Elegy of Falling Snow
Chapter 3: Layer Cake

The entire Maverick Hunters corridor was quiet as Zero led Axl to the conference room. Axl saw some of them whisper; he can't help but wonder what's up.

"It's a bit embarrassing…" he remarked, turning his gaze to the cuffs binding him.
"Sorry about that. Security protocol and stuff. No choice around it." Zero explained, a little sheepishness in his tone.
"I know, I know. I wish I could, y'know, switch out of armour or cover my face. Ah, why didn't I think of that?" Axl replied.
Zero blinked, "Eh… maybe not. If you took off your armour, you'd be mistaken for a civilian and I'd be asked to escort you home."
"Ugh… alright, then."

Both of them walked a bit further. HQ was relatively silent – people on night shift tend to be quieter and perhaps grumpier after all. Soon there was no one around them.

"You noticed the guys whispering?" Zero asked.
"How did you know?" Axl questioned.
"I noticed you noticed them." Zero replied.
Axl laughed, "Hahahahah! Good one."
"Heh… no really, I did. But they're probably talking about other things. I'll give you a hint; those cuffs haven't been used for a long, long time." Zero responded.
Axl's eyes widened, "Eh?"
"Thank X when you see him later." Zero said.

Soon after Zero finished speaking, the conference room door was in sight. Once they got close enough, Zero removed the handcuffs from Axl's arms. He then led Axl into the room.
Axl saw the people on the podiums: X, Signas, and Alia.

"We're back." Zero said.
Signas nodded approvingly, "Good job, Zero."
"Welcome back, Zero. And you are…?" X greeted.
"Axl. M-my name's Axl." the redhead answered, trying to act normal. He finally got to see X, after all.
"Good to see you, Axl," X said with a strained smile, "Let's cut to the chase and make sure everyone's on the same page, shall we?"
"Certainly. Alia, give us the rundown of this mission, please." Signas approved.

"Alright, so let me summarize the mission proceedings," Alia declared, "When we dispatched Zero, the opponents he first encountered were normal mechaniloids. But then he encountered Axl, who was chased by a big red mechaniloid. You two did well in disposing of it. Axl seemed to know quite a bit about the unknown mechaniloid. And… Axl, you are related to this incident, correct?"
Axl nodded, "Yeah."
"I see… well, you did tell Zero that. I hope you can continue to be cooperative," Alia said, "So can you tell us what exactly happened?"
"In a nutshell, Red Alert is being destroyed from the inside. Red let in a shady individual and that's how everything went to hell." Axl explained.
"Which means you're a bounty hunter under Red Alert?" Alia questioned.
"Were. But yes. Now, though? I don't think I can associate with them anymore." Axl replied.

X cupped his face with one hand and shut his eyes in thought.

During his retirement, he would occasionally hear of reports related to bounty hunter conflicts. Sometimes bounty hunters would "use" the Maverick Hunters to take care of other gangs.
To the Hunters, it doesn't matter. All bounty hunters need to be retired, or so the government decrees. So as long as it means one less bounty hunter gang to worry about, it was no problem. They would occasionally get eerily accurate "reports" of bounty hunter sightings, or snitches coming forward.
But the confrontations never got this bad. At most, it was just a fight in some alley, or some other isolated place. It never got as explosive as a huge mechaniloid trashing a highway in plain sight.

And according to Zero's report, that thing was indeed chasing Axl. It focused on the smaller reploid, which was what left it open to Zero's attacks. So maybe… this isn't one of those instances?

"Do you know why that red mechaniloid was after you?" X asked.
"I escaped from Red Alert," Axl admitted, "But… but I tried to be as discreet as possible. I used the back entrance, I didn't use the access card, I transformed into a mechaniloid as soon as I was out, I didn't tell anyone about my plan, I tried everything to make sure no one would find out for a long time, but…"
"Wait a minute… Axl, sorry for cutting you off, but did you say 'transform'?" X cut in.
"Ah… well… yeah. I did. I turned into this."

Right after Axl finished speaking, he transformed into a small bee mechaniloid right in front of everyone.

"Holy shhhhhhhhhhhh—" Zero nearly cursed.
"Shhh!" X shushed Zero.
"Oh my god…" Alia blurted out.

Signas couldn't say anything. It's the first time he's seen something quite like that. Arms transforming into busters and back or transforming weapons is one thing. But a reploid transforming into another form is… well, alright, not entirely new.
He's seen reploids with alternate forms before. But those are usually for important battles or last-ditch efforts.
But this Axl just… did it as if it was nothing.

"I've never seen anything quite like that before," Signas remarked as he watched Axl revert to his original form, "Is that ability of yours the reason why Red Alert isn't letting you escape?"
Axl averted his gaze for a second, but then he faced Signas again, "Kind of. But that's not the full story. It's related to that shady individual I mentioned."

Alright, that's going to be a long story. But that's not why X, Signas, and Alia gathered in the conference room… or is it? After all, their aim is to investigate the incident and put an end to it. Questioning Axl is a means to that end. So if he's willing to tell them everything, it makes solving this case easier.

"Let's continue from where you left off, then," Signas said, "At least now we know that you did try to be discreet."
"Thanks, er… Commander? Yeah… I made sure no one found out, or at least, tried to—"

All of a sudden, loud static interrupted Axl's explanation.

"Unidentified transmission coming!" Alia announced.
"Oh no, is it what I think it is…?" Axl questioned.
"Only one way to find out," X said, "We should answer the call."
Signas nodded, "Agreed. Alia, feed it to monitor."
"Roger!" Alia replied.

A few seconds after, a face was displayed on the monitor. It was Red, the leader of the Red Alert bounty hunter gang. Axl couldn't say anything. He could only grit his teeth.

"I knew you'd go to the Hunters, Axl." was the first thing Red said.
Axl just bit his lip. Whatever comes out of his mouth, it won't make things better.
"Although I should've probably seen this coming. You always idolized the Maverick Hunters, even after everything I've told you about those government lackeys." Red continued.
"If you may excuse me," Signas cut in, "Perhaps it would be better if you cut to the chase. I don't think you called the Maverick Hunters just so you can berate Axl."
Red guffawed, "Of course, where are my manners? The name's Red, although you should know by now already. CEO and founder of Red Alert. Nice to meet you, Commander Signas."

"Nice to meet you, Red. First and foremost, do tell me; were you the one who released that red scorpion mechaniloid?" Signas asked.
"Guilty as charged. Mega Scorpio's ours. Had things went well, he'd have taken Axl back. But what do you know…" Red answered with a shrug.
"You know what this means for you, don't you? Wreaking havoc in plain sight… why would you do such a thing? Is Axl more important than the livelihood of your entire gang?" X questioned.
"Tsk, did I give you permission to speak, Mr. Retiree? You're not in the front lines, get back to the lab." Red snapped.
Zero glared at Red, "Talk about X that way again and I'm going to…"
"What? What are you going to do? Storm our HQ and blow it up like what you do to every single Maverick? Do you even know where it is?" Red taunted.
"Oh, we may not know where it is now, but we'll find it eventually." Zero hissed in response.

Red responded by clapping his hands.

"Excellent! I like that spirit. Commander Signas told me to cut to the chase, so… let's have a duel. The Maverick Hunters VS Red Alert. Winner gets Axl. I'm pretty sure you've seen what he can do, so this should be a good enough deal, right?" Red proposed.
"You speak as if there's nothing else to be done but fight," Signas remarked, "Unless you want to turn yourself in?"
"Goodness gracious me," Red responded while cringing mockingly, "What kind of question is that? If we wanted to turn ourselves in, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
"Just making sure." Signas replied.

"Well, then can I make sure that our proposal is accepted?" Red questioned.
"There's no way around it, is there?" Signas flatly said, "We accept."
"Good! Good. You'll get the details in a few minutes. Before you ask, we're not going to involve civilians and public property anymore. Honest." Red said.
"Somehow I find it hard to believe." Signas remarked.
Red shrugged, "You can trust us. We're people of our word, after all. Anyways, my business is done. I won't take any more of your precious time. Take care of Axl while he's there. Hurt one hair on his head, and I'll make sure you regret it. Have a good night."

Without giving anyone any opportunities to respond, Red disconnected the call.

The entire room was silent – so many things happened at once that night. Most of all for Axl, whose heart felt so, so heavy. He thought he was ready for whatever Red would say. When Red brought up his admiration towards the Hunters, it didn't affect him one bit. If Red had talked down to him even more, he would have been able to take it.

But…

"Take care of Axl… hurt one hair on his head, and I'll make sure you regret it."

It hurt so much. He's not even sure why, but it hurt so much. He'd cut his ties to Red Alert. It shouldn't matter anymore. But why… why does he feel like he wants to cry?

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Compared to PMGR that has constant highs and lows, Elegy seems to be shaping up to be more... "cold" in a way? Not every chapter has to hit hard. I guess I've gotten better at tension control. Or at least, I'd like to think so.