This is a tryout fanfic posting. "Enter Theta" is a Megaman/ Megaman X
short story, but it is a fairly long short story, so I divided it into
sections for easier reading. Section 1 is all that I've posted yet because
I want feedback before I continue. I guarantee you, if you like this
section, the second one sets up the plot excellently. Please reply in some
form or another so that I can post it!!!!
First, I'll give a little background on the plot. Zero is training newly recruited Maverick Hunters, and some new Mavericks have shown up rather conveniently for training with. Zero leads a choice group of newbies, Chrys and Hale among them, to spar with Sand Scarab, one of the new Mavericks. This is where the story opens up, with Sand Scarab fleeing Hale.
Also, I do not own any characters of Capcom. For that matter, I don't own any of my boyfriend's characters (Hale, Chrys, and Sand Scarab). This is kind of a branch off of a fanfic he's working on. Please read Section 1 at least and give me some feedback. Enjoy!!
1
2 Section 1 - Enter Theta
3 -Zero
"He got away," Hale lamented, gazing after his escaped quarry. I glanced up and shielded my eyes against the sun's rays as Sand Scarab turned slowly to face us. He was maybe thirty feet above the ground, hovering near a tall office building. The ugly insect smirked and addressed me directly.
"Ah, Hunter Zero!" he growled. "Not fast enough for me, eh? That's really too bad. I suppose I'll leave you a gift 'cause you're so special." He slurred the last word in mockery of my rank and thrust his clawed arm through a nearby office window. Then I heard a feminine sounding scream from within.
"What's he doing?!" Chrys murmured in horror.
"Scarab." I snarled, a sick sensation clenching at my bowels. Sunlight glinted off Scarab's head crest as he withdrew his arm, clutching something, from the building. I squinted to see what it was, a bad feeling sweeping over me. Then my breath caught in my throat as I recognized the small figure of an elderly native-American woman, still screaming, in Scarab's hand. He giggled ecstatically, like a child with a new toy.
"Well, Commander-" his sarcasm was biting "-I shall enjoy this." With another evil snicker, he released the innocent woman from his grasp thirty feet from the ground! She plummeted, screaming, toward the black pavement below.
"We gotta save her!" Hale exclaimed, pressing through the packed bodies of his colleagues in an effort to reach the woman. I shook my head slowly in almost total detachment.
"We'll never make it in time." I murmured, my voice laced with grief. Hale stopped and stared helplessly at the poor woman, sorrowful horror etched into his young features. Welcome to the Irregular Hunters, newbie, I thought unhappily. Suddenly, I heard him gasp.
"Look!" he exclaimed as he grabbed my shoulder and pointed at the office building the woman had been extracted from. I followed his gesture, squinting against the sun.
"Wha-" I began, and then I saw it. A green-clad figure had leaped from the roof and was moving extremely quickly down the building wall. It was impossible to tell what it was, however, from my distanced vantage point; I saw only a green blur.
"Chrys." I motioned her closer. "I need your eyes." She nodded and stepped forward, using her sight upgrades to see what the rest of us could not. As she focused, she gasped and fell back a little.
"What? What is it?" I asked. She swallowed.
"It. it's another reploid!" This sent a murmur of bewilderment through the newbies.
"What?!" I exclaimed. "No other reploids are authorized in this area!"
"Well, sir, this is a reploid." she repeated. Her voice trailed off absently.
"What?" I prodded her, noting the confused look on her face.
"She bears the mark of the Original Hunters." She cast a questioning glance at me, but I could only shrug, clueless. So it's female. I thought to myself, filing the information away for later reference.
The Original Hunters were the first Maverick hunters, formed by Dr. Light himself over thirty years ago when the first strains of the Sigma virus had begun to develop. Dr. Light is long since dead, and the hunters have greatly matured under Dr. Cain's leadership. Nothing even slightly pertaining to the Original Hunters exists anymore; therefore, finding an operational reploid bearing the Original Hunters' symbol was unheard of.
We turned our attention back to the female reploid whom even I could see by now. I ordered the newbies to remain in their position and ran alone toward the office building, hoping to do something helpful. Sand Scarab was still hovering in his place to keep an eye on the action, but the dark-skinned woman was reaching the end of her journey to earth. I knew I couldn't possibly reach her in time to save her life, but I was at least close enough to see everything more clearly. I stopped running and stared up at the building, the woman, Scarab, and that strange reploid.
I saw her clearly now that I was close enough. She was beautiful, clad in full forest-green armor, outlined in red, not unlike mine in design; in fact, it bore a striking resemblance to my own armor. Her light-colored, tawny hair flowed behind her, escaping through the back of her helmet, and the emerald color of her armor brought out her dark, green eyes. Her face was full of determination, and, just as Chrys had reported, she bore the Original Hunter mark on her chest. However, the feature I noticed about her on first sight was her speed; she was amazingly fast, doing about fifty kilometers per hour easily.
I watched as she literally ran down the side of the building, apparently chasing after the falling woman who was just seconds from hitting the ground.
"What are you doing, infidel?!" By this time, Sand Scarab had taken notice of the new reploid. Angrily, he reached out to grab her as she passed, but he recoiled immediately with a scream. I blinked several times and watched awestruck, as his hand fell away from him, severed by her red saber. However, she never stopped moving; she sheathed the saber to her back without pausing an instant and continued in her speedy descent.
"Nice." I commented to myself, greatly impressed with her entire performance, but the best was yet to come.
The green reploid was halfway down the building, but the old woman had reached the end of her trip. I braced myself unconsciously for the sickening thud I knew would accompany her body hitting the pavement. Then, in a final desperate attempt to catch her, the reploid leaped from the face of the building. She fell spread eagle towards the ground, and at the last minute she hit her dash jets. She executed a beautiful double-jump in mid- air, expertly catching the old woman just in time, and jumped a second time in the air to right herself, landing on her feet. The poor native-American woman was nearly hysterical, and with good reason; she was, however, able to pull herself together enough to thank her rescuer before bounding off in tears. I felt sorry for her, but I knew it could have been much worse for her. Shaking my head, I then returned my attention to the strange reploid that had saved her life.
She might have rescued the woman, but she was far from being through with Sand Scarab. She faced him again with a wicked gleam in her eye and drew her saber, flourishing it menacingly. He caught the gesture and turned to flee, probably the wisest thing he'd done since we'd run into him. Nevertheless, trying to run from that speed demon was futile; she jumped against the building wall once more and used it to gain leverage, kicking off of it again.
She repeated this procedure several times, ascending the building more quickly than Scarab had expected. At last, she kicked furiously off the wall and dashed toward him, her saber leading. Realizing that she was attacking him, he turned to fight her, but he was too late. He'd made only a ninety-degree turn when her sword split him in two. She reappeared on his other side, dashed, and ran him through a second time. The mighty Sand Scarab had been quartered in a matter of seconds. He fell, in pieces, to the ground, and she went with him. She landed in a crouch among his scattered parts and waited.
Slowly, brown energy orbs began revolving about her body, collecting at the hilt of her still drawn saber. The energy grew stronger with every second until it finally slowed and concentrated in the weapon. At that moment, she stood from her crouch and lifted the saber triumphantly. The built up force suddenly shot out of the blade and expanded throughout the air, causing the atmosphere to crackle violently. The energy then concentrated together again and fell upon her with an earsplitting crack, bathing her in brown light. The light eventually dissipated, and she lifted her head, eyes closed, as the last few strains of energy swirled about her.
Her eyes flashed brown as she slowly opened them, and the warrior within appeared through them, along with something else. but as I studied her, she flashed me a quick, questioning glance and raised a challenging eyebrow; I detected a faint hint of a smirk for a split-second, then it was gone. I wondered if I'd even seen anything.
She closed her eyes again for a few seconds, and when they reopened, her irises had changed from green to dark brown. She held her saber in front of her and it pulsed passionately, also turning brown as the energy flowed through it. Then she positioned it, glowing, over her head, and with a shout, plunged its blade into the ground.
All around her, the earth erupted. Chunks of dirt and grit flew everywhere, relentlessly enveloping everything within a twenty-foot radius, including me. The violent debris whipped my hair about my shoulders and nearly smothered me. She must have absorbed his power, I thought through my muddled mentality.
At last, the ground stopped shaking and the debris fell back to earth. I stood from my half-crouch and dusted myself off as best I could, but it did nothing to improve my appearance; my face remained dirty and my armor greatly soiled. Crap, I thought unhappily, examining my dirty armor.
Resolving to get it cleaned once I reached Hunter H.Q., I turned my attention to the mysterious new reploid once again. She had stood and dusted herself off as I had, and her saber, as she pulled it triumphantly from the ground, returned to its vibrant red color.
I was awed by her skill with the thing; such competence with a saber generally takes year of dedicated training. Most reploids never become as skilled with a saber as she obviously was (I won't even mention her style.wow), and those that do have trained at Hunter H.Q.; however, I'd never seen this reploid before. and that mark on her chest.
I sighed in confusion. Her whole being was as if she had simply materialized out of nowhere. I knew I had many questions to ask of this young reploid. I chuckled inwardly, remembering her exceptional panache when executing the techniques. Gotta give her style points, I thought. She would make an excellent addition to our units. This thought in mind, I made my way cautiously toward her through the rubble of dirt and clay. When I was within hearing range, I opened my mouth in a wary greeting. After all, she was a competent foe if she chose to be, and therefore potentially dangerous.
I was met with a blade at my throat. I blinked in confusion, totally taken aback by the sudden strike.
"What are you?" she growled. I swallowed and kicked myself inwardly, though I added points to the record I was building of her battle performance. Despite my caution in approaching her, I had never seen the attack coming. She was amazingly fast.
She pressed the blade against my throat menacingly. "Friend or foe?" she clarified. I stared blankly, for I had the feeling I'd be lacerated before I knew I'd given the wrong answer. She read my confused expression like a page in a book and clarified her question so that even a service droid couldn't misunderstand.
"Alright." She smirked and tossed her head in the direction of Sand Scarab's debris. "Are you with them?"
"No," I answered firmly before even considering the question. She raised one eyebrow in mild surprise at my instant reply.
"Oh?" She analyzed me slowly, looking me up and down. Finally, she withdrew her saber from my neck and sheathed it. "No you're not." She spoke softly, watching my eyes.
"What?" I felt like shrinking under such careful scrutiny. She looked away apologetically.
"You don't have their eyes," she responded quietly. I didn't have to ask whom she meant; it was obvious that she spoke of the Mavericks. She faced me again, her eyes filled with sorrow, and I realized that she was more sensitive than she let on in battle; for what I had seen was quite a fired up temper. "Their eyes are bloodthirsty, craving the kill." She turned away sadly.
"How many of them have you seen?" I asked, a sudden thought crossing my mind. She stared at the ground, and then looked up at me again.
"I've encountered four in battle, but two escaped me." There was more she wasn't telling me, but I let it go.
"So that's why two Mavericks disappeared without a trace," I murmured, more to myself than her. I was suddenly aware of her staring at me, a puzzled expression painted on her face.
"What did you call them?" She waited patiently for an answer as I did a double take. Was this a trick question? I answered hesitantly.
"I called them Mavericks. why? Didn't you know what they are?" She stared blankly and shook her head, still studying me strangely. My mouth dropped in disbelief, and I put a hand to my head incredulously.
"So that's what those creatures are called." she murmured, almost inaudible. "Mav-er-ick." Without warning, she shuddered violently, her eyes closed and it seemed as though she was reliving something terrible. Her face contorted into an expression of agony and grief, but just as I was about to grab and steady her, her body stopped trembling and returned to normal. She nearly collapsed from the stress of it, but I held onto her as she regained her balance.
"What was that?" I asked, only slightly shaken. She shook her head slowly, her mind somewhere else. Again, I let it go. I'd question her later, once she'd recovered.
This was definitely one of the most mysterious reploids I'd ever met. She had appeared out of nowhere, and no one seemed to know who she was. She had almost enough skill with that saber to match even me in battle, but again, no one seemed to know her. Also, though every sentient being, human or reploid, knows the term "Maverick" well, she had had no idea what the Mavericks were. And on top of that, she bore a mark that hasn't been seen anywhere for at least thirty years! It really was as if she had materialized out of thin air.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, startling her out of her private thoughts. "I'm sorry, I haven't even asked you your name."
"Oh," she replied. "My name is. um." She paused and straightened herself. Then she proceeded strongly. "My name. is Theta, and I fight Wily's robots to the end." My mouth dropped open, and I stared at her. She cocked her head in confusion and asked, "What?" Before I could reply, Hale appeared in the distance.
"Hm, Skyler must have landed," I muttered to myself, watching as he grew closer. Then, resolving to save the questions for later, I faced Theta and asked, "Would you come with me to Maverick Hunter Headquarters? The dropship has arrived that will pick me up." As she stood contemplating, I added, "My friend X would probably like to meet you, Theta." Her eyes widened.
"Did you say, X?" I stood, puzzled.
"Yes. Why?" She shook her head in utter confusion.
"What. year is it?" she inquired slowly. Although it was the strangest question I had ever heard, I gave her a reply. Her mouth dropped in amazement. Before she could say anything, though, Hale reached us.
"Sir!" he saluted. "Skyler's here with the dropship. He's loading reploids now." He waited for a command.
"Tell him we'll be there in a few seconds," I ordered, giving Theta a strange look.
"Sir," he grunted. He gave Theta a brisk nod and admiring smile and ran in the direction of the dropship. Once he was gone, I faced Theta again and noted the bewilderment and despair written on her face. However, as I opened my mouth to question her, she shook off the expression and replaced it with one of determination.
She faced me and said, "I will go with you to meet X and learn of these 'Mavericks'." With that, she turned and followed Hale's path. Shrugging and muttering to myself of these strange events, I followed in perplexity.
First, I'll give a little background on the plot. Zero is training newly recruited Maverick Hunters, and some new Mavericks have shown up rather conveniently for training with. Zero leads a choice group of newbies, Chrys and Hale among them, to spar with Sand Scarab, one of the new Mavericks. This is where the story opens up, with Sand Scarab fleeing Hale.
Also, I do not own any characters of Capcom. For that matter, I don't own any of my boyfriend's characters (Hale, Chrys, and Sand Scarab). This is kind of a branch off of a fanfic he's working on. Please read Section 1 at least and give me some feedback. Enjoy!!
1
2 Section 1 - Enter Theta
3 -Zero
"He got away," Hale lamented, gazing after his escaped quarry. I glanced up and shielded my eyes against the sun's rays as Sand Scarab turned slowly to face us. He was maybe thirty feet above the ground, hovering near a tall office building. The ugly insect smirked and addressed me directly.
"Ah, Hunter Zero!" he growled. "Not fast enough for me, eh? That's really too bad. I suppose I'll leave you a gift 'cause you're so special." He slurred the last word in mockery of my rank and thrust his clawed arm through a nearby office window. Then I heard a feminine sounding scream from within.
"What's he doing?!" Chrys murmured in horror.
"Scarab." I snarled, a sick sensation clenching at my bowels. Sunlight glinted off Scarab's head crest as he withdrew his arm, clutching something, from the building. I squinted to see what it was, a bad feeling sweeping over me. Then my breath caught in my throat as I recognized the small figure of an elderly native-American woman, still screaming, in Scarab's hand. He giggled ecstatically, like a child with a new toy.
"Well, Commander-" his sarcasm was biting "-I shall enjoy this." With another evil snicker, he released the innocent woman from his grasp thirty feet from the ground! She plummeted, screaming, toward the black pavement below.
"We gotta save her!" Hale exclaimed, pressing through the packed bodies of his colleagues in an effort to reach the woman. I shook my head slowly in almost total detachment.
"We'll never make it in time." I murmured, my voice laced with grief. Hale stopped and stared helplessly at the poor woman, sorrowful horror etched into his young features. Welcome to the Irregular Hunters, newbie, I thought unhappily. Suddenly, I heard him gasp.
"Look!" he exclaimed as he grabbed my shoulder and pointed at the office building the woman had been extracted from. I followed his gesture, squinting against the sun.
"Wha-" I began, and then I saw it. A green-clad figure had leaped from the roof and was moving extremely quickly down the building wall. It was impossible to tell what it was, however, from my distanced vantage point; I saw only a green blur.
"Chrys." I motioned her closer. "I need your eyes." She nodded and stepped forward, using her sight upgrades to see what the rest of us could not. As she focused, she gasped and fell back a little.
"What? What is it?" I asked. She swallowed.
"It. it's another reploid!" This sent a murmur of bewilderment through the newbies.
"What?!" I exclaimed. "No other reploids are authorized in this area!"
"Well, sir, this is a reploid." she repeated. Her voice trailed off absently.
"What?" I prodded her, noting the confused look on her face.
"She bears the mark of the Original Hunters." She cast a questioning glance at me, but I could only shrug, clueless. So it's female. I thought to myself, filing the information away for later reference.
The Original Hunters were the first Maverick hunters, formed by Dr. Light himself over thirty years ago when the first strains of the Sigma virus had begun to develop. Dr. Light is long since dead, and the hunters have greatly matured under Dr. Cain's leadership. Nothing even slightly pertaining to the Original Hunters exists anymore; therefore, finding an operational reploid bearing the Original Hunters' symbol was unheard of.
We turned our attention back to the female reploid whom even I could see by now. I ordered the newbies to remain in their position and ran alone toward the office building, hoping to do something helpful. Sand Scarab was still hovering in his place to keep an eye on the action, but the dark-skinned woman was reaching the end of her journey to earth. I knew I couldn't possibly reach her in time to save her life, but I was at least close enough to see everything more clearly. I stopped running and stared up at the building, the woman, Scarab, and that strange reploid.
I saw her clearly now that I was close enough. She was beautiful, clad in full forest-green armor, outlined in red, not unlike mine in design; in fact, it bore a striking resemblance to my own armor. Her light-colored, tawny hair flowed behind her, escaping through the back of her helmet, and the emerald color of her armor brought out her dark, green eyes. Her face was full of determination, and, just as Chrys had reported, she bore the Original Hunter mark on her chest. However, the feature I noticed about her on first sight was her speed; she was amazingly fast, doing about fifty kilometers per hour easily.
I watched as she literally ran down the side of the building, apparently chasing after the falling woman who was just seconds from hitting the ground.
"What are you doing, infidel?!" By this time, Sand Scarab had taken notice of the new reploid. Angrily, he reached out to grab her as she passed, but he recoiled immediately with a scream. I blinked several times and watched awestruck, as his hand fell away from him, severed by her red saber. However, she never stopped moving; she sheathed the saber to her back without pausing an instant and continued in her speedy descent.
"Nice." I commented to myself, greatly impressed with her entire performance, but the best was yet to come.
The green reploid was halfway down the building, but the old woman had reached the end of her trip. I braced myself unconsciously for the sickening thud I knew would accompany her body hitting the pavement. Then, in a final desperate attempt to catch her, the reploid leaped from the face of the building. She fell spread eagle towards the ground, and at the last minute she hit her dash jets. She executed a beautiful double-jump in mid- air, expertly catching the old woman just in time, and jumped a second time in the air to right herself, landing on her feet. The poor native-American woman was nearly hysterical, and with good reason; she was, however, able to pull herself together enough to thank her rescuer before bounding off in tears. I felt sorry for her, but I knew it could have been much worse for her. Shaking my head, I then returned my attention to the strange reploid that had saved her life.
She might have rescued the woman, but she was far from being through with Sand Scarab. She faced him again with a wicked gleam in her eye and drew her saber, flourishing it menacingly. He caught the gesture and turned to flee, probably the wisest thing he'd done since we'd run into him. Nevertheless, trying to run from that speed demon was futile; she jumped against the building wall once more and used it to gain leverage, kicking off of it again.
She repeated this procedure several times, ascending the building more quickly than Scarab had expected. At last, she kicked furiously off the wall and dashed toward him, her saber leading. Realizing that she was attacking him, he turned to fight her, but he was too late. He'd made only a ninety-degree turn when her sword split him in two. She reappeared on his other side, dashed, and ran him through a second time. The mighty Sand Scarab had been quartered in a matter of seconds. He fell, in pieces, to the ground, and she went with him. She landed in a crouch among his scattered parts and waited.
Slowly, brown energy orbs began revolving about her body, collecting at the hilt of her still drawn saber. The energy grew stronger with every second until it finally slowed and concentrated in the weapon. At that moment, she stood from her crouch and lifted the saber triumphantly. The built up force suddenly shot out of the blade and expanded throughout the air, causing the atmosphere to crackle violently. The energy then concentrated together again and fell upon her with an earsplitting crack, bathing her in brown light. The light eventually dissipated, and she lifted her head, eyes closed, as the last few strains of energy swirled about her.
Her eyes flashed brown as she slowly opened them, and the warrior within appeared through them, along with something else. but as I studied her, she flashed me a quick, questioning glance and raised a challenging eyebrow; I detected a faint hint of a smirk for a split-second, then it was gone. I wondered if I'd even seen anything.
She closed her eyes again for a few seconds, and when they reopened, her irises had changed from green to dark brown. She held her saber in front of her and it pulsed passionately, also turning brown as the energy flowed through it. Then she positioned it, glowing, over her head, and with a shout, plunged its blade into the ground.
All around her, the earth erupted. Chunks of dirt and grit flew everywhere, relentlessly enveloping everything within a twenty-foot radius, including me. The violent debris whipped my hair about my shoulders and nearly smothered me. She must have absorbed his power, I thought through my muddled mentality.
At last, the ground stopped shaking and the debris fell back to earth. I stood from my half-crouch and dusted myself off as best I could, but it did nothing to improve my appearance; my face remained dirty and my armor greatly soiled. Crap, I thought unhappily, examining my dirty armor.
Resolving to get it cleaned once I reached Hunter H.Q., I turned my attention to the mysterious new reploid once again. She had stood and dusted herself off as I had, and her saber, as she pulled it triumphantly from the ground, returned to its vibrant red color.
I was awed by her skill with the thing; such competence with a saber generally takes year of dedicated training. Most reploids never become as skilled with a saber as she obviously was (I won't even mention her style.wow), and those that do have trained at Hunter H.Q.; however, I'd never seen this reploid before. and that mark on her chest.
I sighed in confusion. Her whole being was as if she had simply materialized out of nowhere. I knew I had many questions to ask of this young reploid. I chuckled inwardly, remembering her exceptional panache when executing the techniques. Gotta give her style points, I thought. She would make an excellent addition to our units. This thought in mind, I made my way cautiously toward her through the rubble of dirt and clay. When I was within hearing range, I opened my mouth in a wary greeting. After all, she was a competent foe if she chose to be, and therefore potentially dangerous.
I was met with a blade at my throat. I blinked in confusion, totally taken aback by the sudden strike.
"What are you?" she growled. I swallowed and kicked myself inwardly, though I added points to the record I was building of her battle performance. Despite my caution in approaching her, I had never seen the attack coming. She was amazingly fast.
She pressed the blade against my throat menacingly. "Friend or foe?" she clarified. I stared blankly, for I had the feeling I'd be lacerated before I knew I'd given the wrong answer. She read my confused expression like a page in a book and clarified her question so that even a service droid couldn't misunderstand.
"Alright." She smirked and tossed her head in the direction of Sand Scarab's debris. "Are you with them?"
"No," I answered firmly before even considering the question. She raised one eyebrow in mild surprise at my instant reply.
"Oh?" She analyzed me slowly, looking me up and down. Finally, she withdrew her saber from my neck and sheathed it. "No you're not." She spoke softly, watching my eyes.
"What?" I felt like shrinking under such careful scrutiny. She looked away apologetically.
"You don't have their eyes," she responded quietly. I didn't have to ask whom she meant; it was obvious that she spoke of the Mavericks. She faced me again, her eyes filled with sorrow, and I realized that she was more sensitive than she let on in battle; for what I had seen was quite a fired up temper. "Their eyes are bloodthirsty, craving the kill." She turned away sadly.
"How many of them have you seen?" I asked, a sudden thought crossing my mind. She stared at the ground, and then looked up at me again.
"I've encountered four in battle, but two escaped me." There was more she wasn't telling me, but I let it go.
"So that's why two Mavericks disappeared without a trace," I murmured, more to myself than her. I was suddenly aware of her staring at me, a puzzled expression painted on her face.
"What did you call them?" She waited patiently for an answer as I did a double take. Was this a trick question? I answered hesitantly.
"I called them Mavericks. why? Didn't you know what they are?" She stared blankly and shook her head, still studying me strangely. My mouth dropped in disbelief, and I put a hand to my head incredulously.
"So that's what those creatures are called." she murmured, almost inaudible. "Mav-er-ick." Without warning, she shuddered violently, her eyes closed and it seemed as though she was reliving something terrible. Her face contorted into an expression of agony and grief, but just as I was about to grab and steady her, her body stopped trembling and returned to normal. She nearly collapsed from the stress of it, but I held onto her as she regained her balance.
"What was that?" I asked, only slightly shaken. She shook her head slowly, her mind somewhere else. Again, I let it go. I'd question her later, once she'd recovered.
This was definitely one of the most mysterious reploids I'd ever met. She had appeared out of nowhere, and no one seemed to know who she was. She had almost enough skill with that saber to match even me in battle, but again, no one seemed to know her. Also, though every sentient being, human or reploid, knows the term "Maverick" well, she had had no idea what the Mavericks were. And on top of that, she bore a mark that hasn't been seen anywhere for at least thirty years! It really was as if she had materialized out of thin air.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, startling her out of her private thoughts. "I'm sorry, I haven't even asked you your name."
"Oh," she replied. "My name is. um." She paused and straightened herself. Then she proceeded strongly. "My name. is Theta, and I fight Wily's robots to the end." My mouth dropped open, and I stared at her. She cocked her head in confusion and asked, "What?" Before I could reply, Hale appeared in the distance.
"Hm, Skyler must have landed," I muttered to myself, watching as he grew closer. Then, resolving to save the questions for later, I faced Theta and asked, "Would you come with me to Maverick Hunter Headquarters? The dropship has arrived that will pick me up." As she stood contemplating, I added, "My friend X would probably like to meet you, Theta." Her eyes widened.
"Did you say, X?" I stood, puzzled.
"Yes. Why?" She shook her head in utter confusion.
"What. year is it?" she inquired slowly. Although it was the strangest question I had ever heard, I gave her a reply. Her mouth dropped in amazement. Before she could say anything, though, Hale reached us.
"Sir!" he saluted. "Skyler's here with the dropship. He's loading reploids now." He waited for a command.
"Tell him we'll be there in a few seconds," I ordered, giving Theta a strange look.
"Sir," he grunted. He gave Theta a brisk nod and admiring smile and ran in the direction of the dropship. Once he was gone, I faced Theta again and noted the bewilderment and despair written on her face. However, as I opened my mouth to question her, she shook off the expression and replaced it with one of determination.
She faced me and said, "I will go with you to meet X and learn of these 'Mavericks'." With that, she turned and followed Hale's path. Shrugging and muttering to myself of these strange events, I followed in perplexity.