Connected Hearts
Sketches
Silver: Revised! Finally!
(Disclaimer: Again, I do not own or MMX, if I do then the Sigma virus is gone by one sweep by Rockman EXE and Blues. XD!)
Sketches
In the Maverick Hunter HQ...
A figure lurks in the dark, placing an item there and then quickly left.
:::^*^:::
The sun's rays hits the sleeping form of the Crimson Hunter, Zero, in his capsule. And for one thing, he is not a morning person… but he ends up getting out of his capsule, grumbling about the annoying sunlight and stumbles to the floor.
THUD!
The blonde fell on the floor head first and got hit by a red picture frame right on the head too. Growling in annoyance, he sit up and leans back to his capsule and then he notices the frame. "Weird… Why is there a picture frame near the capsule?" He asked as he rubbed his head. He then picks up the frame and nearly dropped it on what he saw...
He rubs his eyes out of sleep and looks at the picture again, and his eyes widens at what he's looking. The picture… is not actually a picture, but a sketch of the Red Hunter himself. Despite it's a bit dirty and some erasure marks are there, it captures Zero's image like a camera. A bit stunned, the blonde began to wonder who made it, but the only thing he saw at the right edge of the picture is a loopy writing saying: AZURINE.
:::^*^:::
At the cafeteria…
All eyes are on new recruit, who have to use her Cross Fusion to hide her human status from other Hunters. And she slightly twitches by their stares, and quickly looks for anyone familiar. She spots Alia and the other navigators on a table, near the corner and walked briskly there.
"Hey." She greeted the three.
"Oh, hey Sora." Alia greeted her, as the brunette place her tray on the table and plops down on her seat. Although the blonde and the other navigators were surprised that the brunette became a honorary Hunter, they pretty much treated her the same like before. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.
The brunette sighs and looks at the three. "They're not going to train me, are they?" the brunette stated, as she poke her meal with a down mood. The three navigators sweat drop at the mood she's emitting as the pink navigator tries to cheer her up.
"W-well... you can try support as you got yourself a Net Navi to help you." the pink reploid said, only it made her mood a little worse.
"Sora... calm down." her partner said, as she sighs once more and takes a bite on her waffle.
"Give them time." the purple navigator said, who goes by the name of Layer, as she takes a drink of her energy drink. "They're probably thinking of a proper training session for you."
"But they'll over-think it, considering..." then Layer quickly stuffs the green navigator's, Pallette's, mouth with a dinner roll.
"I know, I know..." the brunette grumbles as she continues to eat as Pallete tries to get the bread out.
"Mornin' ladies!" they turn to see Axl, with a tray of his breakfast and an item on the other. "Mind if I sit with you, I don't think there are much seats left." he said as he looks at the cafeteria, although there are a few seats left most of them are reserved for their companions or teammate. They let him sit with them and CF Rouge scoots near Alia, to give the New Gen a seat.
"There are a lot of reploids here today." CF Rouge wonders.
"Well, there hasn't been any maverick attacks lately since the last incident." Pallette states out.
"Yeah... I'm more surprise that most of the reploids here didn't know what happen that day." the auburn teen points out as he puts ketchup on his omelet.
"They don't?" the brunette asked with a brow raised.
"Well, most reporters and news crews have retreated when Chill Penguin trapped us in ice, and their remote controlled cameras were also destroyed. Plus the HSR leader wants to keep your identity a secret too."
The Net Saviour takes a sip of her drink, and then notices the item on his side. "Hey, what's that?" she asked.
"Oh this? It's a picture... somehow somebody placed it in my room." he replied, he seems to be confused on how the thing got into his room.
"Mind if I take a look of it?" and the New Gen nodded and hands her the picture frame. She and Alia looks at it and is surprise at the image, the picture is Axl himself… no, it's actually a sketch of the New Generation Hunter. The drawing is almost like the artist took a picture of Axl by a camera. The shadings are on the right places, but the only mistake on the picture is the artist made is on the hands, the boots and the guns. It looks a bit small and the details are a bit crooked, but nevertheless someone must give some credit to the artist. "Wow, nice sketch…"
"Amazing... who gave this to you?" Alia asked, as the Net Saviour lends the frame to the two other navigators and they also look awe at the sketch.
"I dunno, when I woke up I saw that on my table in my room." Axl said, as Pallette hands the picture back to him. But then he notice a loopy writing on right edge of the picture. "Hey… do you know anyone by AZURINE?" Axl asked, pointing at the signature on the edge and showing it to the two.
"Nope" the girls replied almost in unison, they look at each other and laughed a bit.
"Anyway... Is there any Training Room available?" the brunette asked.
"Huh, not today... Sea Serpent is there." the New Gen replied.
"Sea Serpent? A giant mechaniloid?"
"No, he's a B-Class Hunter and... he tends to give new recruits a 'rough' welcome."
"In other words, he's a rookie bully?"
"Not really, he never bullies them after giving them a 'rough' welcome... and sending them to the infirmary."
"I... see." She said with a brow raised and continues with her meal. "I guess I'll just go check your network then."
"Our network?" Layer asked.
"Yeah, I want to see your network security. With the mavericks coming back as navis, it wouldn't hurt to see how it'll fare against them."
"Well, our security program is the strongest we have, viruses can't even get inside the system and it can alert us if it's being hacked." Pallette stated, although she looks forward to see how her navi can fare against the base's security system.
As they continue to discuss about the network's security, the auburn teen looks away for a moment and mentally sighs in relief. 'Phew... I'm glad that I didn't go all out on the network's defense.' he thought. Before he reached S-Class, he secretly upgraded the base's network security, by improving the firewall and the anti-virus program. He made the firewall a bit stronger by adding another layer of it, and the security system is consist of a few low level security drones that scouts the flat area of the base's network. Originally, he planned on turning the base's system into several levels and add traps on the network pathway, but due to maverick attacks he kept forgetting about it.
And now he's glad that he forgot about it, or his sister will get suspicious on how the base's network looks and works similar to their birth world.
After finishing their meals, Axl excuses himself and tells the girls that he have to bring some food to his two friends. Apparently, they need to finish their paperwork and decided to skip their meals today. Then the green navigator asked the New Gen if he's finished with his... He sheepishly answered that he's not yet finish, as breakfast is the first priority in the morning.
As he grabs the two trays, the navigators makes their way back to the Command Center and CF Rouge heads back to her room to defuse.
:::^*^:::
Meanwhile...
X have signed the last paper of the last stack and sighs in relief that the whole ordeal is done. Then Zero walks in his office with the picture frame in his hand, which the blue hunter notices. "Hey, you got one too?" X asked
"What do you mean I got one too?" Zero asked, then X points at the frame in his friend's hand and then points at another picture frame on his table. As they both wondered on who managed to sneak the picture in their room, Axl comes in with a pair of trays.
"Morning! I got your breakfast here." as he places the trays on the table and sees the pictures. "You too?" They look at him and notices another frame in his arm. "Looks like we got ourselves a fan." he looks at the pictures his friends got.
"But how did it got into our rooms?" the blue hunter asked, as the young hunter shrugs and the red hunter also wonders about it. Then he looks at their young friend with a different subject in mind. "... Anyway, how is Sora?" he asked.
"She's doing fine." the auburn teen replied as he place a hand on his waist and the blue hunter sighs in relief. "Why don't you go and see her for yourself?" The blue hunter tightens his lips and tries to think of a good reason why he could not. If she is a reploid, it wouldn't be much of an issue for him. But she's human and to choose the dangerous occupation that only reploids can handle...
"She can do what she pleases, as long as she can complete her tasks and missions while keeping herself safe."
"Ze-Zero?!" The blue hunter stutters in shock on hearing that, while Axl is quite surprise and feels a bit of deja vu on hearing that. "Are you serious? She's just a human child!"
'If only you know...' Axl thought as he remembers that he was still in elementary when he first fought net crimes. 'I've been into dangerous situation before I became hybrid and the same thing goes for my sister.' as he crosses his arms and sighs. Right now, he a bit glad that Zero is okay on having the brunette join the Hunters. The red hunter then takes his tray, standing up and makes his way to his office.
But then he stops and looks back at the two. "I know, X. But she made her choice." the blonde stated firmly, then he steps in his office.
X slumps in his seat on hearing that... He can't deny that both NetOp and the Net Navi have the ability to fight and persevere against mavericks, whether fused or not. Still the fact that the girl is a human and the decision to join the Hunters, didn't give any comfort to him. The auburn teen sighs at this and notices that the blonde have forgotten his picture, as the the door closes.
:::^*^:::
In the Maverick Hunter's computer system...
Looking around the area, the navy blue navi couldn't help but to sigh on the flat and empty area with a few data scattered around. She did spots a few security drones that patrols the area, but what really surprised her and her NetOp is the fact they look like those low-level security navis in their world. But they lack the personality data, which is why they attacked the navy blue navi and got themselves forcefully log out. Compared to the Giga City's network, which it have a few strays and occasional viruses that made the local network a little lively... then again, she hasn't seen what the other computer systems and the worldwide network look like in this world. "This place... is so empty." Rouge complains, as she slumps a bit.
Then a small screen appears on her side. "I have to agree with you there..." her human partner comments and she looks at the navigators. "Aside from the firewall and the security program, the network's security is pretty much low..."
"But this is the strongest security program the base have." Alia explains as she watches the navi walks around in their computer system. "The firewall keeps the viruses out and the security program alerts us of hackers... I can't believe you passed thru those!" as the brunette scratches the back of her head
"The only challenge I got is the firewall, that actually withstand the Battle Chips until I used Program Advance." Sora said sheepishly as her partner seems to agree on that. "As for the security programs... they're easy to evade and rid of."
"Sorry, but your security system is not that great..." the female navi points out as Signas enters the command room and notices them.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"Well... we have Sora and Rouge check the security system, sir." Layer replied.
"Yeah, we have her hack into our system and..." Pallette trails off as she fiddles with her fingers. "She... she actually got pass our security."
The Hunter's Commander looks at the three navigator and then at the brunette, who is sheepish expression on her face. "Is that true, Sora?" he asked the human girl.
"Yes sir... My partner and I hacked into your system." she replied and then added. "But I'm just checking to see how effective it is against the maverick navis!"
"I see." he said, as he remembers what Chill Penguin mention in the last maverick attack... he wasn't the only one who was revived as a Net Navi. If Sora's partner is able to hack into their system, then it will be more trouble if those maverick hack themselves in and infect the whole base. Thankfully, the Net Saviour offered that she can improve the system in a few days, by changing and adding a few programs. With that, he allowed the brunette to take charge with the system's security, with the navigators there to monitor her. Once they finished discussing about the plans to improve the system, they call it a day and the navigators resumes their work. Sora and Rouge heads back to their room, to see if they can mimic a certain security system back in their world with the programs this world can offer.
:::^*^:::
The next day...
"Hey guys!" The Net Saviour greeted the three hunters in the lounging room and notices something. "So it wasn't Axl who got a picture?" she asked.
"Yeah, they even got one yesterday." Axl said as he shows her the picture. In the picture, the auburn teen is holding a kitten while the other kittens are purring around him for the milk he is drinking. X and Zero's picture are similar except for the poses and the animals, puppies for the blue hunter and birds for the red hunter. But for one thing that stands out from the picture, is that they are smiling.
And the smiles looks almost... human.
"Wow, you guys looked actually happy." Rouge commented, who is sitting on Sora's shoulder and looking at picture.
"Yeah... Well, Zero's looks more content than happy, though." her partner agreed as she looks at the red hunter's picture he got. But all of the sudden, someone lift her off the ground by the scruff of her clothes. "Whoa! Hey!" She yelped at the reploid.
"What's a human doing here?" a snake-like reploid asked, as the brunette tries to get down. The bluish-green reploid have a head of a Boa Constrictor with fins on the side and a long, curvy neck. He also have long, flexible arms but he got legs, as if his creator haven't thought of turning him completely serpentine.
"Let her go, Sea Serpent. She's only a visitor." The New Gen states, as his trigger finger twitch on how he treated his sister.
'This is Sea Serpent?' both NetOp and Net Navi thought.
Like the young hunter explained yesterday, Sea Serpent is one of the hunters in the 0th unit. The snake-like reploid specializes mostly in stealth and he uses water-based attacks, but he is also very cocky and tend to challenge the newcomer on MHHQ as if it is saying 'Welcome to Maverick Hunters, rookie'. He have high respects for Zero, but the red hunter seems to dislike his 'greeting method' on the rookies. Right now, the news that a reploid from Giga City is a new recruit have spread in the base, and the three S-Class Hunters are hiding that very fact that the brunette human is the new recruit.
"Hey, I heard there's a new hunter in town, but I don't see this recruit anywhere." Serpent said, as he places her down, she sweat drop and looks away. "I really want to give that newcomer a grand welcome."
"Ummm... she already gone to the city today." X stated quickly, as Axl tries to think of a possible way to prevent him on finding out that Sora and CF Rouge are the same person.
"I see, but what about the human girl?" Serpent asked, pointing at the brunette as she crosses her arms in annoyance.
"I have a name. Rude much?" She snapped and Rouge glares at the reploid within her PET.
"She's about to leave soon, she only came here to give us these as thanks." Axl said, waving the picture frame at him.
"Ah, a rescue I see." as he place down the brunette and left.
'If he dares to harm a single hair on her, I swear I'll assassinate him on his sleep.' the young hunter swore in his mind, as his sister looks annoyed as she glares at the door where the snake-like reploid left.
There is a pause in the room and then Zero breaks the silence. "Sora." which snaps her attention at the blonde hunter. "Tomorrow, 15:00, in Training Room 8. Don't be late."
"I got-" she then pauses and realizes what he said. "Wait, you're going to train me?! For real?!"
"Zero, are you serious?!" X even reacts on that, as Axl is surprise on hearing that and nearly falls off his seat.
Ignoring his friends reaction, he looks at the brunette sternly. "It's not training, but tests to see if you've got what it takes to be a Hunter."
The brunette and the navi looks at one another, and then the Net Saviour looks back at him with determination. "Fine... Tomorrow, I'm going to prove to you guys that I have the means to become a Hunter." and then she left the lounge. She promised to the navigators that she'll help them on the computer's security, starting on the network's structure.
:::^*^:::
Next day...
Making her way to the Training Room 8, Sora have to go there as a human or Sea Serpent will give her that 'rough' welcome he's saving for her. The brunette sighs in relief that the facility have less occupants and is able to find the said room that the red hunter reserved. Entering the room, she sees Zero leaning by the console and seems to be calm... as X looks like he got into a disagreement with him and Axl is trying to calm the azure hunter.
Sora and Rouge looked at each other, the brunette clears her throat to get their attention. "Am I missing something?" she asked, as the three looks at her. Then she notices something in the young hunter's hands... picture frames. "Got arts from your fan again? Is that it?" she asked.
"Those have nothing to do with it." the red hunter states firmly and looks at the clock. "You might have to wait a bit, Signas is coming here to see and evaluate your skills in the battlefield."
Nodding at that, she waited for their said leader, right beside Axl who sighs in relief that the two stopped. Although she wondered what they're discussing about, the brunette's attention went to the frames in his hands and asked the New Gen about it. But when he shows her the pictures, she couldn't help bursting into giggles as the two looks at her.
The three S-Class hunters have received another fan art from their fan, and this time the artist somewhat shrunk them into chibi size. And in the first picture she saw, is Zero's chibified self with a pair of cute, black, angel wings on his back and looks like he's attempting to fly.
"Aaaawwwww... Zero's adorable in that picture." Rouge teased, as she and Sora giggled even more as they check the next picture... which is a chibified Axl with black and white wings.
"I thought I told you to dispose those pictures." Zero stated, looking at the New Gen who looks a bit sheepish.
"Oi, they came from your fan, you can't just throw them away." Sora pointed out, as she calms herself a bit from giggling. "Whoever did these, actually worked hard on it."
"... I guess I going to keep mine." The blue hunter said, as he takes back his picture but his eyes are still on the brunette. To see her smile on such miniscule items, he couldn't help but to smile a little... But reality came to him once more, as Signas arrives and the girl Cross Fuse with her navi. She then steps in the simulator with Zero and the tests begins...
The first test to defeat a maverick mechaniloid but there's a challenge... it have a hostage in it's claw and is using it as a shield to protect it's generator. The rule on this test is that she can only use her buster and cannot use her Battle Chips, as they want to see how effective she is without them. Another rule is that she must pass the exercise on her own, as not many hunters have on-the-field navigators like the brunette does. Even though she sees the rules limiting most of her Cross Fusion capabilities, she agrees to it as she remembers what Barrel stated before.
With that, she calls out her R-Buster but didn't take aim... instead, she looks around the area a bit. Once she have taken down the details, an idea form into her head and charges her buster. Her next move surprised the Hunters... instead of taking aim and shooting from that distance, she makes a beeline for the mechaniloid. The huge machine strikes back with it's lasers, but she is able to avoid it by sidestepping to the side. Then she slides underneath the mechaniloid, shooting it's generator with a charge shot at point blank range. Then CF Rouge quickly activates her boosters to avoids being crushed by the the mechaniloid's weight.
And with that, she pass the first test.
"Not a bad move, but you could've shot the mechaniloid from this distance without wasting energy." Zero points at the place he is standing.
Looking at the spot and then at the mechaniloid before the simulator turns itself off, then looks back at the red hunter. "And risk hitting the hostage? I don't think so." CF Rouge stated the obvious and place her hands on her waist, as the red hunter looks stun at her response but hid it well.
She takes two more tests, in which she is able to use her Battle Chips but still no support from her navi. She got hit a few times but that didn't fret her as she strikes back and pass the test. Her CF form sports several burned marks and damage, but it fade and regenerates her improved form. She thought that it must be the Supra-Force Metal's effect, making her Cross Fusion stronger and tougher like any reploid armor.
Finishing the tests, both Zero and CF Rouge exits the room as Signas evaluates the brunette's overall performance. "You've performed and finished the tests with such effectiveness and such unorthodox tactics." the Hunters Commander stated, as he looks at the replay of the Net Saviour's performance on one of the tests. "I've only heard and seen your abilities thru reports and a video feed, but now that I've seen it in person... I'm surprised that such technology exist."
"Like I said before, the town's council wanted to keep it a secret by hacking into the organization's systems." CF Rouge replied.
"Well... she passed the test." Zero stated as he crosses his arms and looks at the brunette. "I have to fix most of my schedule, don't be late on my sessions unless there's a mission involved."
"Hai!" she responds back cheerily, now that she have convinced the red hunter to train her.
"Still, I don't think it's proper for you to be assigned in a unit." the blonde said and looks at his blue friend. "She'll be better off doing missions like we do."
And Signas agrees with the red hunter as Sea Serpent is not the only reason why the blonde does not want to put Sora in a unit. Still they continue to discuss with the Net Saviour about her CF abilities and it's limits. Also they told her that on every mission, she'll have a partner with her to Rescue Change or in other terms, to aid each other. The commander suggested to have either one of the three S-class hunters be her Hunter partner, due to a fact that Sora is human and they are not that sure on how will the other hunters react on this.
However, it seems that blue hunter could not bear to listen, excuses himself and left the training room, confused and wondering how could they accept her as a Hunter. 'She's human and still young... why does she want to throw her life away like this?' he thought as he continues to walk away from the training area, as the four looks at one another.
:::^*^:::
A week passed...
X, Zero and Axl have been receiving mysterious fan arts from the mysterious artist, some are cute, some are awesome and some are totally freaky. And also, Sora and Rouge have begun their training with Zero and Axl couldn't be more proud for his sister as she improves. However, they haven't seen or spoke with the blue hunter, and the New Gen only spoke with him was two days ago.
X still does not like the idea of having a human Hunter.
But today is a small distraction...
As Sora walks out of the suite, her Net Navi spots a parcel near her doorstep and alerts her. "Huh? What's this?" she asked, as she pick the parcel up. She notice that the parcel have her name but no address, and 'curiosity killed the cat' she opens it...
In the Command Center, the navigators are waiting for the brunette and her security programs, that will boost their network's defense. When she arrives, they wondered why her mouth is twitching and seems to be snorting from time to time. Even when she is doubling the firewall, she is giggling uncontrollably and keep looking at a certain item beside her.
Then the three Hunters enters the room... both Zero and Axl took some time to get X out of his office, just to spend time together. They notices Sora trying to control her laughter as she installs the programs.
"Sora, is there something wrong?" Zero asked but when she looked at him, she began to giggle uncontrollably again.
Both the hunters and navigators look at her weirdly, as she answers quickly. "N-n-nothing!" Sora stutters, as she giggled again.
"And stuttering and giggling is nothing?" Axl asked, as the navigator decides to look at the said item the human girl kept peeking on. But then, they too burst into giggles and laughter, and this left a question mark on top of the three hunters' heads. Wondering what's making them laugh, they decided to see the item that made the girls giggle and laughs. The brunette notices it and gives the picture to Palette.
"You give it." The brunette said quickly and runs out of the Command Center. Both veteran hunters are dumbfounded by her actions, as Axl takes a look on the said picture and yelp on what he saw. He then goes after the brunette while shouting her name, which only made the two wonder what's in the picture.
"What have gotten into Axl?" X asked, as his partner looks at the picture... the blonde stiffens as his brow raises a bit. The blue hunter notices his and takes a look on the said picture, on his eyes widens a bit and is speechless.
A chibi- no, it's a baby sketch of the three hunters. They are in baby jumpsuits which matches their armors, but in lighter pastel colors and... baby X and baby Axl are pulling baby Zero's hair, who in turn looks annoyed and is about to cry. Now they know why the brunette and the navigators are laughing, and why Axl went after her... the picture made the three hunters look ridiculous and adorable at the same time.
"Gomenasai!" a loud shout followed by a laughter, as the brunette runs back into the Command Center with the New Gen tailing behind. Sora immediately goes behind X and uses him as a shield, while she continues to tease and laugh about the picture. The blue hunter looks clueless on what to do to stop them, as Axl looks like he's going to harm her yet she seems to be having fun... only to yelp when she pushes the blue hunter forward, causing him to topple over the New Gen as she runs away once more.
When Commander Signas enters the room after Sora left, he wonders what going on as X and Axl are on the ground while the navigators are laughing. He looks at Zero and wonders what's going on, but the blonde couldn't give him any answer as he's clueless himself although he doesn't show it.
Ever since the NetOp and Net Navi decided to become Hunters, a few changes happened... Like Axl is the only one who is more close to the human girl, the navigators have taken a liken to her, and the entire Hunter facility have gotten used to the presence of the human girl. Zero have accepted that the brunette have the potential to be a Hunter, but X is still does not want her to be one and wants a safe life for her. Somehow, their presence made such a ruckus but in a good way, because Sora sees not all reploids are all bad and even views them as equals.
Once the three Hunters left, the brunette returns to the Command Center and finishes the firewall and the Cannon security program.
:::^*^:::
"Okay, this training requires you to defeat an enemy in the dark." Zero explains, as he shows CF Rouge an example of the simulation on a console. "There are some situations that the enemy would use the darkness to attack you."
"No big, Zero-senpai" CF Rouge replied. Since the red hunter have agreed on training the Net Saviour, she started using honorifics out of respect on the three elite Hunters... except on X, since her choice on becoming a Hunter and his concern on her safety are clashing at one another. Due to that, the Hunters learned that she's Japanese and possibly came from Japan. She confessed that she's 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 American and the town she used to lived in, is not in Japan and have mixed races in it. "I have Rouge with me to help in the dark." she quips.
"True, you have an advantage of having a navigator with you... but in this training, you have to do it on your own. No navigation support." the red hunter points out.
"Seriously?" she asked and her mentor nodded. "... Fine..."
After telling her a few tips, she enters the room to start her training simulation. And as she trains, the red hunter left when someone alerts him that there was a ruckus going on in the hallway.
Unknown to him... a certain snake have caught a glimpse of it's prey.
It wasn't long for the Net Saviour to finish her training with some burn marks on her CF form and is slowly recovering. She sighs in relief that the Supra-Force Metal have improved her Cross Fusion, but she still wonders about the materialized maverick navis... Both NetOp and Net Navi knows that the CF form is being substantiated by the Supra-Force Metal, but what substantiates them, and who revived the mavericks into independent navis in the first place?
Also she is still puzzled on why the Hunter's attacks won't work on them...
As she walks out of the training room and thinking about the network's security, she bumps on someone. "Sorry." CF Rouge apologizes, only to flinch when she saw who she bump into... Sea Serpent. The brunette apologizes again and attempts to walk away, but Sea Serpent immediately grabs her by her arm.
"Wait, you're the newcomer, right?" Serpent asked, and she tenses a bit.
"... Uh yeah, but I need to meet with the navigators in a snap." she quickly replied and tries to get out of Serpent's grip but failing to do so.
"Hold on, I just wanted to see how strong you are." he stated and drags the brunette back into the training room she used before. "And I also wanted to show you the upgrade I got."
'We're both in trouble' Both NetOp and Net Navi thought, as they have very little choice now.
As she thinks of a way out for her partner, the PET's sensors picks up something and alerts her. "What?" she mutters and scans the area... but only to find nothing. 'Odd, my sensors picked something up... but now it's gone.' Rouge thought, but she set it aside as she is more concern on her NetOp.
:::^Network Realm^:::
Enzan and Laika has found the ones who is responsible for the portal… but he's already dead, along with some of his fellow scientists. No one knew who killed them, but there's only one strange clue was left behind… a beam knife…
The Net Saviours are clueless who killed the criminals, but the only thing they discover about the knife... is that it is made of technology far advance from their current equipment and the energy source is an unknown element.
Still Enzan, Laika, Yuuichiro and Rockman are working as fast as they can to build the machine, that will bring the cyber heroines home.
:::^Machina Domain^:::
"Have you seen Sora?" X asked the two, as he remembers that her training should be over now and the brunette would come to the Command Center to further improve their network security. Both Axl and Pallette shakes their heads, as they begin to worry for the brunette too.
'Crap, I feel something bad going on...' The New Gen thought with worry, as he joins the blue hunter on his search. Even though he haven't confess to her that he is her long-lost and reborn brother, he can't help to be concern on her well-being. And they also swear that they'll keep Sora's situation as the first human hunter a secret, as they do not know how will the other hunters react to such news.
As they look, they see Zero in the hallway and seems to be berating a pair of C-class hunters who looks downcast. "Zero!" X calls, and the red hunter turns to see the two as the other two hunters looks a bit relieved. "Have you seen Sora?"
"Not since I left to deal with these troublemakers." The red hunter replied, giving the pair of C-class a disapproving look.
"Where was the last time you've seen her?"
"In the Training Area, I was training her until these idiots decided to cause trouble in the hall."
"You left her in the Training Area?!" he stated out of shock, as the young hunter's eyes widens on hearing that. The red hunter wonders what's wrong, until he remembers a certain reploid from his former unit he used to lead. And before the blue hunter could even scold his best friend, the New Gen quickly bolts down the hall. Seeing that, both elite hunters immediately follows their young friend. Arriving at the Training Area, they heard some noises in one of the training rooms. They quickly make their way to that room and there they saw a small crowd of reploids, cheering by the sidelines. They didn't waste time making their presence known and make their way to the front. And there they saw with shock, CF Rouge is fighting against Sea Serpent!
It seems that the Net Saviour is using her default weapons, as she puts enough distance from him by flying close to the ceiling. Although luck is not on her side, as she only slot in a few Battle Chips since she's trying to maintain her cover as a reploid. Also Serpent's arms are hassle as they can extend and attempt to slash her with his energy claws. And to make the situation bad, he have the ability to copy the image of his surroundings, disappear from sight and attacks her out of nowhere. But the brunette's navi is able to sense where the next attack is, thus she is able avoid most of the attacks. 'Honestly, someone did not study biology on snakes...!' She thought, as she avoids a claw that is aiming for her head and shoots back.
"Sora!" X shouts with shock and worry for the brunette, as the red hunter quickly switch the microphone on.
"Serpent! Sora! Stop this right now!" The red hunter barked with such anger, that the other hunters backs away from the said blonde.
However, the reploid's claw managed to hit CF Rouge's icon as the blonde's outburst caught her off-guard. The icon on her chest lights up and breaks, her body glows as it forms back into her PET as she lands on her back.
"What in the world?" Sea Serpent yelped and the rookie hunters began to chatter and wonder what's happening.
"Oh no..." X utter on what he is seeing, the red hunter works quickly on opening the door as Axl is just beside it and ready to dash in.
The entire Maverick Hunter base now discovers that the new recruit who helped X and the others in Giga City, is actually a human. And she is the same human who they kept seeing around the base and is occupying Dr. Cain's old suite. They couldn't believe that there is a human who can be on par with reploids, even more that the human girl is recruited as a Hunter. But they begin to wonder... How did she become a reploid?
"Ow, ow, ow... Rouge, are you okay?" Sora asked, as she sits up and rubs her back.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Rouge replied, as the brunette picks up the PET. Then they both heard some chatters and looks up at the observation deck. "I think we've been discovered." she said with a sweat drop.
"Way to point out the obvious." her partner deadpans.
"What is this?!" Serpent shout, as the brunette is quickly on her feet and on her guard. "You're a human?!" he snapped.
Noise erupts from the crowd as they wonder how the human girl is able to masquerade as a reploid, as Zero was able to unlock the door and Axl quickly dash in. "Are you okay?" The New Gen asked out of concern, as he rushes to her side with X just behind him.
"Hai, just peachy and having everyone staring at me." the brunette replied, as she slightly smiles and the auburn teen sighs with a bit of relief.
Meanwhile, the snake-like reploid reports to the blue hunter that the new recruit is a false reploid and a human. But he only received a shock when the former 17th unit leader actually knows about it, and the human girl is the new recruit. "Sir, how can you allow a human to be enlisted into the Hunters?!" Serpent asked with a little venom in his voice, because he considered this an insult in the Hunters' reputation.
When X is about to answer, the brunette suddenly cuts in. "Hey, I chose to become a Hunter." She stated. That made the blue hunter look back at the brunette with a bewilder expression, as the New Gen stands in between her and Serpent. "And I'll become one even if the entire base knows I'm human."
"Oh?" the snake reploid stated, but they detected something off in his voice... it is slightly fluctuating. "But you made a mistake, little girl. You see, we hunters tend to lose our limbs in battle and this is not a good career choice for a human like you."
"I already know about that, and mind you I'm about the same height as Axl-kun here." she replied with her arms cross and looking miffed. "The HSR knows that I'm here, Commander Signas already know that I'm a human, and they allowed me to become a Hunter." as a smirk forms on her face.
"What?!" Serpent said in disbelief... but he's starting to feel odd.
"It's true, she's one of the Hunters now. She aided us when we were fighting against the Rebellion Army in Giga City." Axl said, as the snake reploid snaps back and turn his attention to the young S-class Hunter.
"I'm not asking you!" the snake reploid snapped, as he's starting to feel more... energetic? Strangely, he could not describe what he's feeling right now.
"Serpent, what Axl said is true!" X reprimands the B-class, as Zero arrives in the room after forcing the other hunters out.
"Yeah, you must accept it whether you like it or not." the New Gen said as he stood in front of Sora, just in case Serpent decided to hurt her or go maverick on them. Meanwhile, Rouge suddenly sense the anomaly again, this time she is able to identify what is it and where is came from.
"Are you sure you're okay?" X asked her, concern is pretty much evident on his face.
The brunette sighs and looks at the three. "Yeah, I'm fine and this guy needs a few readjustments in his-"
"Move!" Rouge alerts them and they quickly jumps away from an incoming huge arm, falling above them. Both X and Zero arms themselves and aims at the attacker... who's Sea Serpent himself.
"Sea Serpent!" the blue hunter shouts, as he points his buster at the reploid. "Put down your weapon now!" But the snake reploid shouts jumbles of words they can't under stand, and attacks them again. The brunette quickly moves away, as Axl provides cover fire for the two. "Serpent!"
"Guys! There are viruses in Serpent's systems!" Rouge warns the three hunters, as Zero charges at his former teammate with his saber. "Try to-"
"Axl, get the girl out of here!" Zero barks at the young hunter and went head on with his former comrade.
"Zero-senpai!" Sora shouts, but X gently grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Sora, you need to get out." X said firmly, not wanting her to get into dangerous situation. But they heard the red hunter yelped in pain as Serpent's claws clamps on his arm, where he hold his saber and held on him tight as he keeps the said weapon away. The blue hunter quickly shoots at Serpent as he attempts to get his friend out, but the rogue reploid uses arms to grab him. X avoids being grabbed and aims his buster, only to roll away when Serpent uses Zero like a club. Axl quickly gives the blue hunter some cover fire, then he quickly carries the brunette and avoids the claw. X once more attempts to get the blonde hunter out, but he did not notice the claw turning at him after missing the two.
"X!" Sora shouts in alert, as the blue hunter is caught and they struggled to get free. She mentally curse on the fact that she left her Buster Pistol in the suite.
"Damn it, stay here." the New Gen stated firmly as he place his sister far from the maverick and takes out his gun. He dashes towards the maverick and is about to shoot him, but he stops when suddenly Zero got in the way. 'Oh this is flarg... he got X and Zero hostage!' he thought as he sidesteps and shoot at his legs, in order to disable him. Getting an aim on the maverick is hard with his friends being held as hostages and being used as clubs, but he is more concern on his sister who is still inside the training room with them.
But then he felt a something hard and fast hit him, sending the young hunter to the far wall. "X! Axl-kun!" the brunette shouts in panic, as Serpent hits the New Gen by using X as a mallet. She saw how Axl hits the wall and falls down to the floor... and she feels angry as she gives the berserk reploid a death glare. Her hands turns into tight fists as she feels anger rears it's head and her heart tells her that she must protect Axl...
An odd but familiar feeling...
Then something suddenly click inside of her like a switch. Without thinking of Cross Fusion or picking up one of Axl's guns, Sora rushes to Sea Serpent with the intent of knocking him out.
"Sora! No!" X shouts, as he yelps when the snake reploid uses him and Zero as hammers again.
"Hey! I will not let you use my friends like that!" Sora shouts, as she avoids the arms and her friend. On getting close, Sea Serpent attempts to bite her, but she avoids by sidestepping and sliding under his legs. Then she grabs his legs and the very unexpected thing happen...
Rouge is about to tell her to plug her in the reploid's system, when her partner suddenly lift Sea Serpent off the ground by his legs. "What in the name of?!" the female navi shouts out of bewilderment, as her partner just lifts the reploid and began shaking him like a rag cloth.
"Let them go!" She demands, as she continues to shake him to let go. Once he let go of the two, she then throws Serpent to the wall behind her and creating a Sea Serpent body-shaped dent. Everyone is speechless, even Axl who's gaping in surprise when he saw what his sister actually did.
She just thrown a berserk reploid to a wall... but without her Cross Fusion!
'How...?' the female navi thought, as some of the reploids have similar weights to a human. But her partner just lifted the berserk reploid, along with X and zero who were held hostage by the serpent reploid, like mere dolls!
As Sea Serpent falls to the floor out cold, Zero looks at the brunette as she is panting and her arms are shaking a bit. "... Sora?" He asked, the girl looks at him and she looks relief.
"Are you guys-" but she is cut off when she feels something is off. She feels something wet on her nose, and checks what it is...
Red.
Then everything around her blurs, she feels the ground disappears... and then everything blackens.
"Sora!" Zero shouts, as the girl collapses to the ground. The red hunter quickly catches her before her head hits the metal floor. Rouge kept calling for her partner to wake her up, and the blonde have to calm her down as he sets the girl down to check her pulse.
"Oh no..." X said with worry, as he ran to the blonde's side. "Is she okay?" as he is shock to see the bloody nose.
"Is she-" but the young reploid is abruptly cut off on seeing the bloody nose. "Did she got hit?" as he is more worried for his sister than the blue hunter does.
"I don't think so, but we need to get her to the infirmary right now." He stated out, after checking her pulse and the two nodded. And so they quickly heads the infirmary, as the female navi remains on her partner's side.
:::^*^:::
After the incident, chatters and whispers about the human Hunter have spread out and Signas had to do some damage control with X. Sea Serpent, still knocked out, have to be sent to the Detention Center where he will stay until the virus is flushed out of his system.
However, the news of the incident have reached the HSR and they immediately arrive at the Hunter base just as the sun sets. "I knew this would happen to her." Tim dreads and worries for the brunette, as they follows their boss thru the hallway of the Maverick Hunter HQ to the infirmary.
"Yeah, she's just a child after all." Hideki agreed as the hunters quickly makes way for them. Then they arrived at the infirmary and inside are Signas and the three S-class hunters, they are talking and fretting over some matter. But they stopped when the HSR boss and his two agents enters the facility.
"Sir." the Maverick Hunter Commander salutes at them. "We're sorry, but-"
"It's okay, we're here to pick her up." Tim said, cutting the reploid off. The hunters looks at each other with uneasiness, they look like they're debating if they should they them or not. "What happen?" he demands, upon seeing those looks.
"She... she disappeared." Axl stated out, deciding he should tell them as he slowly backs away. Even though he is a reploid on the outside, he still has a mind and heart of a human. And in this case, he knew what is going to happen next... 'First, they scold us on letting our guard down, then blames us that we let her become a Hunter...' the New Gen thought, as the two escorts blamed them on the accident that happened and her disappearance. 'Then they start an argument…' which actually happened, as X and Signas tries to ease the two escorts while the red hunter remains silent on all this.
As he thought of what's going to happen next, he feels a faint tingle...
He paused as he focuses on the tingle inside him, which feels very familiar but at the same time it's different. And his mouth twitches a bit as he recognizes the feeling, despite it's minor differences. 'And then all of the sudden, my sister appears out of nowhere...' he thought with amusement.
True to his thoughts, the brunette walks in the infirmary with Lifesaver just behind her. "Hey- Oh great, it's you guys again." She stated blankly on seeing the HSR again. The Hunters, except for Axl, looks surprise that the brunette is awake and up, while the HSR looks very relieved.
"Sora!" X shouts with relief.
"Yo!" She greets the blue hunter and then looks at the HSR group. "I told you before, I'm going to be a Hunter." as she crosses her arms and Rouge appears on Sora's shoulder.
"But they nearly killed you." Hideki said, as the brunette raise a brow at him.
"Correction, an infected reploid tried to kill me." She deadpans at the HSR as she gives them an unimpressed look. "You guys sound like you want to place that accident on the entire group... Are you guys really that scared?"
"Yes, we are scared for your safety."
"No." as the HSR looks at her, who just looks back at them with stern eyes. "I meant, are you scared of reploids?"
"Huh?" Tim states dumbly, as that question caught them off-guard. The Hunters also looks at her and then at the group... X knew that humans are afraid of his kind, since they are machines that have the ability to make a choice of their own. There is a line between reploid and man, which is why he continued to fight and to find a way for the two to co-exist.
"We're not afraid of reploids!" the Japanese HSR stated in defense.
The brunette sighs as the navy blue navi just face palms. "By the tone and the defensiveness in your voice, I say you are afraid of them."
"We're not!" Tim shouts in defense. "And what about you? Aren't you scared when Sea Serpent dragged you into battle and you lost your Cross Fusion after that?"
"I'll admit that I'm a little bit scared of being discovered by the entire Hunter organization, but other than that... nope." as the two agents stares dumbfounded at the Net Saviour who's pretty determine to stay with the Hunters. 'Besides, I still have to find what I lost in this world, and to figure out how those maverick navis and viruses are able to materialized.' she thought, as she miffed that the extraterrestrial navi didn't give her any clue at all.
"By the way, where did you go, Sora?" Axl asked, quickly changing the subject as he attempts to diffuse the tension between his sister and the HSR.
Snapping her attention to the New Gen, she smiled a bit as an apology. "Oh, sorry bout that. I just went to Lifesaver to check something out." Sora said, as the white-armored chief medical reploid fix his voice.
"Commander Signas, I found something very astonishing in this young lady." Lifesaver said, as the brunette rolls her sleeve up. She then takes out a clean scalpel that she swiped from Lifesaver's table earlier and... carefully slashes her exposed arm.
"Sora! What are you-" X is cut off on what happen next. When the scalpel left her wound, it suddenly begin to close itself and vanish with no trace of a scar. "B-but... I saw..." the blue hunter stuttered, as the other are also baffled on what they witnessed.
"Yes, about that, Sora has nanocytes inside her body." the medic reploid explains, as the brunette swipes away the blood on her arm with a tissue. "It helps her to heal faster than normal humans, which was demonstrated by the patient herself." as he give her a displeased look and she just awkwardly chuckles a bit.
"Nanocytes?" Richard asked, surprised on hearing that she have such things in her. Even the Hunters are also surprise on that discovery. "She has nanites in her body?"
"Wait, did that also gave her the strength to shake and throw that reploid?" the Japanese HSR agent asked.
"Well yes… but it seems that she can only summon her strength in extreme situations."
"You mean when the whole hoopla is in distress or I'm feeling extreme emotions?" the brunette asked lamely.
"That would be the possibility, and the thing that astonishes me is that her nanocytes are natural. It is made by her own body." Lifesaver points out. "It's like the data and biological organisms have manage to weave itself together to form a strong protection for you. And right now, it's incorporating mechanical bits, which I theorized that's where you got your sudden strength. Mind you, I'm quite awed that such technology exist within you" As the group looks at her with amazement and shock.
'Who is she?' that is what the majority thought, except for Axl who's thinking of something else.
"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't even know that I have nanites in me." Sora said, waving her arms in front of her for defense. In truth, she may have known that she have something odd in her, although it was mistaken as a equipment error during a check-up in SciLab. However, her father thought it must be connected to the link she and her older brother shares... but that's just his theory.
Axl, on the other hand, gapes on what he heard... 'That's... almost the same thing my immune system is made of.' he thought, although his sister's nanites are just adding the machine parts in them as she explains that she may have heard of a project like that in her hometown.
After the discussion of the nanites, she looks sternly at the HSR with one of her arms on her waist. "Please leave me alone, I already made up my mind. I'm staying here and will become a Hunter." she stated firmly.
"BUT!" both Hideki and Tim reacts, but shuts up on seeing her glare at them.
Losing to a determined teenager, the HSR are forced agree to let her become a Hunter and to leave her alone. The Maverick Hunter commander decided to announce to the entire organization that Sora and Rouge as their new hunters, and the rumor of a human Hunter is true. And so, Sora's new career as a Maverick Hunter begins and Axl is making sure that he will protect his sister, no matter what.
But still... how did Sora's body have the ability to produce natural nanites without any machine inside her?
The New Gen Reploid may have an idea, remembering the faint feeling when his sister returned to the infirmary with Lifesaver... it won't be long until she finds out who he is...
And with that, Richard Payne tells the brunette that he'll send another agent to check on her from time to time.
:::^*^:::
"Sora!" X called, as he knocks on suite's door... but no one answered. Today, the blue hunter have something important to tell to the Net Saviour. As he knocks on the door again... he finds out that the door is not lock. 'Did she forgot to lock it.' he thought, as he enters the suite and looks for the brunette. "Sora?" he calls.
"In here!" Rouge shouts from the bedroom, and the blue hunter makes his way there. Inside, the brunette is still asleep and have cocoon herself under the comforter with her long, brown hair poking at the end of it. Sora's PET is on the bedside table and the hologram of female navi is sitting on top of it. "Good morning." She greeted the blue hunter.
"Good morning to you too." He replied and looks at the sleeping girl. "Is she still asleep?"
"Yeah, she kinda stayed up late to finish the security program for the computer's core."
"I see... Huh, Rouge, can you tell this to your partner?" as the navy blue navi looks at the hunter, he turns to look at the small hologram. "Tell her that you're both official Hunters... And not to be late in my sessions."
"Oh, so you finally agreed to train her?" and the blue hunter nodded in response then sighs. "... She really wear you out, did she?"
"Yeah... why is she so determine to join the Hunters? And why did you not stop her?"
Now Rouge have think of a good reason as her partner is still sleeping, and the brunette is the one who usually covers for the both of them. As she thinks of a good reply, the female navi remembers what Cinnamon said about X back in Giga City... "Sora is not the type to just stand on the sideline and do nothing, and the same thing goes for me. Mind you, if we attempted to stop one another, we'll just look for another way to achieve it. And besides, what we're doing that not just to show that humans can stand up for themselves or to show a brand new technology. My partner and I want to fulfill a dream she inherited... and it seems that we hold another dream as well."
"Huh?" As he looks at the small hologram.
"Think of it this way, X." she points out. "If Sora can be on par with reploids, then harmony is not that far off. The line that separates and caused prejudice will blur and then will be forgotten."
The blue hunter is looks stun at what she said... when suddenly a paper smacks him on the face. Removing it off him, he looks on what cause the papers to flutter off. He sees the aircon circulating and blowing cool air into the room, sending some papers off the table. He picks the papers up and is about to place them back on the table... when he sees what's in it.
On the papers, were the sketches of them from the first fanarts they got along with the recent ones, and all of them have the same loopy signature: ARUZINE. Some are in progress and as he looks at the unfinished arts, he sees a group picture of them and each of them has a pair of wings. White for X himself, black and white for Axl and black for Zero, and on one end of the sketch is a note and it says: 'Thank you for being my friends.'
This given him a warm, fuzzy feeling and it was... it was pleasant. He looks at the sleeping brunette and Rouge, who hushes at him with a wink. He smiles and takes a piece of paper, where he draws Sora's portrait and writes a message on it: 'And thank you for being our friend too. Try not to be late on my sessions. - X'
Once he is done, he left the suite decided not to bother the brunette today.
Silver: Done! Blooper time! I know you missed this.
BLOOPER TIME!
Junks
The sun's rays hits the sleeping form of the Crimson Hunter, Zero, in his capsule. And for one thing, he is not a morning person… but he ends up getting out of his capsule, grumbling about the annoying sunlight and stumbles to the floor.
THUD!
The blonde fell on the floor head first and got hit by… a bunch of doodads from his side table and the shelf.
Silver: Whoops… I think we should remove those. I don't they are necessary anymore.
Zero: Damn right it is. (digging himself out of the pile.)
Y Art
But today is a small distraction…
As Sora walks out of the suite, her Net Navi spots a parcel near her doorstep and alerts her. "Huh? What's this?" she asked, as she pick the parcel up. She notice that the parcel have her name but no address, and 'curiosity killed the cat' she opens it…
She pales and shove the item back in the parcel.
Silver: Eh? What's wrong? (as the brunette marches to her.)
Sora: I'm a bit scarred now. (and walks away.)
Silver: Huh? (looks at the package and blushes a bit.) Whoopsie… I'll take the mistake on this one. (scurries off to hide her pic in her private collection.)
Falling down
Rouge is about to tell her to plug her in the reploid's system, when her partner suddenly lift Sea Serpent off the ground by his legs. "What in the name of?!" the female navi states out of bewilderment, as her partner just lift the reploid and began shaking him like a rag doll.
"Let them go!" She demands, as she continues to shake him to let go. Once he let go of the two, she then throws Serpent to the wall behind her...
And suddenly the entire wall cracks and crumbles, revealing the backstage and crew.
Sora: Oops…
Silver: … This is what happen when we're on a budget.
Everyone: You mean you're a cheap.
Silver: I am not!
Silver: Done and moving off to the next, where there will be a lot of changes.
