Chapters 1-2 are on my home page, http://www.inetnow.net/~arromdee

                                BUBBLEGUM FLASH
                                by Ken Arromdee

                                   Chapter 3

Sylvie closed the door and put several bags of groceries down near the bed.
"I'm back, Anri."  Anri greeted Sylvie and started to help her store away the
perishables in the refrigerator.

There was a knock on the door.  Anri stopped unloading onions and walked over
to the door to open it.  Sylvie, however, put a hand on her wrist, warning her
"Don't.  We don't know who that is."  Sylvie peered through the peephole
instead, seeing the visitor, an unfamiliar, tall, man with narrow eyes dressed
in an expensive suit.  "I don't recognize him, Anri", she said, and yelled at
the door "Hello?"

The man spoke, talking a bit loudly so he could be heard through the door.
"Greetings.  My apologies if you weren't expecting anyone."  Sylvie nodded,
unseen, and opened the door a crack to listen to him.  The man waited for her
and then continued.  "You are Sylvie and Anri, aren't you?"  She nodded.  "I
have a business proposition to make to you, and this has to be done inside.
May I enter?"

Sylvie was suspicious, but old programmed habits took over and she let the
man enter, opening the door for him and bowing.  "Come on in and make yourself
at home."  Besides, it was pretty safe; she and Anri could handle most kinds
of trouble that could happen.

The man bowed in return.  "Sylvie, Anri, let me introduce myself.  My name is
Largo.  It's I who was responsible for the boomers on Genaros station attaining
consciousness.  You're here because of me."

Sylvie certainly wasn't expecting that.  She considered the man for a second
and replied "I see."  It _could_ be possible.  "So we're here because of you.
Are you planning to ask us for payment of some sort for your benevolent good
deed?"

"Oh, no.  I'm a boomer myself.  A superboomer, the first of a new race of
beings."  He removed a knife from his suit pocket and sliced it across his
throat.  The blade bent back slightly, and there was no wound--only a slit
behind which gleamed some sort of metal.  Largo theatrically folded the knife
in half with one hand and showed it to them, then returned it to his pocket.
"You see.  I freed you because I'm on your side.  Someday, boomers may take
their proper place in the world."

Anri's eyes widened.  Sylvie considered the possibilities.  He could be telling
the truth.  He could also be a human with a cybernetic implant, or just a
boomer double for the true Largo.  No way to tell right now.

Largo continued.  "I'm not very fond of Genom or GDPC, and I don't think you
two are either.  So I'd like your help."

"Go ahead, tell us your proposition", demanded Sylvie.

"My, my, how impatient.  Well, it's simple.  I'm spying on Genom.  I need to
find out what they're up to, to stay one step ahead of them at all times.  I'd
like to know if you're willing to work for me, as spies.  You'll be paid well,
and I know you need that, and you may even get a chance at a little revenge
on Kaufman.  How long were you there after you awoke?  A week?  A short time,
but much longer to someone who's being abused and enslaved.  I'm sorry I
couldn't give you an opportunity to escape sooner."

Largo caressed Anri's face while finishing up his explanation.  "What do you
say?"

Anri looked into Largo's eyes.  He seemed so strong...  not just because he
bent knives, but because he had a vision, and was willing to work to achieve
it.  Who knows, maybe someday boomers would have have the power to make sure
they would never be slaves, never be treated like she and Sylvie and all the
others who didn't make it were treated.

She briefly looked away, glancing at Sylvie.  Sylvie didn't look pleased.
"You really want to, Anri?"

"I..." replied Anri.

"It's a hard decision, I know", said Largo.  "I'll be back in a week, would that
be all right with you?  I'm sorry I can't give you a phone number, but you must
understand the need to keep a low profile."

Anri slowly nodded.  "Goodbye, then.  I'd like you to come visit again, Largo."

"Farewell", answered Largo, then bowing and exiting through the door.

"We have to take the offer, Sylvie.  We _have_ to.  He wants to do some good,
for us, like Honey.  How often does that happen?"

"More than once", answered Sylvie.  "I don't like it at all, though.  Something
about Largo seems a little bit odd."

"What's that?"

"I can't really explain.  It's...  it's hard to."

"Why don't you ask Honey what she thinks?  I'm sure she'll agree."

Sylvie shrugged.  "Sure.  Why not?"

                                     * * *

Sylvie and Anri didn't know very many people.  Priss was still a bit uneasy
with them after the incident at Sylia's place, though she seemed to have a good
heart and was obviously trying hard to get along with them.  The only remaining
person they could talk to was Honey, and she could really understand the
situation they were in.  She was also a lot less likely to do something rash,
like try to turn Largo over to the AD Police.

Sylvie picked up the phone, glancing at the screen after she punched in
Honey's number.  It flashed on and Honey's face appeared, answering.
"Hello, Kisaragi residence."

"Honey, it's me, Sylvie!  We're having a problem.  A strange guy just gave us
a very tempting job offer, and me and Anri can't make up our minds about what
to do.  Can you tell us what you think?"

After a moment's pause, Honey replied "Sure, come on over and we can talk at
my house.  I'm not doing anything important, just going over these patents."
She indicated a stack of stapled papers beside her.  "You sound really
troubled."

                                     * * *

"Can you help us?" asked Sylvie after a long explanation to Honey.

"Hai", replied Honey, pouring herself a glass of off-orange liquid.  "It's
really very simple.  Oh, want some vegetable juice?  It's good for your blood."

Sylvie and Anri both shook their heads no, and waited for Honey to continue.

"It _is_ very simple", continued Honey.  At least, she thought, if she'd
correctly guessed what the real problem was.  "Servant boomers agree with
whatever they're told.  And you don't, and you're just not _used_ to that."

Sylvie nodded as Honey continued.

"But human beings aren't supposed to agree with each other one hundred
percent of the time, and it's not a big deal if you and your friend don't see
eye-to-eye on everything.  You just disagree.  You can each make your own
decisions; Anri can go, you don't have to go yourself, and you can forget
about it."

"Maybe you're right, Honey-chan.  But what do you think?  Personally?" asked
Sylvie.

Honey sat back and sipped a glass of juice, then answered.  "Well, corporate
espionage happens all the time.  I'd be immediately suspicious; he has to be
hiding something.  Whether he's hiding something that would matter to you, I
wouldn't know.  If you ever find out anything more about him, you're
always welcome to come over and chat."

"We're not bothering you?" asked Anri.

"Of course not.  Besides, how often do I get a chance to talk to two other
dangerous renegade boomers?"  She winked.

                                     * * *

In a week of keypunching and monitor watching, Anri found enough chances to
access data that she could get everything that Largo wanted.  He was going to
come over in an hour or so to pick the disk up, and this was a good chance for
Honey to meet him.  Or so Sylvie thought, anyway.

There was a knock at the door.  Anri got up and answered.  "Honey?"

She opened the door.  Largo was there, smiling at her.  He entered the room
before she could do anything.  "You were expecting someone else?  No matter.
I'm just a little early.  If I'm troubling you, I don't have to stay; I just
need the data you collected."

Anri started to reach into her pocket for the disk.  Sylvie stepped in front
of her.  "Wait.  This doesn't sound good.  How many people are going to be
hurt in your plans, Largo?  I had to kill for Anri's life.  I didn't want to.
But you...  you have a choice."

"I'm sorry.  Anri, Sylvie, please understand.  No fight can be fought without
casualties.  But I'm doing this for the greater good.  Do you want the future
of us, the race that will succeed humanity, to be just machines, slaves for
whatever perversions mankind can think up?"

"I..." replied Anri.  It was so confusing.  She didn't want to hurt anyone,
but she never wanted to be hurt again.

Anri thought it over, and then motioned Sylvie aside.  "Sylvie...  this is my
decision."  She brought the disk out of her jacket pocket and started to hand
it to Largo.  Sylvie remained on the side, not interfering this time.

A voice unfamiliar to Largo interrupted just as Anri was extending her hand.
"Wait.  Don't give him that, Anri."

Largo turned and the others looked towards the door.  An attractive blonde
woman wearing a red band in her hair had opened the door again and was
approaching him.  Largo didn't recognize her at all.

"I've heard enough", said Honey.  "Just what exactly are you planning?"

"Who are you?"

Honey paused, as if about to make a long speech, but instead answered "I'm
Honey.  You must be Largo."

"It's all right", said Anri.  "Honey's a friend.  And she's special.  I know
she'll be on our side if you just explain everything to her."

Largo turned his eyes on Honey, as if trying to look deep into her soul.  They
didn't manage to do that, but the infrared scan that they did do was enough.
She was a boomer, an unknown type, with unknown capabilities.  Largo didn't
know any of her past and didn't know what drove her.  It might be much harder
to get her to do what he wanted than Anri.

Largo bowed to Honey.  "I am he.  It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
You're a friend of Anri and Sylvie?"

"Yes I am", replied Honey.  "Are you?"

"I have all of our best interests at heart, Honey.  I'm planning to bring about
a new world.  One where Anri and Sylvie would never be abused like they were
on Genaros Station.  Is this so wrong?"

"Now that I've met you and listened to your own words, Largo, I'm even more
certain.  You're in this for yourself.  'Creating a new world'...  those words
have always meant more slavery and more terror for anyone who didn't belong in
that world.  And just what is your goal, anyway?  A world of free boomers?  A
world of boomers ruled by you?

Honey continued.  "You're taking advantage of Sylvie and Anri, because they've
had little real human contact.  It's easy to smooth talk someone who's only
been in the world for a few weeks."

Anri looked between the two, an expression of puzzlement on her face.

Largo turned to Anri.  "Are you going to let her tell you what to do?  In your
own home?  Just because she's too narrow-minded to think about what the future
could be?"

"Honey-chan..." said Anri.  "You were going to let us decide ourselves."

"I am", replied Honey.  "If you give Largo that disk, I won't stop you...  I'm
not ordering you around.  I'm just hoping a friend isn't going to make a really
big mistake."

Anri thought and thought.  But she was confused now.  There was only one
answer.  "Largo, I need some more time to think about this."

Largo pat Anri on the shoulder.  "Don't you want to help us?  And don't you
want to get back at Kaufman?  It's a once in a lifetime chance, Anri.  Now or
never."

"I...  No.  In that case, no.  I'm sorry, Largo.  I hope it all works out
for the best."

                                     * * *

It'll still work, though Largo.  Having control of the USSD satellite systems
would be plenty to blackmail Quincy with, even without the information from
Anri.  And once he got the OMS, Sylvie and Anri and their mysterious boomer
friend would be no problem at all.

Largo entered Genom tower.  "Please take me to Quincy", he said to the
secretary.

"I'm sorry, nobody is permitted to see Quincy without an appointment."

Largo grabbed the secretary by the neck and lifted her ten centimeters off the
ground.  "Take me to Quincy."  The secretary gasped out an agreement, and Largo
roughly threw her back down in her chair.

She opened a channel to Quincy while making a small movement with her foot, one
which Largo immediately recognized as the motion to set off a hidden alarm.
Four combat boomers stormed into the room a few seconds later, grabbing Largo.
He put up no resistance, and let them drag him away.  They brought him into a
small room with a lone door; two kept holding his arms firmly, and the other two
stood by the egress.

An older man with a tall face and light-colored hair walked in.  Largo
immediately scanned him as a boomer double; Quincy knew better than to just
walk in on a dangerous prisoner.  "You had something to say?  Go on", said the
man.

"I want the Overmind Control System."

"Overmind Control System?"

"Don't be surprised that I know of it.  I am a superboomer, the first of a new
race.  It's only fitting that control of all the boomers in the world pass to
me, their natural leader."

"That's pure insanity!  And you're in no position to bargain."

Largo shrugged.  "Those guards can't hurt me.  And if you insist...  Show me
another Genom tower.  Sydney, Australia, let's say, the one under construction.
There's a viewscreen in every room in this building; I know you can."

'Quincy' waved his hand to the wall, a square of which slid aside, revealing a
screen.  It lit up, displaying a montage of tall buildings that dwarfed even
skyscrapers, with captions naming cities all over the world.

Largo threw the rightmost boomer guard aside, as if it was nothing more than an
insect that had landed on his right arm, and then lifted that arm towards the
ceiling and the sky somewhere beyond.  Then he lowered it to point at one of
the images.  Soon afterwards, the display showed a brilliant beam striking from
the heavens, bathing the tower with energy and burning up everything in its
path.  The swath of destruction reached the camera, and then the image on the
viewscreen winked out.

"You can't..."

"You see, I can.  Unless you hand over control of the OMS to me, Genom will
be no more."

"And if you do, humanity will be no more."  The three boomers not grabbing
Largo leaped at him.

Largo started to say "Paris, Fr..."  The boomers stopped.  Largo threw off the
one already on him with a jerk of his left arm; it fell to the ground like
a discarded doll.  "I'm glad we could come to an accommodation."

                                     * * *

Sylvie and Anri were with Priss again, and her friends, and Honey, in Sylia's
apartment, discussing the situation.

Priss listened to the description Sylvie gave of the whole incident, and thought
it over, finally answering "Honey's right."  Mackie and the others all agreed.

Anri looked at the six around her and nodded.  "I believe you, Honey, everyone.
I really was foolish in trying to follow him....  I just didn't understand!"

"I'm glad you decided to believe me", said Honey.  "He's like the serpent,
offering you some kind of boomer original sin."

"What's that?" asked Sylvie.

"It's something I learned all about long ago, in Catholic school.  The story
is that the first human beings were tempted to do evil, and because of that,
evil became an inherent and inherited part of all humans.  If it's true,
boomers would be sinless.  Until now."

"How strange.  Do you think Largo's going to try to hurt us?" asked Anri.

"I don't know", replied Honey.  "We didn't talk--he just went the other way
as soon as we left--and I don't know the least bit about him.  Is there
anything you can tell us, something that you know about Largo that nobody else
does?  He's completely mysterious."

"Nothing", answered Anri.  "Oh, there was that suit he wanted me to wear."

"What?" said Honey.

"The Knight Saber suit."

Priss, Sylia, Linna, Nene, and Mackie all blinked, stunned.  "He what?" asked
Priss.

"He said that the Knight Sabers were in his way, and he wanted me to wear a
suit to help lure them out.  It had a pink bottom and...."

"You're sure about this?" queried Nene.

"Right."

"But that's the cutest Knight Saber!" responded Nene, who soon found herself
the target of a very expressive dirty look from Priss.

Mackie, silent until then, tossed a folded newspaper to Anri.  "You might want
to look at this, Anri.  We were discussing it just before you came."  The
headline described an announcement by the Knight Sabers--that they were going
to rob the Tinsel City Bank.

"Seems like we know where Largo is", said Priss.  "If I led the Knight Sabers,
I'd be pretty mad at a bunch of fakes ruining our reputation.  You're going to
see a fight between the Knight Sabers and Largo, and Largo doesn't stand a
chance."

"Are you sure about that, Priss?" asked Sylvie.

"No.  Being a Knight Saber is a dangerous business.  And we don't know Largo's
capabilities."

"Or that of the Knight Sabers", added Sylia.  Priss muttered something in reply.

"So", asked Sylvie, "then that's it.  We go home and turn on the news and see
what happens."

Anri added "I just hope the Knight Sabers don't hurt Largo."

Priss seemed to have something else on her mind.  "They're going to not hurt
Largo if Hell freezes over."

"No!" exclaimed Anri.

"Anri...  maybe you and Sylvie and Honey may not be human, and you're okay,
but you're exceptions.  Most boomers are dangerous.  Largo's going to get what's
coming to him.  Got it?"

"Oh, some of your best friends are boomers?" asked Honey.

"Yes, they are."  It was Sylia.  "By some definitions, me and Mackie could be
considered part boomer.  Our brains are augmented with neurophages, a result
of an experiment of our father's.  Nene and Linna heard of it long ago.  I told
Priss the last time you were here.  Right after you left."

"And you still think boomers are menaces, Priss?" asked Honey.

"No.  Just most.  And Sylia's human for all intents and purposes, and you three
are pretty close."

"Largo is too", said Anri.

"Menace?  Yes.  Human?  No."

"Not so fast", said Sylia.  "If Largo is who I think he is, he may be part
human in a way.  And it may be fate that the Knight Sabers are going to take
him out."

"Do you mean that the Knight Sabers are boomers too?" asked Sylvie.

"No, she doesn't!" exclaimed Priss.  "That is, I don't _think_ so."

"Nobody ever sees their faces.  Those helmets could really be their faces."

Honey nodded.  "The whole female suit shape could be a clever trick."

"It's not", affirmed Priss, "and that's it."

"Did we say something wrong?" asked Anri.

"No, it's not your fault, Anri.  It's something I'd rather not talk about.
Trust me when I say that the Knight Sabers aren't boomers.  If they were, this
battle with Largo would be much easier."

                                     * * *

The day when the fake Knight Sabers were going to rob the bank was fast
approaching.  Anri was worried.  "Honey-chan...  you're going to go too?  The
Knight Sabers should be able to take care of it.  Priss trusts them."

"Yes, I'm going to go.  I don't think it's their job...  they're just the
victims.  I think it's up to me.  Sixty years ago I was the only one like
myself around.  Now, there are millions.  Sooner or later, something like
this was bound to happen.  He believes that boomers are a new race who shall
take over the world, and I don't.  One of our sides is going to win."

"Take over?  No, Largo may be committing a crime, but he wants freedom."

"He just about said that he was going to take over", noted Sylvie.

"But he _didn't_ say it", replied Anri.  "Honey...  please don't destroy him.
If you have to take him into custody, if you have to deactivate him somehow...
but don't make it permanent.  Largo's not a bad person."

Honey sighed.  She had killed a lot of times.  Monstrous enemies who weren't
really human, but then she wasn't really human herself.  It was killing,
she didn't try to deny that it was, and all too often there just wasn't any
other choice open.  From what little she knew of Largo, this may be one of
those cases.  But she didn't want to get Anri's hopes down, either.

"I'll do what I can, Anri", said Honey.

                                     * * *

Honey shouted her transformation phrase "Honey FLASH!"  When the flash had
completed, she was sitting on her motorcycle, dressed in helmet and suit for
protection.  Sylvie and Anri mounted a more normal motorcycle and followed
behind Honey, not to fight, but to watch.  They had insisted on coming,
despite the danger, and Honey didn't have the heart to stop them.

Far away at the Tinsel City Bank, the three fake Knight Sabers blasted their
hand cannons at the cordon of AD Police that had come to protect it from their
ravages.  The dark blue Saber lifted up one of the patrol cars and threw it to
the side, where it landed in a shower of sparks, its driver collapsing
unconscious from the stress to his head and spine when it impacted.  Then the
fakes flew up several stories, and another of them, wearing a suit a lighter
shade of blue than the first, fired its knuckle bomber into the concrete wall,
which exploded into a heap of rubble.  All three flew in and landed.

Each grabbed several bundles of 10000-yen notes, and left through the floor
in the same violent way they had entered through the wall.  They blasted
through the floors until they reached the lobby level.  The light blue Saber
knocked another hole in the wall to make their escape, but someone was waiting.
Four figures, the four real Knight Sabers, suddenly appeared in the hole in
the wall, silhouetted agaiinst the city skyline outside.  The real Sabers
shouted their introduction: "Knight Sabers...  sanjuu!" and leapt in at the
fakes.

The fakes immediately dropped the money and went through a transformation
considerably uglier than Honey's.  Their bodies swelled in size, and pieces of
growing technology burst out of their suits, as they expanded into nine-foot
tall metallic hyperboomers studded with armor plating and full of gun barrels
and metal tubing.

The top half of the red hyperboomer's head slid upwards several inches,
revealing the lens of a laser.  It fired its beam out at Sylia, who at the
last moment managed to leap aside to safety.  Sylia grabbed a chunk of
concrete with her suit-augmented strength and threw it at the boomer's face,
then flew towards it while its vision was impaired.

Three blades shot from the arm of the second, red-and-blue, hyperboomer.  Its
jets activated, and it took to the air, zooming at Linna with its blades
extended.  Linna twisted her body and the suits to avoid the attack, getting
hit in her left arm, her suit cracking from the blow.

A powerful gravity cannon, embedded in the chest of the third, blue,
hyperboomer, began to hum as it activated.  It fired at Nene, knocking her
into the ground, and ran towards her prone figure, knocking furniture out of
its way like toys with its powerful fists.  The boomer punched Nene, hitting
her chest with a glancing blow, and slamming her right arm hard.  The suit kept
the attack from breaking bone, but the tissue damage was plenty to make her
cry out in pain.

Priss looked around, using her suit's instruments on the shadows inside the
poorly-lit interior of the bank.  Nothing.  There were three boomers, and
that's all.  And four of them.  Soon going to be three dead boomers, she
thought.  Priss decided that Nene was in the most need of immediate help, and
raced towards the boomer attacking her, jumping up at the last moment and
landing on its back.  She tightened her hands into fists and punched the
boomer's head, setting off her railgun as the blows hit.  A powerful stream of
iron needles slammed into the boomer's head at point-blank range, causing it to
explode into shrapnel.

As Linna struggled with her assailant, Priss advanced on it from behind.  This
one seemed to show a little bit more intelligence, noticing what had happened
to its companion, and it clenched its arms together around Linna's legs and,
using her body as a crude club, turned around to slam her into Priss, who went
flying.

Nene faced the struggling boomers and humans and held her hand out, spreading
it to expose the laser, and fighting to keep it steady despite the pain from
her arm injury.  Suddenly there was a sound behind her.  What could it be?  The
AD police?  Mackie?  Reinforcements for the boomers?  If it was that, they'd
be in trouble....

The bank door opened to reveal Honey, still clad in her motorcycle riding suit
and helmet.  Priss spotted her too and shouted "Get away!" at her.  Instead of
getting away, Honey looked around to assess the situation, and shouted "Honey
FLASH!"  There was a brilliant flash of light, and Nene's suit display,
compensating for the light, showed Honey's naked form, then something strange.
The energy readings went off the scale, and a familiar suit was somehow
materializing.  She turned the display down and looked directly at Honey, who
was now wearing a tan hardsuit similar to that of the Knight Sabers.

Honey charged in and shot off a laser into the head of the boomer holding
Linna.  The boomer dove out of the way, heading for Priss, but Honey shot
it again and, when it faced her to counterattack, Priss hit it from the
rear and fired a red laser beam skewering it.  The boomer collapsed, and Linna
dragged herself from beneath its metallic corpse.

Honey faced off against the one remaining hyperboomer, which Sylia was busy
battling.  She extended a blade from her suit's arm and sliced it through the
boomer's neck while the Sabers all attacked it in different ways and from
different angles.  It must have been incredibly sharp, since the boomer's
head barely stayed attached, and the boomer started to collapse into
inactivity even before the combined attacks from the Sabers destroyed it.

                                     * * *

Nene's voice rung in the other Sabers' ears.  "4500!  Tune it to a frequency
of 4500!  And unscrambled!"  Priss, puzzled, obeyed, along with Sylia and Linna.

"Hello..." said Honey's voice over Priss's suit speaker.  "Whew...  I'm glad I
can talk to you.  A hardsuit's not that much more difficult than a motorcycle,
but there was no way I could guess the same communications frequency as
yours..."

Priss shouted, over the radio, "Honey?  How did you...?"

"Priss?  Everyone?  You're the Knight Sabers?"

"Yeah, you found us out, Honey", answered Priss.  "I can't believe you have a
secret like this.  But...  thanks."

"You should talk.  Anyway, I came here to get Largo.  Has he shown up?"

"No, just these boomers.  Sylia has something planned for him, though."

The chat was interrupted by a beam of energy, which came from the heavens and
struck the building.  Sylvie and Anri, waiting outside, fled fast from the
collapsing rubble, which buried some of the police cars that still surrounded
it.  The Sabers and Honey rocketed out through the debris, throwing it aside in
a huge cloud of dust.  But the energy beam began to move, tracking their path
slowly at first, then more rapidly as it approached them.

"Don't stay together!" yelled Honey.  "Don't let it get everyone."

Sylia shook her head.  "That won't be necessary."  She turned to point to a
nearby truck and said "Fire."  A panel in its ceiling slid aside and a blue
beam fired up into the sky, aimed at the source of the first energy beam.
Suddenly the energy beam swerved erratically, approaching dangerously close to
Sylvie and Anri, but a second later it petered out and vanished.

                                     * * *

Largo walked towards the sabers from the distance.  As he got closer, Sylia
held her hand laser in his direction.  Anri shouted "No!  Don't kill him!
Let him talk!"  Sylia thought it over, and then lowered her hand, letting
Largo approach, the Sabers on his left and Honey (still in faux hardsuit),
Sylvie, and Anri on his right.

"I'm impressed", said Largo.  "But Anri's right.  It's not for you to determine
my fate."  He ripped his jacket off and threw it into a ditch.  His skin
seemed to change, now turning a steely blue, eyes glowing red in his head.
"Mankind has created a new race, and that new race will supplant it.  No
longer shall boomers be servants of human beings.  And I am the leader of the
new race, the new humanity that takes the place of the old.

"What do you think?  Are you behind me, Anri?  Sylvie, what about you?  And
Honey?"

"I..." answered Anri.

"No", answered Sylvie.

"Definitely not", said Honey.  "You're an insane madman.  You've brought all
the worst flaws of humanity over to the side of the boomers."

"You will be behind me!  Activate OMS!"

Sylvie and Anri blinked several times, and said in unison "We are behind you.
To the boomer revolution: banzai!"  Largo tossed them knives, which they
caught, and Honey's suit sprouted a much larger knife blade to go with them.

Largo indicated the Sabers.  "Your first mission.  Attack them.  Attack them
at all costs.  Priss likes you three.  But she's going to have to destroy
you.  Aren't you, Priss?"

Honey, Sylvie, and Anri slowly walked towards Largo, pausing after each step,
and towards the Knight Sabers beyond him.  Priss held out her hand laser.
"St...  stay away!"

"Our ruler commands your death, Priss", said Anri.  "Largo will create a new
world, and this will be its first step."

Priss kept her hand out, but couldn't bring herself to fire.  Something...
some way...  there had to be some way around this, she thought.  But if she
couldn't figure out something in the next few minutes, she may have to hurt
or kill them.  They may be boomers, but they're more human than some people
she knows of!

The three reached Largo.  Sylvie and Anri kept on going.  Honey halted a foot
away from him, and stuck her blade into the astonished Largo's chest.
"Surprise.  Do you really think an android designed in the 1970's would accept
a signal from the OMS?"

Largo choked, and a red fluid very much resembling blood trickled down his blue
body out of the wound.  "You've hurt me...  me, the god..." he said.  "I won't
forgive that, ever."  Largo put both hands on Honey's hand and pushed it away,
forcing the blade out, then grabbed her body and crushed her in his powerful
arms.  Honey's imitation suit began to crack beneath the pressure.

Honey gasped out "Honey FLASH!"  Her suit started to disintegrate in
preparation for a new outfit materializing.  But this time, she was being held
by Largo, whose metal arms were touching her suit, and really not that
different in composition from it.  Honey's hardsuit disintegrated.  So did a
three inch layer of Largo's arms and chest touching it.  Honey was suddenly
free of Largo's grasp, landing on the ground in a white coat bearing a
pyramid-and-eye symbol on its back.  In each hand she held a helmet, lined
with some sparkly metallic foil.

Honey shouted "Watch out for the orbital mind-control satellites" and ran to
Sylvie and Anri, quickly shoving a helmet on each one's head.  They stopped
dead in their tracks, then after a moment of confusion hugged Honey, sobbing.

The Knight Sabers lunged forwards at the injured Largo, who had half his arms
missing and whose chest was a mass of torn and sparking wires covered with
red.  The innards of his arms were already writhing around, trying to reconnect
to bypass the damaged area.  The first Knight Saber to reach him was Priss,
and using his still enormous strength, he caught her arm, making her railgun
go awry and hit only a building.  Sylia sliced down using her laser sword,
cutting one arm off completely, while Linna knuckle-bombed his shoulder and
Nene shot at the exposed circuitry in his chest.

"Kill him!" said Sylvie.  Honey looked at Anri.  No hesitation this time; Anri
said "Sylvie's right.  You were right, I was tricked.  Kill him...  He just
wants to enslave us again, put us under his control...."

Honey let them go and faced Largo.  "It's over, Largo.  You're not a god.  A
devil, maybe, a devil whose gift to boomers is tempting them to destruction."

Largo threw off the Knight Sabers, but weakly, Linna even managing to hold on,
and as they regrouped to attack him, he replied.  "You have no right...  who
are you to judge?"

"I have every right to judge.  So do Sylvie and Anri here.  So does Sylia.
And as for who I am..."  She looked around at the Knight Sabers, who were
watching.  Well, never mind, she hadn't done this speech in forty years.  If
they want to look at her funny, they can look at her funny.  "Sometimes I'm a
motorcycle driver, blending in with the citizens of Megatokyo.  Sometimes I'm
a better fake Knight Saber than _your_ fakes.  And sometimes I'm a believer in
arcane conspiracies.  But in truth...  Honey FLASH!"

Honey transformed, appearing in a red, white, and purple costume showing
quite a bit of skin between her breasts.  "I'm the lovely warrior, Cutey Honey!"

Nene applauded, whereupon the other Sabers turned to her, leading her to
show as much embarassment as is possible inside a hardsuit.  Then they all
attacked Largo, Sabers punching, bombing, and slicing him, and Honey impaling
him with her sword.  Largo collapsed in a pool of red "blood" in almost no
time, from dozens of broken and cut systems that even his regenerative
abilities and redundancy couldn't compensate for.

"Thank you, Cutey Honey." said Anri.  Sylvie nodded in agreement.

"An ungrateful child will no longer hurt his parents.  Brian J.  Mason", said
Sylia softly.  Now, we'd better go.  The police will be here soon."  She
set her laser beam to the narrowest width possible, and engraved "Knight
Sabers" in cursive Roman letters on the sidewalk.

                                     * * *

All seven went to Sylia's apartment.  Linna turned on the television,
channel-surfing for special reports about Knight Saber attacks.

Sylia explained.  "You see, Largo was Mason.  He downloaded his mind into a
superboomer.  I hadn't gotten my revenge at all, Priss."

"And now?" asked Priss.  "It's all over for real?"

"No.  He could always have backups.  And revenge may have been where I got the
idea for the Knight Sabers, but it's not why I keep it going."

"Honey?" asked Priss.  "What about you?  Is Cutey Honey back for good?"

"You could say that", answered Honey.  "I defeated my main enemy a long time
ago.  But I find I've missed the action, a little bit.  And I've been a great
inspiration to Sylvie and Anri.  It's always going to be a sideline... I don't
get paid for missions like you do.  On the other hand, Cutey Honey isn't going
to just disappear for forty years again.  And if you ever need me, you know
where I am."

                                     * * *

Epilogue:

Kaufman walked out of his meeting at a hotel near the Tokyo spaceport.  There
had been some trouble on the station, which cost him dearly, but he would soon
get back in the good graces of the SDPC with this new management plan.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.  He turned to face what seemed to be a
young woman with greenish-black hair, and gasped in recognition.  "The 33-S!"

Kaufman looked around for a way to escape, only to spy another familiar 33-S
blocking his path.  "What do you want?" he asked, while trying to avoid their
gaze.

Sylvie held up a card.  "The account this CashCard goes with can hold up to
100 million yen.  You're going to fill that account."

Kaufman drew a gun on Sylvie.

Sylvie continued.  "Put that away.  If you don't, well, me and Anri have 
written a story.  'Two weeks on Genaros station.'  If you don't do as we ask,
or if anything strange happens to either of us, this story will be transmitted
to the Megatokyo Women's Rights Association.  There will be investigations,
and it'll be the end of your career."

"This...  this is unheard of."

"You've never heard of a boomer blackmailing a human being before?  Pity.  You
should watch the news more."

The end (for now).