Chapter Seven: Illness

The following morning, the alarm dial on Axl's resting pod rang for 2 seconds. The pod immediately halted the flow of the sleeping program into the trio-in-one Reploid. Axl was the first to wake and he quickly winded up the glass shield that covered the pod. He first did some stretching with his hands before he walked off to the central chamber.

A few minutes later, he arrived in the chamber. Axl firstly looked around to see if there was anyone and any security cameras around. He found neither of either category. He quickly switched over to human mode and jumped out one of the side glass windows and shut it before the security cameras appeared from the ceilings.

Axl was now at a small brick walkway just at the building's side over 40 storeys up. Knowing most of the area around HQ well, he jumped off the sides and allowed himself free fall. He also jumped to sides of the structure and its neighbouring building time to time so he gained stability and landed on the floor nicely.

Meanwhile, his two inhabitants started to wake up and if they weren't mistaken, they had the taste of meat in their mouths. They hit realisation together.

"AXL!" They immediately checked where Axl was now. Axl was now in a restaurant in the downtown district where the HQ was. The restaurant was decorated with beautiful ribbons and prized objects of old culture but gave the place atmosphere. Axl was eating bacon and eggs with natural fruit juice.

Axl's speakers were off most of the time so he didn't mind the following conversations with his two inhabitants.

"Axl! What are you doing here in the morning? You may have missions today!"

"Relax, Iris. It's 8 in the morning. I thought I could just eat something for a fresh start so I came down here in the district's downtown."

"How did you come here so silently and quickly, dear boy?"

"I skipped off the walls of buildings by the central chamber's windows."

"Axl, you're getting better each time." Lumine somehow always encouraged Axl to break the rules at certain appropriate times. He got a "Hey!" from Iris.

Axl then spotted a piece of human newspaper not far away from him. He picked it and read the title: 'TYCOON AND SON APPEAR AT SPEECH'. The paper was dated 2 days ago.

"They sure do have nice pictures here of us."

"Axl, we were publicized. You may be recognized at any instant the moment you assume human form. You are quite in danger, don't you know, dear boy?"

"Relax. If I know better, humans wouldn't even care about this." Axl resumed to eating his bacon and eggs.

Then, in the HQ, Zero received a note of high urgency and he simply had to tell it to Axl. Problem was that Axl was already about 8 miles away from HQ.

Zero decided to rush to the command room and seek Alia's help in searching Axl's location. "There, he's in downtown. And is he doing something there?"

"I don't know. All I know that he must be contacted urgently!" Zero used a big communicator machine not far all and set the meters to reach to Axl's frequency.

Axl and friends got a surprise when a moderately loud ring came from his hands. The sudden incoming call made him nearly spill his fruit juice. He sort of lifted his left hands to his ears and somehow activated the dialler and decreased the speaking volume. There was no one around so he was relieved.

"Zero, what is it?" Axl spoke softly just in case anyone was interested.

"Axl! It's an urgent note for you! From the Prez Corporation! Prez has fallen ill and is in terrible conditions! He contracted some sort of disease just around 2 days ago! I know how much he thinks of you so I think you ought to go see him!"

Axl was very shocked and so were Lumine and Iris. "Tell me where he is! Is he in some sort of hospital now?!"

"No, he's in his tower mansion. Any missions and I'll ring you a call!"

The line was cut off immediately. Axl began to panic for the first time and knew he had to rush over to see him. Lumine and Iris didn't know what to do too.

Axl quickly gulped up his juice and paid the bill, although he hadn't touched his eggs yet. Axl had no clear thoughts now so he started running towards the elevator outside the restaurant. Then someone stunned his whole body.

"Axl, instead of running 23 floors down and using up more cash father provided, won't it be best you just teleport there, dear boy?"

Lumine was right. "Oh right. Sorry. Not much thinking just now."

He immediately teleported away and arrived at the main entrance grounds of the entire factory grounds. The security hadn't noticed his sneak arrival so he decided to climb up one of the nearby structure's walls to the top.

This was the first time he was going to Prez's home so he was confused.

Axl gazed around, trying to recognize some structures and pinpoint the tower mansion's location amid the snow. The grounds of Prez's plants, factories and warehouses were very huge so it was easy to get lost. There were all sorts of rooftops and tanks and pipelines shown.

Then Axl spotted the tower mansion. It was, of course, a very tall structure, which looked like a modern office building with many dark glass windows and fabulous designs and was located at the southwest part of the grounds, close to the streets and roads outside.

Axl ran there quickly with all his might to see Prez. He leaped over an amazingly wide gap between Prez's home and the office rooftops he was on. Luckily, he managed to grab hold on the walls or else he would have fallen all the way down.

"Axl! I just don't know how you could always perform this stunt!"

"Can this wait, Iris? I'm almost at dad's already…"

Fortunately he hadn't attracted much attention to himself and he kept climbing upwards. Finally he reached a huge balcony section overlooking the Big City's southwest districts and climbed in.

The sliding doors weren't locked so the trio-in-one Reploid easily entered Prez's personal room. It was a brilliant mix of short flora with clever interior design. There was a mini fountain not far away and some cultural statues. Three large and wide screens dominate the room: the television, the communicator and the computer. Prez was seen lying on his bed, wrapped up in blankets.

"Dad!" Axl ran over to Prez. "Dad! Are you okay?"

Iris rapidly grasped his body and made him move over to a nearby wooden chair and sat on it. "Axl! Father's very tired! Just give him his rest first, okay?"

"He's not in any condition to talk to us, dear Axl. We'll just have to wait."

"Alright. We'll wait for him to get up."

Almost instantaneously, Prez slowly got up from his bad, wore a robe covering his pyjamas and grabbed his wooden cane and reach for Axl. "Ah…you've come…"

"Dad! Are you alright? You need to rest more! Don't pressure yourself too much! You can just lie down and also talk with us!" He switched on his speakers.

"Father, don't overexert yourself!"

"We were told of your serious health condition, father. Please just take a rest."

Prez looked up on them since he was hunching badly. "Well…thank you all for your concern…really, I appreciate it…"

"What is this illness that you've contracted?" Axl was very anxious.

"You can have a look at the computer there by the hall. The doctors sent it in just a few hours ago." He coughed very hardly and choked himself slightly. "They've yet to determine the source of my illness. Don't worry." He coughed harder.

Axl ran over to the computer's large plasma screen and saw a large file.

Lumine was the first to read it out. "Symptoms shown: rise in temperature, heavy sweating, headaches and dehydration. Illness: high fever. Condition: chronic stage. This is really not good."

Axl turned around to look for Prez but he was nowhere in sight and he was certain he didn't leave his room to go downstairs.

"Dad? Where are you?" Then Prez showed up from behind, shocking the three.

"Gah! Dad, you gave us quite a scare there! Don't do that ever!"

"Where did you go just now while we were reading the file, father dear?"

Prez frowned a little. "Why, I just went to get myself a flask of water, Iris. You saw the dehydration part. I must drink plenty of water!"

"Father, a flask of water? Don't you mean a glass of water?"

"No, I really meant a flask of water!" Prez holds up a flask. "A flask of water is 6 times better than a glass of water!" He coughed slightly and drank from it.

Axl and friends watched as Prez began to walk towards his bed. Then he nearly tripped, causing Axl to jerk, move and hold Prez by the shoulder.

"Dad, are you okay? C'mon we need to get you rested!" But Axl himself fell.

This time it was Prez's turn to hold onto Axl from falling completely on the floor. Prez was struggling much harder than Axl now; a human trying to pull a Reploid much heavier than himself is bad, also considering his conditions.

But, surprisingly Prez managed to pull Axl back to his feet. Prez breathed harder and harder initially but eventually the breathing pattern became slower.

Meanwhile, both Iris and Lumine insulted Axl.

"Axl! You made father hold onto you jut because you were careless! Didn't you ever think that a sick man doesn't have enough strength to support a Reploid who's much heavier?"

"Well done, Axl, you only caused father more trouble. Some guy you are."

"It was an accident, okay? I didn't expect myself to fall too!"

"Alright, all of you stop bickering now. I can still support myself-" He coughed harder and harder than previously. He quickly reached out for his cough syrup and drank about a quarter of the bottle and took an asthma inhaler and inhaled from it.

All three Reploids were silent as they watched Prez beat his chest repeatedly. He then walked all the way to the balcony Axl entered earlier and looked out onto the Big City. Prez released a breath of relief.

"I am an important man of the Federation and the world, you all three. I can't afford to let a simple little disease such as high fever rob me of all my efforts to help build a prosperous and happy world. I'm been working so much like this for the past 28 years and saw all the mishaps in the world; I'm not going to let me little ailment stop you all from sharing happiness. I'd rather suffer myself."

"A little disease can't stop me from trying to maximise happiness around the world. I'm still alive and strong. So you three listen, I'm glad you are concerned for me but don't ever let me down just by a small argument that will make me sad. Get the picture?"

"Yes." All three replied simultaneously.

"Good." Prez reached out for a wheelchair. "Well, it's already 9.15. Who wants to help me move around and meet my people?"

Axl's human form wobbled to become Lumine's white human form.

"Ah, a wise decision. A Reploid like yourself who has tonnes of smarts and interest in the management of economy should come active, not dormant. C'mon, help me move on the wheelchair."

Prez sat on the wheelchair while Lumine pushed the wheelchair towards the elevators. Prez pressed the button labelled 'G' of the elevator on the right and the door immediately opened. The white Reploid pushed him in.

"Father, what about my identity? Do you want to change it?"

"You'll remain Lumine anywhere, even in this grounds. The people will have nothing to say, even if they do have something, they'll just ask. Everything in here usually are secret under my policy, except when I want to tell something to the press. Okay? Let's move on. I've got a conference to attend to."

Chapter Eight: Return

Axl, Lumine and Iris were now in mister Prez's grounds, walking around with Prez who's sitting on a wheelchair, touring the grounds about the land area of 12 square miles (around 31 square kilometres). It was amazing that the grounds belong solely to Prez and not to any shareholder so his decisions were final orders.

The grounds had produced much for the Federation and the world, Prez was definitely proud of it; and he was sharing it with his 'children'.

It had already been late afternoon and Iris' human form was displayed. She had been taking Prez around for about an hour plus. Feeling cheerful to herself, she decided to flashback what happened earlier.

In the morning, many were shocked to find a Lumine look-alike for a teen that wheeled their boss around. Only few dared to approach the serious yet smiling Reploid. The best example was that of a human worker.

"Say, em…you look like that Reploid that rebelled months ago."

"So what if I do? So what if I AM?"

"Boss, he ain't evil, ain't he?" Prez gave a slight laugh at the worker.

"Rest assured that this is the reformed Lumine. He won't be harming anyone ever. He's just one of my 'children'. The other two couldn't make it so he came."

The board of directors were shocked to see him in the conference room.

"Mister Prez, you allowed him – in here – with us?"

"Is there a problem regarding this, human? I'm just with my father."

"Yes, gentlemen. Rest assured that although my 'son' has a cold voice, his heart is kind and he wishes to experience some of our economics here. If you don't mind, let's have the latest report in the year's third quarter progress."

Iris giggled at those thoughts. They were now back in Prez's office. Iris gently routed him behind his desk and went to get herself something to enjoy. Adding to her pleasure, Axl and Lumine were talking.

"You had to put on the cold tone in your voice. It scared them a lot."

"That's me, dear boy. That's how I always talk, in case you didn't notice."

"Next time, can't you just put some positive tones in your speech?"

Then Iris' hands suddenly vibrated so much and emitted a loud ring. Iris knew that the ring was meant for Axl so she allowed Axl to take control and answer the call.

"Axl, it's Zero! There's been a riot in a faraway district! The Maverick Reploids are attacking one of the City's water reservoir facilities! Here are the coordinates! We need you now!" The line immediately cut off.

"Sorry, dad, we have to go now. We'll see you next time. Bye!"

"You need to be positive yourself, dear boy." Axl ignored the comment.

Axl teleported to the exact coordinates Zero gave him just after Prez gave him a small wave of goodbye and returned to pen down some notes.

Axl then arrived at the reservoir facility. It was a ground of wide area with, once again, giant pumps and pipelines with giant tanks and barrels meant for water purification. It was still snowing so the Hunters and Mavericks were battling just in front of the cylindrical buildings in the middle of snow.

The sun shone dimly on the site. Reploids were already equipped with some weapons and this time, some vehicles. They were going to use speeding bulldozers and trucks to try to destroy everything and freeze them in ice.

"Axl, they're going to freeze everyone here in ice by bursting the tanks! Don't just stand here! Go and fight! I'm giving you a boost!"

Lumine boosted Axl in the air and he began shooting his non-stop firing bullets. He certainly had blown apart many Mavericks on the ground. Lumine used his secret laser method and sliced many trucks into halves, causing big explosions. Iris only fired her pink fireballs at many locations, thus blasting Mavericks in air.

Axl finally saw Zero and X firing their attacks. Spiked Mavericks constantly charged at them so Zero could only use his saber to slice away the spikes and pierce the shields while X fired his giant-sized charged Buster shots to destroy them.

At a specific corner, giant stone Mavericks surrounded some Hunters. Lumine saw that so he made Axl turn to his left and fired his purple laser, dismembering the stone Mavericks to rocks. The Hunters hastily thanked Axl and ran off to fight.

"They should have thanked you, Lumine." Axl teased him.

"That's not important now, Axl. We must first defeat the Mavericks first and then find the main Maverick. Oddly there's always a master Maverick behind these riots."

Suddenly a black shadow covered the entire area. It was just in time that all Mavericks were beaten that the final Maverick made its appearance. The final grey Maverick was a type that floats in the air and it was 500 metres long and 200 meters wide. Its head looked like a samurai in disguise, its body oval and rectangular and its sides had swords and four global discs with spikes, connected by steel to the sides.

X, Axl and Zero regrouped together to face the giant Maverick. Its eyes gazed on the three instead of the other hundred Hunters and then fired a laser ray through its cornea at them. They avoided it and the giant explosions that blasted underground pipelines upwards.

Other Hunters released their own charged shots and machine gun bullets, trying to damage the armour. The Maverick wasn't bothered and continued to target the three Hunters with its spiked discs, tearing the ground of its tiles and design.

"We need the weak spot! Axl, ask Lumine what's the weak spot!" Zero yelled.

They continued to avoid homing swords that scarred most equipment and structures around the area. Axl's head turned backward a little for 4 seconds and that was long enough for Lumine's scanners to check its weak spot.

"Destroy its face armour first and then penetrate its forehead engines, Axl."

"Got it. X, Zero, the face armour and then its forehead!" Axl yelled back.

But neither could take action fast because some humongous cannon plasma shot first hit its face armour, completely damaged as it broke into shards and fell piercing the ground. The Maverick was finally distracted.

All Hunters present turned their heads toward a big swarm of Reploids that looked like police members. They all had the same armour design of mixture of blue and brown and bore big cannons on their right arms. They had visors over the eyes so their identity was unknown except for a logo of letters 'PB FORCE' on their chests.

All were stunned because they weren't expecting anyone. Suddenly all of the blue Reploids fired their charged cannons at the Maverick. The Maverick was unable to fight back due to the big onslaught.

It felt great damage and its engines exploded, thus falling with a great crash and explosion on the ground. Most Hunters ducked to secure themselves but the blue forces remained standing. Eventually all stood up.

X then quickly issued an order to the rest of the Hunters to avoid any slack in the work that was supposed to be done.

"Everyone, start cleaning up the site for all damages and clear the Maverick scrap away!" The Hunters started their work just before government forces came to assist the work of repairing the place.

The three Hunters walked forward to meet with the strangers. Then a row was formed by the blue Reploids to reveal their commander. The commander came out and saluted X.

"Maverick Hunter Commander X, my creator wishes to meet you tonight."

"Thank you for your assistance, I guess. Who are you?"

"We are the PB Force, the latest paramilitary organization in Big City."

It further continued speaking. "Our creator would like to meet you and propose a form of alliance for the Big City's security. Tonight 9.30 pm at the front of the Maverick Hunter HQ. We hope progress will be made."

All of such forces suddenly warped away, back to their base X assumed.

"Proposal? Alliance? Progress?" Axl was confused.

"Careful, X. We don't even know them. This may be a trap."

"I know, Zero. But we have to see first." The three teleported back to the HQ.

Later that night, the Hunters and their navigators gathered at the main plaza hall, waiting for the arrival of the leader of the unknown forces.

"PB Force, huh? I've already checked on the list of approved units in the Federation but only four are approved: the National Air Force, the National Army, the Federation Marines and of course the Maverick Hunters. It's probably an illegal unit, or the government hasn't registered yet." Alia said.

"Well, the leader did say they have a creator. It must be a private unit."

"True, X, but private units are never allowed. The permit for the registration itself would have taken around 5 years due to tight regulations! Nobody would ever wait that long just to get that approval and the other procedures itself take at least 7 years, but there're exceptions! This is getting fishy." Zero sighed.

"Let's just hope for the best then." Everyone agreed with Pallette.

"Hey, where's Axl?" X turned to look around.

"He's having a telephone call with 'dad'."

Just nearby, Axl was using a traditional telephone to contact Prez because he didn't want to walk back 40 floors up just to use a screen. On the other side, Prez's screens were blurring with grey.

"Axl, aren't you using the modern phone?"

"Sorry, dad, but maybe next time. Listen, just this afternoon, we encountered a strange military unit that easily took out the last Maverick at the City reservoir facility. I feel that something's going on. Do you know anything?"

"Which water reservoir?"

"The facility with the cylinder towers and tanks at both sides at its front grounds."

"Hm… ah yes, that incident. Just received it today. Do you still think that Bob's behind this? Felt it's weird?"

"Em…sort of. First the attack and then the blue unit shows up. Lumine just told us the weakness but they acted as if they already knew it!"

"Hm…this may be a trap, Axl. I will do some talk with the government about this. Meanwhile, keep out for any strange incidents that are not supposed to be. Lumine, Iris, help Axl okay?"

"Yes, father." A cold voice. "Yes, father." A calm, feminine voice.

"Good, I'll see you next time." He coughed hard. "Now I got to take an early sleep. The doctors say it's best I sleep more." The line cut off.

Axl put down the phone after a few seconds. He walked back to his friends.

"So what did Prez say? Oh I checked for sightings of that man Bob just the other day, no one's seen him."

"Well thanks a lot X. Dad said he'll check with the government. He also says we should keep our eyes wide for anything suspicious."

Then a loud rumbling noise was heard. It got louder and louder and seems to approach the Hunter HQ by the main entrance grounds.

"It's them! They're here! Everyone, let's move out!"
X led the gang out of the main plaza hall into the entrance grounds and saw a long procession of the PB Force marching in front of the HQ. Eventually they stopped. A commanding order made them turn right and march up the entrance stairs.

PB Force units stepped aside to form the welcoming row. A black figure walked out slowly to confront the six. All were prepared for anything.

They were shocked. The features of the leader were shown thanks to the light of a nearby lamp stand. The character had a thick spectacle; messy brown hair, big blue eyes but his smile and lack of seriousness made him look different.

The creator of the PB Force was the previous criminal Bob.

Chapter Nine: Suspicion

If anyone were more shocked, it would be both Axl and Lumine. In an instant that Bob appeared, both of them had flashbacks about their terrible past.

Axl was kidnapped by Bob's bidding, the Red Alert and new generation Reploid rebellions, and his terrible time caused by Lumine and May because of their corruption and also the disturbance of peace.

Lumine, made to rebel under the name of Reploid evolution just to make Bob ruler faster, May's doing and disturbing the peace, was also corrupted by Bob.

He caused all this trouble and he dared to face the Hunters here?!

Inside Axl, Iris watched in fear as both Axl and Lumine released their own shares of red and blue aura. They were getting angrier and angrier. Both vied to control the body's hands and strangle the man and kill him that very moment.

Suddenly, Axl appeared to be trembling. His hair became a mixture of purple and brown while his eyes turned mixture of red and green. The mouth's expressions became evil and so did his eyes.

"You evil human garbage! You caused all the trouble these years and you dare to approach us?!" A mixture of Axl's and Lumine's voice roared out furiously, startling everyone present. In less than a second, Bob's neck was in the clutches of Axl's hands. He grinned evilly and him and began to strangle him harder and harder.

Axl dashed so fast no one expected this to happen. Immediately the PB Force Reploids ran forward to try to save their creator. But Lumine knew better so he used his secret laser and began to slice all 500 Reploids into half.

"Oh no! This is a complete mess! Axl, stop this immediately!" All five of them ran forward to grab Axl and pull him down to suppress him. Bob's face was filled with blue colour from choking on lack of air and was on the verge of dying.

"Help! Argghh…help! I can't breathe…" Axl and Lumine were too violent to stop. Even Iris tried but her aura was no match to the one combined from the two.

Then X had no choice but to use an electrical stunner he had brought and jabbed it into Axl's neck, thus stunning all three into a state of unconsciousness. Then Bob's neck was free from Axl's hands as Zero carried Axl away.

All of the PB Force Reploids were sliced into half. Fearing the worse, X decided that Bob was to be brought to his office for treatment, although he's a criminal; the scrap was to be collected by Prez Corp. and Axl to be strapped for a while.

No sooner and later, Axl was firmly back in control but he found himself strapped up in not just two but three pieces of flexible titanium straps and that he was in Zero's office. Zero was sitting in front of him, sighing away.

"Zero! What happened? Why am I in the straps again? I'm not in quarantine? What happened to that scum trash man?" Zero firmly held Axl on the shoulders.

"Axl, calm down! So should you, Lumine!" Somehow he knew Lumine too woke up already. "X stunned you just now because both of you were too violent and you were trying to kill a human, despite the fact we recognise he's a wanted criminal! We have no evidence that the most recent riots were his doing, and he's the creator of the PB Force too!"

"And yes, you're not in quarantine because X's busy with the human trash and he's in his office. Now just relax, Axl. Maybe he would try his proposal of alliance thing, but we've already had the guy in our base! The most definite thing X will do later is to lock him up in the HQ west wing."

Zero stood up, his back facing Axl. Axl and Lumine have already calmed down and couldn't do anything else. Then Zero turned around and unbuckled the belt straps.

"Zero, why are you letting me go?"

"Because I don't want to put you in quarantine myself. I know that I can trust you in keeping yourself calm and as much as you do, I also hate the guy. Just try not to do that now, not until he's proven guilty then. I have to go accompany X with his meeting. You're free. X had already put off the bedtime limit so you can do as you please for now."

Zero simply walked out of his office, leaving Axl in there alone. Axl only gazed down on the floor, thinking about something that Lumine couldn't tell what this time.

"Dear boy? Is something wrong? I know I shouldn't ask this now…"

"Axl, please…just stay put…be patient…we'll know everything…"

"No, Lumine. You're right, there is something wrong. Something very wrong around here!" Axl dashed out far towards the elevator. Both his inhabitants had no idea where he would go.

Meanwhile in X's office, X and Zero were having a grim meeting with Bob, who's now bandaged on his arms and had a plaster on his neck.

"So what are you trying to propose here, human? This better be good or something you'll have to answer to my saber." Zero flared up his saber stronger.

"On the contrary, Commander. I do have something to propose. You see I've escaped from the prisons because I wanted to prove myself useful to the community. I've already realised the errors of my ways so I've come to surrender myself in."

"In order to prove myself repented, I had built up my own force of justice. The PB Force. Then the first riot I've seen where my blue army of Reploids can be put into action: that of today."

"Please Commanders! I'm really serious and committed to the peace of the Big City and the Federation! Please give me a chance to prove myself worthy! I know! I'll surrender in myself and you'll have total control over my PB Force! There's another backup of 3000 Reploids! See, see?"

X and Zero exchanged faces and expressions.

"That's a very nice offer, human. Sign here and here to admit you'll surrender yourself first." Zero handed out a prison admittance paper and Bob quickly signed them.

"So, this means you'll take over my PB Force now, hm?"

"We still have procedures, human. Commander X may be the most powerful officer of the Maverick Hunters but there's still the Central Committee and the government departments."

"We'll need to read through hundreds of extra regulations and sign records and oaths. The Federation takes oaths very seriously. Bind yourself to one, you're bound for life. It'll not be easy just for us to pass your little extra armies in."

X was clearly doing a lot of thinking. His first orders were:

"Guards, take this criminal to the west wing top maximum security prison and isolate him there immediately."

Two tough-looking Reploids handcuffed Bob up and led him away. If the head Hunters weren't mistaken, he was acting a little insanity.

"Ah, yes. Locked up for good. Heh heh heh. Heh heh. For the good of the Federation. Heh heh. Peace to all…"

Zero looked at X again. "You're sure we are accepting his armies?"

"Not so sure. We need to run up the security issues first then transfer him to the Big City prisons. Then, it's a matter of legal rights transfer and reprogramming and armour change then we're settled to find the responsible one behind the more recent attacks. Maybe the south wing needs some upgrading."

"The south wing? Isn't that the place where we had the old rocket launch and the giant cannon? It's still there all this while?"

"Yes, but first get the early procedures done. Then some constructions."

"Right away. Axl's just fine, by the way." Zero was so wrong on this.

Axl had already ran up to the 54th floor of the HQ and taken a staircase to the highest rooftops. He was panting hard and at the same time, feeling angry.

He held the fence railing and looked around. There was no one on the rooftops with him and the structures around the HQ were dark, only to shine their light through windows and there was the sound of vehicles running on the roads.

He was tired from all the running so he sat on the concrete floor and held his legs by the knees with his hands and buried his head underneath his hands.

The two inhabitants couldn't decide what to do about Axl. Then Axl starting speaking to himself about all his anger.

"It's just not fair! That man ought to be killed! Humans don't care, as long as they have their homes to live in and rations in troubled times! Why can't everyone just see that Bob will never change?!"

For the first time, Axl felt like crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't control his troubled feelings all to himself. He was shaking a little.

"He caused all the trouble this while and X stops me from getting my revenge on him? No one around here understands me! Nobody knows how it feels like to lose their creator and be trapped in constant uncertainty! How painful it feels to fight on and on the same evil bidding, especially if it's a human who strikes back by the days, not years!"

Iris knew what he meant because that was what she said to him previously.

"All those Mavericks were actually kind-hearted Reploids who were manipulated by greedy individuals! How much good would have been done to the world if they were not killed, all because of only a few evil people?"

Then the phenomenon came again. Inside the computer brain, Lumine and Iris were shocked to see the circuit components' outlines appear and the wavy colours flashed here and there. The inactive data flowed faster than before in all directions.

"Axl's emotions fluctuated again! His motive's now yearning for murder?"

"I'll check just to make sure." Lumine raised the hand and closed his eyes. "Well, not entirely murder, Iris. Dear boy wants revenge on Bob and he bears so much hatred, more than any of us to that human. Revenge is sort of like seeing him imprisoned for life, misery and the stuff."

He lowered his hands and turned to Iris with open eyes.

"It's not serious yet. His emotions weren't out of control as much as last time."

Axl had stood up and spilled out all his thoughts, full with anger.

"What are his desires and motives this time? What does he really want? Is there any thing else than world domination? He wouldn't repent so easily! I just know it! That's impossible! If I had the greatest chance in all my life, I would kill him! Kill him for good! SEE HOW HE LIKES THAT!" The colour displays in the subconscious became wilder than ever.

"That's the limit I'll take." Lumine mumbled first and then stunned Axl entirely. Axl fell hard on the ground with his eyes close.

Lumine pressed his hands firmly on Axl's shoulders.

"Dear boy, please listen! We know how you feel, okay? Don't say such cruel things ever! That's not the Axl I know and who taught me very important lessons! Humans do care for their surroundings and so do we! Just look at father! Do you think he'll tolerate his former assistant for silencing him?! I don't think so!"

"Dear boy, please calm down! We hate him as much as you do! Just control yourself! It's okay to have your suspicions towards him but just don't take him on when we have no solid evidence about his true motives! The government will charge you for this, criminal or not, and we'll all get it too! Father will be ashamed!"

Axl became calmer so Lumine just looked at him.
"The proof will show up by itself, I know it. And we promise to help you anyway we can for you. Okay, dear boy? Just wait. Time will help you."

Iris went up to Axl and embraced him. Axl became calmer and started to show happiness. Axl in turn embraced her gentleness while Lumine looked on.

Axl opened his eyes. Nobody was still around. He corrected his posture and leaned against the fence railing. The slightly heavy snowfall seemed not to bother him the entire time. Suddenly, Axl just slept there.

"Oh goodness. Axl seems to be too tired that his body suddenly took a rest. I'll go check on his systems. Iris, please look after him till I come back." He vanished.

Iris was now holding an Axl who was sleeping. Gently, she laid him to sleep soundly on the pitch-black floor and she in turn sat on the floor to watch over Axl.

"Have a nice sleep, Axl." She smiled at him.