count; she knew HIS reputation.
Wadderson reassured herself by gripping the gun she had chosen from what Leon
had brought.
Leon knew about her strength so he had brought a GSB Cannon; where he
had got it she didn't know and figured she didn't WANT to know. The reason
for this was the raw firepower each shot the ultimate weapon unleashed. It
was supposed to be a mounted weapon and each round could take out a Boomer,
aimed properly or not; if it hit even NEAR a vital spot an android would be
toast. No normal human could hold it up, much less carry it around.
She held it like an unwieldy rifle.
And that mysterious second arrival... She shivered at the memory and
glanced around, but it wasn't anywhere to be seen in the large factory
passageway.
The factory had been shut down by Genom after some nutball scientist who
had worked here had tried to blow up ADPolice headquarters. Stupid to close
down the building, but she supposed it would've been bad press for someone in
Genom's monolithic corporate structure so they had shut it down.
Now it was being used to hold a Knight Saber, and by the same people who
stole a whole bunch of Boomers weeks ago. Whoever was masterminding this was
seriously cracked, or else holding one heck of a grudge. She had been told
the Saber was still alive. Why? One conclusion that Leon had mentioned, and
that the green Saber had agreed with, disturbed Wadderson.
Bait.
Give me a break! And of course we're going in like dumb fish about to
swallow the hook with the worm on it.
She spotted movement ahead, and stopped. Everyone else saw it too.
Well, whomever these guys are, Wadderson thought as she gripped her
mammoth weapon tighter, these fishies have some humungous teeth. They crept
out into a large production room.
Then the lights came on.
The scene was shown on a viewscreen deeper in the factory.
"Looks like someone showed up after all."
"Waste of effort if you ask me."
"True. But humans can be so sentimental."
"Hmm. You may have a point."
"YOU GODDAMN MACHINES! WHEN I GET OUT OF THESE I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING
HEADS OFF!!" Priss screamed at her two Boomer captors, enraged. She was still
in her hardsuit, but after her ill-fated battle it served better as a
straightjacket than armour. The emergency eject was disabled so she couldn't
get out. Strapped to a Boomer holding slab, she was helpless to anything but
talk or watch. Her smashed helmet visor was pushed up to enable her to see
what was happening to her rescuers in the factory.
She recognized Linna in her hardsuit, but what were Leon, Daley, and
those two other ADPolice officers doing with her? Her unwelcome 'companions'
had told her upon waking up that Nene and Sylia had been captured too, but
were not in the factory. She'd demanded why and the answer had given her
chills.
Lures. That's what they all were being used as. Sylia and Nene to draw
out the Crystal Knight, and herself for everyone else. But she had gotten the
impression she was being used more for the case if Darlene came to help.
Whomever had caught her knew the red-head had some strange abilities and
wanted the mage busy. IF she survived a planned attack that should have
occurred at Hot Legs hours ago. Priss had turned cold at that information,
but shrugged it off; she knew Darlene could handle herself quite well.
I wonder what they would think if they found out Darlene and the Crystal
Knight were the same person? she thought sardonically.
Suddenly, her rescuers were shown to be under attack on the screen.
Priss cursed her inability to move and tried not to dwell on the other thing
her captors had told her.
"BASTARDS!!" she screamed, and the androids ignored her.
If her friends succeeded in getting far enough into the factory...
...the Boomers would kill her.
Another beam went over Leon's head and he grimaced at the closeness of
the near-miss. Things were not going well at all; he and Daley had gotten
separated from his people and the Saber when they had all dived for cover
during the initial ambush. Leon had seen a fleeting glimpse of them hurriedly
retreating into another passage with several Boomers in hot pursuit; one of
whom had been subsequently blown out of same passage with the accompanying
roar of Wadderson's newest toy. He himself had been too pressed to find cover
to smile.
"And here I felt mildly disappointed that I missed the action you saw
earlier tonight," Daley commented wryly, wincing as a burst of fire shot over
the their cover.
"Be careful what you wish for."
"Ain't that the truth." Daley took a quick peek over the steel test
plates that served as their protection. And ducked back down before another
volley punched holes through his head. "These guys must be programmed to keep
us from advancing past a certain point, otherwise we'd be dead already."
"How many you figure?" Leon asked as he checked his gun, then the larger
Boomer-Killer he had brought, much smaller then the weapon he had given
Wadderson, but at least he could carry this. Daley carried one as well.
"About five, maybe one or two more. Hard to tell."
Leon sighed, he hoped the others were dealing better than they were.
Suddenly, there was silence. The two ADPolice officers looked at each
other with trepidation; something was up. Cautiously peering over their
protection, they found that the Boomers had emerged from cover and were
arrogantly advancing on the weaker humans' position.
"Damn," Leon cursed quietly. "Guess they figured they'd had enough fun."
"Then we're not going to die laughing; what a relief," Daley said with
gallows humor. Despite the situation, Leon cracked a grin and got ready for
the onslaught, short as it would be.
***CHA-TOOM!!***
At the booming sound, a glowing projectile flew over the detectives'
heads and impacted directly onto a Boomer's chest. There was a split-second
stunned pause, then the Boomer that was hit exploded spectacularly, showering
everything with fragments of itself. Leon and Daley protected themselves from
the shrapnel as they turned to see where the powerful shot had come from.
They recognized it as the Knight Saber's ally, but Leon still experienced a
pang of dread.
The upgraded D.D. Battlemover Mark II had arrived.
The overall design was still relatively intact, Twister had only tried
to improve the machine for it had originally been a prototype and still had
some flaws; in the psionist's mind the neutron bomb had definitely been one.
(He still wondered just WHY the designers had done that, but oh well) The
most obvious change was the 'hips' of the D.D. which were wider now and
allowed for a smoother walk and/or run. The armour and most parts were
enhanced by molecular re-alignment by an application of Twister's
telekinesis, this allowed for greater strength and speed. It was painted a
deep blue, a contrast to the previous reddish hue it had originally been.
Oddly, there were several crystalline diamond shapes placed in certain areas
on the armour. Their function was unknown to the officers, but the diamonds
served as power collectors for the few magical features Twister had
incorporated into the war machine.
As for weapons...
The missiles and mini-cannon were gone; Twister had just altered the war
machine as something to occupy his time and test the technical knowledge he
had gained. A weapons system that would've required making physical bullets
and missiles had been considered pointless, as well as a waste of time.
Instead, two large cylinders with openings on the forward ends were mounted
on the D.D.'s shoulders instead of the machine guns. These were weapons that
shot intense excited particle 'balls' as a substitute for missiles, and were
aimable to a limited degree. They were powerful and needed a lot of energy,
but the big D.D. could handle it. For more firepower and flexible aiming,
single laser cannons were placed on each arm. The weapons he made for the
large machine of destruction had given Twister ideas for his current suit
after his old one was destroyed.
But the main problem had been the D.D.'s main battle computer, the J-1,
which had overridden Sylvie's control in its last fight. Not wanting a hybrid
HAL1000/Terminator in control, Twister did a real number on the re-
programming of the machine; he was a programmer, and having combat computers
go out of control on the user was not a Good Thing to his way of thinking.
With things like Microsoft Windows, fine, it only crashed your system, not
you. It took some time, despite his acquired knowledge of AI systems during
his stay in Mega-Tokyo; the combat skills were jumbled in with the decision-
making processes and keeping the former intact while changing the latter
hadn't been easy.
Driving the altered battlemover, Sylvie had quickly found out the
differences, and had experienced shaking relief at the changes when Twister
had told her about them. The interface now had HER in full control, as it
should have been. She had been late coming to the battle for she had lagged
behind to make sure there would not be an attack from behind. Also, her
improved scanners were helping the much more mobile Linna find Priss, but she
had had to reveal herself to save Leon and Daley. And the D.D. II was
performing wonderfully.
+Computer, fully charge PBCs. How many more hostiles are there?+ she
thought, and on a screen in front of her she found targeting vectors for each
Boomer. Who had not been idle with the termination of one of their fellows,
they had aimed at the formidable-looking D.D. seconds after the explosion.
Surprisingly, Sylvie smiled.
Crackling energy in the form of two Boomer particle beams from mouth
cannons, a heat wave from another, and machine gun fire from the rest rushed
towards the powerful Battlemover. And passed right through it, without a
scratch. The Boomers, and the two momentarily forgotten ADPolice officers,
gaped at what had happened.
Sylvie didn't let them recover, picking the two androids that had fired
the mouth cannon, she mentally ordered, +Fire!+ Two white balls of energy
were shot out of her shoulder-mounted weapons and hit their targets,
destroying two more of her attackers. With her less-powerful lasers, she
focused both on the closest Boomer and punched smoking holes in head and
middle torso. Linked to the combat computer as she was, and in full control,
she commanded the D.D. with deadly efficiency. It frightened her a little,
but she knew it was mostly the altered J-1 that killed so well, not her. The
alterations made direct control possible, and only if she was unconscious
would the D.D. fully take over. Even then, it had a modified 'idea' of what
an enemy was, which did not include humans. Twister had been very sure about
that.
She ordered the D.D. to rush the Boomers and the war machine complied,
breaking into a smooth gait that ate up the distance between her and the 55-
Cs. They continued to fire at her, but that was futile. How were they to know
that the D.D. they were shooting at wasn't her, but rather her displaced
image? It was one of the few things of magic that Darlene had put on the
machine to make it harder to hit; the purpose of the diamond embedded onto
the outside of the D.D. The computer had offered it to her as a tactical
selection. Surprised, she had selected it, and the image displacement was
working beautifully.
One of the Boomers was facing another way entirely when she grabbed its
head with a large metal hand and, after picking the startled android off the
ground, squeezed. It frantically tried tearing off the crushing force, but
lost the race and the hand closed all the way. Boomer armour and fluids oozed
out from the victorious D.D.'s fingers.
The J-1 signalled a warning and, before Sylvie could react, the D.D.
jumped away from a particle burst. Staying in motion, Sylvie was fervently
thankful Twister had left some control for the J-1 when it came to defense.
The remaining 55-Cs had figured out her displacement trick when she had
physically attacked the Boomer. Too little, too late, she thought grimly,
seeing that only three Boomers remained. Even with them aware of it, it took
little extra time destroying them. The modified D.D. was an unfamiliar
opponent and even before Twister's modifications it had been a powerful
machine.
Sylvie hoped Linna was having as easy a time as she watched the two
detectives uncertainly rise from their cover on her screens.
"DIE, YOU STINKING BOOMERS!!!" Wadderson yelled, blasting away with her
mammoth cannon at the pursuing killer machines coming down the passageway.
Linna didn't dare try fighting them head-on right now; the blonde woman
was blowing large holes in Boomers and walls alike, aim being impossible for
the inexperienced user of the weapon. At least it was keeping them safe while
the Saber collected her thoughts. "Sylvie? Have you found Priss yet?" she
called on their personal encrypted radio link.
"Linna!" Sylvie's relieved voice came back. She had started to become
worried but her friend's call had alleviated some of it. Another of the
D.D.'s mystical additions was a kind of probe which Sylvie had sent into the
factory in search of Priss. And with success. "Yes, I have, but I can't get
the D.D. farther into the factory. You'll have to get her yourself and
there's two Boomers guarding her."
"They won't be a problem," Linna assured her. "What are the
coordinates?" Sylvie relayed them to her and the green Saber signalled her
thanks. Unfortunately, the weapon holding off the Boomers finally ran out of
ammo at that time.
"Shit!" Wadderson swore, seeing the Boomers realize that the weapon was
useless now and beginning to advance.
"Not a good time to hang around here," Bochinski called out as he got up
and started heading further down the hallway. "Come on!"
"No, wait!" Linna cried out, too late, as she saw shadows moving in the
darkness where he was headed.
The officer turned at her cry just as one of the hidden Boomers started
firing. Blood sprayed out in a stream as he was hit many, many times at close
range. His chest virtually exploded as the bullets imparted some of their
energy and kept him turning until he fell to the ground in a bloody heap.
Three Boomers came out of the darkness and stepped over the body, ignoring it
completely.
"Bochinski!" his partner screamed in horror, Linna felt sick over the
pointless death.
"That's the first one," one of Priss' jailers affirmed. The monitor kept
watch over the party in the passage as they were closer to their location
than the pinned-down Leon and Daley.
"I was beginning to wonder when it would happen," the second commented.
"That weapon hindered things a little. The ADPolicewoman must be
stronger than she looks. Think she's a 33-S?"
"Maybe, she looks the type. I doubt it though."
"True, ADPolice would have found out if she was. Pity. She'll die slowly
now, the Boomers are programmed to do that to females. For our guest's
enjoyment, I suppose."
"CUT THE FUCKING COMMENTARY, YOU TIN CANS!!" Priss shouted.
"Get out of here," Wadderson muttered quietly to the armoured woman who
was standing back-to-back with her. The Boomers began advancing from either
side.
"What?!" Linna responded incredulously. "I can't..."
"You're the one who stands the better chance at getting away," the
blonde woman's voice turned ugly, "and I have a score to settle with these
bastards."
"I..." Linna didn't like it, but the woman was right. "I'm sorry."
"Go!" Wadderson shouted, and ran at the two Boomers who were coming from
the direction they had entered the hallway from. She came faster than
expected and surprised them by actually punching one hard enough to send it
flying.
The green Saber took advantage of the unexpected development and ran
towards the three on the other side, gathered herself, and leaped over the
trio. She touched down behind them and ran without a backwards glance, not
wanting to see that would happen to the woman she had left behind. She didn't
look at the fallen officer and vanished into the shadows, her helmet hid her
tears.
If she had, she would have seen the body move.
The trio of Boomers didn't pursue her; they knew what would happen when
she found her fellow Saber. But the other woman...
Incredibly, she was actually holding her own against the two Boomers,
who were wondering how this human was strong enough to battle them physically
without aid. But when the other Boomers joined in, the furious Wadderson was
soon pinned down. Not without effort; the human was both angry at the Boomers
that had killed her partner and fearful of what these machines had planned.
"So," one of the Boomers rumbled at last, "are you a 33-S? You are
obviously not a normal human."
"Figure it out yourself, bastards!" Wadderson shouted.
She regretted those words immediately when another Boomer extended an
arm over her held form and let its armblade slide out. "We intend to.
Slowly," the Boomer said with an evil chuckle that sent stabs of fear through
her heart. With a quick slash, it cut through her pants on one of her held
legs, and a little ways into the skin as a line of red immediately sprang up.
It stung greatly and Wadderson clenched her teeth at the pain. Then the
Boomer drove the blade into the front, fleshy upper part of her leg and
twisted it around roughly. Blood flowed from the wound.
This time she screamed loudly.
A third Boomer considered her response. "Not quite like a 33-S."
"Rip open her chest then to make sure," the first one offered.
"If she IS human, that's too quick," the fourth objected.
"Better if you take it slow," the fifth agreed.
Wadderson moaned as the second Boomer slowly moved the blade around, and
screamed again when it jerked the blade out. It paused momentarily, deciding
where to strike next with its bloody blade.
"Let...my...partner...go!!" growled an angry voice. Quickly, the Boomers
looked for the owner, and drew back a bit in mechanical disbelief. Wadderson
lifted her head up despite the pain in her leg.
And stared.
Standing in the shredded and bloody remains of his uniform, and looking
mighty pissed off, was the presumedly dead Bochinski. The holes in the front
of his shirt showed his blood-covered, but intact, skin. He glared at the
Boomers holding his partner down.
The androids registered this fact with much difficulty. Humans, or even
Boomers for that matter, do NOT just stand up without out a scratch after
being mortally wounded a few minutes earlier. Two stood up from the amazed
Wadderson and faced the ADPoliceman. "Human, however you survived, you won't
do so again," one declared.
Bochinski's response was a snarl, and it didn't sound remotely human as
his eyes, once blue, turned yellow. Before the astounded Boomers' eyes he
started to change. His face, taut with the strain, began to sprout fur. This
was occurring all over his body from what could be seen on the visible
portions of his skin. Nails grew on fingers attached to what became a
powerful mixture of paws and hands. The legs changed, becoming strong hind
legs that could stand upright or on all fours with equal ease, his shoes were
destroyed by expanding and clawed feet. The man's face stretched forwards,
mouth becoming a muzzle with razor-sharp teeth and sporting a keen black
nose. The ears moved position and became a wolf's ears higher on the
transformed officer's head. During the change, Bochinski's form had become
taller and showed lean, vigorous muscles on his new nine-foot height. The
change was now complete, lupin eyes glowing yellow in the darkness.
The fully transformed werewolf howled.
Knowing a threat when they saw one, both Boomers immediately attacked by
opening both their chests and firing their heat weapons. With a supernatural
predator's speed, the wolfman sprang away from the blast of heat and headed
for his prey. The first Boomer he attacked had little time to respond to the
howling fury upon it. Bochinski gripped both of its blue arms and yanked with
savage force, ripping the limbs free with a spray of nutrient fluids and
tossed them away. The second Boomer leapt in and connected hard on the
muscled stomach with a blue fist. It made the officer stagger backwards, but
not without making a swipe of his claws, ripping apart the midsection of his
foe.
Bochinski steadied himself and readied for another attack, but then a
blue beam slashed hungrily for the wolfman and cut him in two. With a gurgle,
the two separate sections of the officer fell to the ground. One of the
Boomers holding the female down had decided to help its fellows with its
mouth cannon.
"NO!!" Wadderson shouted, and began struggling. A Boomer punched her on
the side of the head to stop her squirming, staggering her. Picking her up,
the Boomers twisted both her arms so she couldn't escape and cruelly made her
painfully hobble to the fallen werewolf. The Boomer with the torn front
wasn't getting off the ground and the one without its arms was having a hard
time as well. The three holding her examined the corpse cautiously. But for
some reason Wadderson had quieted, for she strongly suspected something now
that the shock had lessened.
"Bio-genetics experiment?" one wondered.
"Is that right, human?" another Boomer asked Wadderson roughly, applying
pressure on her arms.
"Why don't....you ask him...." she painfully gritted out, "yourself?!!"
"What?!"
The Boomers hadn't noticed the sluggish movements of the two halves of
the body until it was too late. Then the two pieces, like a pair of magnets,
jerked together; flesh, bone, and muscle reattaching both halves in a frenzy.
A howl filled the air again as the resurrected Bochinski leapt up and tore
the head off the Boomer holding his partner, yanking her roughly out of the
way when its arms spasmed.
Once she was out of the danger zone... things got REAL ugly.
By the time Wadderson got up from where she had fallen and limped over
to her partner, Bochinski was covered with Boomer fluids and standing amid a
pile of shredded Boomer parts ready for the scrapheap. "You okay, partner?"
she asked cautiously.
Eyes dimmer now that the fighting was done, Bochinski regarded his
friend and partner. "You know, I could really go for a Milk-Bone now," he
said with a deeper voice than normal, a little breathlessly. He winced a
little when she angrily punched him.
"Damn it, Bochinski! I was worried about you! I thought you were dead!
Twice! And then you make jokes about the whole damn thing!" She would have
continued but her wounded leg made her stumble. The half-man half-wolf caught
her before she fell.
"Well, there's another joke." Wadderson looked up at him, face scrunched
up in pain, but with the question in her eyes. "I'm... uh... not sure how to
change back."
After incredulously staring at him for a few long seconds, the blonde
woman found that funny. She started laughing and crying at the same time,
releasing the stress she had been under.
Bochinski sighed, recognizing the reasons behind his partner's laughter
and the need for it. Then he wrinkled his muzzle in distaste.
Boomers did NOT taste good.
"It's been quiet for a long time," Daley observed, warily watching the
big blue mech that had saved their lives and then hadn't moved an inch since.
"Do you think we should find the others?"
Leon sighed. "Where do you suggest we start?" he asked his red-headed
partner, who shrugged helplessly. "Besides, I have a feeling whoever's in
this thing has contact with that Saber." He tiredly rubbed his eyes; it had
been a long night and he wasn't really sure if he'd be able to stay awake
much longer after all these adrenaline rushes. "Hopefully, it'll tell us if
we're needed."
Inside the D.D., all of Sylvie's attention was on a monitor, praying
Linna would hurry. The remote unit only transmitted visual and not sound, but
from what she was saw on the screen things for Priss were turning critical.
One of the Boomers was watching a monitor that had Linna's hardsuited figure
displayed, the other Boomer was standing in front of Priss and was
occasionally pointing one of its arms at the brown-haired woman's head; from
Priss' tight expression, that was not a good thing.
My God, Sylvie realized, stunned. I think they're going to kill Priss
just before Linna gets there! Deliberately! She immediately flicked a switch,
opening communications with the green Saber. "Linna, stop!!" she shouted
frantically.
"What?!" came her friend's puzzled response. "Okay, but why? What's
wrong?"
"They know you're coming, and I think they plan on killing Priss just
before you make it there," she explained quickly and got stunned silence for
a long moment.
"What can we do then??" Linna said, frustrated and afraid.
"I don't know! Maybe....what?" Sylvie stared at what had come up on one
of her screens. It showed:
-RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: HOMLAS-
"Sylvie? What is it?"
The sexaroid didn't respond, her thoughts racing. The J-1 was still
linked to her and knew that she needed help. Sylvie didn't know what the
battle computer meant, but whatever the abbreviation was, the J-1 wouldn't
have recommended the unknown option on the screen if it didn't think it would
work.
Cautiously, she looked at the two Boomers with Priss, and thought,
+Target Boomers.+
+Targets acquired. Initiate recommended course of action?+
+Will this injure anyone else?+ she thought, hope building.
+Negative. Initiate recommended course of action?+
"Do I have a choice?" Sylvie growled, then swallowed nervously. +Yes.+
+Acknowledged.+ The D.D. started humming as the J-1 started whatever
action it was about to apply. +Power up sequence: started. Computing energy
requirements.+
Sylvie was startled when the D.D. raised its arms into a forward firing
position and turned to face an empty passageway. Looking at the equipment
indicators, she saw with no little puzzlement that the lasers were beginning
to power up with no indication of firing anytime soon. Alarmed, she noticed
that the normal level of energy the lasers used had just been exceeded and
quickly approaching maximum safety limits. What was the J-1 planning to do??
That was a thought shared by Leon and Daley as they wondered at the
position the Battlemover had placed itself in.
"NOW what is it doing?" Leon said.
"I don't know," Daley commented as his eyes widened, "but I think we'd
better get some distance between us and it. Now." He started backing away
from the mech.
"What?" Leon said, puzzled by his partner's comments, then noticed what
had precipitated the advice and started backing away himself. For the
crystals embedded into the D.D. had begun to glow, and trails of energy were
streaming from all of the crystals to the forearms of the D.D. where the
lasers were mounted.
Inside the D.D., the officers' panic was doubly echoed by Sylvie. The
lasers had passed well beyond their maximum operating levels by a good margin
and now the indicators were no longer able to measure the amount of energy
the lasers were being fed. The lasers should have blown up by now! Sylvie
wondered nervously, unwilling to stop the J-1's plan at this point. She saw
that Priss wasn't dead yet and heard that Linna was frantically trying to
contact her, but all her attention was focused on the D.D.'s arms. They were
glowing blue with some kind of energy for some mysterious reason. Which was
likely the reason the lasers weren't exploding, she realized, but for how
long?
+Energy levels at required parameters for target elimination. Beginning
firing sequence.+
Sylvie was about to reply, but stopped when she saw what appeared on her
monitor, and her eyes widened in shock. It read:
=======================
= HOMING LASER FIRING =
=======================
"That's ridiculous! It can't..." Sylvie incredulously started to say,
but it was now too late to do anything. The D.D. diverted almost all its
power to the lasers, and even the forces preventing the overtaxed weapons
from blowing up were strained. The crystals on the D.D.'s surface shattered,
releasing the rest of their force into the operation by thin, fiery blue
lines of energy that wrapped around the forearms. Finally, with an explosion
that sent the D.D. rocking violently backwards, the lasers vomited two
blinding beams of crimson light, surrounded by swirls of blue energy and
roared down the passageway the D.D. had been facing. Sylvie was slammed
painfully into her seat straps by the blast, generating a startled cry from
the sexaroid.
Faster than the eye could track, the twin beams of destruction sliced
down the hallway. Blue energy mixed with crimson light, becoming a hybrid
purple lance that TURNED at a junction. Then they went up a stairway, burned
through a sealed door, crossed a spacious room, burned through the opposite
door, and continued down another hallway. Finally, the beams stopped and
lanced straight down through the floor in two different places.
They hit the Boomers guarding Priss on the top of the head, and
continued down into the Boomers' bodies until exiting where their 'groins'
were. The vaporized portions of the androids, having become plasma, burst
outwards and destroyed the rest of the machines. A shocked Priss was not
injured by the minor explosions of her captors' destruction.
From firing to the targets took less time than it took to blink.
"Uhhh..." Sylvie groaned, shaking her head groggily. The D.D. was on its
back and from what she could see the arms were smoking, discharges of
electricity sparking around the damaged areas. Nevertheless, the sexaroid
tried getting her machine on its feet.
"Sylvie! For God's sake tell me what you did!!" Linna's voice demanded,
registering on the brown-haired woman's consciousness at last.
"I think...you can get Priss now," the sexaroid numbly said, staring at
the screen showing the singer and the smoking remains of what was left of the
Boomers.
"What did you do??"
"I'm not sure; you'll have to ask Darlene that. Just get Priss and let's
get out of here." And after toggling off the communicator, to herself she
muttered, "Next time, I will ask that friend of mine everything she did to
this thing. I really should throttle her for not telling me about this." She
sighed as the D.D. finally got on its legs and checked the damage. Power
levels were low, but the only real abuse was on the arms where the lasers,
now hardware history, had been; the arms were about 20% operational.
All in all, things could've been worse, she thought as she saw Linna
arrive at Priss' room and free the relieved singer.
That was approximately what Leon was thinking when he saw the forms of
Wadderson, and...was THAT Bochinski??? returning. "Is that YOU,
Bochinski?!?!" Daley, standing beside him, was wide-eyed as well. They both
knew about what had happened to the ADPoliceman, but the actual sight of his
lupin other self was daunting.
"Yes, sir!" the werewolf growled in good humor, saluting. "We ran into
trouble with some Boomers until I figured out how to change into my werewolf
form." His tongue hung in a wolfish grin.
"How were the Boomers then?"
The were grimaced. "Awful; next time I bring mouthwash." His blond
partner punched him hard in the diaphragm, turning the fiercesome image
Bochinski was projecting into a hilarious one as he doubled over, gasping for
breath.
"He didn't change back because the idiot hasn't figured THAT part out
yet," Wadderson told her grinning superiors with an exasperated air. "They
couldn't do anything to him, sirs. No silver."
"Hurt like hell though," the werewolf sighed, absently rubbing his
middle.
"Hmm," Leon mused, looking up at his furred subordinate and thinking of
all the advantages that must have with Boomers. "You'd better figure out how
to change back quickly; we don't have uniforms this size," he joked, then he
saw Wadderson's bloody leg and became concerned. "Are YOU all right,
Wadderson?" The blonde woman gingerly touched her leg and winced.
"I guess this does need looking at."
"We'd better take you to a hospital after the Sabers get here," Leon
said.
"Sir, shouldn't we bring them in?" the injured woman asked him.
"No. I don't think we could anyways." Leon tiredly shook his head.
"Frankly, I just want to go to bed right now, YOU need medical help, and your
partner needs to change back or he'll be in big trouble. Let's just wait for
five more minutes and then go." The rest sighed, but complied.
It was four and a half minutes before the green Saber, carrying the
rescued blue Saber, came back and said that they were done here.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
===================
Sylia regained consciousness quietly, not opening her eyes. Her body
felt like it was upright, arms stretched out to either side and legs pointed
downwards. She was still in her hardsuit, minus her helmet, but by minutely
moving her limbs found that it was either immobilized or nonfunctional.
Sadly, she was noticed.
"Ah. I see you have finally awakened, Sylia. Good."
That voice! Sylia thought, shocked, and immediately opened her eyes to
see a familiar figure standing and smiling in front of her. "Largo," she
acknowledged him neutrally. "So you were not fully destroyed."
The silver-haired man smiled mockingly and shook his head. "Sylia,
Sylia, Sylia... How can mortals like yourself truly kill a god?"
The corners of her lips twitched upwards. "By deleting all his backups?"
Largo angrily narrowed his eyes. Sylia finally looked around and wondered
what was going on.
Her helmet was positioned near her feet at the base of the metal cross
she was attached to. Crucified? she sighed mentally in disgust at the
melodrama. She saw Nene, still unconscious, in a similar position to her own
on another cross beside her. The crosses were on a raised platform on one end
of a large room. There was a huge metal door on her right. Two other figures
working behind a bank of machines by the left wall caught her attention for
she recognized both. One was Dr. Miriam, the mad scientist who had attacked
ADPolice HQ with his Boomers but had escaped police hands;she had wondered
where he had gone. The other was the beautiful woman who had identified
herself as 'Yanda' before Nene and Sylia had been knocked unconscious.
Largo noticed her interest. "My vassals," he said, waving at the busy
duo. "The man was quite useful once he realized the beauty of my grand
design."
"And the woman?"
"She was originally an experiment; I had little resources to start with
so it was time to activate her." Largo smiled thinly. "Yanda is...most
efficient, and she recruited the good doctor for me."
"Where are my other friends, Largo? What are you up to?" Sylia demanded.
Largo laughed in true amusement.
"Priss, she who loathes feeling helpless, has become the bait for an
amusing diversion. Your other...friend I let go to deliver a message for me."
"Diversion? Message?"
"All part of the game. You see....I have a score to settle with the one
who destroyed my last incarnation." He turned to her and smiled a cruel smile
that did not reach his eyes.
"With the Crystal Knight."
Twister's armoured form became visible when he turned off the cloaking
option in his suit. He stood in front of the gate to what appeared to be some
kind of old Genom testing facility for Boomers. Likely shut down when further
Boomer development was banned, at least for the public's benefit. Secret ones
likely existed elsewhere; that was like Genom.
The first Boomers were even more unstable than the modern ones of today,
Twister thought, which means the place is probably heavily armoured. His
musing was disrupted when the gate opened with a grating sound.
"Great. Upgraded haunted house. Just perfect," he sighed. Despite his
misgivings, he entered the building. There wasn't much choice until he found
out more about the place. Speaking of which...
Normally Twister wouldn't scan with his telekinesis over a wide area if
he could help it, but anything he found would be useful.
He started probing.
Dr. Miriam grinned evilly. "I'm getting a reading!" he crowed.
"He's being cautious, but we will get more out of what he does than he,"
Yanda commented by his side.
Sylia overheard this and was puzzled by their remarks.
Largo smiled up at her. "Our guest has arrived, and the trap is
prepared. Now the play begins!"
"You're mad," Sylia said. Largo raised an eyebrow.
"Wait and see, my dear Sylia. Wait and see."
What the heck?!?
There were LARGE sections of the building he could not 'see' with his
telekinesis. Somehow, something was interfering with his scans. It didn't
feel like much, but it was just enough to 'blind' him like a cloth over the
eyes. Largo had done his homework this time, and he obviously knew that the
Crystal Knight was psionic. But where did he get the technology?
Another door opened ahead of him and he had to move on.
Miriam frowned in annoyance. "He's stopped."
"Likely discovered the 'blind spots' we've created. They won't interfere
with his abilities much; he just can't sense anything beyond a few feet."
"I haven't had nearly enough time to isolate what we need," Miriam
complained.
"You'll get plenty of opportunity in a few more minutes."
Dr. Miriam furrowed his brow. "What?"
"You haven't heard this part of what's planned." Yanda smiled at him.
"It's a surprise."
Miriam frowned, but turned back to his instruments. If the woman wanted
to play games that was fine with him, but she'd better be right.
Twister was finally led into a spacious staging area that had been used
to pit Boomer against Boomer in order to test their effectiveness. The way in
had been through a huge and thickly armoured door, slamming shut behind him.
Each wall had one of the immense doors, but it was the far wall that caught
his attention. Beyond the far wall was where one of the 'dead' zones was, so
did the walls on either side, but there was a large vid-screen newly
installed high on that wall. He walked towards it, and when he reached the
middle of the testing area the screen flashed into life, displaying the
architect of all this.
Largo.
The incarnation of Brian Mason smiled. "Welcome, Crystal Knight. It's a
pleasure to see you again, despite our last encounter."
"Too bad it wasn't that. Last, I mean."
"Oh no," Largo disagreed. "I planned too far ahead for that."
"That's obvious. All right, Largo," Twister called out as he raised his
voice, "if you wanted to fight me again, why did you capture the Knight
Sabers? Let them go."
"Oh, I do want to fight you, Crystal Knight. That is a certainty."
Largo's smile was not something Twister was pleased to see. "I've deduced you
have some protective feelings towards my first foes and to ensure your coming
I brought them here." The screen split in two, one with Largo and the other
showing Sylia and Nene hanging helplessly in their hardsuits, but without
their helmets to make them plainly identifiable. Sylia was awake but Nene was
still out. "But," Largo went on, "I want to test you first."
"Test me?" Twister didn't like the sound of that. He saw Largo glance
off-screen, likely signalling someone else unseen. A second later, he heard
the sound of large doors opening to either side of him, and what was behind
them....
Boomers.
A LOT of Boomers.
Oh. Boy.
He stopped counting at thirty and that was just with the 55-C's he saw.
There were older models as well, probably from here and reactivated, but also
BU-12 combat Boomers with their bazooka arms and dual rockets. Organic-
looking Boomers were included as well; humans, like the way Steelfist had
been converted, except they didn't ACT like humans, they looked Boomer to the
core. Twister frowned; Boomers could have their memories erased, and Largo
seemed to have done just that. They weren't remotely human any longer.
"You call this a test?" he said, anger at what Largo had done making his
tone icy. "The numbers are a little uneven." Largo looked mock-thoughtful.
"Then perhaps I should provide incentive." He walked up to the helpless
Knight Sabers and the dual screen became one again. "Defeat my Boomers, get
though the door in front of you, and then you can fight me to save your
friends." Nene choose that moment to groggily regain consciousness, she
became wide awake when she saw Largo. "Ah, my other caged bird has finally
awakened," he commented with a cruel smile.
"S-Sylia, what's going on?" the hacker nervously whispered.
"Stay calm, Nene, everything will be all right," Sylia said calmly.
"Will they?" Largo replied, and without any warning whatsoever, lifted
his hand towards the helpless red-head. Nene had just enough time to widen
her eyes before a wave of force left his hand....
...and punched a hole through her forehead.
"NENE!!" Sylia screamed in disbelief and horror as her friend's head
jerked backwards, then slowly rolled forward, lifeless.
Unconcerned with her reaction, Largo turned back to address the Crystal
Knight, who had seen it all. "As you see, you had best hurry before I tire of
Sylia. Shall we begin?"
Twister was absolutely silent, his helmet fixed on the image of Nene.
The Boomers had surrounded him and were waiting for their master's command,
but Crystal Knight appeared to care less about them now.
Largo peered from at the Knight from the screen. "Oh? Did you like that
one? That's a disappointment; I would have chosen Sylia instead if I had
known. Oh, well. That's life."
Twister turned from looking at the lifeless Nene, to Largo. The black
crystal visor on the Knight's helmet slowly revealed two glowing blue orbs
for eyes. And the Knight finally spoke.
"Largo..."
The power-mad, silver haired android had to pause when he heard the
Knight say his name, so did Miriam and Yanda, and even Sylia stopped crying.
The voice that had spoken was distorted as usual, but this time there was ...
SOMETHING behind it that suggested a coldness beyond even what an emotionless
computer was capable of, and far more deadly. In her grief, Sylia knew Largo
had crossed a line that he probably shouldn't have. She knew fairly well what
Twister could do when angered, and she wasn't sure what she should feel about
now considering what had provoked such a reaction. The Crystal Knight spoke
again in that same unnerving manner.
"You will die." It was a statement of a fact that WOULD happen.
Largo wasted no more words. "Begin!" he ordered his Boomers.
One 55-C started the attack first and leaped straight for the
crystalline figure. The armour made no move to avoid the devastating punch
the Boomer was about to unleash.
And the android stopped in mid-air a few feet in front of its target.
The other Boomers hesitated for a moment while the Boomer found it
couldn't move, and the Knight was still as immobile as a statue. Therefore,
the Boomer opened its mouth to reveal the hidden particle cannon and...never
got the chance to fire. For the Knight's glowing eyes had flared and the
Boomer was flung helplessly towards the large vid-screen. It began to melt
from the sheer telekinetic force Twister had flung at the android, its
molecules given enough energy to flow freely. By the time it impacted on the
screen, it was little more than a flaming fireball. The monitor shattered and
exploded along with the hapless Boomer that had been decimated by the Knight.
Yanda saw the destruction of the Boomer and screen and turned to Dr.
Miriam, who was gaping at the sight. "I suggest you pay attention to your
instruments so we can safely proceed with the plan," she advised.
He stared at her for a moment, then turned to his panel and frantically
continued the task he was striving to accomplish.
And from what he had seen, he had better succeed damn fast.
It was total war in the Boomer testing set.
Seeing the demise of the first Boomer, the others attacked the
crystalline armoured form en masse, and thus did the carnage began for
Twister blurred into action. He was in constant motion, for with all the
firepower being aimed at him to stand still would have been suicide. All the
while his eyes glowed a cold blue.
The first wave met glowing diamond swords created from the carbon in the
air, and the preternaturally sharp blades cut deep with psi-enhanced strength
backing their deadly arcs. And the machines found they couldn't swarm him; he
just jumped up out of the onrush and came back down before the others could
fire on him, carving more lessons into Boomer armour. When the Boomers drew
back, he stood unharmed and surrounded by the corpses of twelve or so
androids.
Then the cybernetic AI's played smarter, seeing pure brute force would
not work; Boomers could be persistent in the attack, but even they knew
something needed to be changed when they were losing this badly. So they
spread out and began firing from a distance, moving constantly and staying
away those swords.
They needn't have worried about that; Twister knew that without massed
targets the swords weren't worth draining energy from himself. Besides, he
needed his hands free to help dodge the barrage of incoming fire from the
masses of Boomers. Bullets were an annoyance, the occasional heat blast was
helpfully absorbed into his armour, but the shells from the BU-12's and the
particle beams licking close to where he had been split seconds before were
the real threats. There were simply too many Boomers to dodge forever, and
indeed, a bazooka blast finally caught him, jarring and slowing him enough to
get hit in the foot with a particle blast. The armour was tough, and had a
minor force field to add to its durability, but the beam was strong enough to
shatter the front part with a sound of breaking ice and cracking the area
where the heel was. Shards bit into the reddened foot revealed and blood
flowed.
Normally, Twister would have flinched, and that would have been fatal at
this time. But with icy rage he ignored the pain, sparing enough
concentration on ejecting the diamond shards from his foot, even though they
were slowly becoming carbon dust. He cooly decided it was time to strike
back.
On his next leap, wary of the damaged but slowly regenerating boot, he
spun and began his offensive. "Double C-Sphere," he ordered. His armour
reacted to the command and in each cupped hand shining orbs appeared. Which
he tossed with calculated accuracy at his inhuman opponents, damaging a
combat Boomer with one and tossing back two converted humans with the other.
Twister bounded off a semi-destroyed wall of one of the mock-up
buildings, directly towards a pair of Boomers still trying to machine gun
him. Hands pointed at the heads of the cyberdroids, he attacked again,
mentally commanding his suit this time. On each hand, five red beams of light
were emitted from the fingers and were concentrated into a single intense
beam of coherent light. The ruby shafts lanced through the Boomers' heads
after a half-second of burning armour, insulation, and digital brain matter.
He stopped firing immediately when they punched through; the lasers drained
the armour a considerable degree.
Then he was slammed to the floor by a force from above. Three Boomers
had hidden on the roofs of the buildings and had leaped on him while he was
focused on lasering the now-destroyed Boomers. His precedence always warned
him in life-threatening instances, but these had not attacked with lethal
force. Two gripped his arms in arm locks, making sure they were immobile and
unable to aim weapons or use swords. The one on his legs wrapped its arms
around his limbs to prevent struggling. The other Boomers stopped firing,
thinking he was caught, and took a step forwards.
Foolish, he thought clinically, I don't NEED to move.
An intense fireball, pyrokinetic in origin, exploded outwards with the
Crystal Knight and the three startled Boomers in the center, blowing back the
others who had started to advance.
"Impressive," Largo observed as he watched the monitor, "for a human. He
certainly displays a great deal more skill and power when properly
motivated," he told Sylia, smiling cruelly. The elder Stingray was not
amused.
"I'd destroy you myself if I could," Sylia said fiercely, the heavy
sorrow over Nene's death pushed aside, leaving behind a burning resolution to
obliterate the silver-haired evil fixed in her sights. "But I think the
Knight will do that long before I get the chance. He's easily tearing through
that army of Boomers you've gathered against him because you've enraged him
to the point where he's fighting without moral restraint. WHY?!" she
demanded.
"My dear, he still has a formidable force left against him; it still
remains to be seen whether or not he will succeed. And if he does..." Largo
smiled as he turned back to the carnage unfolding on the screen, "all the
better."
Sylia stared at him in disbelief; was he mad??
Over by the control panels, Yanda watched the monitor with an odd and
unreadable expression on her face. To Miriam, she asked, "Is it done?"
"Almost!" he replied with eagerness in his voice. "He is using his
abilities at a low level to increase his physical attributes, but when he
uses them to a greater degree, like that fireball, I have considerable
progress finding the key we need. One more use of that sort and we'll be
ready!" he crowed.
"Excellent," she replied absently, absorbed on the display.
Twister rushed out of the smoky crater, determined to finish this fight
quickly so he could confront Largo. As with the lasers, he again commanded
his armour to activate one of the two weapons he had not used yet since its
creation. The raised portions of his armour with the openings were there for
a reason, and a Boomer found out why when they unleashed a massive volley of
what was best described as energy bullets, hitting it in mid-torso.
They did no damage for a second, at least until the energy density
building in the Boomer's armour and internal workings passed their ability to
contain the destructive forces and imploded violently. The Boomer became a
tightly compacted ball and swallowed a fellow Boomer's arm in the bargain. It
was weapon developed so that if a human were to be hit by a few of the
'bullets' then no harm would come to them as the energy dissipated rapidly in
matter. However, past a certain point... Again, it was another energy
intensive weapon and as a result Twister's armour started to gain weight.
***DANGER!!!***
Time slowed down as perceptions accelerated in response to the
precognitive warning. Four Boomers had co-ordinated together were firing
their mouth-mounted particle cannons in such a manner as to entrap the
Crystal Knight in a cage of blue annihilation. To be closed with lethal
results. The beams were rushing towards him and there was not enough time for
a leap. Despite the situation, Twister still did not wish to teleport, it was
an ace to be played only in a dire emergency when there were no other options
available.
And there was one for this assault.
Matter is energy, energy is matter. Manipulate one, and you can do the
same with the other. Focusing on the incoming beams, Twister concentrated
intensely as they came closer... closer... come ON... closer... MOVE!!! And
slowly, the beams began to curve.
In normal time, one saw the blue shafts stab towards the black and
silver figure, certainly about to strike dead on. Then they crazily angled
away a half meter's distance from him, missing him completely and incidently
destroying another Boomer. That was an accident, however beneficial to
Twister, who had not aimed the beams. With all the Boomers in the area there
had been a good chance an android would be hit.
The effort had been very tiring, but there was no time to rest.
"That's it! I've got the frequency!" Miriam shouted triumphantly. He
reached out to push a button on the panel, but a slim, yet strong, female
hand stopped him. Somewhat angrily, the scientist glared at Yanda. "What...?"
"Patience, Doctor," she chided him. "We have to wait for the right
moment. Which is not yet. You ARE sure it will work?"
"It worked perfectly on the other one," he replied, yanking back his
hand and rubbing it; the woman had a strong grip. "And it will work again."
"Very well." Turning to face Largo she called out, "It is ready."
Largo turned from the monitor at this, and considered the news. "Good,
then I should speed things up." He did not touch a control, but when he spoke
his voice was echoed in the Boomer test chamber.
"Enough delay! Finish him!"
The still-numerous Boomers in the chamber paused as they digested the
new command. Twister, on the other hand, felt renewed wrath upon hearing the
once dead, and soon to be dead again, man's voice.
"Finish...or BE finished?" he stated coldly to his enemies. "This ends
now. FROST!!!!!" he bellowed as loud as he could. And as the Boomers began to
advance, something peculiar began to transpire. One was that the temperature
in the spacious room started to drop for no visible reason, nothing major,
but it steadily continued. The second was that frost WAS beginning to form on
the Crystal Knight armour.
As the mass of firing Boomers rushed him, Twister cut loose with his
suit's weapons; the process had begun so he could afford to, wasting energy
would only minorly slow it. Lasers scythed across the Boomers, melting
armour, punctuated by exploding spheres and implosions.
The temperature passed -10 Celsius and continued to plummet.
Twister retreated towards the only door that hadn't opened, where Largo
awaited no doubt. What he was about to do would be devastating and he had to
face away from that door. His frosty armour, normally black, was starting to
lose that light-absorbing color and was becoming a riot of multi-faceted hues
that glittered luminously. When he moved, he sparkled.
Temperature -40 and dropping.
His lasers were going full time, along with his energy bullets, but it
couldn't stop the fact that his suit was slowly becoming brighter. Now the
frost was starting to melt from the radiant energy of the suit. Around him,
Boomers were starting to notice the temperature drop at last; the surrounding
area was turning white from precipitating moisture. His shattered boot had
long regenerated from the excess energy that was quickly making the armor too
bright to watch.
Now!
With a great leap, he arced high over the ground and landed right in
front of his enemy's door, then turned to face the mass of Boomers following
him. Placing arms and legs into an X formation, he roared, "FIRE!!!"
Twister's second diamond-based suit was essentially a magical heat sink.
Normally, it limited its normal passive energy storage because if lasers
should hit it extra room was needed to absorb and store the excess energy.
The FrostFire attack changed that in two ways: in that mode the armour
ACTIVELY gathered heat energy, and had no limits on gathering it. The only
way to stop it was to release ALL the armour's energy, save a little to
sustain the armour's integrity, and throw it at the enemy.
The armour could hold a lot of power.
Upon his command, energy streamed from all of the armour's plates,
gathering in a globe of writhing malestromic hunger and eager to burn all in
its way. Still drawing life from that which had created it, the four foot
plasma ball rocketed towards its prey, trailing tendrils of energy behind in
its wake. The alarmed Boomers dodged out of its way, but not far enough. Not
nearly far enough.
A small portion of hell erupted in their midst.
The flare of light burned out the camera's optics, but what had happened
was clear.
"I suppose we should prepare for my guest," Largo commented in the
stunned silence.
Twister studied the destruction he had caused. Quite a few of the
structures in the chamber had either collapsed or been blown away. Most of
the Boomers caught near the blast had melted into unrecognizable shapes,
those further away had been hit so badly they had become non-functional.
There had been one or two that had survived semi-intact, but he had dealt
with them.
Doing that had turned part of his arm armour into diamond dust. His
protective suit had not escaped the strains of firing his weapon of last
resort and was wavering between reconstitution and collapse. Turning, feeling
parts of his brittle armour creak, and even rip or crack, he faced the door
that stood between him and Largo. It was the same as the others he had seen
open to the chamber; large, massive, and very, very thick. Little chance
using his suit at the moment to open it.
He tried his psi-senses, but there was that field blocking them again
and it JUST protected the door. He was unsure he could just rip it open with
TK. He tried melting a portion, but the time it took to get it just to
cherry-red was too long. He even tried Mindfire and...metal flowed.
What??
Once more with Mindfire, and again metal parted like liquid mercury. In
more normal circumstances Twister would have been very surprised, but now,
seeing a way to get in, he merely gathered a large ball of Mindfire and threw
it into the depression. It tunnelled through the thick door, waves of blue
fire radiating outwards and taking away layers of armour with them. It would
soon break through.
Soon....
Then Largo would die.
The glow on the door was the first indication of the Knight's arrival.
Then the light brightened and an opening appeared in the barrier. Like
melting wax the metal flowed open, eventually making a passageway large
enough to stride through. And someone with glowing blue eyes did just that.
"Ah, my armour-clad foe, welcome at last," Largo said, standing by
Sylia's helpless form. "I hope you weren't too disappointed with your
opponents."
The Knight said nothing, only lifted a hand where a sharp-looking sword
appeared, burning with a wintry blue fire that flickered along the diamond
blade. Fortunately, his armour was in slightly better shape now so nothing
shattered on his arm.
"No words? Pity. I've grown to love those speeches before fights blood
enemies seem to thrive on. However..." He snapped his fingers.
Dr. Miriam, unnoticed by the Knight, pressed the button he had been
waiting to push. He felt quite satisfied with the results; the Knight's blade
was extinguished and then disintegrated.
"A fight is more interesting if the playing field is evened in my
favor," Largo finished with an evil smirk.
Twister lifted his armoured hand and regarded it. He tried to use his
psionics, but found that he couldn't get them to stir. "Damping field," he
concluded flatly.
"Very good." Largo applauded politely. "While you were fighting, the
good doctor and my assistant searched for your particular psi-frequency. You
cannot use psionics while the inhibiter field is attuned to you."
Flexing a hand, Twister felt the armour was almost back in shape, but
Largo noticed the action.
"And I have not gone to all this trouble just to see you try to blast me
with that unusual armour you wear. Take it off," Largo pointed a hand in
Sylia's direction, "or there will be another Saber to die." The Knight was
still for a moment, then nodded slowly and darkness surrounded him. When it
faded, a figure in a motorcycle outfit and helmet stood before the power-mad
android. "Unusual method for removing a hardsuit," Largo commented, raising
an eyebrow.
"A friend helped me make it," Twister's normal voice shot back coldly.
Both silver-haired android's eyebrows shot up this time. "Indeed? I
suspect I know who... But no matter. Take off your helmet. I wish to see your
face."
"What does that matter to a dead Boomer?"
Largo sighed dramatically. "Very well, perhaps if I offer some hope?
Yanda?" he queried. The blonde woman nodded and pushed a button. A large
section of wall behind Sylia lifted into the ceiling and a second later the
biggest Boomer Twister had ever seen stepped out holding something, no,
someONE...
"NENE!?!" Twister shouted disbelievingly. And it did look like the red-
head in her softsuit, struggling helplessly in the big Boomer's two handed
grip.
She saw him and hope flared in her eyes, "Twister! What are you doing
here?!" The use of his name extinguished the coldness in his chest; it was
Nene all right.
"How touching. You DO know each other," Largo remarked as the Boomer
stepped around the crucifixes allowing Nene a full view.
"Sylia! You're all right! I..." Her next sentence died in her throat
when she saw what looked like herself in her hardsuit, but with a hole in the
forehead! "W-what's going on?" she asked shakily.
"I wanted the Crystal Knight," he paused, "sorry, Twister here to be in
a fighting mood so I switched you with an android double that I had handy and
pretended to kill you." Largo smiled at the horrified Nene. "And it worked
satisfyingly well."
"That's HORRIBLE!!"
"Thank you." He turned to Twister. "Your helmet?"
Twister shrugged; it wouldn't matter much to show his face, and he was
relieved Nene was alive. He lifted the helmet off his head and placed it on
the ground. "Satisfied?" he asked.
Largo was surprised. "A teenager?? A TEENAGER?!?" he demanded.
"What, is that a problem?" The brown haired young man smiled wryly. "Ah
well, 'tis sad to disappoint ye." Largo narrowed his eyes angrily. "If I
defeat you, as you've apparently been itching to fight me all night, the
Sabers and I get to go. Fair?"
Largo's answer was to point his hand in the psionist's direction and
fired one of his force bolts, but Twister was already in the air, arcing
towards the reincarnated android. Dropping down near his opponent, Twister
rushed the hyperboomer, knowing that hesitating would prove fatal with this
adversary. He had fought Largo before, but he had had the element of surprise
then and with Sylia and Nene in not very good positions he couldn't afford to
pull his punches. Even without psi-boosting he was quicker than an ordinary
human being, a fact that likely allowed him to be able to get a free punch
in. Focusing his ki in his fist as much as he could, the strike streaked
towards a surprised Largo's head, and connected.
The results were surprising.
Metal crumpled as false flesh gave way to the irresistible force of his
fist. It continued inward halfway, crushing the manufactured brain inside the
braincase, before the momentum of Twister's hand finally transferred itself
to the stricken android's body. The head shot off the hand that had crushed
it, dragging the body below it for a distance for a few feet before the whole
lifeless mess fell to the ground. Twister stood in shock, withdrawing his
hand back as it dripped Boomer fluids.
"What?" he said numbly. "How...? My punch should've only knocked him
back at best the way he was built last time, not destroy him!"
"That is correct," a female voice said.
Everyone focused their attention on Yanda, who had spoken, she in turn
was intently looking at Twister.
"What do you mean?" the psionist asked.
Yanda smiled. "That was not the true Largo, only a duplicate installed
with a weaker form of force projector to make it look like he was. No, that
imitation was not him." Her next words were the biggest surprise yet.
"_I_ am Largo."
Chapter Forty
=============
The room was silent as Twister stood above the destroyed android they
had all thought was Largo. Sylia cursed mentally for not realizing it; the
fake had acted less superior than the previous Largo, a fact she had
attributed to the shock of being defeated once. But neither had she suspected
the female Yanda to be Largo's next incarnation. Something strange was going
on here.
Yanda came around the equipment she had been standing behind as Dr.
Miriam gaped stupidly at her; this was news to him too.
"I am Largo," she repeated, then reconsidered her words. "Or at least I
am the newest reincarnation of Brian Mason." She eyed the surprised Twister
as she came closer. "Admittedly, you are younger than I had thought, but
nevertheless, I am pleased."
"Pardon?" Twister wondered if he had heard that right.
"You've passed my test."
"Test?!?" Nene demanded incredulously in the huge Boomer's grip, still
unnerved at seeing herself, admittedly a fake in her hardsuit, with a hole in
her forehead. "This has all been a TEST??"
"Yes," Yanda said, confirming it. "Perhaps I should elaborate. You see,
when Largo was destroyed his death activated a revival procedure. But this
had been ill-prepared, for Largo had begun to think himself invulnerable and
started other plans before building another body for himself. He was a God,
why should he bother? But he left several test androids of himself and they
had no choice but to resurrect Largo, no matter what form he wore.
"You see, my current body WAS an experiment. Designed to be a 'mate' for
him and Sylia to be the mind engraved into it." Sylia looked like she didn't
appreciate the honour. "The androids first loaded Mason's brain engrams, but
I woke up before they could download Largo's memories.
"I was enraged. They tried to explain, but I had them wipe their
programming and not being fully sentient they complied. So then I was left
with three android look-alikes of what I had expected to look like, and HAD,
but stuck in this female form...and its hardware-burned imperatives.
"The most compelling was to find a worthy mate, and obey him."
Twister's eyes widened as he started to realize what she was driving at.
"You don't mean..." he began, but trailed off. Yanda tossed her hair back
with a sigh.
"The parameters Largo placed in my body demanded my mate be a superior
life form, and that it possessed certain strengths and qualities. Supposedly,
that life form was to have been Largo, who was destroyed." Yanda smiled at
the irony. "However, I watched Largo's memory tapes to understand what had
happened, and drew a conclusion: he had been mentally unfit to be my mate,
and by his own standards yet!
"I now faced the same dilemma the androids which had activated me had
faced. I needed a mate, so I decided to create one."
"Understand this, I knew what happened to Mason, and saw what Largo did.
A serious self-examination showed I needed to change or else face the same
insanity Largo fell into. That meant accepting this form, which I have. And
now, as you have seen, I am quite different from either of my predecessors,
if I have to obey my mate then I will. But if my mate is of my design and of
a similar will then I will be happy for we will desire the same things.
"So Dr. Miriam and I created nanomachines, based on Dr. Stingray's
work."
She took out a vial from a coat pocket and tossed it to Twister, who
cautiously grabbed it. He was starting to get a bad feeling about all this.
"The vial you hold contains an improved version of the nanites used to
change humans to Boomers. It will preserve your mental abilities while
changing you into a hyperboomer similar to what Largo had been. Then you will
be my perfect mate and I will have to obey you, but you will also be devoted
to me."
"And if I don't?" Twister asked her, dubiously holding the vial.
"Then it would be a pity to lose such talented humans as your friends."
"... I guess I don't have much choice." Before Sylia or Nene could
shout, his fist tightened and the vial shattered, slicing his palm and
releasing the nanites into his system.
Across town, a pair of scaly-lidded eyes blinked open...
...and glowed.
Yanda smiled when she saw the brown-haired young man wince seconds after
the vial was broken. Sylia kept a neutral expression, but Nene looked on with
horror. "The nanites have begun their work," she observed, pleased that her
plans were coming to fruitation at last. It was pity the process needed to go
much slower than the ordinary conversion process, she thought, but a
hyperboomer needed precision work.
Twister ground his teeth together; his hand felt like it was on fire!
Dr. Miriam frowned as he observed what his scanners were telling him.
"The nanites are slowing down," he told the woman, who was the person he was
actually working for all this time. He'd jumped at the opportunity to
experiment with the nanites; the lure of becoming a powerful Boomer and
gaining near-immortality had been too great to resist. Miriam would be his
own best creation!
Surprised, Yanda whirled to face him. "What? Why?" she demanded. Behind
her, Twister gasped in relief as the pain lessened to more manageable levels.
Blinking, Miriam studied his readings more carefully. "His physiology is
different than what the nanites were programmed to deal with. A normal scan
doesn't show it, but when I try more detailed readings I find abnormalities.
Stronger skeletal structure, differently constructed muscles, more efficient
immune system..." Miriam looked up, surprise in his eyes. "I don't think he's
human."
"Oh, you really want to make me feel better, don't you?" Twister said,
grimacing at the pain. "So I had an accident a while ago that changed my
body. Normal occurrence, absolutely bloody normal."
"What sort of 'accident' was this?" Yanda said neutrally, turning back
to him.
"The sort that alters your body and gives you psionic powers." He
shrugged. "At the time I didn't have much choice in the matter."
"When did this..." Yanda began, but her attention was drawn by something
that zipped into the room using the hole Twister had made earlier. It
fluttered to a stop and perched onto the startled psionist's shoulder.
"Char?!?" Twister exclaimed in surprise. "How did you get here??" The
miniature red dragon chirped happily and settled down more securely.
"What is that?" the blonde pseudo-sexaroid/hyperboomer demanded.
Feeling better with Charcoal's arrival, Twister grinned. "A pet of
another red-headed friend of mine who might be nearby." And closer than you
think, he thought with rising humour.
Yanda frowned. "That store owner? I'd received some disturbing reports
about her. She should've been disabled, at least for one night," she
muttered, pondering this new development.
With his psi-powers nullified, Twister had been wondering how to free
Sylia and Nene, but now the dragon provided a solution. "If you find her
disturbing, this ought to be downright distressing. Char!" The mini-wyrm
looked at him curiously. "Free Nene and Sylia and destroy that Boomer!!" He
nodded his head to indicate the trapped Sabers.
Miriam scoffed at that announcement. "How can that thing...?" The
scientist's mouth dropped open when, after launching from the psionist's
shoulder, Charcoal enlarged enormously in mid-flight. The gigantic Boomer
Miriam had created dropped Nene so it could use its arms to defend itself as
the red dragon ploughed into it with a deafening roar. The freed red-head
scrambled frantically out of the way away from the two behemoths, heading for
Sylia. Yanda began to lift an arm her way.
"I don't think so!" Twister shouted, leaping forwards at his true foe.
She blocked his kick with both arms, but fell back as she hadn't been fully
ready to defend.
"The nanites are in your system now. There is no point in resisting me!"
Yanda shouted, responding with a barrage of punches aimed more at knocking
him out than killing him.
"Lady, you don't know me very well, do you?" Twister smiled grimly as he
brought his hands up in front of him. Fighting the pain, he summoned his ki.
His nanite-infected hand throbbed intensely, but he continued gathering power
and a globe of energy appeared between his hands. "MOUKO TAKABISHA!!" he
shouted, throwing his ki at the startled Yanda.
The blue beam hit her with stunning force and she flew back towards
Miriam, who quickly ducked to avoid being hit, crashing into panels hard
enough to leave an impression in the metal. She fell to the floor before
rising to shake her head; while she was much stronger than a sexaroid, she
was not built nearly as well as her former self. Her chosen mate obviously
had more than psionic power at his command, and whatever he had used had
jarred and/or damaged a few of her systems. The setting was too uncertain
now, she decided, best to retreat now and try again later.
Yanda got up and ran out a small door that had been well hidden and
unnoticed, Miriam following at her heels.
"Sonofa..." Quickly, Twister looked to see how the others were doing
before pursuing. Nene had found a release mechanism for the holds on Sylia
and had freed her. The white hardsuit was opened on the ground while Sylia
was quickly trying to reconnect the power supply. Nene, looking slightly
nauseous, was taking her double out of her red suit. The battle between Char
and the giant Boomer continued, more of a wrestling match actually, but it
looked like the red wyrm was gaining the advantage. Personally, Twister was
amazed the Boomer was standing up to his creation and wondered if Char was
playing with the thing. He started to go after the two criminals who had
fled, but Sylia's voice made him pause.
"Are you well enough to go after them?"
Twister held up his hand to check it. It looked different, paler than it
should have been, and the pain was starting to travel up his arm. Still
manageable, but barely. "I'm fine," he replied to answer her, and it actually
wasn't too far from the truth. "I have to stop them or else they'll get away
and do even more damage sometime later."
Sylia nodded. "I'll try to find that damper keeping you from using your
powers."
Twister nodded, and then ran out of the room.
"And be careful," Sylia added quietly.
He ran down a hallway and came across an area that looked like the two's
main working area from all the equipment strewn about. A sound that came from
a certain direction gave him a clue as to where his prey had fled and the
psionist sprinted down the hallway from which it had come. He came across an
open door and rushed inside, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight
that greeted him. It wasn't the fact that Miriam and Yanda were in the room;
it was the struggling, purple-haired person gagged and strapped naked to a
metal table that shocked him.
Madagan!
Of course, he thought grimly, they would have needed a test subject for
whatever they had used to nullify his power, and the purple-haired Genom
executive would have been perfect. How they had found out about her powers
was unknown, but he wouldn't wish being a test subject for Miriam on anyone.
>From the burning look she gave the doctor, Twister felt that she had plenty
to pay back for what he had done to her.
On hearing him enter, Yanda fled out the room's second door. Miriam
tried to follow, but the door slammed shut and would not open again. Madagan
stopped her struggling on seeing Twister's arrival, but didn't know him and
warily watched from her helpless position. From a pocket, Miriam pulled out
some kind of device and whirled to face the male psionist.
"Stop right there, Crystal Knight, or I'll kill this woman!" the
scientist shouted, sweat forming on his brow.
Twister could visibly see the shock and amazement on Madagan's face when
she realized who had come after her tormentors; this was the first time she
had seen his male face. "And how would ye do that?" he asked the doctor.
"There is a device implanted in her brain. One push of this button and
it will activate. It is located by the pain center and once on it will
produce unending agony." Twister digested this, taking note of the rage in
Madagan's eyes, indicating the man had likely used it at least once before.
"You seem to like inflicting pain," Twister observed, holding up his
hand that was obviously different so that Madagan could see. "Torturing
women, changing humans to Boomers, or at least trying to in my case." The
Genom exec's eyes widened again as she realized what the hand meant.
"Kidnapping Madagan to test the psi-damper, or whatever you call it, before
you used it on me? How are you damping us both?" He put emphasis on the 'how'
and 'both'.
"We used a smaller prototype," Miriam gloated, completely missing the
direction Madagan jerked her head, towards a blocky machine with a few
glowing lights. "A larger one was made for you, being more powerful than
she."
"READY, weren't we?" Twister said offhandedly as Miriam slid across the
far wall. Madagan tensed.
"We were, and everything would have gone perfectly if that blasted
creature hadn't shown up!"
"You mean the one on the floor you're about to bump into?"
"What?!" Panicked, the doctor looked down.
A fatal mistake. Twister had been gathering himself and didn't waste the
chance. He forgo the shouting of his ki move, and blasted the machine he knew
to be the psi-damper for Madagan to bits. Miriam was momentarily shocked, but
still managed to press the dreaded button, expecting his captive to start
screaming.
Instead, she began to glow.
"I imagine she managed to burn out your little device," Twister said
quietly.
Horrified, Miriam tried to run, but was slammed into the wall by an
unseen hand. The bonds trapping the purple-haired woman snapped open and the
gag flew apart. Freed and glowing an angry yellow, Madagan slipped off the
table and stood like a vengeful spirit.
"So." She regarded her rescuer neutrally. "I finally see your face,
Crystal Knight."
"Aye, and this is the second time you've wound up without thy garments
as well." He said that more to confirm his identity than for humor's sake; he
wasn't feeling very funny right then. She covered herself with her hands,
more out of reflex than modesty as she was too angry at Miriam to care much
about dignity at the moment.
"You turned away last time."
"I'm in a hurry," he replied tersely. "The door?"
She considered it, then nodded. The door opened at her silent command
and Twister started for it.
"No! You can't leave me here with her! She'll kill me!" Miriam pleaded.
The brown-haired young man paused before leaving, looked Madagan in the
eye and saw the burning fury directed at the doctor in them. He turned to
regard the scientist with a frosty gaze.
"Turnabout is fair play."
He passed through the door's opening and it slid shut behind him.
Madagan smiled thinly as she looked at the pale and heavily sweating
doctor.
The room was soundproofed, a fortunate fact.
Running down the passageway, Twister sighed at what he had done. He
couldn't have stopped Madagan anyway without psi, not that he had any desire
to guessing what had happened between her and Miriam. And the doctor knew the
faces, if not the identities, of the Knight Sabers.
It was extremely doubtful he would get the chance to reveal that
knowledge now.
He was heading into a more run-down section of tunnel and knew he was on
the right trail when he saw footprints made when Yanda had stepped in a
puddle caused by a leaky pipe.
Wait.
A puddle of... water?
"Going somewhere?"
Yanda stopped dead when she heard the angry female voice behind her.
Turning, she fired a force bolt from a hand, but the smaller figure behind
her dodged the blast. When she landed, Yanda saw it was the red-headed store
owner that she had sent that former Outrider leader against. And the young
woman looked seriously irritated. The blonde frowned; she was almost to her
planned exit and now this person had to find her. She kept her arm raised,
backing away as the other person slowly advanced.
"I hadn't hoped to meet you," she said.
"Oh, but _I_ did," Darlene bared her teeth in a small snarl. "Sending
Steelfist after me, kidnapping the Sabers, playing cat-and-mouse with
Twister, and other things like converting helpless humans into Boomers." She
took another step. Twister's change to Darlene had seriously confused the
nanites and a spell had destroyed them before they could do more damage. Her
hand was still messed up, and HURT, but as Twister she'd be able to fix that
later. Right now, she wasn't in a pleasant mood. "You're NOT getting away,
Yanda."
"I beg to differ with you, I am!" Yanda fired another, stronger bolt.
"Shield Field!" Darlene snapped out, and the blast impacted harmlessly
on the protecting spell, wavering the air around a circular area of calmness
centred on the mage. The blond pseudo-sexaroid stared in disbelief, backing
away slightly.
"This isn't going to be a grand battle, Yanda," Darlene proclaimed.
"You've pissed me off BIG time. I can't afford to destroy you, but neither
can I let you go." She frowned, then pointed a finger at her foe, who tensed.
"Kind Bind."
Threads shot out from the mage's finger in a wide pattern and whipped
around the startled blonde, who had jumped forwards only to be caught in the
onrush of the tough material. She snapped some of the threads, but more
entwined themselves around her. Arms, legs, eyes, mouth; all were being
wrapped with the whitish substance. Darlene stopped the flow when she saw
Yanda was too busy struggling to hinder her next spell.
The mage intoned:
"Thy limbs grow stiff,
Freedom has fled,
No buts or if,
Akin to the dead.
You can not stir,
Nor try to flee,
Like the chained cur,
Stay where you be."
"NO!" Yanda shouted as her struggles weakened; she found herself
stiffening! There was no reason for it, but she was finding it increasingly
difficult to move her body below the neck. She tried valiantly, but it was no
use; she found herself immobile in the threads that had critically detained
her.
Darlene walked over and stood above the helpless female, regarding her
catch of the day. "I'm tempted to go into clothing sales and use you as a
mannikin. You'd make a lovely one." She dispelled the threads and Yanda was
rid of the white bindings that were unnecessary now; the second spell was far
stronger.
"Let me go!" Yanda demanded.
"Not bloody likely," was the response. Darlene flipped the helpless
blonde over to prevent her from seeing what happened next; she wasn't above
some mischievousness. "All right, Knight, send her off," Darlene said before
activating the armour. When, as Twister, he was in the suit, he checked and
with some relief discovered Sylia had finally found the damper and turned it
off. His hand was immediately fixed as he Healed it, undoing the damage the
nanites had done to him.
"See you later, Yanda," his modulated voice said, and teleported her
away to his underground lair before he himself teleported to where the fake
Largo had been.
Sylia wasn't in the room, but Nene was at the controls that Yanda and
Miriam had been standing behind. She had suited up again and had her helmet
on. Still, he could almost see the antenna on her helmet perk up visibly when
she noticed his arrival.
"Twister!" Nene exclaimed, and rushed around the panel to give the
crystalline armoured figure a relieved hug. "You're okay!"
"Not for long," Twister wheezed, she had forgotten her suit's strength
augmentation and was hugging a little too firmly.
"Oh! Sorry," she said, abashed. "I was so worried! Sylia said you'd be
okay, but still..."
"I know." He looked at where he had last seen Char fighting the giant
Boomer. There were scraps and pieces but nothing more of either party. "How
did Charcoal do with that Boomer?"
"Ah... He...ate it," Nene answered, not without a little hesitation.
"Then disappeared." Twister snorted with amusement.
"Figures."
"Sylia took the...damaged android," the red-headed hacker understandably
didn't give the double of her any personal reference, "to dispose of it while
looking for the machine that was damping your powers. I traced all the
information in the system here and deleted everything, except other possible
locations where more data and/or materials could have been stored and copied
it before trashing that too."
"Great." The Crystal Knight took a last look around at the place, then
shook his head; so pointless. "We'd better go. Madagan is here, so tell Sylia
to hurry."
"Madagan?! Why??"
"They needed a test subject." Nene digested that information, and he
imagined her eyes widening. "Now she's free and is probably going to trash
the place. I know she's usually a calm thinker, but I have a bad feeling she
will make an exception in this case." He paused. "After she finishes with
Miriam."
Nene swallowed, and contacted Sylia who came back swiftly. Twister
teleported them out of there immediately.
Then he checked on the others.
"You mean you actually USED the homing lasers???" Twister said
disbelievingly after teleporting the group he'd met to his underground
cavern.
He'd found Linna, Priss, and Sylvie in the damaged D.D. near the
location they had set up to meet later. They had to; the D.D. was not
something easily carried around or left behind. Especially when the cloak he
had made for it was gone! Which was the reason for his amazed question after
Sylvie explained what had happened.
"I was just trying something I saw on an anime once!" he exclaimed. "I'm
not surprised you blew up the emitters. I never even set the computer to use
it, that's why I didn't mention it."
"How did the J-1 fire it then?" Sylvie demanded.
Twister ran a hand through his hair, and sighed with a bewildered shrug.
"I haven't a clue. Maybe the magic affected it somehow."
"Great," Priss said. "Remind me never to ride something YOU make." She
snickered at the warning fist he aimed in her direction.
"Watch it, Priss," he advised. "I'd get you tomorrow for that crack, but
I'll be busy getting ready so you're lucky."
The others paused, then looked at each other. "Ready for what?" Linna
asked curiously. Twister's face turned a little melancholy.
"I'm leaving this universe in two days," he explained quietly.
To say the others were stunned would be an understatement.
Chapter Forty-One
=================
"So you're really going?"
Darlene stopped her packing of what little she was going to take in a
large backpack and looked up at Nene, who appeared to be near tears. Her face
softened and she stood up to embrace Nene in a hug that the other red-head
reciprocated. "Hey, don't cry," she chastened. "I'll be back, pretty soon
thanks to the quirks of the way I'm travelling."
"I know," Nene sniffled as they separated. "I'm just worried that you'll
never come back."
"I'll be back. Count on it." The mage winked. "Then we'll REALLY turn
this city upside down." She smiled roguishly as Nene giggled. "Come on, the
others are waiting in the cave."
The rest of the minor packing was finished in a more lighthearted mood.
As Twister, he teleported them both to the huge underground hangar he
had accidently made two years ago. The rest of the Knight Sabers, Mackie, and
a seriously anxious Ryouga turned to them when they arrived. He'd given his
sad good-byes to Sylvie and Anri at the store and asked them to keep running
it in his absence. He had also told Charcoal to stay to protect the two
sexaroids, hoping the dragon would obey.
"You ready?" he directed to the bandanna wearing martial artist.
"Can we hurry?" Ryouga demanded. Linna elbowed him, frowning.
"We need to say good-bye, you big goof!" Ryouga sighed in annoyance and
stepped away from the rest of the group to let them do so.
"I doubt he'd be in as big a hurry if he had an idea of what's going to
happen," Twister said with a grin. "The method I figured out is a little
spectacular."
"I can't wait," Priss quipped, grinning, then turned serious. "I hate to
see a friend leave, so you better come back soon or I'll come after you,
another universe or not!"
"With you still owing me for subbing for you at Hot Legs? Oh, definitely
not; I REALLY hate crowds, you know."
"That's not what Leon told me from what he saw." She grinned as he gave
her an irritated frown, then he chuckled.
"You two getting together at last? Yipe!" Twister cried, avoiding the
annoyed singer's swipe.
She glared at him for a second, then sighed disgustedly before stepping
forward to hug him. "Just come back soon."
"I will."
She let go to let Linna hug him as well. "Same goes for me," the black-
haired woman said with a cheerful, yet sad, smile.
"Thanks, Linna."
When she released him, Twister turned to Mackie. "I know we haven't
really talked too much to each other, but I'd just like to say thanks to you
too, Mackie." He held out a hand, which Mackie accepted with a sheepish
smile.
"Yeah, I'm sorry we haven't talked much either," the younger Stingray
said.
"Maybe next time," Twister offered before releasing Mackie's hand, then
frowned as he remembered something. "You know... I never did do anything for
that photo you took..." Mackie suddenly started sweating.
Sylia took mercy on him. "Have you prepared the 'package' yet?" she
inquired, taking the psionist's attention off a relieved Mackie.
"Yes, I'll get her." He closed his eyes to concentrate and suddenly a
new arrival was teleported in. "Good evening, Yanda," he said pleasantly. The
glare he got back was definitely not friendly.
She was still in the dirty and stained clothes that he, as Darlene, had
caught her in during that last battle. But she couldn't move, or make any
action to initiate any contingency plans she may have made in case of
capture. He and Sylia had agreed that destroying her, or even stasis, might
not be wise until the senior Stingray could make sure it was safe. The others
hung back, finding it hard to believe this gorgeous woman was Largo. Priss
smirked at the idea of Mason/Largo becoming female, if a Boomer one.
Yanda could still talk though.
"Teleportation, telekinesis, levitation; all that and you waste it!" she
cried out at Twister. "You and I could rule this planet and make it a better
place."
"I won't, because one; I have no desire to play king, two; your methods
leave something to be desired, and three; there are still things about myself
I need to learn about before I settle anywhere."
"What are you talking about??" she demanded.
For a reply, Twister took a small bottle of cold water from a pocket and
splashed his face with the contents. Yanda was absolutely shocked at the
transformation. Darlene smirked at her expression, and said, "Here's a hint.
You would've needed a large amount of imagination to guess my two forms were
the same person, hmm?"
"You... you were the owner of that store?!? The one with the unknown
power?!"
"And that you tried to kill because I was an uncertainty? Oh, yes, I've
been switching from psionics to magic for a while now."
"Magic?! Don't tell me nonsense!"
"Then how did I change? What keeps you still? There is nothing physical,
no detectable energy, no change in your programming, nothing but the spell
that I cast to keep you immobile." Darlene stepped away from the confused
Yanda. "Maybe in a couple of centuries I'd even be able to turn you human.
Now THAT would be ironic." She turned to Sylia. "You can take her out with
the disks I made." Darlene had created small disks that allowed the Sabers to
travel to the underground facility freely by means of a teleportation spell.
It could come in handy for them, the mage figured.
"Thank you, Darlene. And I wish you well too." Sylia smiled and gently
hugged the red-head before letting her go.
"Good-bye then," Darlene said, and smiled sadly at them all. She needed
to get back, but didn't like having to leave friends behind. The mage sighed
and turned to the one who was waiting for her. "Ready, Ryouga?" The lost boy
started and picked up his pack, adjusting it into place.
"Yes, let's hurry!"
"Alright then, let's get a distance away first." They walked until they
were ten feet away from the group watching. Then Darlene stopped, turned and
waved one last time before taking a deep breath.
And began her spell.
"Powers of magic shall heed my call,
Now's the time to pierce the wall,
Of time and space, with driving force,
Open the gate that starts our course!"
A glowing circle seven feet in diameter on the floor surrounded the two
travellers when Darlene finished. Energy discharges crackled along the edge
as something began to happen to the floor enclosed within the circle.
It looked like it was being pulled in a bell shape into the ground, but
Darlene and a suddenly terrified Ryouga stayed standing in empty space where
the floor used to be. Looking down briefly, the lost boy saw the floor
becoming a tunnel, not a dark tunnel, but one that swirled images along its
walls. He looked away quickly. Those watching were amazed, and a not little
awed at what was happening.
"Almost like a black hole was forming," Sylia observed quietly. "Time
and space are curving below them, but not using gravity. And she's waiting
for it to open fully..."
Darlene started again, this time in a shout.
"The gate is open, our path is set,
Through the Void the goal is met,
The link is made, so safely start,
From this universe we now depart.
Let us travel, without delay,
Protection unending throughout the way,
Magic shall gather, roil, and foam,
For now begins the voyage HOME!"
The energy crackling at the edges intensified, and spread a little ways
from the circle, making the observers step back save Yanda, who could not.
One of the bolts lanced straight for Darlene, who expected it and was ready.
It was akin to plugging in a light socket when it hit; light flared from the
circle. Darlene and Ryouga glowed slightly, then dropped into the tunnel
below and began their journey home.
But Darlene was new to this form of travel and there was some leftover
magical energy where they had left that was uncontrolled. Most of it kept the
gate open longer than it should have, the rest was attracted to the spells
keeping Yanda paralysed. Like a neon snake, a curved line of purple energy
lashed out from the circle and discharged into the android. The startled
Sabers leaped backwards at the display. The meta-sexaroid jerked, but it did
no harm to her systems.
But now she could move.
Yanda assessed options. She couldn't activate any defensive mechanisms
and some lingering remnants of the spell still slowed her to normal human
levels. The humans behind her could damage, or destroy, her if they had
weapons, which was likely in at least two cases. Not very good conditions.
And she had never made preparations for her demise. This was her third
time alive, and Yanda had figured that if she failed again then there was no
point in resurrecting yet another incarnation of Mason. If she had succeeded
with Twister, she would have made some. Her plan had depended on finding a
mate, and she still settled on Twister as the best logical choice by far,
even with the startling revelations she had seen. But Yanda was free now and
her mate was escaping to another universe by a means she could not hope to
duplicate.
There was little choice, really.
She ran for the circle.
Sylia and the others were too slow to react to Yanda's sudden freedom
because of the spectacle they had just witnessed. Priss shouted angrily, but
it was too late. Yanda jumped high, fell into the gate, and was immediately
out of sight.
Priss gaped. "Fuck me! She's crazy!"
There was a sudden crackle of energy, another flash, and when the light
was gone, there was no gateway and no trace of what had happened.
All four Knight Sabers were stunned.
"Do you think she made it?" Linna asked no one in particular.
"Can we do a damn thing if she did??" Priss said in frustration.
Sylia looked at where the three had vanished, and sighed. She pulled out
the disk Darlene had given each of them for easy access to the cavern. "We'd
better go." When the others looked at her, startled, she shook her head.
"There is nothing we can do. Darlene should be able to handle her if Yanda
survived and arrives in her universe. There's no point in worrying about what
we can't help."
"I guess you're right," Nene said slowly, reluctantly. Sylia smiled at
her and despite what had happened the red-head cheered.
"Let's go home," Sylia said. Unevenly, the four disappeared from the
cavern.
Leaving it empty and quiet, as if nothing had ever happened.
"You can open your eyes now, Ryouga."
Blinking, the frightened young man opened his eyes and viewed...nothing.
Absolutely nothing. "W-where...?" he stammered out, registering the fact that
he and Darlene hung unsupported in a white nothingness. The red-head chuckled
at his question, but Ryouga noticed she looked tired; the effort to get them
here must've taken more out of her than he had assumed.
"This is the Void," Darlene explained. She took a look around,
interested; it was her third time here, but the second time she had been
unconscious. "For a blank slate it certainly is impressive."
Daunting was more the word Ryouga labelled it. It was just too much...
too much Void for him. "How long will it take? Are we even moving?"
"How can you tell in this place?" she said exasperated. "I suppose we
are; I can still feel the link. I suggest we close our eyes."
"Why?"
"The first time here I was told perception had something to do with Time
in this timeless place. If we both close our eyes, we might get there
faster."
Ryouga immediately closed his eyes.
Darlene rolled hers before following suit.
Yanda's fall had been a mixture of terror and fascination. The Well had
shown some sights some astronomers would kill for. The fact that her survival
was uncertain left the experience rather flat.
Then she had exited the Well and into the Void.
The whiteness was an illusion; her optics registered no light, yet she
could see herself. Obviously impossible, yet it was happening. When she
looked back, she saw the mouth of the Well rapidly receding into what passed
as the distance in this place.
The only thing she COULD label this place was the Void.
First I find out the mate I chose can become female, now this, she
thought. Yanda knew of the infinite universe theory, but never expected it to
be proven to her in this manner. As a test, she closed her eyes and ran a
self-diagnostic. Everything was in perfect order. When she opened her eyes,
she received yet another shock. There were two beings in the distance ahead
of her where there had been no one before and one of them was...
Twister!
He was in that female form with the young man whose name she knew to be
Ryouga. They floated as she did in the Void, but they were much closer to the
Well she now saw ahead. Yanda kept quiet, to keep her element of surprise. As
they approached the Well, Yanda wondered at the mate she had chosen. What
would have happened if the nanites had transformed him completely? That was
the question know that she knew about this transformation ability. If they
could have. He had shown unusual resistance to the change even in the short
time he had been exposed to them.
She saw the two enter the Well and smiled as she herself came closer to
it.
Wait!
"No!!" she screamed as she MISSED the opening. Horrified, she realized
that she had not been meant to be included in whatever Twister had done and
somehow her course had not followed the their's exactly. That exclusion had
made her drift off course.
And given the nature of the Void that meant she could quite possibly be
here forever. Horror began filling her mental processes.
"MORTAL."
Yanda whirled at the sound of the booming voice that seemed to echo
massively despite the Void. Her eyes widened and jaw dropped at what she saw.
"YOU NEED TO BE ELSEWHERE."
An incredible force suddenly deflected Yanda from her current course and
she screamed as she was buffeted by it.
She was gone in an instant.
The owner of the voice might have smiled if the being had been human.
"ALL IS AS IT SHOULD BE."
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--END OF TP3--
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--TO BE RENEWED IN TP4--
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