Me: I have so much editing to do. D:

TBG: You'll live.

Me: But I wanna play Harvest Moon: Animal Parade with Leafy!

TBG: No. Not yet, anyways.

Me: *sigh*

After a bit of panicking, the Reploids start leading the trio towards their base. Maverick Hunter Base.

Shadow was giving Taylor a piggyback ride, who was fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. Earlier, Taylor was struggling to keep up because she was the slowest out of all of them. So Shadow helped her out, but unfortunately she fell asleep a little while after that, so he was stuck with having to carry her.

Sonic and Axl were both teasing the two until Zero hits them upside the head to shut them up. Hikari was just poking X the whole time and X tried so hard to ignore her.

"This is taking too long, when are we going to be there?" Sonic complained, rubbing his head where Zero hit him.

"We're here." Zero said. In front if the was a big, flat building. Not as epic as Sonic was looking forward to.

"It looks so... Plain." Sonic said.

"It has to look plain or Mavericks might infiltrate it." X simply said.

"Oh. Well that makes more sense." Sonic said.

Hikari starts jumping around, taking Sonic's hands, "Let's go let's go! I want you to meet the Navigators and Signas and Lifesaver and Douglas!"

"Who are they?" Shadow asked.

"You'll see!" Axl said while laughing.

"Oh great, more surprises." Shadow rolled his eyes.

X sweat drops, "Don't worry. They won't annoy you."

The group enter the base. X tries to shake Taylor awake, "Time to get up."

Taylor slowly started to wake up, and she sleepily opened her eyes and looked around. "... Where are we?" She asked.

X smiles sweetly, "We're at the base."

"Oh, ok." Taylor said as she rubbed her eyes.

Shadow kneels so Taylor can slowly get off. She stumbled and X catches her before she hits the ground.

X then helped her back on her feet and let her go. "Thank you." Taylor said.

"So you have finally returned." A voice said. The four Reploids stand in a salute. The three Mobians, however, stood there in confusion. A REALLY tall man with a big black coat and a black hat comes walking in. His serious black eyes scanned over the three. "Who are these three?" He asked. Axl was about to answer, but stops short, "Um... They never told us their names."

"Oh sorry, I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog. And these two are Shadow and Taylor." Sonic said.

The man tilts a brow, but drops it, "I am Commander Signas, chief of the Maverick Hunters."

The three stared up at him, and Taylor's eye twitched. 'Why are these people so tall?' She thought.

Signas looks over to X, "X, Alia needs to speak with you. She has claimed to have found a Maverick charging over to HQ at this very moment." X nods and hurries down the hall. "Zero, find Layer. She might be in the generator room, so you need to get her on her shift." Zero also nods and hurries down the hall. "Axl and Hikari, you're on lookout." The two nod and run out the entrance.

The trio watched them all go, leaving them with Signas.

Signas looks down at the tiny Mobians, "You three, come with me." He turns and starts walking down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked as they followed him.

"To my office. I have some questions to be answered." Signas said as he stops in front of a large door. He swipes a key card into a slot and the door swings open. "Please, come in." He said as he walked in.

Sonic and Shadow walk in, but Taylor looks at the room cautiously before she slowly followed them

The door slams shut as Taylor enters.

Taylor spun around to face the door. "Why did you close the door?" Sonic asked.

"So that the rookies don't waltz right in." Signas said as he sat in his desk. He picks up a pen and paper, "Now I am going to ask a few questions. And you must answer truthfully. One lie, my AI system can detect said lie and you might have a... 'Surprise'."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "How cliche."

Signas ignores her, "First off, your ages."

Sonic pulled a thumbs up, "Fifteen!"

Taylor sighed, "Fifteen."

Shadow kept his mouth shut.

Signas glared at him, "Tell. Me. Your. Age."

Shadow stayed silent and just crossed his arms.

Signas' glare hardens. And before the Reploid could raise a finger, Sonic quickly said, "He's fifty!"

Signas blinks in confusion, "Fifty? You look a little young to be fifty." Signas said.

Shadow's cheeks turn red. "But it is the truth." Signas mutters, "I guess you creatures age oddly."

"We age normally." Sonic explained, "Shadow was created in a lab to be the Ultimate Life form of Mobius."

Signas gave a blank look and mumbled, "That sounds familiar." Out loud he says, "Don't be embarrassed of your age, Shadow. Zero and X are hundreds of years old."

"Jeez, really? They fight pretty well for being old men." Taylor said, rubbing her shoulder.

Signas chuckles, "X was created by Dr. Light to protect the world from destruction. That was in the year 20XX. Zero was created to spread a Virus and kill X. But Zero was malfunctioned and had lost his memories. The Reploid he had to kill became his best friend."

"What about Hikari and Axl?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, are they hundreds of years old too?" Taylor asked.

"Axl is a mystery. Zero found him being chased by his old gang, Red Alert. You see, Axl was part of an illigal bounty hunter agency and has betrayed them since they were going Maverick. So he became an A Class Hunter. Hikari, we found her 'held captive' by Red Alert, including one more Reploid who was with her. But he ran away and gone Maverick."

"What do you mean when you say, Gone Maverick?" Taylor asked

"It means a Reploid has gone insane and only follows our great enemy, Sigma."

"Sigma?" Taylor wondered.

"He used to work with us. He was our commander until he caught the Virus from Zero.

"Oh jeez." Sonic said.

"Don't worry." Signas said, "Zero does not have the virus anymore. Sigma is now the one who carries this virus."

"That's good." Taylor sighed.

"You and your friends won't be infected. It only effects Reploids."

"Then I guess we have nothing to worry about." Shadow said.


Kay and Silver roamed the building. Figuring out how they were going to leave.

"We could always ask to leave." Silver said.

"I have a strange feeling about Yami." Kay said, "Like, he's not what he seems..."

"He does act a bit weird." Silver agreed.

"I act weird?"

Kay and Silver jump and quickly turn to find Yami. His frown looking deeper than usual.

"W-what? No, no, no. I wasn't talking about you." Silver quickly said.

Yami just stood there, "... Well, if you're not talking about me, then who are you talking about?" He asked.

"O-oh well... We're talking about... Our friend Taylor!" Silver hastily said. Kay bobs her head up and down in agreement.

Yami just gave them a blank look. Or... As good as a blank look gets throw black visors, "... Alright then."

Silver let's out a small sigh of relief and he smiles a little.

The sound of a door opening made Yami accidentally knocking Kay down to the ground, who was standing a tad too close.

"Sir. Your orders?" Yami slowly turned to the purple creature. "Yes. Prepare for my departure. I have a message to send to the Mavericks." The purple thing salutes, "Yes sir." And with that said, Yami dissapeared in a black beam. Silver hurried rto Kay's side.

"Kay! Are you okay?" Silver asked in concern as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Sparkster squirmed a bit more but stopped. She sat up and rubbed her head, "I'm fine... But this behavior of Yami is making me feel... Scared."

Me: Ya think Shadow would be quiet about his actual age?

TBG: Not really. :P

Me: Agreed. Anyways, Yami is suspicious of the two, Signas almost electrifies Shadow and Shadow carried Taylor on his back.

TBG: Shaylor foreva!

Me: Yup! Don't flame or complain, Read and Review!

TBG: See ya at the next chapter!