Chapter 9: "Bait and Switch"

X leaned back in his seat. The hideout was only lit by the screen showing Launch Octopus' digital face. The still physically present Hunter had just finished explaining the situation to the former Maverick.

Launch was silent for an extended period, his eyes looking down. "There are important matters, such as the loss of life I caused, or the sheer resources I caused us to lose, but I'm honestly more haunted by something much more selfish, X."

Intrigued, X tilted his head. "Go on?"

Launch looked up at last. "Before the infection, I already had some… frustrations with humans, X. Half of them treated me like an exaggerated navigation computer, the others hid how uncomfortable they were with me having so much power over ships and weapons. Now that everything has happened… I feel like I can't trust my feelings. The infection fed on them, X. It made them… deeper."

X looked down this time. "I appreciate your candor, Launch. I think that kind of frustration is inevitable. The point is that you never turned them into violence and death before the infection. Struggling for greater rights, greater freedom is not evil, Launch. In that case, the methods would be the question. Do you think you would ever really want to just… kill them?" he asked quite pointedly, looking his companion in the eyes.

Launch's expression was disturbingly grave. "I can't be sure, X."

A deep sadness formed in X's expression. "…Not just in defense?"

"I don't know myself anymore, X. Rationally, computationally, I understand the infection overrode my protocols and drove my aggression through the roof. Part of me, however, liked it. Found it satisfying. Not all of me, but enough. The only question here that matters is this: Can YOU trust me to keep the peace as you've asked the other X-Hunters?"

X sighed, looking off to the side. "Honestly, I doubt the others had no satisfaction in it. Anyone would. Even a human, Launch. With free will and emotions comes… a danger. That you see it so clearly makes me almost want to recruit you even more," he looked back to Launch as he finished.

"Almost."

X nodded. "Was there never a human you shared respect with, Launch?"

Launch glanced down again. "One."

"May I ask about them?"

"He was an older human. Manned the docks where I was stationed for a time. Just a cleaner, really. We met by accident, literally bumping into each other. I stopped him from falling flat with one of my tentacles. I could see how old he was, so I was concerned he'd been injured. He found the concern amusing, and then thanked me. After that, we spoke on occasion, shared thoughts."

X's eyes tightened. "You sound sad about him."

"He died, X. Heart-attack, still working on the docks." Launch looked off to the side in his display. "He was working beyond retirement for his granddaughter to get through school. She had no one else."

X's shoulder sank. "What happened to her?"

"…I used a fake identify check on her. She was coming of age in a month after his death. I used the funds I had discretionary access to, and finished the payments she would need. She had a job and went to college before the war started. She's currently a refugee."

X leaned onto his desk with a faint smile. "Then it sounds like you have something to take care of after the fighting, Launch."

The freed Hunter blinked at X, and then slowly nodded. "I do. I suppose I should choose a new name as the others did?"

X broadened his smile. "Probably a good idea."

"…Depthcharge."

"I'll start making up the records. Welcome aboard, Depthcharge."

"…Her name is Jessica."

X stood up with a grin. "I'll pull the latest information for her, too."

"…Thank you, X. For… all of this."

"We're in this together, Depthcharge. That's all that matters."

[In the city…]

Dr. Cain frowned up at his security screens when the signal for his home's door beeped. He was working in his private lab, his work screen glowing with gentle green hues below the harsher white of the security feed above.

X was standing outside his home, glancing back at the street, and even rubbing one arm anxiously.

Wary of Maverick traps, Dr. Cain did use the comm, touching a control at his left hand. "Just out of paranoia, X, what's the code for today?"

He saw the little smile on X's face. "Glad you're being cautious, Doctor. 'For freedom and life'."

The door clicked with a soft beep on X's end. The Reploid stepped inside, making sure the door sealed in his wake, and he made his way through Dr. Cain's house. He knew where the aged human would be.

Indeed, the doors to Dr. Cain's lab opened, and the human turned in his chair to greet X. Dr. Cain seemed a bit confused, but he was cordial. "An unexpected surprise, X. How are you?"

"Well enough, Dr. Cain. I wanted to talk, if that's alright?"

Dr. Cain frowned in thought, and glanced down to another chair. He gestured, inviting the Reploid over.

X accepted the indicated chair, and sat down, rubbing his hands together in slow anxiety. "You handled yourself well in the battle."

Dr. Cain smirked a bit. "I do pick up a thing or two watching you all on your missions."

X chuckled. "I imagine. I did want to ask something, though."

"Go ahead."

"…Were you so set on that plan because of what I chose before?" X asked directly, looking up with a grave set in his eyes.

Dr. Cain exhaled, leaning back a bit. "…Yes."

"Why?"

"Despite my feelings, you made the right choice, X. I'm not sure anyone else could have accomplished what you have without a much greater loss of life. It made me realize that if you were going to risk your life for this battle, I needed to be willing to do the same. Our relationship may be altered, X, but I think we will remain strong comrades."

The Reploid nodded softly, looking down. "I would hope so, at least."

"And your use of the rotary shield system against Launch was inspired. What made you think of it?" Dr. Cain queried in idle humor.

X nervously rubbed the back of his helmet. "Oh, that. We have a good team, one of the other Hunters comm'd me with the suggestion. Barrel, I believe."

"He does seem a promising new recruit. One of your recommendations, I recall?"

"His record was exemplary."

Dr. Cain nodded slowly. "Very much so."

The two eyed each other in an oddly tense moment. X's face softened into concern. "You okay, Doctor?"

Dr. Cain forced a smile, and tipped his head. "Fine, X. Thank you for checking on me. I trust we're alright?"

X smiled, and stood up, offering his hand. They shook hands, and the Reploid simply bowed a bit, and walked out.

It wasn't until X was out on the street, and Dr. Cain in his lab alone, that they both let their faces fall. There was still too great of a gap between them. Too many secrets. They both shrugged it off, and X set out into the night.

[Maverick Hunter HQ]

Alia leaned back from her desk, rubbing her neck as the servos ticked. "Okay, maybe volunteering for the skeleton crew was a bad idea," she muttered as she flexed her neck to properly spread out the lubricants and hydraulics that had gotten too stuck with her leaning over her console for hours.

"Here."

She blinked, and looked at the energy capsule being held down for her by another Reploid. With an embarrassed laugh, she took the capsule, and smiled up at her companion. "Thanks, Dex. I see you're used to this long haul shift."

Dex shrugged, light dancing over his crimson and gray frame. "More that I know how focused you get. You forget to charge way too often, Alia," he finished and actually stuck his tongue out at her.

Alia stuck her tongue out back at him, and then tossed the capsule into her mouth, letting her power conversion systems absorb it as she turned back to her console. "I'm just anxious, I guess. It's been too quiet. Especially with the patrols we've sent out to Sting Chameleon and Boom Kuwanger's bases, I'd expect some kind of skirmish by now."

Dex moved over to a further console, and sat down as he replied, "Agreed. Everyone is a little wary at the moment. Do you know who's on security detail tonight?"

Alia punched up a screen on her console. "Looks like… Deepfreeze and his unit. Sheesh, does that guy ever charge either?"

"He does seem to be everywhere, I'll give ya that," Dex answered as he started looking over his security feeds again.

They both laughed a bit, and continued their work. After a good chunk of the evening, Dex's brow creased at his console, and he hit a few controls. "…Alia, could you check the sensors on perimeter section 14-D for me?"

Alia instantly snapped her controls into that view, and her face turned grim. "That's not right. We just checked those sensors this morning."

"Alert?" Dex asked first.

"I have to make sure we didn't just break something when we checked them. Signal Deepfreeze on normal comms, and let him know what's happening. Hold down the fort here, I'll go check those sensors," Alia explained, already hopping up and rushing for the door.

"Alone?"

"If I'm making a mistake, I want to be the only one paying for it this time," she answered cryptically, and the door shut in her wake.

Dex watched the door anxiously for a moment, and then opened his comm. "Deepfreeze, do you copy?"

"Yes, report?"

[Outside…]

Alia hurried out of the fortress structure on the ground level, looking up at the defense wall already. Nothing seemed amiss in the night air, but she frowned, and sped up. A maintenance ladder there was all she needed, and she climbed with practiced ease.

Along the top of the wall were sensor fields with power-lights glowing to confirm their activity. Except for one.

Alia reached the top of the ladder, and did an adroit little twist and flip onto the wall itself, crouching at the offline sensor. Her eyes sharpened at the severed circuitry, and she touched her audio sensor at her head. "Alert, Dex, Deepfreeze. We have confirmed sabotage."

The air in front of her face shimmer, and Alia almost yelped, her left hand snapping a blaster pistol out from her storage pack on her back.

Sting Chameleon became visible, smiling right in her face as both of his oblong optics focused on her. "How right you are!"

The alarms were just starting up throughout headquarters as Sting snapped at her neck with his right claw, and Alia threw herself backward, firing up at his chest.

Sting's lithe body snapped and twisted out of the path of the shot, and he was already climb-racing toward her with his hind legs.

Alia's back hit another power-light, and she gave a shout before ducking her head sharply. Sting's tail decapitated the light instead of her, and she kicked his legs out from under him.

Sting simply backflipped with the loss of his feet, and clamped onto the wall itself, smiling up at her as his body started to shimmer out of view.

Alia's face turned dark, and her hand shot out, grabbing his snout as her pistol aimed at his forehead. "You're not going anywhere!"

Sting seemed startled at first, but this his smile returned. One optic looked behind himself, at the fortress, the other remaining on her. "Your plan is faulty, my dear."

She started to pull the trigger.

Sting yanked himself down by his claws in the wall. Her pistol shot flew out and pinged off the fortress wall as her grip on his snout pulled her forward.

Sting's left foot snapped up as his body folded, and clamped around her neck. Alia yelped finally, realizing she was being pulled off the wall. It was a twenty meter drop straight down if the Maverick chose to let her free-fall.

Alia's eyes got a horrible view of the sheer drop over Sting's body, but she reacted quickly, both kicking down at his head, and grabbing hold of his tail with both hands. Her pistol took the fall, however, and shattered down below.

Sting growled, and whipped his body down. Alia was slammed into the wall by his tail, cracking parts of the metal and cement. She shouted in pain, but held on, and growled right back at the Maverick.

With a jerk and wrench, Alia hefted her legs all the way up, and coiled them around his waist as she kept yanking on his tail with her hands. "We're falling together if we fall, you slimy bastard!"

"Does it occur to you that I'm designed for that kind of impact shock?" Sting rather blithely replied down over his shoulder, one optics aimed at her.

She frowned up at him, the two comically lashed together, her upside-down, glaring at each other over their shoulders. "I'll call that bluff, goggles."

"Oh, mocking my eyes. I've never had an enemy do THAT before," Sting's visible optic rolled completely around. "I'll answer your call!"

And he actually did let go of the wall.

As they started to fall, Alia determined not to fail, she tried to twist and pitch her body so he would take the brunt of the landing. It was starting to work, but the end of Sting's tail twisted back, aiming straight at her eyes.

Alia's gaze widened as she saw the razor-spines flick out, ready to fire off into her face point-blank. "Crap!" she cursed, and twisted herself just as they fired.

Her head was out of the way just fast enough, the spines digging into the defense wall, but it also twisted the falling pair so Alia was aimed at the ground first, Sting cackling.

Then something hit them both like a battering ram.

Alia yelled as they spun like a whirling dervish, only aware of blurring colors around her and the suddenly frigid air.

"Alia, let go!" Deepfreeze's voice shouted across the grounds.

Hearing a fellow Hunter's voice, Alia allowed herself to listen, and she let go, whirling off of Sting.

She groaned from a sickening impact as something slammed into her toward the wall, and cement and metal cracked and dented from something behind her. Alia blinked, and looked up to see Deepfreeze holding her by the waist with one arm, his other limbs stuck to the wall by frozen masses of ice. His optics were locked on Sting, still falling down.

A squad of Hunters was out on the ground, already firing at the falling Maverick.

"Nice save," Alia coughed out with her recovering respirator.

Deepfreeze gave her a smirk, and then somehow commanded the ice to shatter. They started to free fall, and Alia looked down with alarm, but just as quickly saw the ice Deepfreeze was blasting down below them. He created a slope they slid down, and both ran off the bottom on their own feet.

As her comrade kept firing at Sting, Alia pulled her back-up pistol from her pack, and aimed with the others.

Sting suddenly twist-flipped, and landed flawlessly on all fours amid a hail of plasma fire. The hunters were aiming well, but Sting was like a mad dancer, his body contorting and snapping into maddening positions that always kept him just out of harms way. Even the bursts of freezing energy from Deepfreeze couldn't actually grab hold of him.

With a twist and cackle, Sting whipped his tail toward the fortress. The spines shot out, and two Hunters dropped, clutching the paralyzing wounds the spines made.

"Keep him suppressed!" Deepfreeze roared, and then dashed to his left, toward the wall, still charging toward Sting as well.

Alia and the other two Hunters started to march forward, still firing. Sting continued his dance of insanity, laughing as his optics flickered everywhere under the streams of fire.

Deepfreeze, near the wall, suddenly fired up, as if shooting for the air over Sting's head randomly. He then leapt up, and kick-flipped off the wall, his boot round-house-kicking his own cryo-blast.

The disruption caused the blast to explode and spread early, forming a dome over Sting's position.

Deepfreeze twisted as he came down, Sting growled as the ice flooded down over him, and Alia and the others paused their fire for a moment.

Rising and aiming himself, Deepfreeze narrowed his eyes at the pile of ice. "That was too easy… Keep firing!"

All four of the opened up again, freezing blasts and plasma bolts tearing into the mass of frozen sludge.

A chunk of ice suddenly burst toward the wall, splattering there. The two Hunters and Alia aimed there instantly, but Deepfreeze charged for the main slush-pile again. "Distraction, keep focused!"

They re-aimed, but Alia's eyes watched Sting burst out of the ice, fold around Deepfreeze's attempted point-blank shot, and double-kick the ice-using Hunter straight to the gut.

Deepfreeze flew back and hit the wall with a shout, and Sting warped into his stealth just as the others could fire his direction again. They tried to follow the distortion, but they missed several times, and suddenly he was gone.

Deepfreeze slammed his fist into the wall beside him, growling in frustration. "Tricked like a green kid out of the camp," he muttered fiercely.

Alia came over to him, offering her hand. "We forced him off."

Deepfreeze got up with her help, but shook his head. "That wasn't a real fight. Not for him. Something is wrong."

Alia's worry returned. "He was a distraction?"

Other hunters were arriving at headquarters because of the alert. Specifically, X and Zero was dashing up to the pair that moment.

"What's going on?" Zero demanded, understandably short in his manner.

Alia saluted with Deepfreeze, and the cold Hunter answered, "Sting Chameleon made a play, and I failed to detain him, sir. However, I think he was just a distraction."

Zero and X were understandably concerned by the answer.

X asked, "Why do you say that?"

Deepfreeze looked at X meaningfully. "It was too easy to pin him as long as we did."

X started to rush for the building. "We need to secure everything sensitive! Data, equipment, communications!"

Alia and Deepfreeze immediately ran with him, and Zero touched his audio sensor as he started to run himself. "All units! Commander Zero – secure base. We believe we still have a Maverick incursion. Secure all data, communications, and gear. Get on it!"

As they ran, Alia touched her comm. "Dex, do you read any other holes in the sensors?"

The silence after her question made X, Deep, and herself share a worried look.

"Dex? Do you read?" she checked, growing fear in her voice.

"Where?" X and Deep asked at the same time.

"Command!"

They started dashing at full speed.

[Earlier…]

For Dex, Alia had only been gone a few moments when he knew something was wrong. The lights flickered in the command center. The lights never flickered. The power-grid was prioritized to keep this room going above all others.

Dex touched his comm. "Alia, Deepfreeze?" He didn't bother saying more, he could tell the comm was dead.

Standing up, he let his left arm convert into a buster, and he looked up and around, starting toward the door. He had to warn them that the command center was compromised.

Would he have time to warn anyone? This data was vital… I have to cut the systems.

He diverted from the door, and moved toward the mainframe maintenance panel on the left wall.

"Not trying to run?"

Dex froze. It was a cold, rasping voice, both deep and almost like a mist in how lightly it trickled past his sensors. He twisted around, aiming his blaster behind himself.

"How brave."

He snapped to his right, his optics wide.

Still nothing.

"I smell the fear crystallizing your servos, boy."

That was right at his ear! Dex whipped around, and fired a shot before he thought. It blew up against the wall.

"Have you always worked a desk job? Or were just a bad field agent?"

"We'll see who's bad at what!" Dex snapped back, his audio-sensors revving high to try and localize the voice. It's source was changing too fast to be normal.

As he turned again, a hand clamped down around his blaster, and Dex's optics widened up to his right, right into a pair of green eyes. Eyes that were cold as ice, and sharp as blades.

It was like some kind of demon had appeared before him, bladed horns atop a crimson and blue head. The body was tall, but skeletal, barely armored.

"This better?" the flat faceplate below the eyes asked, powerful and haunting as before, but several times as loud with the source right there.

Dex roared, sending his fist toward that faceplate.

The demon pulled his head back, and caught the fist with a blur of motion from his other arm. Without hesitation, he twisted and yanked, pulling Dex over and down onto the flooring with a bang.

Leaning down into Dex's face, upside-down, the demon asked, "Have you suffered for the cause, child?" Ventilation tubes, almost like proboscis down the sides of the face, slowly hissed for respiration around Dex's head.

"No," Dex answered, keeping his manner hard and brave.

"Ah good, an honest Reploid after all. Then I have exquisite news. You're about to."

Dex shook his head, and his torso suddenly popped open on all of its maintenance access ports, his power core starting to flash brightly. "I'm a bad fighter, I know that, but I figure a power-core overload will still kill you… Boom Kuwanger."

The green eyes narrowed off-kilter, incredulous. "Only if you still have your control override servos in place."

Dex's eyes widened just before a flicker of motion between them.

All he could do was scream as sparks and fluids burst out of his frame.

[Now…]

The command center door snapped open, X, Alia, and Deepfreeze charging through. They halted as fast. Even Deepfreeze's optics widened in controlled horror at the scene before them.

Alia's mouth fell agape, and then she sank down to one knee, groaning in an ill manner.

X steeled himself, swallowing thickly, and stepped further out. In the center of the entry area was a mess of servo fluids and scorch marks. X knelt at the edge of it, and looked up, where it was smeared into a path all the way to the far side of the room, and out through a shorn hole in the wall.

Closing his eyes, X tilted his head as if to look over his shoulder. "His name again?"

"…Dex," Alia managed through her teeth. Her hair was down over her face this time, a fist pressed to the ground near her knee.

Deepfreeze took a moment to collect himself, and moved further out into the room. Other Hunters, including Zero, arrived a moment later, but quickly realized what was going on. Zero kept the room clear and left X and Alia alone for a moment.

Deepfreeze came near to the hole Kuwanger left, and sharpened his optics at it. "Razor-sharp cuts, not explosives. This kind of precision and speed. I'm thinking Boom, sir," he said clearly toward the front of the chamber.

X moved over, touching Alia's shoulder as Zero replied, "Seems right, yes." Sighing a bit, Zero looked down to the woman Reploid, and asked, "Can you give me a report, Alia?"

X wanted to intervene and remind them all what she had to be going through, but it was too important an event. That, and he knew Alia wanted to show herself stronger at any chance she could.

Alia slowly nodded, and stood up. "Roughly twenty minutes ago, sir, Dex and I noticed the security sensors on the Southeast wall were down. Since we had just examined those this morning, I wanted to confirm they weren't malfunctioning, while Dex notified Deepfreeze and his unit."

"Confirmed," Deepfreeze commented idly as he continued to examine the hole.

X distracted himself by going over to join Deepfreeze.

Zero nodded, "Go on."

"So I left."

"Alone?"

Alia twitch-cringed faintly. "…I didn't want anyone else in danger unnecessarily, sir. I ordered Dex to stay here and watch for security anomalies."

Zero's eyes tightened, but he waved for her to continue.

"So I got over to the sensors at the wall. Once there, I was engaged by Sting Chameleon."

X looked over at this. "Sting himself?"

Alia nodded, and Deepfreeze confirmed with, "My unit reached the scene after her battle had already started. She made a good show of herself."

Alia just looked down, her eyes squeezing shut.

Zero exhaled, pressing one fist to his lips, the other arm holding his elbow. "…So no one even realized Dex was missing until you arrived here just a few moments ago?"

"Correct," Alia shoved out of her throat.

Zero rubbed his buster-arm, and looked at Alia. "Chin up, Hunter. I need you to check the systems here for compromise."

Alia straightened her back. "Sir."

X watched her stoically move to her console and start examining it that moment. Sighing softly himself, he looked back to the hole with Deepfreeze.

"What do you make of it?"

Deep shrugged faintly. "I'd almost say smash and grab, but it makes no sense. Boom was always… Well, honestly, he's been disturbed since long before the war, X," the ice-using Hunter explained in a very quiet voice, giving X a meaningful look.

X raised an eyebrow. "I thought he was just a Hunter with clearance for experimental weapon system use. A very good record, but not much else on file."

Deep nodded a bit, looking out the hole to the open air. "The way he liked it. He was gen-1, X."

"The first wave Dr. Cain built on my template?" X confirmed, concerned at where Deep was going with this.

Deepfreeze affirmed with a nod, and then added, "One of the first combat-ready ones, too. He was put through a lot of testing. He was… talented, X. And so they experimented on him."

"Experimented on?" X checked, now upset. Dr. Cain would never have allowed it…

Deep nodded slowly. "He'd been turned over to an R&D team, X. They were… outside normal protocols. Dr. Cain only found out after the fact, which is how Boom got pulled back to us. Not before… some bad things happened, however. He came back… wrong, X."

"Are you saying he was a Maverick before the infection?" X asked in a bare whisper.

Deep shook his head. "No. But I do think that the infection may have finally finished snapping what was left him completely, X. If you're going to go after him, you be damn careful. He was one of the best in direct, one-on-one combat we ever had. Even Sigma was nervous if Boom ever went wayward."

X crossed his arms, his eyes tight at the view. "This does seem a bit more extreme than just… aggression."

"Sir!" Alia suddenly called. She was at Dex's station by this point.

Zero, X, and Deepfreeze all hurried over.

"I found a data-spike in this console's interface. I isolated it from the network first, but now that I have it running, I think it's a message," Alia explained quickly, gesturing to the screen.

Zero leaned in. "Show us."

She tapped a few controls, and the screen filled with a video feed.

Kuwanger's demonic head appeared, his optics smiling faintly. "Ah good, you're watching. You should know your little comm-officer put up a good show of himself. Willing to blow himself up to take me down and protect the files, I might add. Dex, I think his name is?

"Anyway, after I cut off his override controls… literally," he emphasized quietly while rubbing a hand along his bladed horn. Alia's fists clenched, but she remained quiet as he went on, "I took him captive. Oh yes, he's quite alive. Don't let the mess fool you.

"I've taken him to my own headquarters. I know some of you—I won't name names—consider it a point of honor to keep all of your friends alive and safe. I dare you to live up to that ideal. Come and claim him."

The signal cut there, and X bowed his head.

Alia firmly pulled the data spike out of the console. "I'll give the system a clean wipe, and scan for any network leaks, sir," she muttered.

X gave Zero a look, and Zero narrowed his eyes, but slowly looked to Alia again, "Alia?"

She blinked up at him.

"Leave the clean up to the other Hunters. I want you to draw up a plan of infiltration based on what we know of Boom's tower."

Her eyes lit up. "Really, sir?"

"Yes, get to it."

She bolted out of the room with renewed energy.

X tipped his head to Zero, and Deepfreeze moved off to direct the crews coming in to clean and repair the command center.

"You want to handle this, I assume?" Zero asked firmly, looking straight at the white-blue armored Reploid.

X nodded. "I do."

"And you do realize how heavily defended that damn tower is, right?"

"Of course."

Zero rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Our original plan was to just bring the entire thing down, and that's still the best way to handle that place. We all know that. I'll give Alia time to set up a plan, but we can't wait on this forever. If you want to hit that place, it has to be fast. Understood?"

X saluted. "Yes, sir."

Zero nodded out the door. "Go help her."

X full-dashed out.

[Waking up…]

Dex's optics slowly lifted open as he groaned. He knew he was suspended by his wrists, but he was too hazy to confirm if his feet were fettered as well, or just heavy from their own dead weight.

"Ah, welcome back."

Dex narrowed his gaze toward the blurry figure down and out from him. "Hostage…?" his voice sputtered a bit, trailing off from his systemic damage.

Kuwanger smiled with his eyes up at the suspended Reploid. Dex's plating was still open, with deep cuts and scorches throughout his torso. He was alive, but looked half-dead. "Only if you want to stretch that word a bit. I imagine they'll try to rescue you. At least the one I'm after, anyway."

"…X," Dex realized, closing his eyes.

"Ah very good. You can still think," Kuwanger muttered, moving around the hanging Hunter. "Logically speaking, they should just bring the tower down. I have plans for that eventuality, of course, but only the morbidly compassionate would actually want to rescue someone in this situation. It would be so much easier to just bring the tower down, wouldn't it?"

Dex just kept his mouth shut at this point. Either Kuwanger really did already know, or he was trying to get Dex to confirm it indirectly. The only way he could find this Maverick was to deny information, so that was his directive.

"Amusing that you clam up now," Kuwanger sighed, looking off. "I didn't do what I did to torture you, Hunter. I simply had to stop your power-core from detonating. The signs would have been too hard to disguise with the time allotted. Making X hunt a corpse would be amusing, but had too many risks of failure. The point I'm belaboring is this," he continued, suddenly in front of Dex, hanging from the chains above him, eyes hovering just inches from his own, "if I wanted to cause you PAIN, you would still be screaming. Remember that."

Dex coughed a bit, and lifted his chin to face Kuwanger evenly. "I don't care. You're going down sooner or later. All they'll lose is one lab-tech, and you missed the better one of us there that night."

Kuwanger's optics sharpened… from a smile. He leaned so close Dex tilted his face away, cringing. Lifting his free hand, Kuwanger gripped the sides of Dex's face with a slow, crushing squeeze. It stopped short of damage, but was no less vice-like. Dex eyed him sideways.

"Do you know what the most sophisticated part of a Reploid's body is?"

"The CPU matrix," Dex whispered back, awkwardly around the crushing grip on his jaw.

"Body, not mind, boy, pay attention. Body, body, body!" Kuwanger rattled Dex for emphasis.

"…the face."

A fiendish smile shrank Kuwanger's eyes to glowing slits. "Top marks. Bonus question! Why?"

"To properly… simulate… human emotion. To make us… seem human… to the humans."

"Two for two! Excellent student!"

Kuwanger suddenly released Dex's face, but in two flickers of motion, he just as quickly held his bladed horns toward the Reploid's cheek as a boomerang in his hand. He had completely detached them from his head.

"Now… does a Reploid need his face to function?"

Dex closed his eyes. "No."

Kuwanger leaned in again, and this time the narrowness of his eyes was pure malice. His voice rushed out as a burning whisper, a rush of malevolent pain, "What do I seem to be missing?"

Dex opened his eyes, meeting Kuwanger's with grim acceptance. "Your face."

The malefic voice returned for a simple response.

"Top marks."

[Author's Note]

Yay, an on-time update! Told you I was still here, yes I did! I think the highlight of this chapter on its own is the fight between Alia and Sting Chameleon. While I wanted to put Alia in the role the games actually use for her, I didn't want to just toss her field-work background out the window entirely. The lady knows how to fight.

Getting to have Deepfreeze actually show off some skill, too, was a definite bonus for me. I personally love his little freeze-blast-kick combo (thus, why I put it in the fight, lol).

And Boom Kuwanger! I'm having a lot of fun with this crazy bot. I wanted to do something different with him, and not just a repeat of the fight with Chill Penguin earlier (which I'm very fond of, and didn't want to cheapen it or this one with a copy). Hopefully I've pulled off a somewhat tame Dr. Lector (Silence of the Lambs) in robot form.

Random note: Did you know Hannibal Lector was only on-screen for like 15 minutes in Silence of the Lambs? Talk about stealing the show.

See you all next time, for the thrilling conclusion (I couldn't resist) to the Kuwanger scenario.