"Ewwww!" Ami Mizuno fought back a sigh, the ice blue armored figure slogging along with her companions. "What is it Minako?" she asked her a bit tiredly, feeling her darker blue hair sticking to her forehead beneath her helmet from sweat. 'I really must improve the cooling system,' she silently mused. "I think I stepped on a rat," Minako Aino groaned as the lamps added to the shoulders of her golden armor lit up the darkness of the sewer they were slogging through. Thankfully the hardsuits kept the stench out, bit it still was an entirely unpleasant experience. "Considering how big your butt is," Rei noted dryly, her blood red suit dingy with mist and mud, "the rat never stood a chance." "Rei," Minako squeaked angrily. "My girlfriend's butt is not big," Makoto said firmly, her dark green suit looking oddly at home in the murky depths. 'Why do I feel more like a baby sitter than a team leader?' Ami wondered mournfully. "Minako, sensors picking up any sign of that Bio-boomer we're tracking?" she asked, reminding them of why they were there. "I'm picking up heat sources," Minako sounded disgusted, "but they're too small to be the target. Probably more rats." "Is it a combat type, or just a normal rogue?" Rei asked, ducking beneath a dangling piece of moss as they slogged onward. Ami sounded businesslike as she answered, "Reports on the attack say it was a standard type, but it was acting odd." "You mean besides trying to kill someone?" Makoto asked as they turned, the tunnel tilting downward a bit. "Besides that," Ami fought back a slight smile. "Apparently it tried to steal the heart-crystal from another Bio-boomer before fleeing," she said. "That's weird," Minako said, sounding more than a bit surprised. However, she was so surprised that she wasn't watching where she was going, her booted foot coming down on something large, gooey and alive. "Look out..." Makoto started to warn her, but it was already too late. "AIEEEE!" Minako squealed as she lurched back, waving her arm and shaking her leg frantically to get whatever it was off her. 'Oh, give me strength,' Ami thought as Minako careened right into Rei and sent both women crashing to the muck and fluid covered base of the tunnel. "MINAKO!" Rei roared, coming up covered in filth. "Whaaa!" Minako wailed, dripping brown water and other stuff that should probably not be mentioned. 'Glad I was walking over here,' Makoto thought just a bit guiltily. "Let's just get this over with," Ami strived to keep any amusement out of her voice as she told them, "the sooner we're done, the sooner we can go home and get cleaned up." "And the sooner we can hose down these suits," Rei growled as she forced herself to her feet, a long strand of what looked like seaweed clinging to her gun-arm which she picked off with obvious distaste. "Something's showing up on sensors," Minako tottered a bit as she reported, "though it might be a ghost from all the gook stuck on me." "Location?" Makoto asked warily, her eyes sweeping the tunnel. "Up ahead, maybe a hundred yards," Minako confirmed. "Let's go, people," Ami ordered as the wet, messy and somewhat slimy group continued on down the tunnel. Up ahead of them the sewer turned, and from around the corner a faint, flickering of light could be seen. As they grew nearer a odd splashing sound reach their ears, as well as what almost sounded like tearing. Slowing down a bit they cautiously approached, then peered around at a most unusual sight. The female bio-boomer looked perfectly normal, her long pink hair falling in a shimmering wave down her back as she cheerfully splashed in the puddle of goo. Hanging up against the wall was a captive bio-boomer, it's arms secured to the wall as the woman carefully, lovingly cut it open. She peeled back the outer layer's of flesh as her captive passively watched, it's white blood dripping into the water. "This is sick," Rei murmured, faintly surprised at feeling a bit ill. With a final cut the heart-crystal was revealed, pulsing with life as it was carefully removed from the now dying bio-boomer. She cradled it reverently a moment, then raised it to her mouth, opened wide and swallowed it whole. "Ugh," Makoto groaned softly. "Makes a odd sort of sense." Ami murmured, "it's mouth and digestive system couldn't hurt the crystal anyway." "Do we stop it?" Rei asked as the female walked away up the sewer tunnel away from where they hid. "I can't promise I'll be able to track it if we lose sight of her," Minako anticipated the question before Ami could even ask, "there's too much interference and sensor echoes from the quake damage down here." Ami made a fast decision, "Then we stop it. I want to examine it and see if we can find out why it's doing what it's doing." "Then let's go," Rei broke cover and took off, the artificial muscles of her hardsuit sending her racing down the tunnel with incredible speed. Makoto, Ami and Minako hurried after her even as Ami thought irritably, 'When am I going to remember she doesn't wait for orders?' The bio-boomer wheeled around as she heard Rei near, her eyes glowing red as she quickly assessed her foes. With remarkable ease she ducked under Rei's punch then struck, hammering Rei in the gut and sending her reeling backwards. 'Not a normal bio-boomer,' Makoto thought as she closed with her, throwing a cautious jab and watching her react. 'Programmed with unarmed fighting routines?' she thought as the bio-boomer did a perfect block, 'interesting.' Minako detonated a flash bomb, knowing that Makoto's visor would automatically protect her, then took the opportunity to do a close in scan. "Ami," she used their radios to report, "it's much denser than a normal bio-boomer!" "Look out," Ami warned as she closed in, extended arm blades trailing ice, "it's probably much stronger than normal." "I kind of guessed that," Rei growled as she pushed herself up from where she had hit the wall. Raising a dripping arm she waited till Ami was done her rapid slashing strike, aimed at a gap in the thing's outer skin then fired. The needle zipped through the air, imbedding in the shoulder of the bio-boomer, slowing it a moment. Then it exploded, shredding artificial flesh as the bio-boomer gave a very human howl of pain, it's severed arm dropping smoking to the tunnel floor. "Yes," Makoto seized her chance, the cutting cables of her hardsuit lashing out to sever the bio-boomer's head from it's shoulders. "Mistress..." the bio-boomer hissed as it's head bounced to rest against the wall, then stopped as the light in it's eyes went out. At the same time it's body stiffened then dropped, much like a puppet who's strings had been cut. "Well that was creepy," Minako murmured. "Could someone else please carry the head?" she asked quietly. "Wimp," Rei said as she walked over and picked up the now soggy head from where it had fallen into the filth. "And proud of it," Minako agreed even as her lover picked up the bio-boomer with a soft grunt of effort. "Let's get back to the surface," Makoto said as they all headed back the way they came, "I think my suit is sticking in places I don't want to think about." 'Was she going to say Mistress Nine?' Ami wondered, walking along with the others and ignoring their somewhat joking banter. 'If so, does that mean she was gathering the crystals for Nine? And if so, why?' "You all right?" Rei asked as they slogged slowly upwards. Ami gave Rei a look, "I should be asking you that very same question. That was quite a hit you took." "I'm fine," Rei said quickly. A hard look from Ami and she conceded, "All right, I'm sore, but I'm fine." "I'll look you over when we get back to the van," Ami said, not letting on how her heart raced at the idea of looking Rei over like that. "Thanks," Rei said quietly.
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