CHAPTER 5 The Legacy of Aven and Ultra By Solar II

On Pioneer 2...

How could she have been there? How could she have followed them down to the deepest parts of that hellish labyrinth which they call "The Caves of De Rol Le"? But, the biggest question of them all was, how could she maintain the gumption to chase after him for so long, and into the most dangerous of places? It is a definite enigma, Aven Phoenix thought with utter astonishment. I have traveled so far from my origins and my family. No one in this galaxy knows, truly, who I am... besides her, because apparently she had come along to. Not even Alex Ulysses had asked, or even hinted at, the question "Where did you come from?" or maybe "Why don't you tell me about yourself", or anything relating to that, other than his name. He appeared to have no interest in his partner, and was to busy with the ladies to even get properly acquainted. But, now that he thought about it, Aven himself had never really gotten to know Ultra, ether! He resorted to his "Hunters Handbook for Idiots" (even though it had an offensive title; Phoenix was definitely not an idiot), and looked up "Co-op Skills". There, on page 306, was an in-depth article about Hunters, and how they can work well together. It listed which personality types went well in combat together, and jabbered on about how to 'communicate' better with your allies. Finally, the force came to the section he was searching for, "Getting to Know Your Ally". The manual read as follows: "In order to cooperate well with your partner(s), one must take it upon him/herself to get to know his/her ally(s). You must learn to talk to your partner because you could learn some very important things about him/her that may become well in combat. Such as what he/she is afraid of or what he/she believes that he/she does well at. Also, by establishing a personal connection with our partner, he/she will be more obliged to save your life, or vise versa. This, therefore, can lead to better combat on the field. NOTE: If your ally refuses to commune with you, try to edge on a bit. Get friendly with the person, and try to get into their head and find out what they're thinking." I'm not trying to get fresh with the guy, Aven thought with a cringe. Although he thought that this may be a bit drastic, he agreed that this so called "Idiots Guide" had some good information. So, maybe he would try to become more... friendly with Ultra with this short break they had back at town.

Meanwhile, the purple haired ranger sat at his small rat-filled apartment. Alex had meant to go have some fun with the ladies, but word had leaked out that he had been knocked out at the beginning of the battle, and Aven had heroically saved his life and defeated De Rol Le with his own hands. Of course, that's bull, Ultra cursed over and over again in his own mind. As HE remembered it, he had done most of the work, but was just blind-sided at the end of the battle! "I still can't believe this crap!! I feel like going on a killing spree..." The tall man suddenly yelled out load, and punches his ripped pillow on the left side of his old, creaky couch. Then he got up, and walked two steps to his front door and was careful to open the door as not to hit the end of his twin sized bed (which was the only size he could fit in this closet they call an apartment). Outside his thin door way was a crowd of reporters waiting for him. As soon as Ultra gasped with horror, they turned around from their miniature conversations and rushed his door way. They very same man who they were trying to interview was trampled by the pure ambition from the many young news cast members, but they still knelt down and shoved microphones in his mouth (literally). The hunter got incredibly pissed, and spat the phone back out, straight into one guys face. He then punched a couple of people until they backed away enough for him to get up. But it was all in vein; they all started shouting questions to Ultra, backing into a corner. Then, he put a hushing finger to his mouth, and raised one hand, "Please people, please!" They quickly shut up, and listened eagerly for a speech from the ranger. "Now, I would first like to say that I was NOT knocked out at the beginning of the battle, and I in fact did most the work! Second, if you reporters don't get out of my way, I will tear off all of your heads and mounted them on pikes out side my door as a gruesome warning to others! Under-fricking- stand?!" The news members stared at each other, realized he meant business, and fled immediately into a crowd of bystanders. "Whew... darn public. I wish they would just mind their own bees-wax."

Just as Phoenix rounded a corner, he was suddenly over-run with a literal wave of randy chicks and excited reporters. They all swarmed against him, shoving things in his pale face for some reason that he could not contemplate! The only word he was able to speak was a slight "RaFioe!" The crowd stopped its mad rampage, and froze with immeasurable fear. "Now," Phoenix said in a calm, soothing voice, "Get off of me and leave me alone forever, or I will fry all of your ass's right here, right now. Under- fricking-stand?" The people ran off, most of them screaming their lungs off. All this just because we defeated De Rol Le!? He thought.

"Holy mother f#$%@&* cow... she's one fine bee-och!" The pale mail clerk turned around to see who had just thrown that lewd comment at her, just to see a short, white, and feminine looking man standing there. "D-Did you..." Her squeaky voice quivered with confusion. The blond man sighed with a high voice unlike what she heard before, and pointed with his right thumb to a person, place or thing out of the woman's current view. She glanced over to a tall man with unusual hair leaning up against the counter, staring at her, and raising his eyebrows. He started with a grin, "I'd like to fry eggs on that hot piece of---" "Excuse me!?!?" The pale girl protested. Ultra sighed and stretched his arms out behind him, "Oh, sorry to bother you lady, but you've seemed to drop something." He glanced quickly around, and then leaned close to the girl behind the counter, "My jaw." "Good god," he woman put a delicate hand on her forehead, "That was the lamest pick up line that has ever crossed my ears." Alex's grin had vanished. "Listen, madam," Aven shoved his friend to one side and locked eyes with the woman, "Just go out with the guy, alright? He probably saved your butt just yesterday..." "Yep," Ultra shoved his partner back, "I saved everyone's butt yesterday! I was the one who defeated De Rol Le, ya' know!" She gasped, "You're Aven Phoenix!?" "WHAT!!!??" Phoenix made a *ahem* sound with his throat. The mail clerk laughed, and then stated dully, "Oh... he's the force, then? So you're just that pathetic ranger guy?" Ultra just about leap straight over that counter and smacked the woman across the face, before Aven stopped him. "No stop!! It's not worth going to jail for!!!" But Alex slapped her anyway, sending her back against a wall. She screamed as Ultra then jumped up on the counter, looking ready to jump on her any moment. "Darn it, man!" Phoenix struggled to pull the ranger down, "It's only assault! DON'T MAKE IT MURDER!!!" He finally settled down, and stepped off the blue-neon platform. Ultra coughed, then whispered to his ally, "Let's get outta' here, dude."

Phoenix didn't think that that was the inner working of his partner. This whole thing started with him asking "Hey, Ultra, what do you want to do?" Of course, he answered with "Let's go find some chicks!" So far, things weren't going to hot with the whole 'getting to know Alex' operation. Oh well, at least she wasn't here to screw things up even more... "Hey, Aven!" The purple haired man yelled, interrupting the force's train of thought, "We got another job!"