II
About three hours and a couple new bodies later, Shift and Shatter were being escorted by Zero and Alia to Signas' room so they could become familiar with the Maverick Hunter HQ and its' time period. On the way, they met Axl, a reploid named R, an up-and-coming strategy reploid employed in the Giga City Security Centre who was in for a visit, and a winged reploid called Skiver who was responsible for ordering the air defence unit.
Eventually, they arrived at the core of the HQ. Zero and Alia were cleared to enter, but Shift and Shatter had to wait outside before getting clearance from Signas. They retreated to Signas' private quarters for a chat, discovering X had already arrived prior to them for a talk on a separate matter with the chief strategist of the Maverick Hunters. They had finished their talk within a fraction of a second of Zero arriving.
Shatter's heart shattered when she saw X. "You brilliant machine," she gasped when she saw him.
X tilted his head to one side. "Do I know you?" he asked.
Shatter swallowed, "Oh, forgive me. I'm Shatter. My brother, here, his name's Shift."
"Shift and Shatter," X said. "Welcome aboard."
Signas smiled. "More help's always needed with fending off the Mavericks."
Shift nodded. "Yeah, yeah. So tell me, what time period did we awake in? Oh, and Shatter, stop drooling over X."
"Sorry," she whispered. She sheepishly moved away from him.
Shift muttered under his breath, "Stupid fangirl-bots…"
Overhearing his comment, Signas chuckled. He replied, "Well, you've arrived within a year of the conclusion of one of the biggest battles in history. The Reploid Wars ended about two months ago, and we're just finishing upgrading Maverick Hunter HQ from what we learned from them."
"Reploid Wars… So these Mavericks seem to cause you a lot of trouble," Shatter said.
X sighed. "Tell me about it. I'd rather see a peaceful resolution, but they always drag me out there into the front lines."
Zero smirked. "Wimp."
"Hey!" X said. "I just think things can be solved differently than through violence, okay? Is that so bad?"
Shatter's heart melted again. He's so awesome…
Alia looked at Shatter with jealous eyes. Shatter caught the glare.
What's she staring at? Shatter thought.
"In other news…" Shift said, hoping to return to the original subject after picking up what Alia was dropping, "…who's their leader?"
"Their leader is not so much a person as it is a virus we've called Sigma," Alia said. "It's a dangerous, morphing, learning virus that can infect everything it comes in contact with."
"Great," Shift muttered. "We're dealing with a psychotic virus. Not like we haven't dealt with those befo…"
Shatter gave him a crippling look.
Shift's eyes widened and he shut up. He remembered what his sister kept locked away, and knew he had to, as well.
"What?!" Signas exclaimed. "You've had experience with Sigma?"
Shift stayed silent. Neither he nor Shatter would say any more on the subject, especially when pressed about their pasts.
Signas could see this was getting nowhere, so he decided to shift up the topic. "Are either of you interested in joining us?"
Shift and Shatter looked at each other. Thoughts were crossed between them that nobody else knew.
I've been waiting for this.
I know. So have I. This might be the time to rectify our mistake.
It's the perfect opportunity.
What if they find out?
There's nothing they, or we, for that matter, can do about it now. The virus is already unleashed. Our actions were only the precursor to the age we're in now. I don't think it matters anymore.
OK, then. Let's do it.
That's the sister I know! Let's get this monster.
"We'll do it," the two said, facing Signas.
"Before you go up against Sigma, you're going to have to prove yourself in a series of tests," Signas said. "Just so we know what you're capable of and how we can repair you."
"We've already been repaired once," Shatter said. "Douglas and Lifesavor did amazing jobs replicating our original armour and conditions."
"Regardless," X smiled. "I'd like to see what these newbies have."
Zero nodded. "Let's take them on."
Shift and Shatter smiled. "We won't be as easy as you think," they said as one.
"You can use Training Fields Nine and Eleven for your fight," Signas said. "The others are full with kids on tours or other Reploids in training. We'll activate the shield on the sides that cross Fields 12, 10, and 8."
X asked "Can either of you teleport?"
Shift and Shatter laughed. "Teleporting? That's so old-school." Shift smiled.
They both vanished. X and Zero shrugged and teleported to the field. Both parties arrived there at the same time.
"Wow, you're fast!" X said.
Shatter nodded. "Cover your ears and brace yourself," she said.
X and Zero complied, but they were still blown over by the force of the sonic boom.
Shift prepared his blue sword. "I'm pretty fast."
Zero pulled out his own green saber. "I'm more experienced."
I wouldn't be so sure of that, buddy, Shift thought to himself, smiling. He replied with a, "We'll see about that, red boy."
X and Shatter faced off, guns at the ready. Shatter's hair flowed freely in the wind.
"3… 2… 1… Go!" they shouted.
Zero lunged and connected blades with Shift. Zorts and zeeoos resonated throughout the field. X fired a few shots at Shatter, which she deflected with her energy shield. She then launched an energy missile at X. It missed, but blew a hole in the ground three feet wide and three feet deep when it landed behind him.
"Oh, snap," X said, charging up a blast.
Shatter smiled. "Ready to give up, blue boy?
X released the charged energy. "Not yet!"
Shift and Zero never said a word during their entire match. They were both concentrating on countering each other's moves. Suddenly, Shift blurred and Zero's sword sliced through the leftover image. Shift appeared behind him and cut Zero's hair at the tips. Zero turned around and slashed again, but Shift disappeared. Zero tried to figure out where he would be, but then he was kicked over. However, Zero couldn't find time to find any evidence Shift had been there until he felt Shift's blade hot on his neck and saw his shadow overtop of his body.
"Done," Shift said. "Match over."
He helped Zero get up. They shook hands, then proceeded to watch X and Shatter blow stuff up.
"My money's on X," Zero said.
Shift smiled. "Care to put some zenny on that?"
"How's 100 sound?"
Shift laughed. "You don't know my sister. My money's already collecting interest."
"You don't know X," Zero said, smiling.
At that, there was a large explosion and X was sent flying over their heads. He landed a few feet behind them and got up.
"Dang, she's hard," X muttered. "How would I beat her? What th… HOLY METTAURS!"
A large missile crashed into X, exploding on-contact and sending him flying once again. He bounced off the electric field surrounding the battlegrounds and easily cleared their heads again, landing just in front of them.
"That's gotta hurt your ego," Shatter said, walking up to the party. She picked X up, brushed her hair back, and looked at Zero and Shift. "Can we go now? I'm bored. I wanna fight some real enemies that I can destroy."
Zero's jaw dropped. "Y-yeah…" He was astounded at the raw power of the young girl.
All Shift could muster was a smile and a "Freaking. Pwnd."
He held his hand out to Zero.
Zero sheepishly placed the Zenny in the little robot's hand. The little guy, cocky as always, slipped it into his wallet and swaggered away with his sister, Zero and X in tow.
----------
After a few minutes and back at HQ, Zero and X left Shift and Shatter with Signas.
"So, you beat class 'SA' hunters, I hear," Signas said. "Most impressive for ones your age."
Shift shrugged as he lounged all over the couch. "Meh, so what?"
Signas stood. "So what? I'll tell you 'so what'. This means that you're already qualified to take on some of Sigma's finest, something most Hunters are never prepared for."
Shift shrugged again. "X and Zero were pansies."
Shatter shook her head. "I don't think they were using all their abilities to fight us with, Shift."
"Nor were we," Shift replied. "I'm not going to give away my best during training."
He glared at Signas. "Until your organization can come up with something better, I think we'll strike it on our own."
Signas shook his head. "I can't allow you to do that for your own safety. Perhaps you were to stumble across Sigma's latest infection and fight it, only to become infected yourselves."
"He's got a point," Shatter verbalized. "Where would we be left then, Shift?"
Shift closed his eyes, slouched, folded his arms, and crossed his legs. "I'm not going to fight under the banner of an organization as pansy as this one. I think you'll agree, right Shatter?"
Shatter shook her head. "I can't agree this time, Shift. Who knows what's out there, waiting for us as we speak? Our best chance of survival is with the Maverick Hunters. We should stick around. Who knows? We might learn something."
Signas nodded, agreeing with Shatter.
Shift stomped his foot in frustration, but in the end, he finally reluctantly agreed to stay. Signas immediately began preparations for their accommodations. They were given a tour of the facilities, rules, rooms and all. Each was for their use as they saw fit, within the rules. Shatter vanished into the Reploid-manufacturing lab and in minutes came out with a miniaturized version of X. She showed it off to everyone and had it tag along for the remainder of the trek. Everyone inside was impressed with her mechanical and programming skill and knowledge. From then on she hung around the lab between training sessions, learning large amounts of things in very quick succession. Even Alia, a programming master, was impressed by the amount of knowledge this girl was retaining.
Shift, on the other hand, kept busy by training every day. Zero was impressed at his dedication and battle prowess. He was improving at an equal rate in fighting as his sister was in mechanics, maybe even faster. Zero and Shift sparred daily in their spare time to improve. Zero came to realize that this mere child had probably seen a lot of battle time in his previous activation and was quite possibly more experienced than he. This fueled his desire to beat Shift, and they both improved greatly, feeding off each other's determination and drive.