The Neon Knight Sabers
(A EVA / Oh My Goddess! / Sailor Moon / Tenchi Muyo TV / 
Ranma « / Gunsmith Cats / El-Hazard / Bubblegum Crisis / 
kitchen sink Crossover)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm

	The man took puff of his cigar as his assistant played back 
the footage they had gotten from the AD Police for about the sixth 
time.
	"Advanced design," the man remarked, gesturing to the 
hardsuits with his cigar.
	The assistant nodded.  "Very advanced.  Better than our 
newest prototypes."
	The man took another puff of his cigar.  "I would very 
much like to to hire them to handle our recent... difficulty."
	The assistant nodded.  "I'll make the arrangements 
immediately."

Program 2: A Job Offer
	
	Keiichi Ayanami woke up feeling better than he had in 
some time.  He knew that it was all due to a certain person who 
was now living with them,  the girlfriend that he had wished for.  It 
suddenly occurred to him that he could have wished for either 
Ranko or Mihoshi, but somehow he knew that Belldandy was the 
better choice.  She was sweet, kind, beautiful, and well . . . perfect, 
just like a goddess should be.  Which was no surprise since that 
was exactly what she was.
	Despite how he felt, he grumbled a little as he started to get 
dressed.  Having a new girlfriend didn't change the fact that 
someone had to make breakfast and unfortunately that someone 
was him.  Keiichi loved and respected his big sister; she was a 
brilliant scientist with a true gift for theoretical mechanics.  But no 
matter how smart she was, Rei wasn't that creative when it came to 
the kitchen.
	He remembered the meals she had served him when he was 
younger.  For breakfast, they would have miso soup and rice, 
always prepared in the exact same manner every time.  The miso 
nearly always the same no matter how many times Rei had made it, 
which was always so bland that is was almost tasteless.  His sister 
never used spices or anything like that. Apparently cooking, in her 
opinion, was for sustenance and not enjoyment.  Even stranger was 
that occasionally her meals would have the faint taste of blood.  
Keiichi knew he wasn't a great cook, but at least he managed to 
give his meals some flavor.
	Upon leaving his room, Keiichi was surprised to be greeted 
by a delicious aroma wafting in from the kitchen, which was 
normally home to easy-made and mass-produced food.  He heard a 
sweet voice singing what sounded like "Fish heads, fish heads, 
rolly polly fish heads."  
	'What the..?'  He shook his head.  'That makes no sense, I 
must be hearing things.'
	He was stunned to find Belldandy in the kitchen mixing 
something in a bowl while what appeared to be pancakes sizzled 
on the stove.  'Where did she get the apron?' he wondered for a 
moment, then shook his head.  It was sometimes easy for him to 
forget that this girl who looked like a normal teenager was in 
actuality a goddess.
	"Oh, good morning, Keiichi-san," she said to him and 
smiled.  It was one of those smiles that weakened his knees and 
froze up his mind.
	"G .G..Good morning," Keiichi eventually managed to 
stutter out.
	Belldandy noticed Keiichi glancing around the kitchen, so 
she explained.  "While I was doing a little tidying up around here, I 
found this cookbook and wanted to make breakfast.  You see, this 
is my first time on Midgard so I've never cooked before and 
wondered what it was like."
	The young goddess looked with some concern at the 
kitchen, particularly the small grouping of kitchen supplies which 
she saw as a mess.  "I hope that's all right.  Do you think your sister 
will mind?"
	She smiled at him again.  "No, it's okay, really," he 
managed to say, quickly finding a chair and sitting down before his 
legs gave out completely.  *How can I say no to a goddess?*

	"Here you go," Belldandy told him, presenting him with a 
plate.  "Traditional Norse breakfast porridge and some American 
pancakes that I found a recipe for.  I hope it's good."
	She gave him a little smile that melted him faster than hot 
butter.  *Now was not the time to think about stuff like that,* he 
told himself firmly.  *Concentrate on the food.*
	Keiichi took a deep breath. The pancakes looked strange 
with the small black bits in it, so he decided to try the porridge 
first. It smelled good enough to make his mouth water, but as he 
looked at it, he noticed something a little odd. There were some 
greyish lumps in the porridge.  He moved some of the things 
around with his spoon and was startled when he found his 
breakfast looking back at him.
	"Ack!" he exclaimed and jumped three feet into the air.  
Seeing Belldandy's surprised expression, he told himself to calm 
down.  He was being silly, he couldn't have seen what he thought 
he saw.  He must still be half-asleep.  Cautiously, Keiichi peered 
back into the bowl and flinched as he saw the eye again, looking 
right at him.  He blinked, but the other eye didn't.
	Keiichi looked up at Belldandy, who quickly said, "What?  
Did I do something wrong?"  The note of worry in her voice nearly 
drove Keiichi to tears.
	*Keiichi,* he told himself.  *You got take this like a man.  
Belldandy was all sweet and nice, right?  She wouldn't try to feed 
you something dangerous, would she?*
	*This is her first time cooking,* another part of him argued.  
*Our first attempt at cooking wasn't edible.*
	*Yes, but she's a goddess, and besides how can anything 
that smells that good taste bad?  Just got to avoid the eye, that's 
all.*
	And so Keiichi took up his first tentative spoonful, slowly 
put it in his mouth, and with the utmost caution, swallowed.  In 
spite of Keiichi never having eaten porridge at all, much less 
porridge with an eye in it, he was surprised at how good it tasted.  
There was an unexpected fishy flavor to it, but he was used to 
having fish for breakfast anyway.
	"Is it good?"  Belldandy asked nervously.
	Keiichi nodded his head vigorously, and not just to reassure 
her.  Once he got used to it, the porridge was about the best 
breakfast he had had in years.
	"Really?"
	"Yes, but I have a question.  When you said traditional 
Norse porridge, what did you mean exactly?"
	"That's right, you wouldn't know.  Well, it's like normal 
porridge only it has fish heads in it."
	"There are fish heads in this? I can't eat fish heads!"
	"Really?  They're the best part.  They're really full of 
protein and other minerals that are good for you."
	With Belldandy smiling at him, Keiichi found it impossible 
to get angry at her for trying to feed him fish heads.  That didn't 
mean that he was going to eat them though.
	"Belldandy, I just can't eat anything with eyes, okay?  The 
rest of the porridge is delicious though, so maybe next time could 
you make it without the fish heads?"
	Belldandy nodded her head in understanding.
	Keiichi then decided it was time to try the pancake. It only 
took him a few bites to realize that the tiny black bits were actually 
chopped olives.
	"Belldandy, why did you put olives in the pancake?"  
Keiichi asked in the most reasonable tone of voice.  Fish heads in 
porridge he could understand, sort of.  But olives in pancakes?
	"Well, the recipe called for adding blueberries, but I 
couldn't find any.  I thought that cherries might be close enough, 
but you didn't have any of those either.  You did have olives 
though.  They're like cherries, aren't they?"
	"Not really, Belldandy," Keiichi told her.  "You should 
check the recipe over first to make sure you have all the ingredients 
and try to avoid making substitutions.  It still turned out all right 
though."  As long as he avoided the bits of olives, that is.
	Belldandy nodded and smiled.  "I'll remember that for next 
time," she said as she picked up the cook book.  "I wonder what I 
should make for lunch?"
	*Next time?* Keiichi wondered, could this mean that he 
wouldn't have to endure the drudgery of cooking anymore?  He 
was free!  But wait, that meant that Belldandy would have to bear 
it.  He couldn't let her suffer, not when it was he who was basically 
forcing her to stay away from home and live among mortals.  She 
did seem happy though.
	"You don't have to do all the cooking and cleaning around 
here, Belldandy.  You're a goddess, you shouldn't have to do any 
work."
	"Keiichi, it really isn't work for me."
	"It isn't?"  Since when are cooking and cleaning not work?
	"No, actually it's a lot of fun!  Where I come from is always 
so neat and tidy and you never have to cook.  I've only heard about 
these things before, but I've found that I really enjoy doing them.  
Is it all right that I cook and clean for you and your sister, Keiichi?"
	Keiichi scratched the back of his head.  "Well, I don't have 
a problem with it and I'm sure it will be okay with sis."
	"Great!"  Belldandy exclaimed as she impulsively threw her 
arms around him and held Keiichi close.  Keiichi might not have 
been in heaven, but he was in the closest thing to it.

	Rei awoke and stared at her alarm in annoyance, almost as 
if she was using her glare to will the thing to cease its high-pitched 
beeping.  Then she shook her head and wondered why she had 
bothered to get angry at a machine.  Then she remembered what a 
rough night she had had.  First fighting off that advanced boomer, 
then coming home to find her brother suddenly had a live-in 
girlfriend, and but what had bothered her most was what she had 
found out after spending all night pouring over the fragments of the 
boomer.  It had become clear to her that the boomers were no 
longer just based on EVAs.  Something else had been added to 
come up with an even more advanced design, but she couldn't 
identify it yet.  When she did, it might be possible to use it to 
upgrade their own hardsuits. The insect motif was really strange 
though. As she got dressed, Rei continued to review the 
information she had gathered but it all lead to the same question.
	*What is Genom up to?*

[When did he find this job offer? You need to write it into the fic. 
Maybe while he is eating he can read the paper and see it...]

@	Keiichi knocked at the door to his big sister's room.  
Normally, he would just let her sleep in and open the shop himself, 
but he knew that she would want to hear about the job offer in the 
newspaper as soon as possible.  Besides, the breakfast Belldandy 
had made was getting cold.  It was simply too good to let that 
happen.  Well, except for the pancakes that is.  He wondered how 
his sister felt about olives.
	
	"A job offer?" Rei asked her brother as she sipped at her 
morning coffee; black, extra strong.  The way she liked her power 
armor.  Blue was her favorite color, but there was just something 
about a metal chassis, black and gleaming, running through the 
night, that was very engaging for her.  It was a pity she couldn't 
make them all black, but then she'd never be able to tell them apart.  
And they couldn't all be called Saber-Black.  It'd be silly.  If there 
was one thing that Rei was not, it was silly.
	She had just finished the breakfast Belldandy had made, 
which she had eaten without a word.  When Keiichi had asked if 
Belldandy could do the cooking and cleaning from now on, Rei 
had only nodded once, but then that was his big sister.
	"Look, it's right here in the paper."
	Rei read it over.  It was a little odd to read the USSD asking 
for a consultation with the Knight Sabers in the want adds.  There 
was no mention of what the job was, but it was from the USSD and 
the pay was over 20 million.  They wouldn't try to contact 
vigilantes unless they were desperate.  It was likely to be 
something important and dangerous.  Still, it was worth looking 
into.  Maybe it could provide some insight into what Genom was 
up to lately.

	"And this is where I work," Keiichi told Belldandy very 
nervously.  Rei had suggested that he get his new girlfriend to help 
him with the store while she looked into the job offer.  He didn't 
think it was such a good idea, but Belldandy had been very eager 
when she had heard about it.
	The young goddess looked around.  "Oh my, isn't this a 
store that sells women's underclothes?"
	"Um, yeah, but it was the only job I could get because my 
sister owns the place.  I do some part-time work over a Washu's 
Garage, but that's not a regular thing."
	He did not say that this was because sometimes the interior 
of the garage wasn't even there or that it's owner occasionally gave 
him the willies.
	Belldandy wasn't really listening as she was examining the 
store's wares, fluttering from shelf to shelf like an over-excited 
butterfly.
	"Oh, how perfectly darling!" she said as she pulled out a 
red, semi-transparent teddy and held it up to herself.  It was about 
two sizes too small.  "What do you thing of this Keiichi?"
	Keiichi was too busy frantically holding back a sudden 
nosebleed to respond.

	"It's kind of strange that my sister owns this place when she 
wears such plain underwear herself," Keiichi commented as he and 
Belldandy got ready to open the store.  Apparently working in a 
lingerie shop was another fun thing that goddesses normally didn't 
get the chance to do.  He was starting to get the feeling that 
Belldandy could find anything fun.  For Keiichi, it was just another 
thing he liked about her.
	"How do you know that?" Belldandy asked innocently.
	Keiichi hid a sudden blush and managed to say, "Well, I do 
her laundry along with my own."
	"Laundry, that's another thing I have to try."
	"You don't have to clean your clothes either?"
	"Our bodies and our clothes are regenerated moment to 
moment, so there is no need to bathe or do laundry.  I must admit 
though that I really enjoyed taking a bath this morning even if I 
didn't need to.  We usually only bother with clothes when we are 
down here on Midgard anyway.  When in Asgard, we sometimes 
just do without them."
	"No clothes?" Keiichi said slowly, his eyes very wide.
	Belldandy nodded, smiling.
	Keiichi practically flew into the bathroom.  He didn't think 
his sister would have been happy to have bloodstains from his 
nosebleed all over her store's floor, nor did he want to explain his 
sudden eruption to Belldandy.

	When he came back from the bathroom, Belldandy asked 
with concern, "What was that about?  Are you all right Keiichi?"  
She was worried; this was the second time that her boyfriend had 
acted sick and she didn't know anything about mortal diseases or 
how to treat them.
	"Yeah, I'm fine," he managed to say, making sure to avoid 
thinking about what they had been talking about earlier.  It wasn't 
easy to do being surrounded by lingerie.  "I just had to, you know, 
use the bathroom real quick."
	"Use the bathroom?" Belldandy said thoughtfully, "I 
wonder what it's like to --"
	"No!" Keiichi suddenly shouted.
	"Keiichi, what's wrong?" Belldandy responded, her voice 
filled with concern.
	*'What's wrong?' she says.*  "Nothing, just let's talk about 
something else."

	Ami was busy toweling off her hair when the phone rang.  
On the days when she didn't have to work until late, she liked 
lounging in bed for a while.  Pity she had no one to share it with.
	"Ami?"
	"Oh Rei, it's you, I just got out of the shower."
	"Do you have to go to work soon?"
	"No, I'm on second shift today."
	"Good, I need you to accompany me to the USSD.  They 
have a job offer for the Knight Sabers."
	"A job offer?" Ami asked.  They hadn't gotten one of those 
in a while.  It would be nice to have some extra spending money; 
but then, if Ami was really worried about money then she would 
have stayed a doctor.
	
	"Did we really have to take the bus?" Saber-Purple (Ami) 
asked Rei, using the Knight Saber's private communication 
channel, and feeling mildly embarrassed by all the people staring at 
her.  Only her old sailor fuku could make her feel more self-
conscious.  She was thankful that her hardsuit hid her true identity 
even better than the sailor uniform had.
	"It's too far to walk and its not possible to operate one of 
the trucks in a hardsuit.  The motoroids could be mistaken as a 
threat.  This is the best possible solution," Saber-Blue (Rei) 
replied.
	*Rei reminds me way too much of Setsuna sometimes,* 
Ami thought.  *And not always in a good way.  But then again, 
Ranko reminds me of Haruka.  And Mihoshi is so like Usagi 
sometimes that it's scary.*
	"Don't you feel, well, embarrassed?"
	"No, why should I?"
	"They're all looking at us!"  Ami practically shouted, 
gesturing to the other people on the bus.  She happened to use her 
gun-mounted hand, which made everyone look away for a while.
	"Why should I feel embarrassed by that?" Rei asked in 
genuine confusion.
	Ami gave up and endured in silence, wondering for the nth 
time why she ever got involved with this.  Life as a doctor had 
been so incredibly boring that she just couldn't stand it any more.  
But life as a Knight Saber was sometimes a little too weird, even 
for a former crusader for love and justice.

	"What are you doing here?" asked the USSD security guard 
in a panic-stricken voice as he waved his gun around and 
repeatedly stomped on the silent alarm.  How could he hope to stop 
two people in power armor with his puny handgun?
	"Your superiors requested our presence," Rei answered him 
calmly.  "We are the Knight Sabers."
	The phone rang.  The guard picked it up, gun still trained 
on the one who had spoken.  He listened for a while, his eyes 
getting progressively wider, until finally he hung up the phone and 
told the Knight Sabers, "You can go in now."
	"Thank you," Ami said to him.  Rei simply walked on.

	"Do you always dress like that?" the general's assistant 
asked when the Knight Sabers showed up in their hardsuits.  It was 
not what he had been expecting, at least, though he did notice that 
the general didn't seem as surprised.
	"No," Rei told him.  "That would be inconvenient."
	"That's all right then, no doubt you want to keep your 
identities confidential," the general said to them.  "Still, it does 
reduce our assurances that you will complete this job I want to give 
you."
	"If you wish assurances, hire someone else."
	The general was clearly startled by Rei's flat tone of voice, 
but recovered and replied, "No, that's all right.  Now here's what 
we want you to do.  One of our former employees hacked into a 
special database and made off with some valuable information . . ."
	"Rei," Ami said to her leader on a private channel, "My 
computer indicates that the camera in the corner of the room is 
scanning us.  It could be trying to figure out our suits or uncover 
our identities."
	Rei raised up her hand and embedded the camera with a 
lance, destroying it and interrupting the general's speech.  Then she 
started to make her way to the door.  She knew that no camera 
could see through their suits, but figuring out how the hardsuit 
worked would be dangerous to everyone.  It was why the Knight 
Sabers had been formed in the first place.  Ami only hesitated for a 
moment before following Rei.
	"Wait!" the general shouted, standing up.  "I sincerely 
apologize.  It was an unfortunate mistake, but we still want to hire 
you for this job."
	Rei turned around and told him, "Speak quickly."

	"So these are pictures of the man and little girl that we'll be 
looking for," Rei informed all of them as she passed the photos out.  
It was an odd job coming from the USSD, but they were willing to 
pay a lot for it.  Maintaining the Knight Sabers' hardsuits didn't 
come cheap.  
	Besides, Ranko had suggested, while thwarting Genom was 
a good deed and fun, it was nice to get paid once in a while.
	They were all sitting around Rei's large but rather sparsely 
decorated (meaning almost not at all) bedroom.  In fact, the only 
picture was a drawing Keiichi had done of his big sister and him 
when he was still in grade school.  It was framed over Rei's bed 
and made Keiichi embarrassed every time he looked at it.
	Ranko was lounging in a chair, just like a boy would.  
Mihoshi had taken up residence on the end of Rei's bed.  Ami and 
Rei had taken seats opposite one another, unconsciously adopting 
the same posture.
	Keiichi was out shopping for the ingredients to dinner, but 
surprisingly Belldandy had elected to stay and serve them some tea 
she had made.  There was a faint grape flavor to it, but it was 
otherwise okay.  She had also mistakenly served it with salt instead 
of sugar, but then anyone could have done that.
	They had all been confused when, after taking a sip of the 
tea, Ranko asked Belldandy if she knew someone by the name of 
Akane Tendo.
	After serving them tea, however, Belldandy had elected to 
wait in Keiichi's room for him.  This was in spite of the fact that 
Rei had given her her own room.
	"Wow, Kawaii!!"  Mihoshi shouted with glee on seeing a 
picture of the little blonde girl they would be looking for, who, 
strangely enough, looked very much like a chibi version of herself.  
The other Knight Sabers hoped that her personality wouldn't be a 
match as well.  One Mihoshi was bad enough, a kid version would 
be even worse.
	"Now I can't stress enough the importance of calling in 
frequently," Rei told them.  "Especially you, Mihoshi."
	"Hai," replied the former detective, nodding with her 
'serious' expression.
	"If you want us to call in frequently," Ranko told Rei, "Why 
not just get us all cellular phones?"
	"I did."  Rei then took out a box that was filled with 
smashed, mangled, scorched, and partially melted electronic 
components.  There were also bits of something white mixed in 
with them.  "This is what is left of them."
	"Mihoshi?" Ranko said to Rei.
	Rei nodded while the others groaned.  "It was perhaps my 
fault. Mihoshi had stopped by because she had left her work 
clothes here the previous night. I sent her upstairs to retrieve the 
cell phones that Keiichi had bought.  I thought now would be a 
good time to show her how to use one.
	"Meanwhile, Belldandy was in the kitchen making lunch.  
She had decided to try and figure out how to use the blender, 
thinking that it could be used to make something called skyr.  I'm 
not sure how it happened, but it seems that Mihoshi tripped over 
the power cord to the blender, knocking it over while it was still 
going and somehow dumping the phones into it."
	"Wait," Ami said.  "I really don't think that a blender would 
cause this much damage, unless they were really cheap phones. "
	Rei nodded.  "It seems that while the phones were only 
mostly scratched up, they also no longer worked.  Belldandy, 
feeling somewhat responsible for the accident, tried to use her 
magic to repair them.  Apparently, her powers don't work well on 
electronics."
	And then Rei took out a pad and wrote something down.
	"What are you writing?" Ami asked her.
	"I'm making a note to myself to look for a new blender 
while I'm out.  The old one was caught in the explosion when 
Belldandy tried to fix the phones."
	Ranko and Ami face-faulted.
	"Now what are you writing?" Ranko asked Mihoshi when 
she had whipped out a similar pad.
	"So, we're going out looking for a girl, a guy, and a blender, 
right?"  Mihoshi asked, finally looking up from what she was 
writing.
	Rei joined Ami and Ranko in face-faulting.
	"Oh, did I forget something?" Mihoshi asked innocently.

	"Excuse me, have you seen either of these people?"  Rei 
asked a passerby near where the two had last been seen, showing 
him the photos.
	"And what if I have?"
	"I would like to know where they are."
	"Who wants to know?"
	"I do.  I just said that."
	The man found something very unnerving the way Rei 
could just stare at him without blinking.  There was also the 
obvious fact that his sarcasm was having no effect at all.
	"No, I haven't seen them," he said quickly and practically 
ran away from her.
	Rei only smiled slightly as she watched him go.
	
	Ami quickly scanned through the AD Police and regular 
police reports for descriptions matching either of the people that 
the USSD was looking for.  It might be a long shot, but it was 
about effective as asking people on the street.  
	A lot easier on the legs as well.  She wasn't as young as she 
used to be and no longer had her senshi powers to boost her 
endurance. While she was in pretty good shape, she had passed the 
AD Police physical with flying colors, the other Sabers seemed to 
be tireless.  It was hard for Ami to keep up with them.

	"So your old man took your kid and ran off, eh?"
	The guy learned the hard way that he shouldn't make jokes 
like that to Ranko, at least he did a few hours later when he 
regained consciousness.  He also doubted that he would ever walk 
the same way again.
	
	Mihoshi trotted into the pay phone, closing the door behind 
her.  She happened to miss the fact that she had been followed for 
the last ten minutes by three men, one who was large enough that 
phone booths would be inaccessible to him, along with most 
doorways.  They stood and watched her from a block away.
	Mihoshi tried to swipe her card in the slot, but missed and 
dropped it on the floor.  And so when the gun of the very large man 
shot away the top half of the phone booth, it missed his intended 
target.  Mihoshi was too busy bent over looking for her card to 
notice.
	"What the hell are you trying to do?" one of the thugs 
demanded at him, "The boss said to bring her in alive!"
	The large man started to make chittering noises that 
sounded oddly like a cricket.  Strangely enough, the other two 
thugs didn't act like he had suddenly gone crazy.
	"Enough excuses, I can't understand what the heck you're 
saying anyway.  You're the one that will have to explain to the boss 
why we're bringing back a corpse."
	Meanwhile, Mihoshi had found out that the reason she 
couldn't see her card was the fact that she was standing on it.  Card 
now firmly in her hand and set with a new determination, Mihoshi 
was prepared to swipe it through this time.  Only this time there as 
no place to swipe because the phone was missing.  In fact, most of 
the booth lay in pieces at her feet.
	*That's odd,* she thought.  *When did this happen?  Oh 
well, just have to find another phone booth.*  She had an important 
call to make after all.  Rei would be angry with her if she didn't call 
in like she was supposed to
	The three thugs were stunned when the person in the phone 
booth stood up, apparently unharmed.  "Now this time," the head 
thug explained once he had recovered, "can we please try to get her 
without killing her?"
	The thug did not expect is his victim to walk right up to 
him, smile,  and say, "Excuse me, do you know where I can find 
another phone?  I don't what happened to that one back there.  I 
have to make an important call."
	Not entirely sure how to react to this, the thug pointed to 
another phone booth down the street.
	"Thanks," Mihoshi said to him and skipped over to the 
phone.
	The large thug, angry from being scolded and confused, 
tried to knock her out with a punch that most concrete wouldn't 
have been able to withstand.
	Just as she was reaching the phone, Mishoshi saw a ten yen 
piece and bent to pick it up.  She felt a whoosh of air from 
somewhere above her, followed by a loud crash.  When she stood 
up, that phone booth had also been wrecked and one of the men 
who had helped her was sitting in the middle of it, covered in 
broken glass.  The phone itself was clearly dead, smashed into 
several pieces.  Mihoshi wondered why she had had such bad luck 
with phones all of the sudden.
	Before the lead thug could do anything, she turned to him 
and said, "Excuse me again, you wouldn't happen to have a phone, 
would you?  This one doesn't seem to be in order either."
	The thug demonstrated the power of original thinking.  
"Yes, but it's a car phone.  You'll have to get in my car to use it."
	"Kay."
	The other thugs watched in astonishment as he led the 
person they were supposed to kidnap into their car.  She had to be 
the most eager kidnappee they had ever seen.

	Rei, Ranko, and Ami all sat around Rei's apartment to share 
what they had found out, which was basically nothing.  They had 
managed to narrow the search area from the information that the 
USSD had given them, along with some help from Ami's computer 
search. A few people had seen those they were looking for, but the 
leads had been too cold to follow up. 
	Ami had speculated as to why the USSD were willing to 
pay so much for finding a former employee and what was guessed 
to be his daughter.  Why were they looking for the girl at all?  
Ranko was of the opinion that the guy had stolen some top-secret 
plans or something, but that just didn't sound right to Ami.  There 
was more to this than they were being told.  Rei had said nothing.
	Keiichi sat monitoring all police frequencies, though he 
was paying more attention to Belldandy serving dinner.  
Unfortunately, Ranko happened to be between them and the young 
goddess assumed her new boyfriend was watching that red-head.
	Belldandy wasn't fond of Ranko; she was brash, rude, 
unfeminine, and worst of all Keiichi had admitted to having a huge 
crush on her.  Belldandy could not reveal that Ranko was in 
actuality a boy with a gender-altering curse even by accident, no 
matter how much she may want to.  It would cause too much hurt 
to let that be known, and not just to Ranko.  She did not know the 
red-head's history, but seeing as she spent so much of her time as a 
girl, Belldandy had concluded that Ranko was seeing this as her 
true gender, despite how she had been born.
	For a goddess Belldandy thought herself rather plain.  How 
could she hope to compete with an overdeveloped red-head with 
absolutely no sense of shame?  It didn't even matter that Ranko had 
shown no interest in Keiichi, in fact this playing hard to get might 
make Rei's brother even more interested in her.  The goddess was 
starting to consider contacting her older sister Urd for help.  No, 
things weren't that desperate yet.
	"So, does anyone know what happened to Mihoshi?" Ranko 
finally asked the question they had all been wondering, an almost 
undetectable trace of concern in her voice.  According to Keiichi, 
the blonde in question had called in a few times, and then her calls 
just stopped.  It was already well past the time when they were 
supposed to meet back at the apartment.  Mihoshi, despite her other 
faults, was usually punctual.
	"I told her to call in regularly," Rei stated with a touch of 
irritation.
	"Maybe she's following a lead and can't call in right now?" 
Ami said, sticking up for her teammate.  Mihoshi might be a ditz 
and trouble magnet, but she was also a friendly and good-natured 
person.  The former senshi was used to sticking up for people like 
that.
	"Come on now, this is Mihoshi we're talking about," Ranko 
stated.  "She wouldn't know a lead if it bit her in the --"
	"It is possible," Rei said, cutting Ranko off.  "We should 
give her the benefit of the doubt."

	"We're going to take you for a little ride," the thug told 
Mihoshi as she got in the car.
	"Okay, but can I use your phone first?  There's a really 
important call I have to make."
	The thugs looked at each incredulously.  "Do you realize 
that we're kidnapping you?"
	"You are?"
	The thugs nodded.
	"Does this mean I can't use your phone?"
	The thugs nodded again.
	"Kidnapping a Galaxy Police officer is a federal offense!  
Wait just a sec and I'll read you your rights."
	Mihoshi reached in her jacket to pull out her storage cube.  
The one thug who hadn't spoken up to point, completely 
misinterpreted this gesture and shouted, "She's got a gun!"
	He was considerably nervous since he was sitting only 
inches from her and decided to pull out his own firearm.  
	Mihoshi had finally located her control cube and was 
currently trying to find her info pen by the process of elimination.  
"That's not it.  This isn't it either.  What is this doing here?"  The 
item in question was a pool ball with the number eight neatly 
printed on it.  She tossed it away.
	The thug next to her had become very nervous when the 
woman had started pulling strange objects out of nowhere and 
tossing them all around the back seat of the car.  This was causing 
him to unconsciously tighten his grip on the gun, finger inching 
closer to the trigger.  He was so caught up in Mihoshi's display that 
he didn't see the eight-ball until it hit him square in the face.
	The gun went off, hitting the driver in the back of the head.  
Since the driver was a boomer little damage had been done.  
However, the force of the impact drove the boomer's head through 
the steering column and drove his feet through the car, which was 
now out of control.
	*That's it,* the thug thought when he regained 
consciousness, *that little bitch is going to die!*  He took careful 
aim, but the car swerved suddenly and he blew off the door handle 
instead, causing the door to open.  Mihoshi, who had been 
frantically looking for her blaster once the shooting had started,  
tumbled out the door to land on a old mattress.
	The two thugs and boomer weren't so lucky, as the car 
finally ended its erratic path by crashing into a wall.
	Mihoshi looked back mournfully as the car went up in a big 
fireball.  It would have been nice to arrest someone.  She hadn't 
done that for a while.  She wanted to join the AD Police, but Ami 
was very against it for some reason, and Rei had agreed with her.
	Mihoshi yelped in fear as a massive, insect form suddenly 
pulled itself from the wreckage of the still burning car.  It was just 
like that American movie she had watched on TV last week, 
Terminator.  That had been a scary movie.  The big robot just kept 
coming and coming.  Mihoshi thought about trying to find her 
blaster, took another look at the boomer that was even closer now, 
and decided to make a run for it instead.
	A man was getting back on his bike after just making the 
call.  Mishoshi was too panicked to see anything but the bike.  
Knocking the man off, she hopped on  and drove away as fast as 
she could.
	The bug-boomer sprouted wings and flew after her.

	"Dispatch, this is officer Rally Vincent.  I've just sighted a 
boomer pursuing a woman a bike who keeps shouting 'help me, 
help me, help me.'"
	Everyone there thought 'Mihoshi?'  Rei answered for them 
all, saying, "It could be anyone."
	"The blonde woman must be really panicked," Rally 
continued.  "She's swerving all over the road, having caused about 
a dozen accidents already.  I can't believe that she can do so much 
damage without crashing herself."
	Everyone back at Saber HQ sweatdropped.
	"That just has to be Mihoshi," Ranko stated the obvious.
	Everyone else nodded solemnly.
	Rei nodded and said, "Let's go."

	Mihoshi picked herself up and dusted herself off again.  
She was fine, but the motorcycle was a total loss.  Going over 
60mph straight into a stone wall had crumpled the bike into a mess 
of metal.  The explosion afterwards hadn't left much that could be 
recognized.  Mihoshi was feeling a little irritated with whoever had 
made the bike.  Did they know that they forgot the brake pedal?  It 
was a good thing that she had fallen off onto that old couch when 
she had taken that turn or she may have been driving around 
forever.  She was just happy that she had lost that big robot bug 
some time back.
	Mihoshi looked around, but, seeing that everything still 
looked unfamiliar, reasoned that she was still lost.  She was out in 
front of some big, darkened building by the sea.  Well, Mihoshi 
thought, a building that big just has to have a phone or two.  She 
went inside.
	Mihoshi eventually stumbled upon a large empty room, 
where a little blonde-haired girl was writing on the walls with 
chalk.  She was wearing a Sailor V jumper and drawing crude 
dipictions of anime characters, usually engaged in some sort of 
violent activity.  Mallets seemed to be the weapon of choice.  Even 
Sailor V held a hammer high over her head.
	A lightbulb went off in Mihoshi's mind, one that said, *Isn't 
there something familiar about the girl?  Haven't you seen her 
somewhere before?*  However, it was too dim for Mihoshi to 
notice it.
	"Ano?" Mihoshi said to her.
	"Hai?"  the little girl replied.
	"You wouldn't happen to know where there's a phone 
around her, would you?"
	The little girl shook her head.
	*What else?* Mihoshi thought.  She knew that there were 
other things that she was supposed to be looking for.  Then she 
remembered the list she had made and took it out.
	"Do you know where I can get a blender?"
	The girl shook her head again.
	Mihoshi took out some pictures and gave them to the little 
girl.  "Well, do you know where I can find the people in these 
pictures?  The little girl is named Sana, who used to work for the 
USSD, and the man is her son which she kidnapped."  Rei had told 
Mihoshi something like that anyway.
	"This one," said the little girl, pointing to the picture of the 
little girl, "is me."
	Mihoshi took the picture back and looked at it closely.  
"Wow, you're right!"  Well, with such poor lighting in there it was 
hard to tell.
	"And this one," Sana said again, pointing at the picture of 
the blonde woman, "is you."
	Mihoshi took that picture and looked at it closely.  It was a 
picture of her in a swimsuit and straw hat that Rei had found when 
she had confiscated her brother's hentai photo collection.  How did 
that get in there?
	"And this one," the girl continued, pointing at the last 
picture, "is that guy over there."
	Mihoshi turned to face the guy she had been looking for, 
along with several others, standing in a doorway.  She also noticed 
the boomer who had been chasing her for the past half hour had 
finally caught up.  It was one of those new insect types, oddly 
painted orange and black.  There was also a red symbol on its 
forehead that she couldn't make out.
	The bug-boomer made some odd chittering noises.  The 
guy responded, "No, we can't kill her now.  Lord Jinnai wants to 
know who she's working for first."
	"I work as an aerobics instructor as Ozaki Fitness," Mihoshi 
told them, trying to be helpful.  She wasn't going to tell them she 
was also a Knight Saber.  Rei had told Mihoshi that if she ever told 
anyone that, Mihoshi would never get to eat any ice cream ever 
again.  She wouldn't like that at all.  They didn't have anything like 
ice cream on her home planet, or sake either.
	"Why were you looking for me and the girl then?"
	"Because the USSD hired us to," Mihoshi said, thinking 
that this should be pretty clear to anyone.
	"Why would they hire an aerobics instructor to find us?"
	"I don't know.  Maybe they thought you were starting to get 
flabby and needed to get back into shape."
	The bug-boomer started chittering again.  It sounded oddly 
like begging.  The man thought for a while, before replying, "No, 
we need to find out exactly what she knows.  Tell us everything."
	"Everything?" Mihoshi asked, sounding very surprised.
	The man nodded.
	"Well, it all started when  . . ."

	Saber-Blue, Saber-Purple, and Saber-Red all rushed to the 
scene, only to find Mihoshi sitting there, talking in her sleep, while 
a little blonde girl curled up in her lap.  Various thugs were 
gathered around her snoozing.  Even one of the new-type boomers 
was out cold on the ground.
	"Then I slipped on the hot chocolate, knocked into Kiyone, 
and we both fell into a huge vat of ice cream with sprinkles.  It was 
rocky road with rainbow sprinkles.  Kiyone  . . ." Mihoshi 
muttered.
	"Just what the hell is going on here?" Saber-Red shouted. 
She had raced all this way to save someone who she wasn't sure 
she wanted to save in the first place, only to find everyone 
sleeping.  She wanted action, battle, chases, explosion, mayhem; 
not nap time.
	"Perhaps you shouldn't have shouted so loud," Saber-Purple 
told her.  There was the man and the little girl that they were 
looking for.  If they just grabbed them while everyone was 
sleeping, they could do the job without any trouble.  It would be so 
nice to actually get paid for once.
	Unfortunately, her warning came a little too late.  The bug-
boomer snapped awake and the thugs were already stirring.  
Mihoshi and the girl in her lap remained asleep, however.  She was 
muttering something about Tenchi and heavenly hash.
	The bug-boomer took one look at Mihoshi and lunged for 
her with an odd chittering battle cry.  Saber-Red managed to block 
its path, but it was having a hard time keeping the enraged bug-
boomer at bay.  This model was even stronger than the one they 
had fought last night.
	Ami shook Mihoshi and whispered to her, "Wake up 
Mihoshi."  They had to get Mihoshi to the truck and into her 
hardsuit quick before the bug-boomer broke free of Ranko.  At 
least stop her mutterings, they were starting mess with Ami's mind.
	Sana's eyes snapped open and she shouted, "Oh no, I'm late 
for school!"
	Mihoshi only muttered something about space pirates, Jurai 
princesses, chopped nuts, and pinaples.
	Sana looked around a bit.  "Huh?  This isn't my room.  Who 
are you?"
	"We are the Knight Sabers," Rei told her.  "We've been 
hired by the USSD to find you."

	Ranko was having a hard enough time fighting the one 
boomer, when the guy they were supposed to be looking for 
shouted, "Destroy them!  For the glory of Genom and Lord Jinnai!"
	Then the three thugs did the 'burst outta the skin' trick to 
reveal one bug-boomer and two normal ones.
	*Damn,* Ranko thought, *this is not going to be easy.*  
She gritted her teeth and psyched herself up for another Chestnut 
Fist.  The last time hadn't done more than cause a few dents, but 
maybe she'd get lucky.  She should be able to take out one of the 
normal boomers at least.

	Ami shook the blonde woman violently and shouted, 
"Come on Mihoshi, wake up!"
	"Just five more minutes, Mom," Mihoshi responded 
without opening her eyes.
	Rei knelt down and whispered in her ear, "Mihoshi, you're 
missing your favorite TV show."
	Immediately, Mihoshi's eyes snapped open and she said, 
"What?  'Go, Go AD Police Policeman' is on now?"
	"Ami," Rei ordered, "take Mihoshi and the little girl to the 
truck while I help Ranko with the boomers."
	"Hai," Ami answered and hauled the two confused girls 
away.  Mihoshi was complaining that she hadn't got to the part 
where Tenchi had fallen into the vat of mashmellow topping and 
everyone dove in to save him yet.  Ami decided that she did not 
want to know what the blonde Knight Saber was talking about.

	Rei jumping in was a great relief to Ranko.  She didn't like 
to admit it, but she wasn't doing too well against four boomers.  
Actually, it was all she could do not to end up seriously hurt.  
Thankfully, only two of the boomers were the new insect types, 
while the others were the old humanoid types which were much 
easier to deal with.  Unfortunately, her special moves would leave 
her too open for a counterattack.
	Suddenly, one of the bug-boomers broke free from the 
fighting and charged after where Ami and Mihoshi had gone.  
Ranko was about to spring after it when Rei told her, "Let it go.  
Ami should be able to hold it off long enough for Mihoshi to get 
suited up."
	Ranko didn't question Rei's confidence in Mihoshi.  It 
seemed that whenever she was in a fight, the only people who got 
hurt was everyone else.  Ranko was starting to think that there was 
something very unusual about the blonde Knight Saber.
	"Just who are you?" the remaining bug-boomer asked in 
perfect Japanese.  It was bigger than the other one, colored yellow 
and green, but it had the same red mark on its forehead, of a 
triangle with a dot in the center.
	"We are the Knight Sabers," Rei told it.
	"Yeah, and we're going to kick your butt in the name of the 
moon," Ranko added.
	There was a moment of silence in which Saber-Blue turned 
to face Saber-Red.  Ranko shrugged helplessly.  She had no idea 
why she had said that.  Ami must be rubbing off on her.

	Meanwhile, Ami, who was carrying Sana, and Mihoshi 
managed to make it to the truck before the boomer caught up with 
the fleeing Sabers.  Keiichi and Belldandy were waiting inside.  
Keiichi had tried to convince the young goddess that it would be 
too dangerous for her to go, but she had insisted on staying with 
him.
	"Belldandy, you take care of the girl," Ami ordered, 
unaware of how much she sounded like Rei at the moment.  
"Keiichi, help Mihoshi suit up.  I'll hold off the boomer."
	Ami knew that she wasn't good at direct, hand to hand 
fighting, but she didn't have a choice in the matter.  The bug-
boomer tried to charge past her, but she blocked its path.
	"You'll have to get through me first!" she told it, fist 
upraised.  There was no way she was going to let this thing hurt 
one of her friends.
	The bug-boomer snarled as it lunged at her.  Ami dodged, 
but not fast enough to avoid a deep scrape in her suit's armor.  It 
was nothing serious, but Ami knew that if she had taken it full on 
she might have been cut in half.  While her hardsuit enhanced her 
reflexes about as well as her old fuku, these new boomers were 
tougher than any yoma or daimon she had ever faced.

	"Mihoshi-san," Belldandy said to the Knight Saber as she 
was finishing suiting up.
	"Hai?"
	"Here, take this, it might help you fight those boomer 
things."  Belldandy handed her what looked like no more than a toy 
hammer.  The goddess thought it was appropriate.  The hammer 
was meant for hunting down bugs after all.
	"Um, Belldandy," Keiichi said to her.  "I don't want to 
sound judgmental, but isn't that a little small to use on a boomer?"
	"Just push the button on the handle and it will get bigger."  
Her sister had added that feature to be used on really big bugs.
	When Mihoshi's finger inched towards the button, 
Belldandy stopped her, alarmed.  "No, not in here, wait until you 
get outside."
	Mihoshi thought about it for a moment, then smiled and 
nodded.  After putting her helmet on, she saluted Belldandy with 
the hammer, accidently bonking herself in the head, and left.
	Belldandy wondered if she had just made a big mistake.

	Ami ducked and weaved the best she could, trying all of her 
suit's weapons on the thing, but they were having little effect on the 
bug-boomer's armor.  She knew that her suit had the weakest 
weapons, but she should have been doing some damage.  The 
situation was starting to get desperate.  If something didn't happen 
soon, then she might die, again.  Only there wasn't an silver crystal 
to bring her back this time.
	Just then a voice rang out from somewhere above them. 
Ami looked up in surprise to see Saber-Black posing dramatically 
on the top of the truck.  For a moment Ami saw another blonde 
standing there instead, one with a ridiculous dumpling-head hairdo.  
She blinked and the vision was gone.
	"Giant insects fighting people is just evil! I, a beautiful, 
graceful, and extremely competent first class detective, will not 
allow it!  In the name of the Galaxy Police, I will squash you!"
	The bug-boomer began to laugh when it saw the tiny 
hammer that the Knight Saber was shaking in its direction.  Its 
laugher died abruptly when the hammer suddenly grew to ten times 
its original size.
	Mihoshi hefted the giant hammer high above her head and, 
with a flying leap, brought it down on the head of the boomer, 
crushing it flat with sounds of grinding metal and squishing 
organics.
	"Eww! Yucky!" she declared as she shrunk the hammer 
back to its original size and saw what was left of her opponent.  A 
boomer pancake, gross.

	Mihoshi handed Belldandy back her hammer before joining 
the others.  "Thanks so much!"
	Belldandy accepted it hesitantly.  It was still dripping with a 
pinkish slime.  "Ah Keiichi, do you have a rag that I can use?"

	By the time Saber-Purple and Saber-Black had rejoined 
their fellow Knight Sabers, two of the boomers had been destroyed.  
Only the advanced insect boomer remained and even it had not 
survived so long unscathed. Its carapace was covered with scrapes 
and gouges.  One antennae was broken at the end, while the other 
was completely missing.  An arm was twisted at an unnatural angle 
even for a bug and it was favoring its right leg.
	Ami noticed that Rei and Ranko looked nearly as bad.
	Strangely, though, when the boomer saw the other two 
Knight Sabers, it threw back its head and laughed.  "You puny 
humans cannot hope to defeat me, Lord Jinnai's greatest creation!  
Now I will show you my true power!  Behold your doom!"
	That was when the boomer started to melt.  The Knight 
Sabers thought that this was some sort of malfunction, but then 
they saw that it had actually absorbed the remains of the other two 
boomers and gotten bigger.  Then it started absorbing the floor.
	"Attack, now!" Rei ordered.
	The Knight Sabers used every weapon at their disposal, but 
the best they could do was slow down the thing's fusion with the 
room.  It had already filled up most of the space by the time Rei 
ordered a retreat.
	Most of the Knight Sabers stood stunned in awe as the 
building they had just been in began to reshape and reform itself 
into a giant bug.  Ami was starting to feel like an extra in an old 
giant robot anime.  She was hoping that this wouldn't one where 
most of the characters die at the end.

	Rally stood by her car as she watched Aqua City melt and 
reshape itself like clay in the hands of an invisible craftsman.  *A 
craftsman with very odd tastes,* she thought as the giant form 
began to clearly resemble a insect.  Rally had held back when she 
had seen the Knight Sabers arrive, but this might be too much for 
even them to handle.  She opened up the trunk and pulled out a 
very large gun, faint smile on her lips.
	"I've been saving this for a special occasion."

	"Ami," Rei ordered in a sharp tone that got Saber-Purple's 
attention, "use your computer to scan the boomer for weaknesses."
	"Hai," she replied and quickly began the scan.  The 
hardsuit's sensors greatly enhanced the range of her Mercury 
computer.  "The weakness is in the mouth.  The thing's throat leads 
right to the boomer's true brain.  A single shot to the exposed brain 
should kill it."
	"But wouldn't one of you have to actually go down that 
giant insect's throat just to shoot at it?" Belldandy, who had been 
listening in on the truck's radio, commented.  "How horrible!"
	"I'll do it," Ranko said evenly.
	"No, Ranko," Rei told her.  "Your suit is too damaged.  
Mihoshi would be a better choice."
	Unfortunately, Ranko had either turned her suit's radio off 
or wasn't listening, because she had already made a massive jump 
for the creature's mouth before Rei had finished speaking.
	Rei sighed.  She couldn't let the girl go and kill herself.  
"Ami, go after Ranko.  Mihoshi and I will distract the boomer in 
the meantime."
	Ami nodded and the Knight Sabers went to work.

	Ranko had only been truly frightened a few times in her 
life.  The first had been the cats, then the several times she had 
thought to be stuck permanently as a girl.  Worst of all was during 
the battle with Saffron when Akane had nearly died.  This boomer 
had scared her badly and the only way she knew to overcome that 
fear, to defeat it, was to destroy the thing herself.
	So she fell down the throat of the beast, bouncing off the 
'walls' to slow her descent, while dodging tentacles that sprouted 
from all over the place, until finally she had reached the exposed 
brain.  Ranko raised her gun to fire, only to have it jam on her.  
Looking closely, she noticed that one of the tentacles' near strikes 
had damaged the firing mechanism.  Damn.
	Ranko tried to get in close enough to nail the brain with a 
chestnut fist, but the tentacles effectively kept her at bay.  She only 
had one option left.  She'd never tried to do this with the suit on 
before, but there was a first time for everything. "Moko  
Takabisha!"
	The ki blast struck the brain dead center, destroying it, but 
there was some sort of painful, searing feedback that made her 
hands hurt like hell.  There was also the added problem of the giant 
bug-boomer falling apart all around her.

	Outside, the other Knight Sabers were surprised when the 
giant bug-boomer that they had been fighting suddenly started to 
disintergrate.
	"Huh?"  Mihoshi said, summing up everyone's thoughts at 
the moment.
	"Ranko must have done it," Rei said.
	"Yeah, but where is she?" Keiichi asked.  "I can't find her 
on any of the monitors."
	"Ami, did you locate her?"
	"Negative.  I couldn't even get close enough to the mouth 
with those tentacles it kept sprouting. I'll try to - Aarrgghh!!"
	"Ami, what happened?" Rei asked.  "Ami, please respond."
	After there was only silence, Rei asked her brother, "Do 
you have any idea what just happened to Ami?"
	"There was a chopper in the area for a moment there, 
though its gone now.  It might have shot her down."
	"What is her current location?"
	"Unknown.  The bug-boomer's slow death is putting out too 
much interferance to detect anything on the ground.  I'll send you 
her last known location."
	"Mihoshi," Rei addrressed the Knight Saber next to her, 
"I'll go after Ami, you try to find Ranko."
	Mihoshi nodded seriously and they both left.

	Rally watched in awe as the giant boomer started to come 
to pieces around her.  *Guess the Sabers didn't need my help after 
all,* she thought as she hefted her cannon.  *But it was nice to get 
to use this thing even if it didn't do much good.*
	That was when Rally came across Saber-Red, who 
stumbled through the wreckage only to fall flat on her face.  She 
didn't stir for several moments after.  Rally shouldered her weapon 
and ran up to the fallen Knight Saber.
	"Hey, you all right?"
	"I don't think I can stand up right now," Ranko answered 
slowly, as if the words were coming through clenched teeth.
	"Let me help you then."
	"I don't need nobody's help."
	*Not only is she stubborn,* Rally thought, *but she has bad 
grammar as well.*  The ADP detective wrapped her arm around 
the armored torso and did her best to help the Knight Saber to 
stand.  She almost fell on her backside.  Those suits were heavy 
and slick to the touch.
	"Hey --"
	"Stuff it," Rally told her in anger.  "Bet your legs sprained, 
maybe even broken.  If I don't help you out of here, than this 
place'll be your tomb.  You need my help."
	After a few moments, Saber-Red nodded.
	Ranko looked up at her rescuer as they hobbled their way 
out of the danger zone.  That was when she realized that it was the 
AD Police officer she had spoken to earlier when she was out 
getting the food, Rally something or other.  She thought that with 
the short hair this woman resembled a slightly older version of 
Akane.  *Yeah right,* Ranko thought, *that tombody wouldn't 
offer me help if I was sinking in quicksand.  Besides, she said that 
she liked my music.*  Ranko doubted that anyone back home 
would understand that even though it started out as a way to make 
money, she had come to love making music almost as much as she 
loved martial arts.  Ranko began to smile a little, despite the pain 
she was in.

	The Knight Sabers regrouped about a block away from the 
remains of Aqua City.  Belldandy still sat in the truck with Keiichi, 
holding the sleeping little girl in her lap.  Once Keiichi has assured 
her that no one else was in the area, Rei had gotten out of her 
damaged hardsuit, but Ami had stayed in hers in case of trouble.  
She hadn't seen what hit her, but her suit hadn't taken any serious 
damage.
	Mihoshi dropped off Ranko before Rei.  The blonde Knight 
Saber had found Rally helping Saber-Red out of the wreckage and 
had taken over.  Ranko studied her feet as she tried to keep her 
balance on her one good leg while Rei silently stared at her.
	"I'll help her get her armor off," Rei finally said. "Keiichi, 
get the medical kit and set it up in the truck.  Ami, get out of your 
hardsuit and get ready to treat her injuries.  Mihoshi, patrol the area 
for signs of trouble.  We're not leaving until Ranko is taken care 
of."
	"And Ranko?"  Rei added after everyone else had started on 
what she had told them to do.
	"Hai?"
	"Disobey my orders again and you're off the team."
	Ranko nodded. "Gomen, it won't happen again, Rei."
	She had agreed to follow Rei's orders when she joined up 
and knew her little stunt had nearly gotten her killed.  Ranko didn't 
mind risking her life for others, but knew she had just been foolish 
and reckless.  Besides, she was too tired and sore to argue.
	Rei only nodded in response as she helped Ranko into the 
truck, where she could lie down after her armor had been removed.

	Ranko was sleeping in the back of the truck as they headed 
for home.  Keiichi was careful to drive slow and avoid bumps so 
not to jostle her.  Belldandy was helping him pick the best routes.  
The goddess seemed to have a knack for navigation.  Actually, she 
had simply tuned herself into one of the satellites overhead.
	Ami had just finished tidying up after taking care of Ranko.
	"So how is she?" Rei asked.
	"Most of her injuries were minor, or at least look that way 
now.  Ranko heals faster than anyone I've ever seen before.  Quite 
a few painful bruises and she'll have to go easy on her left leg, but 
most of that should be cleared up in a few days.  The worst were 
the burns on her hands.  It looks like she tried one of those fireballs 
of hers while still in the hardsuit.  I applied some cream to help 
with the burning and bandaged her hands up, but even at the rate 
she heals it'll be at least a week before they will be all right."
	Rei nodded.
	"What do you plan to do with the girl?" Ami asked her.
	"I'm going to find out what the USSD wanted with her 
first."
	"Shouldn't we bring her back to her parents?"
	"She doesn't have any parents.  She's a boomer."
	Ami was shocked.  "How do you know?"
	"I know."
	There was something in Rei's tone that made Ami decide 
not to inquire further.

	The Knight Sabers finally returned to Rei's apartment after 
a long day.  Ranko had woken up briefly; Ami had ignored her 
protests and ordered her to sleep in one of Rei's guestrooms.  
Ranko didn't put up much of a fight and was dreaming in minutes.  
	Belldandy put the little girl in her own bed and unrolled a 
futon for herself.  Then she got started on some snacks for 
everyone.  She had seen someone serving cheese and crackers on a 
TV show and wanted to try it out.
	Everyone else sat around Rei's room.  Keiichi was setting 
up for the call to the USSD.  He'd make sure that no one could 
trace this.  Mihoshi was sipping on a little warmed sake while 
reading some new manga she had brought with her.  Rei was 
nursing a cup of coffee as she sat at her computer, jotting down 
notes on the latest adventure of the Knight Sabers.
	Ami was lying on Rei's bed in a half-doze.  It had been a 
long day.  She knew Rei would just let her go home if she asked to, 
but she still wanted to know why the USSD would want the little 
girl so badly, especially if Rei was right and she was a boomer.  
Besides, she wanted to be here to support Rei in any way that she 
could.  Ami admired their leader for being such a strong and 
independent woman, something she was striving to be herself.
	"Good evening everyone," said Belldandy cheerily as she 
entered the room, "I've made you all some snacks."
	"Wow, snacks!" Mihoshi exclaimed, putting down her 
manga and practically jumping for the tray that Belldandy was 
holding.
	"They're so cute!" the blonde space detective enthused, 
holding up a cracker with a cheese-painted smiley face on it.  The 
cracker quickly vanished into her fanged mouth.  "Yummy!"
	Belldandy blushed faintly with the praise as Mihoshi took 
two more and went back to her manga.
	"Thank you," said Rei as she took the offered cracker and 
set it down next to her rapidly cooling, half-full cup of coffee.
	Belldandy nodded and went on to serve Keiichi.  He was 
working on getting the communications equipment set up, so he 
didn't notice her until she was standing right next to him.  
Ironically enough, while he was working half of his thoughts had 
been of her.
	"Hello, Keiichi," she said, her lips only inches away from 
his ear.
	He jumped in surprise and automatically tried clinging to 
the ceiling, but it was too smooth to get a grip and he fell on his 
head.  The teenager wondered how Ranko managed to do that trick 
as he rubbed a growing bump on his noggin.
	"Oh, my, Keiichi, I didn't mean to startle you.  Are you all 
right?"  Belldandy asked, as she started checking him for injuries.
	Having overheard what Belldandy had just said, Ami 
wondered if she was just imagining that the pause between 'my' and 
'Keiichi' was much shorter than it should have been.  It was strange 
how quickly everyone had accepted a goddess into their midst, but 
even Ami had to acknowledge that there was something about 
Belldandy that made you want to trust her.
	Keiichi quickly put a little distance between himself and the 
goddess.  He did not want to think about her hands on him at the 
moment.  "I'm fine really.  I guess that I was so engrossed in setting 
this gear up that I didn't notice you."
	Keiichi had seemed lost in thought.  Belldandy wondered if 
he had been thinking about Ranko.  She thought that he had 
seemed a little too worried about making the redhead comfortable 
on the ride home.
	Actually, Keiichi was busy thinking about the goddess who 
stood so close to him.  How in two days she had completely turned 
his world upside-down.  He hadn't even tried to peek when he was 
helping Mihoshi on with her suit or when Ami was examining 
Ranko.  Things like that didn't seem to matter to him anymore, as 
long as he had Belldandy.
	"Is the equipment ready yet, Keiichi?" Rei asked from her 
computer, startling both the young goddess and the mortal boy out 
of their thoughts.
	"Almost, sis," Keiichi answered back after he'd collected 
himself.  Belldandy decided to take a seat so as to not get in the 
way of his work.  A few more adjustments and he was done.
	"All set, sis.  We'll be able to see him, but he won't be able 
to see us.  And if they try to trace the call, they'll end up 
somewhere in South America."
	"Good work, Keiichi.  Make the call."
	It was a surprised general who answered at home.
	"This is the Knight Sabers," Rei told him.
	"Ah, yes I should have guessed.  Have you completed the 
mission?"
	"We recovered the girl."
	"And the man?"
	"Turned out to be a bug-boomer.  We had no choice but to 
destroy him."
	The general nodded.  "I guess that's all for the best then.  
When are you going to deliver the girl to us?"
	"No."
	"What? What do you mean 'no'?"
	"I mean that I will not be delivering her until you tell me 
why you made a boomer in the image of a little girl."
	The general began to look very uncomfortable.  "We were 
developing a new control unit for the satellite platforms.  Our 
research showed that the form of a little girl would be the least 
conspicuous.  We even gave her a real personality, derived from 
cartoon shows that depicted girls of her age group."
	"What kind of shows?" Ami asked.
	"Sailor V, Child's Mallet, things like that."
	Ami, Ranko, and Keiichi looked at the general in horror, 
even though he couldn't see them.  That could be even worse than a 
chibi-Mihoshi.
	Rei was expressionless as always.  "How does she control 
the satellites?"
	"There's a box attached to the back of her brain that is the 
main control unit.  It's all completely self-contained in case the 
boomer was destroyed."
	"Then I will remove this black box and deliver it to you in 
the morning.  I will keep the boomer as a partial payment."
	"What?  But the boomer will cease to function without the 
black box.  What could you possibly want with it?"
	"That is not your concern," Rei said and was about to cut 
the connection, when she added, "General, make sure next time 
that you choose a non-human form for your devices.  It would be 
safer in the long run."  Then she finally terminated the call.
	Ami and Ranko exchanged glances.  If they hadn't known 
Rei better, they would say that last bit had sounded like a threat.

	"Rei-san," Belldandy pleaded with her, "you mustn't 
remove that black box, otherwise Sana will die."  The young 
goddess hadn't known the little girl for very long, but she already 
felt quite attached to her.  It had felt so nice when Sana had been 
sleeping in her arms, almost as if she were her child.
	"It is not my intention to have her cease to function," Rei 
responded.  "Keiichi, please bring Sana down to my workroom.  I 
will need your assistance in the operation.  Belldandy, you should 
go to sleep, I don't know how long this will take.  Ami and 
Mihoshi, you're welcome to stay the night if you wish."
	"Thanks anyway, Rei," Ami told her, "but I have to get up 
early for first shift tomorrow."
	"Oh, me too," Mihoshi said.
	Everyone said their good-byes, agreeing to meet tomorrow 
as early as possible.
	Keiichi and Rei exchanged nods.  They knew that for them 
it was going to be a long night.
	Belldandy, back to her room, thought only for a moment 
before reaching for the phone and dialing a very long number.  She 
didn't know anything about machines, but she could tell from the 
expression on Keiichi's face that this operation wasn't going to be 
easy.  They might need help and the young goddess knew just who 
to call.