I felt like I was back home before any of this started. Not a single person really listened to me. Instead, they all chose to do things the way they thought was the easy way: ignore what I have to say and do with me whatever they felt like. I hate the feeling of being ignored, and I hate the feeling of being rushed.

Which is why you can understand, I hope, why I hated this particular ride through the Trans Server. Heck, I didn't even know I was on a Trans Server when I all of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a city street.

At least, that's what I thought it was. Cars were overturned, destroyed, or both just about everywhere. Looking around, I could see holes in the sides of buildings. Some were small; those weren't going to be a major problem financially. Others were rather huge, making me wonder how those buildings weren't falling over.

There was another problem I noticed. Where were all the people? You'd think that if some kind of attack were going on, there'd be at least a handful of people running around, trying to find cover. After all, people in these situations don't act too intelligently. A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals. It's like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded holo-theater.

I walked around a bit, looking at exactly how bad things were. Glass and steel littered the ground, making me glad I was wearing closed-toe shoes. The cars that had extra holes in them were on fire. I hoped that no people were in the cars when they were destroyed, or if there were, that they weren't hurt too badly.

I had totally forgotten that I had my personal phone in my pocket. It's pretty small, so if it's in your jeans in the right spot, it's easy to lose track of it. Because I didn't remember about it, I was taken completely off guard when it began to ring. I fumbled around with my pockets a bit as the ringtone played loudly. I probably should've remembered about it and set it to vibrate, because it was making more noise than the fires that still burned in some of the cars. I didn't recognize the number on the Caller ID, so I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Iris!" Techno screamed into my ear, making me yank the phone away in pain.

"Techno? How did you get this number?"

"I'm an expert hacker, Iris." I rolled my eyes.

"Figures."

"Dummy. Your mom gave me the number. So, what does it look like?"

I looked around. "A disaster zone. Buildings around me look like they're missing entire floors from here."

"That bad?" Middy said. I guess they shared a line.

"Yeah."

"Any casualties?" I could hear Dad ask. There's no way they're on the same phone.

"How are all of you talking to me?" I asked.

"The Command Center has an open communication relay in the room." Colonel Blaze explained. How many people planed on putting in their two cents anyway? "Now answer the question. Are there any casualties?"

I rolled my eyes again. This guy is one of those, what do they call them? Workaholics?

"I don't see any right off, but I won't know without checking inside the buildings and cars."

"Leave that for the recovery teams." The Colonel said. A bit heartless when he needs to be, I guess. I can't say I subscribe to that particular magazine. "Your orders are to search for the Maverick responsible for the damage and capture him immediately."

"Right." I replied, not wanting to leave a bad impression on my first hunt. That doesn't mean I didn't like his attitude. I hated it. Problem was that I think I used my sarcasm freebie when he questioned whether or not I was adopted.

"Do you see any signs of the Maverick?" Blaze asked.

I looked around. "No. Other than all the damage, there's no sign that there was ever a Maverick here."

Before I knew it, I was proven wrong. Green electric arrows landed all around me, setting off explosions and knocking me to the ground. More arrows headed directly at me. Realizing I didn't have enough time to get up, I rolled out of the path of the arrows. They landed on the ground, creating a trail of blasts behind me.

"Okay," I said to myself. "So the Maverick is here."

"Yes, indeed!" A high pitched voice called out. I slowly stood up, looking around for the source of the voice. "Oh, dear sweet child...no matter how hard you look you'll never find me."

"Wanna bet?" I said, still scanning the area. Another heavy blast went off behind me, sending me to my knees. Okay, so whoever this was had a point. I wasn't going to find whoever it was without some kind of defense. I'd better test this stupid watch and...

Wait...

Where is it?

I dropped it! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't be bothered to put it on when I first got here and now I'm regretting letting that fact slip my mind. I even lost my phone! Great way to start your first Hunt, Iris.

I dove into the nearest, non-burning car and tried looking around for my stuff, but stuff as small as a watch and a personal phone can be hard to find when you're in a panic. Especially when they blend into the street. I should've made my phone more noticeable, that way I'd be able to...

Oh. There they are. They sat on some glass a few yards away, making them easy to notice against the reflection of light against the glass.

"Okay," I said to myself. "I'm gonna need that stuff if I'm going to get out of here alive." More arrows landed around the car, serving as warning shots. "I'm doomed."

I slid over to the nearest door, eyes glued on my targets. I had to time this just right, otherwise I really was doomed. If I didn't make my move at the right moment, I could be destroyed before I even get a chance to grab my stuff.

That was when I noticed something. Arrows would come three or four at a time, but there were a couple of seconds between volleys. Did that mean whoever was shooting was trying to find me? Or were they only able to shoot so many at a time? More explosions went off around me, giving me an opportunity to time the shots.

BOOM!

1...2...3...4...5.

BOOM!

Five seconds. That's all I get? Great. That means I'd either have to haul as soon as I could, or I would just have to sit here until this threat passes. Fat chance of that happening. Just have to wait for the right time...

BOOM!

I kicked open the door to the car and ran as fast and as hard as I could. More arrows rained down around me, sending heat, sparks, metal and glass flying in every direction. I had to cover my head with my arms to try and keep debris from hitting me in the head. The run was only a few yards, but even a short sprint seems like a marathon when you're being shot at by an unknown assailant.

I got closer and closer with each step. I could only hope that the shots didn't hit either my phone or the watch, or else I was in serious trouble. Once I thought I was close enough, I dove for the items and reached out as far as I could. Time seemed to crawl as I flew forward, another arrow landing off to my side. I jumped a little soon, as it turned out, as I hit my stomach with my fingertips just brushing the phone. I crawled forward a bit, feeling a touch awkward as I grasped my treasures.

"Ahahaha! So the little girly's got her precious jewelry back!" The high-pitched voice screamed out. Great. Mock me when you can see me.

"You're in serious trouble, whoever you are!" I screamed back, whipping my head around to try and find this jerk. No matter where I looked, though, I couldn't find the source of the voice. I slowly slid my phone into my pocket and slipped the watch over my left wrist. "Once I find you, you're done!"

"Oh? How can you hope to stop me if you're only human? You can't even find me!" The voice started cackling. Another arrow came down, closing in on me. I jumped off to the side, causing the arrow to barely miss me.

"That does it! I'm tired of your stupid arrows!" I shouted as I raised my wrist. With a sly smile on my face, I pressed a finger onto the red button on the watch.

...Nothing happened.

I looked at it in confusion. Why didn't it work? Did those twins give me a dud? I jammed my finger down on the button over and over, trying desperately to get it to work.

"Well, well!" The jerk started up again. "It looks like the little girl isn't quite as smooth as she thinks she is!"

"Oh shut up already!" The arrow-rain started up again, surrounding me in flames. I started running down the street and dove behind a car. Hopefully, wherever this person was shooting from couldn't reach me here. I looked down at my wrist again. "Why aren't you working? You're supposed to help me out here!"

My phone started ringing again. I yanked it from my pocket and answered in frustration.

"What?"

"How're things going ?" Middy asked, apparently unfazed by my snappy answer.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically. "Except for the part where your stupid watch isn't working!"

"Are you pressing the red button?"

"Yes! It's not doing anything!"

"Are you saying the security phrase?" Techno asked.

"...No." I answer honestly. I could almost hear the twins roll their eyes.

"Then that's the problem! You have to say the security phrase or else it won't work!" I'm starting to hate the twins.

"I'm going to sound completely stupid!" I whined. An arrow flew past me, landing a few feet away.

"Better to sound stupid than look dead." Middy said.

"Fine. But I still hate it." I said, hanging up. I stood up, hoping to try and find this person before I tried to use the watch again..

"No matter how hard you look, girly, you'll never find me!" The voice laughed. I smirked, even though I was about to sound like a complete moron.

"You won't be able to hide for long, jerk." I said as I lifted my wrist again. This time, I prayed it was going to work. I took a deep breath, jammed the button on the watch and shouted at the top of my lungs, just to make sure it heard me.

"HUNTER FORM! POWER UP!"

An electrical feeling surged through my body, forcing me to stiffen up and widen my eyes. My body felt like it was on fire while something extremely cold poured itself over me. It was like I was being, what was it called? 'Microwaved' in reverse. The cold substance solidified over me, taking the shape of the armor I was wearing the night before. The black and purple shades covered my clothes. Coldness washed over my skull and hardened itself into the helmet that I fumbled with so much. The mask covered my features again, completing the process.

The hotcold feeling I had the entire time eventually faded. I looked at myself, just to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. Sunlight gleamed off of my covered arms. I couldn't believe it.

"It worked!" I cried out happily. A smile shaped on my face, though anybody looking at me wouldn't have been able to see it. "I cannot, for the life of me, believe that stupid little watch worked!"

Another arrow volley surrounded me in fire. Okay, celebration over. I rolled out of the flames, thankful that I didn't have to worry about being burned. I looked around again. Why did I think being in armor would help me? It didn't help my vision, and I didn't have any sort of scanners or anything. Optimism fails me yet again.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" I called out, hoping that old cliché would work. When does anything like that work out, anyway?

"As you wish, child." The voice responded. Holy Caf-Pow, it worked! A weird, crackling sound filled the air. Tracing the sound, I followed it to a nearby, half-destroyed building. The wall started warping weirdly, electric sparks dancing off of a specific part. A moment later, the warping and crackling stopped as a large yellow Reploid became visible. It looked similar to an armadillo, with spikes shooting out from its back. The tail ended in a flat surface and, like the back, had spikes protruding at the end, while a huge horn sat where its nose would be. The right arm didn't have a hand on it. Instead, something like an arm cannon replaced it, lines of green energy running along the cannon.

"Geez," I said, my face twisting. "Stay away from fun houses. I don't think they'd be able to afford the damages."

"Foolish child," The armadillo screeched. "I am Amarillo Archon, a messenger spreading the word of the future."

"'Word of the future'? What are you, some kind of religious nutcase?" I brought a finger up to my chin in thought. "Also, what are you? Male or female?"

"Female, you insolent brat!" She, I guess, screamed as she fired electric arrows from her arm cannon. I used my arm to deflect the shots, forcing them to land relatively harmlessly behind me. Turned out to be a mistake, because my forearm burned intensely from the heat.

"Well," I said as I cringed, clutching my blocking arm. "I guess I won't be doing that anymore." I grabbed one of the swords on my back, drawing it in a flash. "Now it's my turn!" I dashed in to attack.

Or, at least, I tried to.

I lunged forward, only to find that my left leg wouldn't budge.

"Oh no," I said to myself. "Not now!" I kept trying to run, but my leg wouldn't have it. I couldn't move it unless I dragged it.

"Ahahahaha!" That stupid overgrown armadillo laughed. "It would seem that my attacks have had more of an affect than even I thought!"

"Don't hold your breath, you walking speed bump!" I sneered. There wasn't a way around it. I couldn't get my leg to move at all. I needed to get somewhere relatively safe while I convince it that acting when I tell it to is best for both of us. I looked around, found another mostly together car and started dragging myself toward it.

Now, dragging a limb that's virtually useless and is necessary for proper movement and maneuverability isn't all that easy. It doesn't help when you've got an oversized rat cackling away while firing deadly electric arrows at you. Whether by virtue of good luck, bad aim, Archon toying with me or all of the above, I managed to get to the car and hide behind it. If you can call keeping out of sight when your enemy knows exactly where you are hiding.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Archon shrieked, mocking me mocking her while I sheathed my sword. "You've got nowhere to hide!"

I squeezed and shook my leg, willing it to move. "Come on, come on! Don't do this to me!" I tried to move my toes inside my boot, but they weren't willing to listen to me. They weren't getting the signals my brain was trying to send them. Arrows flew by me, reminding me of how close this Maverick was. More shaking wasn't convincing my toes to do anything.

"Time do say 'bye bye', girly! Such a promising young girl, too!" I could hear an electric hum fill the air. I couldn't see what was happening, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was charging up for one more shot and that I didn't want to be in the path of that shot.

"Come, ON!" I slammed my fist on my leg. Suddenly, I could flex the toes in my foot. Yes! Just in time, too.

"BE GONE!" Archon shouted, firing her charged cannon. I managed to dive out of the way of the attack just as it hit the car, destroying it completely. The explosion washed a wave of heat over me as I rolled away. I rolled into a crouch, drawing my sword at the same time.

"As I was saying, my turn!" I shouted, darting forward. This time, my leg cooperated and moved, letting me get in close. I brought my sword around, slashing Archon in the chest a few times. Sparks flew with each strike, leaving small cuts in her armor. As big and intimidating as she was, Archon wasn't quite as big of a threat in close. She tried to swipe at me with her clawed left hand and missed badly. Her lumbering swipes made it easy for me to roll around her and catch her in the back with a few swipes.

"Insolent little wretch! I'll destroy you!" She screamed in a rage as she spun around. Her tail swung around me, allowing her spiked tail to scrape against my back and draw sparks from the impact. The hit threw me off and gave Archon the chance she needed to slash her claws over my chest and send me spinning.

I rolled through with the hit and drew my other sword. Pain shot through my chest, arm and back, but I couldn't exactly let that stop me. I ran up to her again, this time swinging both of my swords across her front. More sparks flew with each impact. She tried to swing her tail at me again, but I wasn't about to let that happen. I jammed one of my swords through her tail before it could move anywhere, nailing it to the ground. Archon screamed in pain as sparks spewed from her tail. I used my free sword to slash her a few more times before a beeping sound took over my hearing.

Where's that coming from? I thought to myself. Before I knew it, my hand went up to my helmet and clicked a small button on the side.

"Iris! Can you hear me?"

My eyes widened in surprise. I rolled behind Archon to make sure she couldn't reach me. "Mom?"

"Oh good. You still have your phone on you."

"What does my phone have to do with this?"

"It's how we make contact with you while you're in the field. Anyway, you're going to need to finish this up before you take too much damage. Your suit can only take so much punishment."

I raised an eyebrow as Archon flailed around, trying to get a hold of me. "How do I do that?"

"You can bring your Z-Blades together to form the Z-Saber."

Z-Blades? Is that what they're called? And I can use the Z-Saber?

"How do I do that?"

I could almost hear the amusement in Mom's voice. "You'll have to figure that one out on your own."

I smiled. Sure, let's make it fun. I pulled the Z-Blade that I jammed into Archon's tail out, freeing the armed armadillo from her pinning predicament. I leaped a short distance away just as Archon turned and fired electrified arrows at me. I rolled out of the way so that the arrows didn't make contact with me, but a building a few yards behind me wasn't quite so lucky.

"Time to end this!" I said, serving as a warning to Archon. I wasn't sure how, but it felt like I knew what I was doing without ever having done this before. I flipped the swords around in my hand so that they were facing the right way. "Z-Blades, combine!" I slammed the swords together so that their backs met. I heard a locking mechanism click into place, combining the two hilts into one. The blades melted together and doubled in size.

My eyes widened slightly as the Z-Saber formed in my hands. Archon's eyes grew as well, though not quite in as much amusement as me.

"Who are you?" She asked. I could only smile.

"Zero. Nice to meet you." The blade began to glow brightly as energy flowed into it. My smile grew as I felt the power behind the weapon build.

"Z-Saber!" I shouted. "Final Strike! JUDGEMENT SLASH!" I swung the blade a couple more times as arcs of energy flew toward Archon. The arcs collided with her, creating large blasts upon impact and leaving huge holes in her armor. Streams of electricity flew from her body.

"Our...Lord...shall...rise..." Archon shouted as she collapsed. I turned around and let my arm holding my sword come down to my side. Archon made contact with the ground and, a moment later, exploded in a gigantic fireball. I smiled as I slowly walked away, knowing my job was complete. The beeping started up again, and I mindlessly pressed the button on my helmet again.

"Hello?"

"Great job, Zero." Colonel Snow-Cap said over the line. My smile grew larger knowing that I at least got some acknowledgment from the workaholic. "Return to the point you arrived at and we'll return you to the base." He ended the call, proving he was slightly impatient. I rolled my eyes, but kept my smile. Nobody was taking that away from me.

The walk back wasn't too long or too hard. A glowing blue 'X' showed me where I needed to be. As I stepped onto the return point, my smile faded as realization set in. I pieced together what had happened as the usually-distracting tingling took over.

Explosion? Fireball?

Uh-oh. I think I destroyed her.


There's a TV show reference in here. See if you can find it.

Answer to the Chapter 2 reference in the next chapter.