TOKYO
Chapter 7
The Hunter Hunted
There was a considerable percentage of the population of Tokyo that, by and large, wasn't human. About half of this consisted of elves, or aliens, or demons and half-demons, or people who were human in all visible and mental respect except that they technically weren't. The other half, though, consisted of mechanicals -- Repliroids, Persocons, Boomers, the odd cyborg, and anroids and robots of all other descriptions -- and due to laws of behavior older than the technology itself (though this is debatable, since the majority of the population of Tokyo was from different time frames), sometimes they went berserk and tried to kill the organic population.
The Maverick Hunters were dedicated to defeating all mechanicals who went insane like this -- not just Mavericks, which referred specifically to Repliroids. And they wanted their members to remain safe; Dr. Andronauts, the head of the R&D department, was now showing Priss Asagiri, the current head of the Hunters, his latest development in that direction.
"So, tell me again what you're showing me?" said Priss, looking through the window into the testing area at what appeared to be a square of nylon cloth -- the kind used in winter jackets -- suspended in a frame in front of a plasma cannon.
"My latest invention," said Dr. Andronauts (who made every effort to sound like a stereotyped mad scientist). "I call it .... Cloth Armor!"
"I see," said Priss slowly. She had been in a group called the Knight Sabers before they had been taken over by the Maverick Hunters, and they hadn't had an R&D department. They had already had what they needed, and on the whole it worked. "So ... Doctor, exactly why do we need ...?"
"You're going to be impressed," said Dr. Andronauts, and his finger hovered over a switch. "Our Junon cannon is particularly bright, so you might want to shield your eyes or look away for a moment ..."
Priss took a step back as Dr. Andronauts flicked a switch. Some of the doctor's inventions were successful, and some were failures. Either way, they were usually impressive. As long, in the latter case, as being impressed wasn't the last thing you experienced.
"There!" he said when the light died down. "Look and see it!"
There was a large burn mark in the center of the square. "Okay," said Priss, "I'm not going to say that it's like normal cloth, because it would be vaporized, but --"
"Here," said Dr. Andronauts. "You'll understand when you see the other side ..." He flipped a switch, and the frame rotated around.
The other side was, in a word, pristine. There wasn't any evidence that it had just been hit by anything, let alone one of the toughest cannons the Maverick Hunters possessed.
"I'm impressed," said Priss.
Dr. Andronauts beamed. "I knew you would be," he said. "I've even got a few plans to use it as armor. Just think about the applications -- the Hunters could have twice the defense, but weigh only 21% of their usual full-combat mass!"
Priss grinned. "The armorers are gonna have a fit when they find they'll have to double as tailors," she said.
Dr. Andronauts slapped his thigh. "Ha, yes," he said. "Zero gave me a few sketches of a design for a Cloth Armor outfit for him -- they look vaguely like his battle armor -- and I've had it worked on ... With your permission, I'll have the Hunters ready to produce them en masse ..."
"Of course," said Priss. "Where is Zero, anyway?"
Zero was walking into the front lobby of MHHQ, and wearing a casual outfit instead of his armor. He was therefore entirely unrecognizable to most of the Maverick Hunters.
"Hello, sir, how may I -- Oh, hello, Commander," said the man behind the desk. "Who is this with you?"
"This is Dita," said Zero. "I keep wanting her to join the Hunters ... I thought giving her a tour might help."
Dita gave a half-smile and a nod. "Hello," she said.
"Ah, I see," said the man. "Just don't take her to any of the restricted areas. We don't need a repeat of that 'Guyver' incident ..."
Zero snickered, heading towards the elevators in the back of the lobby. "Oh, she's trustworthy," he said. "But just cuz I'm not a complete moron ..."
"Oh, you mean there's a chance she might work for the Mavericks?" said the man.
"Nah, I'm talking about what'll happen to me if Priss found out," said Zero, grinning. "See ya later."
The elevator doors closed behind them. "So, ya wanna keep up this pretense, or should we go find Priss?" said Zero.
"Well, that depends," she said. "Is she in a restricted area?"
Zero snickered. "Look, she already knows about the League," he said. "I'll tell her to meet us in her office. We'll be fine."
The elevator shook and the lights went out as a sudden explosion rocked the building.
"I stand corrected," said Zero in the darkness. There was a flash of green and the door opened, revealing the recent remains of one of the organization departments. People were running around in a panic, running away from the far end of the room, which was in flames. Blue flames. There was a low laughter audible there ...
"I know that voice," growled Zero. His armor appeared in a flash of light. "You call the rest of the League -- I'll distract 'im until Seifer can get a Dispel in on 'im!"
Seifer heard the alarms go off, and the phone didn't manage half a ring before he grabbed the reciever. "Hello?"
"Seifer, this is Dita," said the voice on the other and. "Zio's attacking the Maverick Hunters. We need you here fast!"
"What!?" he exclaimed. "Okay, I'll get there as soon as I can!" He hung up. "Guys! Zio's attackin' MHHQ!"
"Uh-oh," said Zelgadis, standing up from his workbench. "Come on -- Nei, I believe I know where they are ..."
A squad of Maverick Hunters burst into the room -- the 12th Unit -- and paused when they saw Zio throwing bursts of darkness at Zero. "Let's get ready, men!" said the leader. "It looks like we might -- arrrghh!" His head went flying, severed in a shower of sparks, as Neifirst slipped by. Beamsabers swung at her and didn't even touch her. Plasma shots bounced off of her magic barrier. She gave a little sigh of contentment as she slashed the twelve Reploids in front of her to shreds. And then struck a combat pose as another group of Reploids rushed in ...
Zio smirked. "You couldn't defeat me before when there was five of you," he taunted, throwing a burst of wind magic at him. "What makes you think you'll be any good now?"
"Absolutely nothing," said Zero as he jumped over the burst of wind. He landed, and tilted his head a moment, as if listening to something.
"Then what is the point of coming near me?" asked Zio. "Do you have a death wish?"
"Nah, just waiting for some new developments," said Zero, firing his Z-Buster up at the dark magician.
Zio didn't bother to dodge, and simply let it bounce off his magic barrier. "Oh, a diversionary tactic!" he said. "Oh well ... I'll just have to annihilate you, then." He raised his hand, and the image of the Beast appeared behind him ...
Zero's eyes widened. "Ohhhh sh--"
"BLACK WAVE!" There was a blast of darkness, a flash of red light ... and nothing remained of Zero except his crumpled armor.
There was a gasp from the surviving hunters, who paused in their fight with Neifirst.
"ZERO! No!" exclaimed Dita, a look of horror on her face. She'd known he might have lost ... but this?
There was a flash of light, and a figure appeared behind Zio, dressed in red and black, and with red fins on a black helmet -- and long blonde hair. "Yo," he said -- in Zero's voice.
"Huh!?" said Zio. "Oh, I see -- you teleported away to let your armor be destroyed. And now you merely have on a jacket. Let's see you beat THIS!" He threw a fireball -- smaller than the others he'd used, but it was fast, and struck before Zero had a chance to dodge.
It left a rather ugly burn mark. "Whoa!" said Zero. "Don't get all tough on me yet!" He pulled out his Z-Saber and armed it.
"Hmm ... Very clever," said Zio. "But I still have my Magic Barrier."
"Dispel!"
"Damn!"
Neifirst whirled around at the sound, not even seeming to notice when Seifer dispelled her magic barrier as well. She saw her target and grinned as she began to close in.
Nei saw her coming, and extended her claws. There was a fire in her eyes now that was only matched by that in Neifirst's. But she did not stand her ground. She charged towards her double, in exactly the same manner.
Zio was now having a more difficult time deflecting all their attacks. "So you've let Neisecond join your little group," he said, and jumped to the side to avoid a shot from Zero's buster, Dita's handgun, and separate spells from Seifer, Zelgadis, and Soma.
"Why shouldn't we?" asked Zero, sliding into place and neatly slicing Zio's cape off with his saber.
"Very clever," said Zio, knocking Zero aside with another fireball. "But I think you should know something about little Nei ..."
"And what might that be?" asked Seifer, slashing at Zio with his Gunblade.
Zio blocked it his gauntlet. "She happens to be half monster," he said. "Neifirst was created in a genetic experiment by Earth colonists to copy the ability to use Techniques. And Neisecond is simply a copy -- born straight from her mind."
"Well y'know what?" said Seifer, leaning in closer to him over the gunblade. "I think you should know something about me. For about a month, I was workin' for a Sorceress who wanted to compress time into a single instant and absorb all the power in the Universe. Zero -- the guy you just knocked down -- was built by a mad scientist who wanted to take over the world, or, failing that, wipe out humanity. Soma, the guy in white standin' next to me, is semi-part-vampire. In fact, he got his powers from Dracula, the baddest bloodsucker of 'em all. The blue guy, Zelgadis, got turned into a chimera by a dark priest named Rezo -- he was evil, and wanted to resurrect this big bad demon, kinda like you. Our buddy Vash the Stampede -- whom I don't think you've met yet -- has a sixty billion double-dollar price on his head, which translates into roughly a trillion yen, cuz he supposedly destroyed a few towns in his homeworld. We're all monsters, one way or another. So if you wanna scare us somehow, try somethin' else."
"Hmm, yes, I suppose you're right," said Zio impassively, taking a step back. "Telling you that your new friend is part-monster isn't very scary."
Seifer felt a chill running down his spine. When someone is told that something they have isn't scary, they always pull out something that make you wish you hadn't said a word.
The Beast loomed up behind Zio's head. "A Black Wave, on the other hand, is quite frightening," said Zio calmly, and raised his hand.
There was the whumph of a beamsaber, and a green glow appeared in Zio's chest. He looked down, a look of surprise on his face, and collapsed onto his knees. Zero deactivaded his beamsaber and took a step back, watching cautiously as if expecting an explosion.
Neifirst threw herself to the side to avoid a vicious jab from Nei's claws, and blinked when she saw Zio fall.
Zio placed a shaking hand on his chest. When he drew it away, his fingers were red. "Oh," he breathed.
Neifirst raced over, ignoring Nei, and grabbed Zio by the shoulders, casting Ryuka even as she ran. She flung the two of them into the portal, which closed behind them, leaving only destruction.
Zero exhaled. "Well, that was a little bit more tense than we needed," he said.
"It'll get worse," said Nei, walking over. "Trust me."
"Hmm," said Rufus Shinra, looking over at the half-repaired building.
"Dare I ask what you're thinking?" asked Zelgadis.
"Oh, just wondering what the official statement should be," said Rufus. "Whether to laud the great work of the Maverick Hunters, or to mention your little League."
"I just know that your decision won't rest on a word I say," said Zelgadis.
Rufus chuckled, and then closed his eyes, affecting the voice of a reporter. "The Maverick Hunters were hard pressed to combat the individuals known as Zio and Neifirst, but thanks to well-cast 'Dispel' magic, and the valiant efforts of Zero Omega, the star of the Maverick Hunters, they were forced into a quick retreat." He opened his eyes. "There. That work?"
"Actually, I don't think Zero has a last name," said Zelgadis. "I think 'Omega' was slapped on by his fans, and someone in the press thought it came from a canonical source."
Rufus shrugged. "Ultimately, the exact wording is in the hands of reporters, but I have ... a degree of control over what information is known."
Zelgadis nodded. "I suppose I have to thank you -- for that, at least."
Rufus smirked. "Save your thanks for later," he said. "You may need it."