Ashe was in her room, balancing herself on the back two legs of the chair she was sitting on, her feet propped up on a nearby table, her eyes closed, and loud music screaming from the large headphones that completely covered her ears. So consumed by the loud music was she, that she not only missed the sound of her door opening but also, the calls of her fellow hunters.

"Hey Ashe! ASHE!" One of the hunters that had just entered the room, shouted in vain. "HEY ASHE!" he shouted one more time, hoping against hope to somehow get her attention.

"Save your breath Mark" Said the second hunter to his friend who was by now gasping for air after all the shouting. "When she starts listening to that stuff, no one can get her to stop."

"Oh yea?" Mark replied with a mischievous grin on his face. "We'll see about that." He said, as he started quietly making his way towards Ashe's chair, which luckily for him, was facing away from the door. "Hold the door open, will 'ya." He told his friend as his hands closed in on the chair's two back legs. "Three…two…one…GO!" He said as he pushed the chair's legs forward, and then sprinted as fast as he could through the open door.

Ashe was sent tumbling backwards as the legs slipped forwards from underneath her chair. Moments later, as she realized what was happening, she brought her entire body forward and gripping the table, managed to keep herself from falling over backwards.

No sooner had she brought the chair back to a normal position, when she shot out of said chair and in a burst of anger induced speed, sprinted after Mark completely ignoring his would be accomplice. With almost inhuman speed she dashed after him, quickly catching up before throwing herself into the air… and body slamming Mark into the ground.

"You have ten seconds to explain why you just did that, and three seconds have already passed." She said, barely holding herself from pummeling the living daylights out of him.

"Calm down Ashe. I just came to tell you about a mission we got from Legion" Mark replied, fear evident in his voice. "Some archeological team found something in some ruins, had it stolen by raiders, recovered by us, and now Legion wants it brought to them." He continued to say, faster and faster, as Ashe's patience was thinning and she came closer and closer to pounding him into next Tuesday.

"You did that just to tell me about some pizza delivery Legion wants done?" Ashe said, almost screaming as she was within inches of going berserk. "So, do it your self!" She shouted to Mark as she started squeezing her right hand into a fist and pulling back her right arm.

"LegionSpecificallyAskedThatYouDeliveIt!" Mark barely managed to say as Ashe's fist came down with full force… centimeters to the right of his head, the force of her punch leaving a fist shaped hole in the ground where it had hit. "This better be good, or else you'll be on the cover of Full Body Cast Monthly's next issue." She said to Mark, as she started getting up and her anger started dieing down.

A short while later, in the train station, Ashe and everyone assembled for the delivery were busy checking their weapons and the locks on the container. And with everything checking out, proceeded boarding the train to Legion.

All went smoothly for the first part of the journey, and it looked like it would be another uneventful trip (for which Mark would have to pay), until flying galleons swooped out of nowhere and began attacking the train, intent on taking the artifact.

However, given a heads up by the lookout, the hunters had time to prepare a defense and in the battle which ensued, many galleons fell. All and all, it looked like they would make it, and as the train started picking up speed the galleons were left behind. Some of the hunters even started congratulating themselves, oblivious to what lay ahead. Oblivious that is until with a large explosion, the train derailed throwing everyone off and destroying the container.

A short while later, as Ashe and the others began coming to their senses, the cause of the derailment became all too apparent. A well placed explosive charge had destroyed the tracks, causing the train to derail into a nearby forest. Ashe, quickly recovering from the derailment started checking the others, as they regrouped. There were injured, but all could be saved provided they got proper medical attention. Ashe then headed for the container, hoping too see what was so important in that container that her friends had to risk life and limb just to deliver it. She cautiously approached the container, and took out what was inside. A strange metallic object, with white, red, purple and grey coloring which was floating ten centimeters above the bottom of the crate.

"This is it? This is what was so important that we had to risk our lives just to deliver it?" Ashe shouted as she picked up the object in her right hand. "Why I oughta…" She began saying before being interrupted by a sudden voice telling her to look out behind her.

She did so, only to see the flying galleons from before, open fire. Grateful for the warning the voice had given her Ashe began shooting down the galleons, and after the last one fell she returned her attention to the object which was now floating in front of her.

"You're the one who warned me?" She asked the object as she took it into her arm once more. "Yup… Model A, nice to meet you." the object responded. Ashe was dumbstruck be this turn of events. The object which nearly cost her friend's lives now saved hers. And it also made a cool looking belt buckle. "I'm going to be keeping my eye on you." Ashe replied as she took Model A and hung it by her belt. "Oh, and thanks. I'm Ashe."

Having secured the artifact, Ashe returned to her comrades who by now had gathered together and were preparing to depart. Ashe initially expressed her desire to join them, but was soon convinced by her fellow hunters to go on ahead since Legion was not far away, and since they were more than capable of reaching safety. And against her better judgment, agreed and soon sped off towards Legion and the mavericks that tried to stop her.

Ashe entered the crisis area, but was shocked to see it was empty. She had just megamerged with Model A, and as if on cue Legion called in to ask that she deal with the situation. It was a crisis area, but if the Maverick had left it surely would've left a path of destruction. However, in this forrest, all the destruction was relatively isolated. There were fallen trees scattered everywhere, except for the center area, where most of the trees still stood. Ashe, still tense, headed for the only place the Maverick could be hiding, noticing along the way that many of the trees were burned by fire, and not lasers. She even found a metal arrow at the heart of one of the flames. "Thanks for giving me a heads up on your weapon." She thought with sarcasm.

As Ashe neared the group of trees, one of the arrows flew past her, setting a patch of grass on fire. "Lighten up, Hunter." came a voice from the forest. "Or this no be fun."

Ashe jumped into a tree. "And you need to talk normally." She said, actually lightening up. "Boy, does this guy sound silly." She said to Model A as she took out her guns, getting ready for a long-ranged battle. Ashe wanted to shoot from where she stood but was forced to jump back on to the ground as another of the opponent's arrows whizzed by.

Now he decided to reveal himself. In short, he appeared to be a gazelle, only standing on two feet with something that looked like Indian feathers running down his back. "Me Buckfire. You next target." Ashe bit back a laugh, as she fired a shot from each gun. Her shots however were blocked by two flaming arrows, with a third heading her way. Ashe jumped out of the way, as did Buckfire. She kept running, shooting at him with her handguns, but Buckfire easily dodged, and even blocked a few shots with his arrows. With every load of three he shot, at least one went beyond Ashe's shots, heading for Ashe herself.

Deciding that she would have more strategic possibilities in the air, Ashe started climbing up the trees. Following suit Buckfire did the same and soon, Ashe found that they were nearing the top of the trees, with nothing but burnt remains all around.

"I can't use them; they'll crumble under my feet." Were her thoughts as she was busily trying to figure where to go to get a good shot. So busy in fact that she didn't notice until the last moment that Buckfire was ramming into her, sending them both crashing into one of the burnt trees, and in the process, nearly annihilating the tree Ashe had been standing on. They were both at ground level, however Buckfire was already on his feet when Ashe got up.

"So, he's good at long-and close-range combat." Ashe thought, as she took a shot at Buckfire's head. The shot connected, and taking advantage of this distraction, she rushed in with a flying kick which also connected with Buckfire's face, sending him crashing into the remains of an unburned tree. Buckfire groaned as he got up, but Ashe was nowhere to be found. He put his guard up, making sure to listen for any sound of her. A trigger, a blast flying, anything. Meanwhile, with the aid of Model A, Ashe was pondering her options. "I have two trump cards." Model A explained to her. "The homing shot and the Giga Crush. Giga Crush drains my biometal energy, but the homing shot is less powerful, though at the moment I'd say that the homing shot is the best way to keep out of site." With this new info, Ashe formulated a plan. Being careful so as to not be surprised by anything, she quietly positioned herself where she could see him. Then, she charged up her homing lightning bolt and locked on.

Buckfire heard a click, and instantly fired his own feathers as boomerangs towards Ashe before she could shoot. She cursed the click, and jumped, but got hit by two of the feathers. Sparks started flying from her left arm, and although it appeared to be just a small injury sustained only by Model A, she knelt down clutching her arm. The Maverick Indian tsked. "You worthless foe. Down already. And from such small wound." He prepared for his charge move, jumping to hit her diagonally. The lock-on was about to time out, but Ashe knew she had to wait just a little more before hitting him. She smirked as he was closing in on her, and as he got to within a meter of Ashe, she fired her lightning bolt which perfectly hit him on the chest. This disrupted the Maverick so much that with a small explosion he was sent flying backwards.

While he was still in the air, Ashe rushed in with a kick, aimed at the exact spot the lightning hit, sending him flying even further backwards. Buckfire wasted no time in launching more boomerangs upon landing; however Ashe recognized his actions for what they were. "He's getting desperate." she thought, as she threw herself towards Buckfire's boomerangs.

Buckfire watched in dismay as Ashe grabbed one of the boomerangs and, letting the other three return to their owner, she threw it back making sure it was aimed for his head. She then charged her guns, knowing that when he was done panicking the boomerang would return to Buckfire's spine. And as the Maverick calmed down, he heard the hum of a gun charging. "I be finished." he said, as he knew that this girl's lightning bolts could just home in on him. She could wear him out.

Desperately he ran anyway, jumping between the remaining trees, until there was no place left to run. He wasn't fast on land so, in a last ditch effort, he aimed one more barrage of arrows towards Ashe after turning back, only to be kicked in the face once more, landing just outside the trees.

When he got up, he saw that Ashe had jumped in front of him, putting him between herself and the trees. She aimed both handguns at Buckfire, and as he turned to try and return to the trees, one shot hit him, then two, then many. "Giga Crush!" She shouted dramatically, as powerful blasts erupted constantly from both guns, eventually pinning him against the tree. Buckfire cried out in pain, as eventually the plasma shots left him pinned against the tree, and riddled with holes.

When she was done, Ashe was still going on battle-high. "You're the one who should've lightened up. That wasn't any fun."

Just as she was about to leave however a cry, coming from behind some nearby trees caught her attention.

"The environment! What have you done to it?" A boy cried out as he ran past Ashe, almost knocking her over. "What's up with that kid?" She rhetorically asked Model A as the boy landed on his knees picking up a burnt up flower which had fallen from the tree Buckfire was still pinned to. "How could you do this? Why would you do this?" He hysterically asked Ashe as he almost started crying over the burnt up flower.

"Look, I don't know what's up with you, but I didn't do this, he did!" She said to the boy, pointing at Buckfire. "Argh… I never should have let him come here. He promised he wouldn't hurt nature." The boy said, rising to his feet, letting the charred flower drop from his hand. "At least all of this wasn't in vain, and I found what I was looking for. Nature will be reborn!" He further added as he turned around. "What are you talking about, who are you?" Ashe asked the boy, her curiosity peaked. "Thetis" the boy replied as himself and the tree Buckfire was pinned to (along with Buckfire himself), teleported away.

"What on Earth was all that about?" she said before she left to try and get to any other Mavericks before it was too late.

Meanwhile, back in Area C, Aile came out of the Panel Out in a hurry as Prairie was still trying to contact her, and she could now finally answer.

"Aile, come in. Where are you? I repeat, where are you?" Aile took the time to answer, as the repeated calls started getting on her nerves. "I'm here. I couldn't respond earlier. I'm already at the area of the green Maverick attack." Aile said, her voice showing off the headache she'd received traveling through Dentech with Prairie shouting in her ear. And before Prairie could say anything else, Aile cut the link so she could find and fight the Maverick.

She didn't have to look far. The people who had yet to evacuate were fleeing in fear from a flying green Maverick with a guitar. A man at the back of the line tripped over a piece of rubble from a building and had fallen on the road. Aile rushed over to him as the Maverick played a note on his guitar, and what appeared to be a green sound wave slashed at the fallen man. He cowered in fear, hands over his head, waiting for the death…. that never came. He heard a slashing sound and above him stood Aile, her ZX-Saber out and the green slash from the Maverick disappearing.

"Get out of here." Aile ordered, not turning to face the man. She had a look of grim determination as she stared at the Maverick, who also looked mad and was diving out of the sky, towards Aile, landing right in front of her. They were in the middle of a four way intersection, with buildings all around that had been damaged by the attack. Something Aile took notice of, since she knew that they would inevitably fight.

Words were wasted on Mavericks.

"Hey girl, what are you doing? No one messes with Vulturon's fun." The Maverick known as Vulturon shouted. Aile kept her determined expression, ticked that so soon after recovering from her last battle, she had to fight a boss Maverick.

In her musings, she almost missed the three waves that were headed towards her. She put away her Saber and did three back flips to dodge, blasting whenever she could see Vulturon. The green pseudoroid blocked the plasma shots with his guitar, which amazingly showed no sign of damage. "Well, there goes the option of taking out his weapon." Aile said to herself as she dashed straight for Vulturon, pulling her ZX-Saber back out only to have him fly away, her slash barely contacting the bottom of his foot. "Can't get me in the air, weakling." shouted Vulturon in an annoying voice.

He was soon proven wrong as Aile jumped onto the wall of a nearby building and slammed herself into the Maverick, surprising him. During the quick fall, she slashed with her ZX-Saber, but hit only air as the Maverick regained himself quick enough to fly out of the way. Vulturon thought he was safe again, getting farther from the buildings, only to be proven wrong when a charged Buster shot barely miss him. "She's fast, guess I'll have to fight for real."

He charged at Aile again, stopping in the air to release three more waves from his guitar, and as Aile dodged to the side, Vulturon found his way next to her giving Aile barely any time to swing her ZX-Saber and block the swing of his guitar. And for a few seconds they stood there, trying to prove whose swing was stronger. However, Aile soon found that she had to jump away as Vulturon started to overpower her, and realizing that hand to hand combat wouldn't work, shot off five shots in random angles at Vulturon. The Maverick blocked with his guitar, missed the last shot which hit him in the face, and as he regained his balance, Aile slashed at him twice with her Saber. The green one fell back some more, but blocked before she could get a third hit on him.

The MegaMan would have to pay for that, so he flew into one of the destroyed buildings.

Confused by this change of heart, Aile wall jumped on the building's side so she could get to where he went. It was dark inside, with all the power out and the only source of sunlight coming from the hole they entered. "Great, the traditional bad guy surprise jump routine." She thought as she readied her Saber, waiting for a jump, guitar swing, sound wave, or anything else he might do while hiding.

Vulturon hid behind a filing cabinet, lying in wait as Aile approached his position As he prepared his guitar for an attack, he picked up a piece of debris and hurled it at the opposite end of the room. Aile responded to this, not seeing the rock fly but hearing it hit. As she headed in that direction, Vulturon hit her over the back with a heavy swing. Aile remained conscious, but was forced back to the hole they'd entered through by constant attacks from Vulturon. She knew she'd survive, but Vulturon would have time to escape. Vulturon took a second to smirk, thinking that Aile had lost… and that was his first mistake.

Aile used the second he wasn't swinging to aim a sweeping kick at his feet. Vulturon fell to his back, and as he was rolling up, the ZX-Saber met his left wing, cutting it clean off. Aile shot at him again, but this time used the distraction to get behind him and moments later, Vulturon cried out as his right wing was also chopped off, lying on the floor with sparks flying out from it out. They were still close to the hole, so Aile used this chance to kick him in the back, sending him over the edge. "Fool, I'll survive this fall. Do you think I'm human?" He shouted at Aile as he plummeted to the ground. For a moment, he thought he was clear, but soon gasped when he saw her jump after him, accelerate her fall by streamlining her body, and get ready to strike with her Saber. As Aile closed in on Vulturon, in a last ditch effort, he tried to block with his guitar but couldn't as it was just too heavy to operate while falling to the street.

"No, I lose!" Were Vulturon's final words, shouted just after he hit the street, and just before Aile hit him, slicing his head clean off. Moments later, she sprang backwards out of the crater and back onto her feet.

"We win!" She said, to herself and her Biometals, as she stared at her defeated foe.

"Well, well, well… Looks like Vulturon couldn't keep his act together. Serves him right, the ignorant fool!" A figure wearing armor similar to Aile's in PX form spoke as he teleported in, a few steps away from Aile. "No matter, he served his purpose." He continued to say, as he walked by Vulturon's side. "I got what I came for. And he got what he had coming." He further added as he got down on one knee and picked up Vulturon's severed head.

"And you are…" Aile inquired as her eyes followed his every action. "Aeolus" he replied. "MegaMan of the wind". "And just what was his purpose, or yours for that matter?" Aile asked the armor clad stranger. "I've said enough!" the stranger suddenly said, dropping the pseudoroid's head as he rose to his feet then proceeded to call for a teleport for both himself and Vulturon's remains. "Our paths will cross again. Be sure to stay out of my way!"

"Wait!" Aile shouted as she jumped to her feet, only to be taken aback by a jolt in her right arm. "No way, Vulturon must have hit me harder than I thought back in that building." She opened up her com link, hoping to request a medical transport for herself, only to be disappointed by what Prairie had to say. "Finally! Aile, we have three more Maverick attacks. Some unknown Biometal user is fighting one, but we need you for the others." "I can't." Aile responded, rather angrily. "I was injured in the fight with Vulturon. I can't even use my ZX-Saber in this state." On the other end, Prairie slammed her fist into a table, but refrained herself from raising her voice. "We have no one else, unless you know where your friend Lan is. And even then, the other two are on opposite ends of the city. He can't fight in two places at the same time." It was at that exact moment that Lan stepped up from behind Aile, seemingly from nowhere. "Tell Prairie not to worry. I will take care of one of them. And since this kind of thing always works out somehow, someone will show up for the other."

Aile relayed this message and then turned to thank Lan only to find that he was already gone.


Whew, finished after a marathon writing session and a week of burning the midnight oil. This in one of the longest chapters to date and is actually part one of the fight scenes.
Special thanks go to Blast From The Past's betareader Inferno05 for writing the fight scenes. I initially wanted to have all four fight scenes in one chapter thinking that there was no way I could stretch one or two fight scenes across an entire chapter.
BOY WAS I WRONG!, because when Inferno05 started writing, he started writing, and by the end of the weekend he sent me a monstrous thing stretching across more pages than the entire story thus far (chapters 1 thru 3 each took up three pages each for a total of 9, while what he sent me ended up taking 12 pages). Kudos to you Inferno05.
So anyway, as a result, only the first two fights are in this chapter and the other two will be in the next.