The Neon Knight Sabers
(A NGE / Oh My Goddess! / Sailor Moon / Tenchi Muyo / Ranma
One Half / Gunsmith Cats / El-Hazard / Bubblegum Crisis /
kitchen sink Crossover)
By Ammadeau
[email protected]
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm

***

Ami glanced at her the other two sabers as she suited up.
Neither of were acting differently, despite the fact that they were
one short. Mihoshi was just as carefree as ever, almost as if she
didn't realize that she was about to go out and risk her life. Rei
was cold and methodical, perhaps even more so than usual.
Ami was practically shaking as she suited up. The incident
at Aqua City had gotten to her more than she cared to admit. Sure,
she had faced beings that could destroy the world in her time as a
senshi, but none were quite as frightening as that... bug thing.
Well, there was the last enemy they had faced, the one they had to
give up their powers to imprison, but even then she had faith that
somehow Sailor Moon would win. There was no magic to count
on this time, only their skill and their suits.
It wasn't like Ami lacked faith in Rei and Mihoshi, though
the latter often worried her, it was just that Ranko was their best
fighter and they were going to face something that could be even
worse than that boomer at Aqua City without her.
The sudden clank of Mihoshi tripping over in her hardsuit
as she tried to get into the truck snapped Ami out of her thoughts.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this," Ami muttered to
herself as she helped Mihoshi aboard.

Program 4: The Super Bug-Boomer

"Let me make this clear from the start that I'm only doing
this because my sister asked me to," Skuld told Keiichi from the
passenger seat as they started up the truck. She was frowning, with
her arms crossed. "And if you touch me just once with those ecchi
hands of yours, I will not be responsible for the consequences."
"Why do you keeping thinking that of me, I already
explained about --"
"Your name and the bath, I know," Skuld interrupted
shortly.
"Then why do you keep insisting that I'm some kind of
pervert?" Keiichi asked in exasperation.
"What other kind of guy would force my sister to be his
girlfriend?"
Keiichi turned his head back to the road and didn't reply.
What could he say? The past couple of days had been the best in
his life, but he couldn't deny what Skuld had said. It would be
different if he had asked Belldandy to be his girlfriend, though he
doubted that even if he could get up the courage, a goddess like her
would willingly agree to spend her time with him. But instead he
wished for her to be made his girlfriend, never giving her a choice
in the matter.
Keiichi shook his head when he realized that he had let his
attention slip so badly that they had nearly swerved off the road.
He had to help his big sister now. There would be time to think
about it later.

Ifurita sat patiently by the young girl's bedside after the
doctors had finished patching her up. She had already learned a
number of things about the redhead who had saved Alielle's life.
The ID in her wallet had identified her as Ranko Tenno.
She apparently had a rare medical condition that made hot water
hazardous to her health, which had been printed clearly on the
medical card she carried. One of the interns had recognized her as
the lead singer of a band called 'Ranko and the Replicants.' The
two doctors who had overseen her treatment had been much more
talkative about the girl's previous injuries, some of which looked to
be only a day or so old. It was clear to them that this girl must
have a long history of fighting, beginning when she was quite
young. Her body was almost covered with small scars.
None of this explained how the girl could throw punches so
fast that her hands nearly became a blur for even Ifurita's eyes, nor
did it answer how she had been able to glow green. Humans, in the
demon god's experience, never possessed that sort of power
unaided.
Ranko had yet to wake up, but the doctors were unworried.
The patient's condition was stable, though she was suffering from
extreme exhaustion along with her extensive injuries. They even
suggested that Ifurita come back in the morning, since it was
unlikely that the redhead would wake until then. Ifurita waited
anyway, having no need to sleep.
Ifurita continued to study the girl as she slept on. The
comparison to Shayla-Shayla seemed to go deeper than just red
hair. This was another girl who was very active when awake,
always on the move doing something, acting out in some way,
things always had to be big, fast, but when asleep, her face relaxed,
and she was as quiet and peaceful as a child.
"Do I miss her?" Ifurita asked herself with a little surprise,
thinking of the fire priestess which she had seen only briefly in ten
years. She had known her mostly as an enemy, but Makoto,
Alielle, and Miz had mentioned her often, that the demon god felt
some vague feeling for never having really known her. "Perhaps I
do."
"You do what, Ifurita?" Makoto asked as he walked
through the door, Alielle a step behind him.
"Nothing," her wife told him, shaking her head. "Why did
you bring her here? She's still in danger."
"She insisted on coming. She actually threatened to have
me arrested if I tried to stop her. We came here in disguise and
were pretty careful about our route, so were okay."
Alielle had heard none of this, as she had rushed right over
to Ranko's side as soon as she had seen her. She hovered over her
like a worried mother, doting on every sign of injury as if the pain
were partly her own. She also reached out a few times to touch,
and would pull away just before making contact, her face flushed.
Even with her injuries, Ranko was breath-takingly beautiful
to Alielle, and what was more, she had saved her life. Alielle
would have to find a way to pay her back somehow, pay her back
in full.
"Besides, we've got a bigger problem than Alielle's safety
right now. Alielle got word from her partner that Genom is
assembling a super bugrom-based boomer in a secret lab. If Jinnai
is allowed to finish it..."
"I know," Ifurita said, seeing the concern on her husband's
face. "But I can't just leave the two of you here unprotected."
Makoto smiled reassuringly. "We'll be fine. I doubt even
Jinnai would be bold enough to try something in the middle of a
hospital. Besides, all his concentration will be on finishing his
latest creation. You have to stop him, Ifurita, or everyone will be
in danger."
Ifurita nodded. "You are right as always, Makoto." She
reached out to caress his face, and smile forming on her lips as he
began to blush.
"I'll protect Makoto," Ura piped up. "I won't fail this time."
Ifurita looked down at the cat with a grateful smile. "Thank
you, Ura." She glanced back at Makoto once more, an
understanding passing between them that needed no words to
communicate. Then she was gone.
Makoto sighed, and was surprised when a hand landed on
his shoulder. He looked up into the unusually-serious eyes of
Alielle.
"She'll be all right. That jerk Jinnai hasn't cooked up
something yet that she hasn't been able to handle. Besides, I think
this time she's going to have help."
"Who, the AD Police?"
"Nope, someone much, much better," Alielle told him with
a smile. "The Knight Sabers."
Neither noticed as Ranko groaned and turned in her sleep.

Despite the precautions they had taken, the Knight Sabers
found that company awaited them at the entrance to Genom's secret
lab. A small army of boomers, lead by a few bug-boomers that
towered above them, guarded the entrance. Tapping into a feed
from a spy satellite, Ami could see that all other ways into the
facility were similarly guarded. Besides, there wasn't time to use
any alternate entrance. They had no way on knowing how close
Genom was to completing the super-boomer. They had a feeling
that they would know right away when it was finally done.
"What's the plan, Rei?" she asked her leader.
Rei thought for a few moments, studying the image of the
boomers on the screen. "We'll rush at them in our motoriods and
try to take as many as we can by surprise. Mihoshi and myself will
keep the rest busy while you go past them and do what you can to
stop or delay the completion of the super-boomer prototype."
Ami nodded, and did her best not to frown. She knew that
Rei had only chosen her as the one to go on because she was the
weakest fighter of the group. She could find no fault in her leader's
plan, however.
Luckily, the boomers were taken by surprise. Rei and Ami
both managed to destroy a few before they had the chance to react.
Mihoshi even managed to take out one of the bug-boomers by
somehow throwing her motoriod over her shoulder, sheer weight of
it knocking the head of the bug-boomer right off of its shoulders.
The confusion that that incident caused among the boomers
was all the distraction Ami needed. She flew right past them in her
motoroid, hoping that Rei and Mihoshi would be able to keep those
boomers from following her, and that no other boomers awaited
her inside.

Jinnai sipped at his wine and smiled. His greatest creation,
the super bug-boomer, stood before him, hulking and menacing. It
was nearly complete now, the technicians only had to finish adding
the little black box and do the final adjustments.
There was only one thought that caused him to frown
slightly. Panther had yet to report in. It was unlike her to go this
long without some kind a report. No matter, even if Alielle had
some clue as to what he was up to, it was already too late.
Jinnai was even more annoyed when a loud beeping began
to sound, along with the much flashing of red lights. "What is
going on?" he demanded.
"Sir, someone seems to have broken into the laboratory
complex," on of the techs told him nervously.
"I have boomers guarding every possible entrance, how
could this be? Bring the security feeds up on this monitor."
The tech did as he was told, flipping past images of groups
of boomers standing at attention, until he stopped at one where
what was left of that boomer force were currently battling with two
armored women.
"The Knight Sabers," Jinnai said through gritted teeth, "but
they're a bit too late to interfere with my plans. In fact, they should
prove an interesting test for my new boomer. Wait, there's four of
them. Punch up the interior feeds!"
The tech did as he was told, stopping at the image of
another armored woman flying down the halls, heading straight in
their direction. He flipped through all the other cameras, but there
was no sign of a fourth Knight Saber.
Jinnai ordered half of his personal guard of bug-boomers to
guard the not yet finished super boomer with their lives, while he
sent the other half after the intruder.
"Why not pull some of the boomers off the entrances that
aren't being attacked?" one of the techs suggestion.
"No," Jinnai replied after a moment of thought. "A fourth
Knight Saber is still out there somewhere. Besides, they should be
more than enough to delay these pests until my creation is
complete."

Rei glanced around. Her and Mihoshi were almost done
there. Only a few of the bug-boomers remained, but they were
running out of time. She got the feeling that the super boomer was
very close to completion now.
"Mihoshi, go and assist Ami. I'll hold the rest of them off."
Saber-Black nodded and moved to enter the lab complex,
only to have one of the bug-boomers blocking her path. Mihoshi
couldn't stop her motoriod in time and slammed right into the bug-
boomer, picking it up along for the ride. The change in weight sent
her motoroid completely out of control, ending with them
slamming forcefully into a wall.
Mihoshi managed to pry herself out of the resulting tangled
mess. The bug-boomer had been destroyed in the crash, but her
motoriod was also a total wreck. Her hardsuit seemed undamaged
though. With a shrug, she flew down the hall after Ami.

Ami was having problems of her own. She had hacked into
Genom's computer network and snatched detailed schematics for
the lab, using them to lead her to the main lab where she guessed
the super boomer was being built. She was only meters away from
her goal, when the path was blocked by three bug-boomers.
They would have towered over her if she had just been in
her harsuit. The motoriod made up for some difference in height,
but they were still impressively large, constructed of bulbous armor
with disproportionately small arms and legs.
Ami snapped off a shot at one with her motoroid's cannon,
aiming for the chest, and hoping to take at least one out before they
started their attack. She was surprised when the bug-boomer
dodged the shot completely. They were big, but also fast. Ami
gritted her teeth and closed in on them, so they wouldn't have the
room to dodge. This was not going to be easy.

Ranko felt as if she was pulling herself out of a warm, dark
sea. Light stabbed at her eyes as her eyelids fluttered open.
"Wha?" she managed to slur out.
"Oh, you're finally awake!" enthused a vaguely purple blur
to her right.
Ranko winced at the tone. Her head hurt like she's been
using it to practice the breaking point with. Mouth dry, tongue felt
bloated. That was all she could feel though; the rest of her body
was numb, like it was still asleep. Painkillers, she guessed, being
somewhat familiar with them.
"Not so loud, Alielle," another, more brownish blur, said in
a softer, though still painful, tone.
"Sorry," the other blur muttered.
"I'll get a doctor. You stay and watch over her," the brown
blur said and left what Ranko was now assuming to be a hospital
room.
Her vision began to clear up a bit, though the light was still
painfully bright. White walls of a hospital room stared back at her,
along with a purple-haired woman that sat quite close on her right.
Close enough that Ranko could tell that this wasn't Shampoo,
though her vision was still somewhat blurry.
The next moment, everything clicked together for Ranko.
This was the woman who she had saved from that psycho blonde
boomer that had attacked her. It had been that same boomer that
had given Ranko the injuries that put her into the hospital, though
she assumed that the Shi Shi Hadoken had taken care of the
boomer, or neither her or the purple-haired woman would have
been left alive.
"Are you all right?" the woman asked very tentatively.
Ranko thought this was a very silly question under the
circumstances. Would she be lying all bandaged up on a hospital
bed if she were all right? Still, Ranko understood what the woman
had meant. Not really able to say anything coherent yet, she
nodded her head.
The woman smiled and seemed to lose some, though not
all, of her previous nervousness. "I'm glad."
Ranko's eyes went a little wide when the woman slowly
slipped her hand into hers, but unable to move her body at all, there
was little she could do about it. Alielle was too busy faintly
blushing and looking down with some embarrassment to notice
Ranko's reaction.
"Can I get you anything?" Alielle suddenly asked after
recovering from her act, though her hand still gripped Ranko's
loosely. "Water? Food? Do you need to use the bathroom?"
*What I want is for you to let go of my hand,* Ranko
thought in irritation. *What if someone walked in and saw that?*
But all she could manage to do was shake her head.
They sat in silence for a while. Ranko decided to close her
eyes so the light wouldn't hurt quite so much. Besides, it made it
much easier to ignore that this strange woman was still holding her
hand.
"Thank you," Alielle said after a time, her voice serious.
"Thank you for saving my life."
Ranko tried to gesture that it was no big deal, though it was
hard when she could only move her head.
Whether she understood the gesture or not, Alielle
continued on. "I never would have dreamed that I'd be rescued by
such a beautiful girl."
Ranko's eyes snapped open and she stared at the woman
next to her with something akin to horror. The woman stared back
with a sort of hungry look not unlike those Shampoo had given
from time to time, a very intent look. If Ranko could have moved
at that moment, she would have run out of that hospital room so
fast that the chestnut fist would seem slow by comparison.
Ranko was a bit panicked when other people entered the
room, though relaxed when he saw that the woman had finally
taken her hand away from hers. The people didn't look like they
had seen anything funny going on.
A man had entered the room, which Ranko guessed was the
one from before, followed by a male doctor and a female one. The
doctors immediately rushed over to her to carefully check over her
injuries. Ranko wasn't exactly happy with them poking and
prodding her, especially close to certain areas. She especially
didn't like the purple-haired woman's stare as certain areas were
uncovered. By the time their examination was finished, Ranko's
face was flushed in embarrassment.
"Well, miss," the male doctor told her. "You're in
astonishingly good health, considering the circumstances. I've
never seen anyone with the ability to heal as quickly as you do."
"It could be that a lifetime of injury has built up her
resistance to them. It's like her body is so used to getting damaged,
that at the first sign of it, it slips into a sort of overdrive."
The two doctors wandered away from Ranko and began to
discuss the finer points of her accelerated healing, most of which
went right over the heads of the others present.
"I'm glad to see that you're okay," Makoto said to Ranko.
"Thanks," Ranko managed to croak out, noticing that some
feeling was gradually returning to the rest of her body. "But who
are you?"
Makoto laughed a bit nervously. "My name is Makoto. I'm
a friend of Alielle's. I saw the fight, and wished I had done
something so you wouldn't have ended up this hurt."
Ranko looked him over and shook her head. "You're not a
martial artist, are you? Nothing you could have done, unless you
were carrying some really big gun with you or something."
Makoto shook his head, though it didn't do much to ease his
conscience. He might not have been able to do much, but he'd
been with someone who could have. If he'd been a little more
persuasive with Ifurita, perhaps Ranko wouldn't be in the hospital
right now. He still didn't understand why she hadn't done anything.
Ranko picked up on his guilt. "Don't worry about this. I've
had worse. Even been in a full-body cast a few times."
"But you still got these injuries because of me," Alielle
practically purred. "I simply must make it up to you."
Ranko blinked and swallowed nervously. Alielle had was
practically sitting on the bed now, leaning over so Ranko could
have a clear view of her cleavage, which the dress she wore
seemed made to show off.
"No, no, you don't have to do anything," Ranko replied
nervously. "It's the duty of a martial artist to help those in need."
"Oh, but I must!" Alielle insisted in a sultry voice,
bouncing suddenly, giving her assets a good shake. "I must find
some way to... reward you for what you've done for me."
"Now that you're awake," Makoto interrupted, as much for
his own sake as Ranko's, "is there anyone you need to call? You've
been unconscious for hours now."
"Yeah, that's right!" Ranko practically shouted, grabbing
any chance to stop this strange woman.
Makoto handed Ranko a phone, while Alielle crossed her
arms and pouted. *Everything was going so well,* she thought.
*I had her right where I wanted her. Why did he have to butt in?*

Mihoshi wasn't very good with directions, even with
Keiichi telling her which way to go. She was easily confused by
all the twisting passageways, especially at the speed in which she
flew through them. She also had an annoying tendency, at least for
Keiichi, to confuse left from right, or not pay attention to what he
was saying.
"No, I said right, right!" Keiichi shouted at her, following
her progress on the map on his screen. "Great, now you have to go
back again. Why can't you get a single direction right?"
Normally, he wasn't the sort of person to complain, but he
had a lot on his mind now, and Mihoshi seemed to be acting even
more like an air-head than usual.
"I'm trying my best," Mihoshi simpered.
"Keiichi just likes to boss women around," Skuld said
suddenly, practically shoving Keiichi out of the way. "I'll guide
you from now on, Mihoshi."
"Ah, thanks," Mihoshi replied, having no idea what was
going on.

With Skuld guiding her on with growing irritation, Mihoshi
finally caught up with Ami, who was a little too busy at the
moment fighting two bug-boomers at once to notice her arrival.
Her motoriod lay beside her, a twisted heap of metal, but near it
was also the remains of one of the bug-boomers.
She obviously hadn't been idle with the others. They were
covered with small scars of damage, but they still attacked her
relentlessly. Ami was, however, in even worse shape. There were
deep gouges criss-crossing the chest of her armor, her jetpack was
smashed, and she was favoring her right leg.
One of the bug-boomers tried to drive it's fist through her
back while she was busy with the other, only to have its hand
suddenly caught in a vice-like grip. It was knocked off balance
when monofiliment whips sliced off that arm, and so wasn't at all
prepared for the powered kick that struck its mid-section a moment
later, knocking it into the wall, hard.
Ami blinked in surprise as the normally-clumsy Mihoshi
seemed to... flow. She could find no other word for it. Saber-
Black was moving like water, striking again and again, like the tide
breaking on the shore, never giving the bug-boomer the chance to
fight back. It wasn't long before the two remaining bug-boomers
ceased to function.
"Wow, Mihoshi," Ami said to her in a voice bordering on
awe. "That was incredible."
"Wasn't it?" Mihoshi replied cheerfully as she hopped over
to Ami, and then tripped on the remains of the motoriod.
Ami groaned. And she thought Rei was difficult to figure
out.

"Ayanami residence, Belldandy speaking," Ranko heard
after a few rings.
Ranko was a little surprised that Rei or Keiichi hadn't
answered the phone. Had the goddess taken over every duty of
their household? "Belldandy," she said somewhat hesitantly, "It's
Ranko."
"Ranko-san!" the goddess nearly shouted. "Where have
you been? Everyone was worried."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Ranko told her, embarrassed.
"I sort of had a run-in with a boomer and ended up in the hospital,
but I'm fine now. Can I talk to Rei?"
"I'm afraid Rei-san isn't here at the moment. She and the
others had some... business to attend to."
Ranko muttered a few unladylike curses under her breath as
what Belldandy had said sunk in. The other Knight Sabers had to
go off without her because she was too busy picking fights with
random boomers in back alleys. Okay, so she ended up doing a
good deed and saved a stranger's life, but now her friends were at
risk. She also couldn't help thinking that if she had been a little
more attentive and careful, she could have dealt with the boomer
without having to wind up in the hospital.
"All right," Ranko said finally. "Just tell them that I'm
okay. Don't mention that I'm in the hospital or anything. They
probably have enough to worry about now."
"I'll do that."
Ranko exchanged good-byes with Belldandy and hung up
the phone with a sigh. She tried to sit up, but her body was still
mostly numb and she flopped back down on the bed. This
immediately brought the attention of the doctors back to her.
"No, miss, you mustn't get up," one said.
"Yes," the other agreed. "You may heal remarkably fast,
but you'll still need to stay here for a few days at least. In fact, you
should probably try and get some rest right now."
Ranko didn't see how she'd be able to rest knowing that her
friends were out there risking their lives at that very moment, but
still there wasn't much she could do about that in her condition.
Besides, that meant that that woman 'Alielle' would have to leave
her alone.
"I guess you're right," Ranko told the doctors as she made
herself comfortable again.
The doctors nodded and gently hustled Makoto and Alielle
out of the room. The latter shouted back just before she left, "I'll
see you again first thing in the morning, Ranko!"
Ranko groaned and desperately tried to think of a way to
leave the hospital before morning came.

"Keiichi?" Belldandy asked on the Knight Saber channel.
"Belldandy?" Keiichi asked, surprised that she was calling.
"Is there a problem? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Keiichi. I just wanted you to tell the others that I
just got a call from Ranko. She's fine, but... she can't leave where
she is at the moment."
Now Keiichi was confused. "Where is she then?"
Belldandy was silent for a few moments. Ranko had told
her not to mention the hospital, but as a goddess she couldn't lie.
"She's in a place for sick people. She's okay, but the doctors are
making her stay overnight."
"A hospital?"
"Yes," Belldandy replied, feeling a bit guilty in getting
around her promise that way. "Can you please tell the others?
Ranko asked me to, but she doesn't want them to worry."
They said their good-byes and Keiichi relayed the message
to the rest of the Knight Sabers.

Mihoshi managed to carry Ami as they flew through the lab
complex. It was a strain on her jetpack, but quicker than walking.
Besides, with Ami practically pulling Mihoshi in the right
direction, they made fewer wrong turns. It wasn't long before they
had reached the entrance to the main lab.
Three more bug-boomers stood before the towering steel
doors. They made no move to attack, but it was obvious that they
weren't going to let anyone by without a fight.
Ami let go of Mihoshi and stood shakily on her own. She
knew that she was in no condition to fight. The melee with those
other three bug-boomers had taken just about everything she had.
Standing was hard enough with the way her body ached. Besides,
her suit couldn't stand much more damage.
Still, they had to stop them from finishing the super
boomer, and she couldn't let Mihoshi face these monsters alone.
"Okay, here's the plan," Ami said after taking a few deep
breaths. "Mihoshi, you come up with a distraction that will draw
them away from the door. While you keep them occupied, I'll go
on and destroy the super boomer."
"Distraction?" Mihoshi asked, scratching her helmet with
her gauntleted hand. "What should I do, Ami?"
Ami thought for a moment, looking all around her, until her
eyes settled on a stack of shipping crates they were standing next
to. "Just throw those boxes at them until they start to attack you.
Now you don't need to fight them, just keep them busy. There's no
reason to get yourself hurt."
Mihoshi nodded seriously.

The bug-boomers had been ordered to block the doors and
let no one pass them. They were generally quite good at following
simple orders like this, so when they saw the two Knight Sabers
enter the loading area before them, they made no move to attack or
otherwise leave their post. They only kept their eyes on the
hardsuits, expecting an attack at any moment.
What they did not expect was a packing crate to fly through
the air to smash against one of their heads. The cheap crates did no
damage to their armored exterior, but they were annoying,
especially when a dozen more followed in rapid succession.
"Can't get me stupid bugs!" Mihoshi taunted them as she
heaved boxes in their direction. "Nya, nya!"
Bug-boomers are machines, but machines quite capable of
getting angry. One had already reached it's boiling point and
started to make its way to the offensive Knight Saber when the
hand of one of his fellows landed on its shoulder. They proceeded
to talk out a course of action, trying to ignore the crates that
continuously struck them.
All the while, Ami clung to the shadows and waited,
getting more impatient with each minute that passed, knowing that
Genom was growing closer and closer to its goal.

Mihoshi was happy when the bug-boomers finally started
paying attention, but was disappointed when only one slowly made
its way to her, leaving the two others to still block the door.
"Help me, Skuld, Keiichi," she radioed back to the truck as
she continued to throw boxes at the two bug-boomers still blocking
the door way, yet who now seemed perfectly content to ignore her.
"Calm down, Mihoshi," Keiichi told her in his most level
voice. "Just give me a minute to think of something."
Then he turned to his passenger and asked, "Skuld, do you
have any ideas?"
Skuld crossed her arms, her face creased in thought. "Well,
I could easily build something to help her if we had the parts and
time, but we just don't. If only Rei wasn't stuck still dealing with
those boomers at the door, she could go help them."
Keiichi blinked in surprise. "That's it, Skuld!" he shouted
as he started up the truck again.
"What's it?" the goddess of the future asked him. "What
are you doing?"
He favored her with a confident grin. "Hold on tight.
We're going to help Rei."
"How?"
Keiichi didn't respond, instead he stomped on the
accelerator, causing the truck to shudder as it quickly sped up.
Skuld's eyes widened as the realization hit. "You don't
mean?"
"If you have a better idea, I'd like to hear it," Keiichi told
her. "Because we're almost out of time."
Skuld opened her mouth, but then stared at Keiichi looking
straight ahead, a determined look in his eyes. She closed her
mouth and said seriously, "Let's do this."

Rei couldn't believe how persistent these boomers were
being. They attacked relentlessly, sometimes even getting in each
other's way to attack her. She had already sacrificed her motoriod
in an attempt to escape them, destroying several, but they had been
quick enough to catch up with her. After their initial surprise, they
were ready for anything.
"Big sis!" Keiichi suddenly shouted over the
communicator. "We're coming to bail you out, so get ready to grab
on!"
Rei spun around in surprise, and then had to move quickly
to duck a punch from a bug-boomer. "What are you talking about,
Keiichi?"
And then she heard it. The heavy hum of a fast-moving
truck headed directly for her. "This is much too dangerous. You
must turn back now."
Keiichi shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't
see it. "We don't have time to discuss this, sis. The others are in
trouble and you've got to go help them now. Besides, I have a
goddess riding shotgun. Nothing is going to go wrong. Right,
Skuld?"
Skuld looked up at Keiichi's smile and nodded
immediately, remembering someone else's smile from earlier that
night. "Right!" she declared confidently, while thinking, *I will
watch out for him, big sister. Just like I promised.*

Rei had no choice. She had to put her faith in that the
goddess could protect them both because she knew by his tone of
voice that there was no way her brother was going to back down
from this. He was like Shinji that way; most of the time he was
easy-going, but when he was determined to do something nothing
could shake his resolve.
"Now!" Keiichi shouted.
Rei leapt up in the air just as the speeding truck bore down
upon them, landing on the roof. The boomers hadn't been that
lucky. The majority of them were either smashed or run over. The
few that remained were too bewildered to follow.

The bug-boomer had thought itself more than enough to
deal with one Knight Saber, but it had yet to encounter the
incredible power of Mihoshi. She pivoted as it charged, leaving
one foot out for it to conveniently trip over and fly head-first into
the pile of remaining boxes.
Mihoshi did not use this opportunity to attack. She had
been first told by Ami to keep the boomer occupied and not get
drawn into any fights. Keiichi had told her that help was on the
way and she should just keep the bug-boomer busy. So that's
exactly what she did.
"Nya, nya, you can't get me, ugly bug!" she shouted.
The bug-boomer burst out of the pile, seething in anger, and
charged after her again. Mihoshi ran and ran. The bug-boomer
was just about to catch her, it even lunged out to grab her, when
Mihoshi suddenly ducked and it went head first into a steel wall.
Hearing the other two bug-boomers muttering loudly,
Mihoshi turned to them and waved. She was disappointed when
they decided to stay at their posts, however.

Mihoshi was getting tired of the chase, and she was also
running out of room to run. The bug-boomer had figured her out
somewhat and was now able to anticipate her actions. She tripped
again, and then looked up to see the bug-boomer standing over her,
ready to bring it's fist down...
And then suddenly it was gone. Mihoshi blinked in
surprise to see a large truck now standing where the bug-boomer
had just been. She still hadn't gotten over her shock when Rei
leapt down from the top of the truck and helped her to her feet.
"Rei!" Ami shouted in relief, emerging from her nearby
hiding place. She had been readying herself to come to Mihoshi's
rescue, even if it meant getting more hurt herself, when the truck
had come barreling along.
Rei carefully looked Ami over. "Wait in the truck," she
told her. "Your suit is in no condition to fight in. Have Keiichi
help you treat your injuries."
"But..."
"That was not a suggestion."
Ami bowed her head. "Yes, Rei," she said, boarding the
truck. She knew that it was probably suicide for the two of them to
go against the super boomer alone, but she had to admit that there
wasn't much she could do in a fight at the moment, other than be a
liability.
Rei glanced at the two bug-boomers who still blocked the
doors to the lab, then turned to face Mihoshi. "You take the one on
the left, I'll take the one on the right."
Mihoshi nodded.
But before either of them could do anything, a mocking
voice suddenly rang out from the speakers mounted in the room.
"Ah, the infamous Knight Sabers. So I finally meet my new
nemesis... nemesi?... whatever in person. I must say it was very
impressive the way you handled my bug-boomers tonight. I will
have to save the security tapes as a memorial to you efforts in
helping me perfect my creation."
"Who are you?" Rei asked.
"My name isn't important, though I will soon be known to
Mega-Tokyo, and from there the world, as Lord Jinnai, ruler over
all I survey. Unfortunately, you won't live to see it as I have
decided to let you be the test run for my ultimate creation, the
super bug-boomer!"
With that, the massive doors to the lab slowly creaked
open, the light revealing a red, hulking figure beyond. It was twice
as large as the bug-boomers who began to inch back into the lab to
get out of it's way. The floor shook slightly as it took a step, its six
ruby-red eyes scanning the room as it ponderously made its
entrance. It had the same thick, bulbous armor of the other bug-
boomers, but it's arms and legs were as thick as tree trucks, and it's
large head rested on it's squat, hunched-over body.
"Your sacrifice here will not be in vain," the mocking voice
continued. "I'm sure that this battle will point out all the small
design flaws that I've missed, so please take your time to die,
because this time you haven't a chance of wining."
And with that, the super bug-boomer began its attack.

"Skuld, you have to do something!" Keiichi begged the
goddess, still staring in horror at the completed super bug-boomer.
"There's no way they can beat that thing alone!"
Skuld shrunk down into herself, and said in a small voice,
"I'm not good at magic. I'm only good at building and fixing
things."
"But can't you--?" Keiichi stopped when a hand landed on
his shoulder. He looked up at Ami, who was battered and bruised;
her eyes tired, but hard with determination.
"There's nothing Skuld can do now," Ami told him, even
her voice sounding weary. "We just have to have faith that Rei and
Mihoshi can beat that thing."
"You think I can't help because I'm a little girl?" Skuld
snapped, a frown set on her face.
Ami took a step back in surprise. "That's not what I --"
Skuld pushed past her before she could finish, heading for
the lockers where the suits were stored. Following her curiously,
Ami and Keiichi saw the young goddess stop before the locker
where Ranko's suit still hung. She peered up at the hardsuit in
silence for some moments.
"There's no way that will fit you, Skuld," Ami told her.
With surprising strength, Skuld took down the suit from its
resting place and threw it down on the work table in the middle of
the room. "It won't, yet," Skuld replied and got to work.

Rei quickly unloaded Ranko's motoriod from the truck and
put it on. They would need every advantage they could get.
"Mihoshi," she called to her fellow Saber. "Try to keep it
distracted while I line up my shot."
"Right," the blonde replied, suddenly taking to the air,
dodging the blasts from the super boomer while jumping from
beam to beam on the high ceiling. Someone other than Rei might
have wondered why Mihoshi only seemed to have perfect balance
when she needed to.
Rei lined up the motoriod's cannon with the thing's head
and then fired, but when the smoke cleared, she realized that the
thing had managed to dodge most of the blast, only taking a few
scratches. And it was now looking in her direction.

"Back up the truck, now!" suddenly came over the truck's
speakers, in Rei's voice.
Having rarely heard his sister raise her voice, much less
shout, Keiichi dove for the driver's seat and floored it into reverse,
just in time to see a bright light completely destroy the spot that the
truck had been resting on moments ago.
"What the hell was that?!" he shouted, blinking away the
sudden near-blindness.
"The super boomer has been equipped with the black box,"
Rei explained calmly, though she sounded as if the breath had just
been knocked out of her. "It has control of the USSD satellites
platforms. I want you to drive the truck out of the laboratory
complex. I believe it's attack radius for the satellites is limited to
line of sight."
"No way!" Keiichi replied immediately. "There's no way
I'm going to just leave you and Mihoshi here, especially if that
thing can do that."
"You have to take Ami, Skuld, and yourself to safety," Rei
told him. "The hardsuits are manuavable enough to avoid the
satellite attacks, the truck is not. We will be fine, Keiichi."
"All right, I'll do it, big sister," Keiichi said, not believing
his sister's words. They were in danger, serious danger, and he
wasn't about to leave them there alone. He backed up the truck
around a corner and went to check the condition of the other
passengers.

Ami was pulling herself into a chair, and looking like she
was having a rough time of it. She must have been hurt worse than
Keiichi had previously thought. But when he moved to help her,
she waved his hand away and said, "Help Skuld."
Skuld was buried under Ranko's hardsuit. Keiichi strained,
but was just barely able to lift it off of her and get it back on the
table. He was pleased to see that besides a bit dirty, Skuld was all
right, having caught the hardsuit as it had fallen. She looked up at
him in surprise, before finally saying, "Thanks."
Keiichi smiled. "You're welcome."
Ami looked a bit sheepish. "I tried to lift it off her, but--"
Seeing the fresh blood that marked the leg of Ami's plug-
suit, he immediately broke out the first aid kit, ignoring all her
protests. He gasped at the sight of the large gash when he gently
pulled back the leg of the suit. It was still bleeding.
"Why didn't you say that you were this badly hurt?" he
asked her.
Ami was a bit embarrassed. "I guess that with the super
boomer and all I didn't think it was that important. I'm more used
to patching others up than patching up myself."
Keiichi did his best to clean out the wound, ignoring Ami's
small gasps as he applied the disinfectant. Then he very carefully
bandaged it up and searched her for signs of other injuries that
needed taken care of, feeling very relieved when Ami assured him
that most of her body had survived without a scratch and it was her
arms and legs that needed attending to. Keiichi had never really
been interested in Ami, but she was still definitely a woman.
He had just finished taking care of Ami, when Skuld
suddenly shouted, "I've done it. I'm a genius!"
They both blinked when the goddess walked over to them
wearing Ranko's hardsuit, the helmet slung under her arm.
Somehow Skuld seemed to have grown a few inches, though her
face didn't look any older.
"But how?" Keiichi asked. "The suit doesn't look any
different."
Skuld smiled. "Simple, Keiichi. Since it would have taken
too long to adjust the suit to fit me, I adjusted myself to fit with my
own Mr. Exoskeleton Mk2!"
"Do you have any idea what's she's talking about?" Keiichi
stage whispered to Ami.
Ami shook her head. "Not a clue."
"You two just can't appreciate my genius," Skuld
complained, putting the helmet on. "What matters is it works."
Just before she could leave the truck, Keiichi grabbed her
hand. "Are you sure you're going to be okay out there, Skuld?" He
knew his sister needed all the help that she could get, but he didn't
like the idea of putting Belldandy's little sister in danger either.
Skuld gave him a thumbs up. "Everything will be fine.
Trust me."
And as soon as she left the truck, she tripped and landed
flat on her face.
Keiichi could only shake his head and hope for the best.

Rei was using a rare pause in the fight to take a few deep
breaths. She had sacrificed the motoriod in a gambit to destroy the
super boomer, but it had been only partially successful. The self-
destruct had taken two arms (the boomer had four) and a chunk out
of its chest, but it was still moving. What was worse, the super
boomer still controlled the killer satellites. She waited for the next
attack to come, while trying to come up with a plan of her own.
The super boomer used the satellite again, this time
targeting Mihoshi. Thankfully, all it managed to do was put
another hole in the ceiling. Rei blinked in surprise when she
suddenly saw a strange-looking sphere fly threw the air, only to
explode against the head of the super boomer, sending it staggering
back. Rei turned to face Saber-Red.
"Ranko, I thought you were still in the hospital?" Rei asked,
her surprise not showing in her voice.
Instead of replying, Saber-Red pressed her advantage
against the super boomer by knocking it into a wall with a flying
shoulder strike, though the force of the collision sent her staggering
back as well.
"That isn't Ranko, sis," Keiichi explained. "Skuld found
some way to adjust the hardsuit to fit her."
"Grr, I told you I didn't do anything to the hardsuit. I'm
simply wearing a exoskeleton to make up for the height
difference," the young goddess explained.
"Skuld, this is much too dangerous," Rei replied to her.
"Even if you have adjusted the suit to fit you, you have no prior
battle experience. Return to the truck immediately."
"What do you mean? I have plenty of experience squashing
bugs. Besides, It looks like this one is down for the count already."
"Skuld, move!" Rei shouted, her instincts screaming
danger.
The new Saber-Red only looked back at her puzzled.
Rei ran, but Skuld was too far from her, she'd never make it
in time. "Mihoshi!" she shouted.
Saber-Black blurred, picking up Saber-Red under one arm
as the deadly light of the attack satellite incinerated the spot where
Skuld had been standing. They had cut it too close, and they were
both sent slamming into the wall by the force of the explosion,
Mihoshi flipping around to take most of the force on herself.
Skuld blinked awake to find herself being cradled
protectively in the armored arms of the blonde Knight Saber, who
sat there unmoving. She couldn't believe that the ditzy girl who
had been so annoying at Rei's apartment had actually saved her.
"Mihoshi!" Skuld shouted, shaking Saber-Black to get
some reaction. "Wake up, Mihoshi!"
"It's no use," Rei told her calmly. "The force of the blast
must have knocked her out. The suit will have protected her from
serious injury, however. She will be fine."
"But--!" Skuld shouted as she turned away from Mihoshi,
tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Skuld!" Rei barked in command. "Leave her be. We must
destroy the super boomer. There is no time for excess emotion."
"Yes, Rei," Skuld answered, her voice heavy in her throat.
She wished she wasn't wearing a helmet so she could wipe away
her tears. It irritated her to feel them slowly drip down her cheeks.
As Skuld made her way to Rei's side, the super bug-boomer
slowly stood up again. It was in rough shape. It only had one
working arm remaining, and one of it's legs was throwing off a
shower of sparks from a deep gash. The chest was pitted with the
marks of weapon's fire, especially on the right where a whole
section was missing. The head was crumpled like a old tin can and
several of it's eyes had shattered. It staggered towards them like a
dying man.

"Lord Jinnai," one of the techs said to him in a voice that
was nearly shaking with fear. "The super boomer is losing! We
have to flee here immediately!"
Jinnai, however, was still calm. "I must admit that the
Knight Sabers have proven far more resourceful than I gave them
credit for. Self-destructing that motoroid of theirs was a clever
stratagem, as well as holding back their fourth member to launch a
surprise attack. Obviously, the thing I neglected to realize before
was the ability of brains to conquer brawn. I should have known
better, considering my own genius. I suppose my next project
should be to try to instill my level of brain power into a boomer."
"But what about now?" the tech insisted. "We're all going
to be killed!"
"Calm yourself," Jinnai replied with a small smile. "The
super boomer still retains control of the Eye of... I mean USSD's
satellites, and that is a weapon that the Knight Sabers can not hope
to match."

Rei was out of ammo and she knew Skuld was close to
being so as well. They had managed to damage the super boomer
further, but it refused to stay down, and they were quickly running
out of ways to stop it. Staying at a distance was no good, with no
ammo they couldn't do it any harm while it could attack with the
satellites. Getting up close was better, but also very risky. The
super boomer might only have one functioning arm, but it was
much stronger than their hardsuits, and could move quicker than it
looked, even heavily damaged as it was.
That was when a figure slowly descended through one of
the holes in the roof. She had grey hair and pale skin, dressed in
odd clothes, and holding and even odder staff. She regarded Rei
with calm eyes.
Rei couldn't help taking a step back. *Could she be
another?* she thought, feeling an old fear welling up inside of her.
*An angel?*
"Forgive me for being late," the woman spoke, her voice as
calm as her eyes.
Before Rei could say anything, the satellite weapon struck
again, turning the spot where the woman stood into a ball of fire.
Rei gasped, uncertain if she felt sadness and relief.
"Particle beam satellite," the woman said, floating in the air
next to the spot she had stood, her clothes not even singed. Her
voice dripped with disdain. "How futile."
She raised her staff at the super bug-boomer, light
beginning to gather on the prongs that jutted out of that end.
"Aim for the upper chest," Rei instructed, guessing this
woman's intent. "That is the most logical place for the central
computer and the satellite control mechanism."
The woman nodded, adjusting her aim accordingly. The
super bug-boomer tried to reach out for her, but it was too late as a
sudden bolt of energy, like a miniature version of the killer
satellites, struck it, completely annihilating most of its upper torso.
The remains of the boomer fell to the ground, unmoving, no more
than a collection of damaged parts now.
As the woman turned to leave, Rei asked, "Who are you?"
The woman turned back, her expression neutral. "My name
is Ifurita. I thank you for your efforts here today, but I have
someone who I must speak to."
And with that, she flew past the large steel doors and into
the heart of the lab from which the super bug-boomer had first
emerged.
Rei consider following her, but shook her head. Her team
was in no shape to risk another confrontation with even a normal
boomer at the moment. It was time to go home.

Jinnai launched into a string of obscenities that made his
bug-boomer driver blush. This was the second time having neared
victory, only to have it snatched out of his hands by that demon
bitch. What was worse, her appearance guaranteed that his
ultimate rival and enemy, Makoto, was lurking nearby, no doubt
readying himself to foil his brilliant schemes yet again.
Jinnai had no one but himself to blame, however. He knew
that it had been a bad idea not to kill that woman Alielle on sight,
but still he had hesitated, and now he had paid the price. But it was
too late for blame now, with Makoto about he would have to work
in much more subtle and secret ways from now on.
It was time to return home; to rest, to think, and to plan.

Rei tip-toed back into the apartment, carrying a sleeping
Ami in her arms. Her hard fights combined with her injuries had
worn the woman out, causing her to doze off during the ride home.
Knowing that she needed sleep to recover, Rei thought it best not
to wake her. Thankfully, Mihoshi had woken up on her own and
elected to go home, since Rei was running out of room to put
people up for the night.
She slowly walked down the hall to the second guestroom.
Belldandy had been given the first. Rei blinked as it occurred to
her that the lights were on, but there was no sign of the goddess of
the present, nor of the Sana-boomer. After gently laying Ami
down in bed and tucking her in, Rei decided to investigate.
She opened the door to the first guestroom, careful not to
make a sound. From the dim light of the hallway she could see
Belldandy circled up in her bed, already fast asleep, and Sana held
protectively in her arms. Rei carefully shut the door, smiling
slightly.
"Is it all right to come up now, sis?" Keiichi asked when he
saw Rei return to the garage.
Rei nodded. "Yes, but you must be quiet. Belldandy and
Sana are sleeping, as well as Ami."
Rei, Keiichi, and Skuld walked up the stairs back to the
apartment, the latter two taking exaggerated care in being quiet.
"Rei-san," Skuld whispered, stifling a yawn. "Where am I
going to sleep?"
Rei frowned a bit. She had originally planned on giving
Skuld the second guestroom to share with Sana, but she had put
Ami in there without thinking about it and knew it was a bad idea
to move her now.
She ended up sharing her large bed with Skuld, which was
fine for the night, but wouldn't do for a permanent guest. Setsuna
had been right about her problem with house guests.

"I can't believe how late it is," Makoto thought out loud as
he glanced up at the clock, stifling a yawn. He waiting in the hotel
room for the return of his wife. Ura had already fallen asleep. He
felt like he had walked Alielle home hours ago, but it couldn't have
been more than an hour since they had left the hospital.
Still, he couldn't help but worry. Ifurita was powerful, he
knew that better than anyone, but it had been a long time since she
had to fight anything approaching her level, and whatever Jinnai
had cooked up this time, it had to be dangerous. The fact that he
was back on Earth proved that. That should have been impossible.
Makoto might even have to return to El Hazard to check on what
had transpired since their last visit three years ago.
Feeling a cool wind caress his cheek, Makoto turned to find
Ifurita standing on the balcony, waiting for him. His fatigue
seemed to vanish instantly as he rushed over to her and held her
close.
"Is something wrong, husband?" she asked.
"I was just a bit worried about you," he admitted with a
smile.
"You shouldn't have. The super boomer was not nearly as
dangerous as I was lead to believe, and I also had the aid of two
armored women."
"The Knight Sabers, Alielle told me about them," Makoto
said as he lead his wife back into the room and shut the sliding
glass doors. He was starting to shiver from the cold, not that
Ifurita had this problem.
The demon goddess nodded and took a seat on the bed
beside her husband. "The super boomer was nearly destroyed
when I arrived, thanks to their efforts. I was able to finish it off
quickly."
"What about Jinnai?"
"I searched for him after his creation had been destroyed,
but all I could find were signs of his hasty departure. I could track
him down and--"
"No," Makoto told her, shaking his head. "He probably has
an entire army of boomers to protect him, and I don't want you
getting hurt just over a chance to finally stop him. Besides..."
"...he was your friend once, and you still hope to reform
him," Ifurita completed his thought.
Makoto shrugged helplessly. "I know it's probably hopeless
to get him to change at this point, but he wasn't always the way he
is now. I just can't give up on him."
"I would not be here," Ifurita told him, running her fingers
through his hair, "if you gave up on people easily."
Makoto turned to look up at her, blushing a bit, while his
hand blindly groped for the light switch and flicked it off.

Ranko yawned and opened her eyes, stretching under the
golden sunlight that filtered in from a half-shuttered window. The
nurse smiled as she turned away from straightening a bouquet of
violets by her beside.
"Feeling better now?" the nurse inquired.
Ranko nodded. "Much better."
"These violets were sent to your room, but whoever sent
them didn't include a card. Looks like you've got yourself a secret
admirer."
Ranko shook her head, guessing that either Ami or possibly
Belldandy had sent them. Rei didn't really believe in the value of
flowers, and she didn't think Mihoshi would consider it.
"Oh, well, I suppose what's important now is the fact that
you're awake. Would you like breakfast now?"
Ranko nodded enthusiastically. Having never had the
chance to have dinner, she was starving.
The nurse giggled a bit at the girl's antics. "Okay, I'll be
right back with your meal. But do you need help going to the
bathroom first?"
Ranko shook her head no nearly as violently as she had just
nodded yes. It was hard enough to go the bathroom in girl form,
she didn't want help.
With a departing laugh, the nurse left.
Ranko glanced at the clock. Still early, but Rei might be up
already, that is if she had survived. No, best not to even think
about it. Rei was nearly the equal to Ryoga in strength and
endurance, while Mihoshi had more luck than a whole field of four
leaf clovers. In several ways, they resembled extremes, but Ami
would be there to keep them balanced. And on top of that, they
had their hardsuits which were alone tougher than even those new
bug-boomers they had faced recently. Whatever the situation was,
Ranko felt confident that her fellow Knight Sabers had handled it,
even without her there to back them up.
Ranko smiled suddenly, twirling one of the violets in one
hand. "Besides," she thought out loud. "If they weren't okay, they
wouldn't have thought of sending me these flowers."
Then Ranko had no more time for thought because her
breakfast had arrived. The food was bland almost to the point of
tastelessness, though it wasn't quite as bad as the time she had
eaten Rei's cooking. Still, they were nice about more servings.
After finishing off four meals right after each other, Ranko leant
back with a contented sigh.

Ranko's first visitor of the day was a complete surprise.
"How you feeling, kid?" Rally asked as she took a chair
next to the bed.
Ranko smiled up at the ADP detective. "Sore all over, like
a mountain fell on me. How did you know I was here?"
"Partner tried to stick me with filing one of her reports
again. Before I shoved it back to her, I noticed your name on it so I
decided to pop and get your statement, and check up on how you
were doing. What made you think you could take on a boomer
unarmed?"
Ranko shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Take my advice and leave dealing with rogue boomers
from now with the professionals, okay?"
The redhead wondering if being a Knight Saber counted as
a 'professional'. "Hey, I won, didn't I?"
"Yeah, barely. Next time you might not be so lucky.
You're as bad as that Knight Saber I ran into a few nights ago. No
idea when to quit. At least she had the sense not to go after
boomers without a hardsuit to back her up."
Ranko blushed a bit in embarrassment, but was afraid to
speak and give away the fact that she had been that Knight Saber.
Then she frowned suddenly, and looked at her fully bandaged
hands in resignation.
"Something wrong?" Rally asked her.
"I've got an itch," Ranko explained after a moment, and
then lifted up her arms each in full casts so she couldn't so much as
wiggle a finger. "And I can't reach it with these."
"I could scratch it for you," the detective offered.
"No, that's okay," Ranko replied nervously as she frowned
and hoped the irritation would go away, but it only seemed to get
stronger.
"Just tell me where it is," Rally told her. "You saved my
partner's life last night, it's the least I can do for you."
Ranko was silent for a few moments before she sighed and
explained, "It's right between my... things."
"Things?" Rally repeated, puzzled.
"You know," Ranko repeating, glancing down and
blushing. "My... things."
"Your breasts?" Rally asked, staring down to where Ranko
kept glancing.
Ranko nodded, still blushing.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, all girls have them,
you know. You're going to have them for the rest of your life, so
you better get used to them." Rally chuckled, wondering what sort
of prude had raised this girl.
"I hope not," Ranko muttered, but the detective didn't seem
to hear.
Rally pulled back the sheets and loosened Ranko's hospital
gown so she could reach down to that itchy spot, all the time the
redhead's cheeks matched the color of her hair.
"Ranko!" a light-hearted voice suddenly shouted from
behind Rally. "We've come to cheer you up and help you get
well!"
Startled, Rally tried to spin around, only to loose her
balance because of the awkward way she had been standing, the
force of which tugged Ranko's hospital gown right off her chest.
Rally instinctively grabbed onto the first thing she could to keep
from falling, which happened to be Ranko's left breast.
Mihoshi frowned in confusion. Ami could only stare, her
jaw hanging open. Rei blinked, and blinked again. Belldandy
quickly covered her sister's eyes, though was secretly pleased that
Ranko didn't seem interested in Keiichi after all. Everyone was
frozen in place as the moments passed.
"Are we interrupting something?" Mihoshi asked suddenly,
which seemed to snap everyone out of their shock. "Maybe we
should come back later."
Rally let go of Ranko's breast as if it were on fire and
quickly covered her back up again with the hospital gown, and
oddly found herself wondering what Minnie May would have
thought about walking in on this. Ranko had a full body blush as
she tried to explain, but couldn't do more than stutter.
"Well, I've got to be going. Hope you get better soon,
Ranko," Rally said all in a rush and then practically ran out the
door. Everyone turned to watch her go, then turned back to Ranko.
Ami still hadn't quite gotten over her shock. It was like the
time she had walked in on Michuru and Hakura while they were...
getting closer, but at least she had already known about their
preferences. She had no idea Ranko or Rally were interested in
other women, and to do that in a hospital of all places. Their lunch
date must have been much more than a simple information
exchange that Ranko had passed it off as.
For Rei, this only confirmed theories she had had about
Ranko for some time now. The redhead always dressed like a guy,
hardly ever wore a bra, and had even less feminine modesty than
Rei herself. She even got embarrassed when they suited up
together, looking away as if she felt like a pervert for looking at
another female body. There was also her tendency to put guys who
came onto her too strongly in the hospital. She had thought Ranko
to be a lesbian for a while now, but wasn't sure if the girl was even
aware of it. Now at least she knew.
"Oh, what lovely flowers," Belldandy enthused as she
walked in the room with a smile. "Did you friend give them to
you?"
"You mean you guys didn't send them?" Ranko asked in
surprise as she stared the other Knight Sabers, who all shook their
heads.
"I did!" shouted another voice from the door. Everyone
turned to see Alielle standing there with a huge smile on her face.
"I'm here again, my darling!"
The purple-haired ADP officer raced over and latched
herself onto Ranko before the redhead could get over the shock of
being called 'darling'. Ami smirked, finding it much better to not
be the one would was the target of her affections. "Just what did
happen last night, Ranko?"
As Ranko struggled vainly to loosen Alielle's grip, the other
girl tilted her head and blinked. "Ami-san? Why are you visiting
my darling?"
Ami had to try very hard not to laugh, almost not
succeeding. "Oh, Ranko is a friend of mine," she explained
quickly, "I didn't know about you two though."
Alielle blushed and gave Ranko another squeeze, which
happened to tighten up her loosening grip. "Well, it all happened
last night. There I was, a poor, helpless, innocent girl, targeted by
a mad boomer for no reason whatsoever, when this beautiful girl
appeared out of nowhere and saved me! It must be love!"
"Help me," Ranko managed to choke out.
Ami couldn't help but take pity on her fellow Knight Saber.
"I understand you wanted to be close to the one you love, Alielle,
but if you keep squeezing Ranko like that, she'll never get out of
the hospital."
Alielle quickly let go, muttering apologies. Ranko took a
deep breath before smiling gratefully at Ami. A smile that was
unfortunately not missed by her self-declared true love. "Ah ha, I
see what's going on here now," Alielle declared, glancing from
Ranko to Ami. "You're trying to take my new darling for yourself,
aren't you? Well, I'm not giving her up without a fight!"
Ami could only blink at the accusatory finger now pointed
in her direction. She tried to speak, but was still too surprised to
form coherent words.
"I had no idea you were a lesbian as well, Ami," Rei,
standing by her side, said to her.
"I'm not!" Ami shouted, seeing everyone now staring at her.
"Alielle is just jumping to conclusions!"
The girl in question sniffed and told Ami, "I'm not going to
be fooled by such a transparent lie. In respect to my darling's
condition, I shall retreat for now, but when next we meet Ami
Mizuno, we shall be bitter love rivals!"
And with that, Alielle stomped out of the room, every
staring as she passed in confusion, especially Ami. "What the heck
just happened?"
Mihoshi counted off the points on her hand. "First, we
walked in on Ranko and another woman making out. She left,
probably embarrassed by our intruding. Then Ranko's other lover,
the one who sent the flowers, showed up and they started to make
out, when Ami pointed out that this might be bad for Ranko's
health. Then Ranko made a pass at Ami, and the other girl
declared Ami her love rival before leaving."
Mihoshi glanced around to see the twin glares of Ranko and
Ami. "What? Did I get something wrong?" she asked in confusion.
"I don't know where to start!" Ranko and Ami both shouted
back at her.