Heavy Metal!
Chapter 2
"The Deal"
By MEGAMANX411
Signas stood in front of a line of three rookie Maverick Hunters. Two of them were C class, and one of them was B class. The B class hunter was somewhat respected within Maverick Hunter HQ, so he was considered more than qualified for taking care of a criminal. But just for safety measures, Signas preferred to send along two other hunters to assist. They could at least gain some observation time during the fight.
The B class Maverick Hunter was code named "Copper" because of his appearance mostly; his spikey green hair accentuated his copper-colored armor. He was a reliable hunter and a pretty solid fighter by most means. His abilities never came off as too impressive, but he was definitely good enough to do the job most of the time. He wasn't too cocky, but he was known to get a bit ahead of himself. Like Axl, he did employ energy pistols, but he wasn't quite as skilled as the more famous Maverick Hunters.
The two C class Maverick Hunters were known as Alt and Pop. They were both rookies who recently joined the team and who aspired to become powerful Maverick Hunters one day. They had attended several lectures given by their superiors, but they both haven't spent too much time out of the classroom yet. They had been on a handful of missions, but mostly for observation.
Alt was known for his bright yellow armor, long flowing black hair, and his style of fighting. He tried his best to emulate Mega Man X, even if his buster power and technique weren't as impressive. He did, however, have rather high grades for a rookie. Signas was confident in him. Pop was also an upcoming rookie. He had plain white armor and short blue hair. Instead of using a long range weapon, he employed two energy knives.
Pop was more skilled in close combat, and took several advanced courses in sword skill from none other than the famous Maverick Hunter Zero. Of course, his training wasn't quite complete, so he wasn't nearly on the same level. Alt always had a pretty upbeat attitude, which was one of the reasons why he was considered among the top rookies. He accepted his tasks with confidence. Pop was a bit more cocky, but was also very determined. He would do what needed to be done with little hesitation...however, his sometimes reckless attitude had gotten him punished before.
Signas did believe that there may be problems when engaging Metal, but he was confident that they could handle the task. After all, they needed to train better hunters. This would be a good way for them to move up in the ranks. The main problem that concerned Signas was finding Metal in the first place. They had no leads whatsoever. However, they did think of a way to draw him out into the open. It would require the acquisition of some rare, illegal parts. That of course, wouldn't be too difficult for the Maverick Hunters considering that they had more than enough in their evidence department.
The main issues was setting up a proper plan of attack for capturing Metal. The hunters would need to execute a solid plan, and they would need some bait. They would need some way to attract Metal to the stolen goods in the first place. So, Signas approached an informant that the Maverick Hunters relied on to pass some of the information to certain parties. The information would spread over time. As Signas and most of the hunters knew, rumors spread among the public like wildfire.
"It seems like a good plan. This should work in capturing him, don't you think?" Signas asked.
Alia stood beside Signas, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. She had investiaged the previous Maverick files and found some information, but she wasn't sure how it would be taken by Signas.
"Um, excuse me..sir?" Alia asked.
"Yes, what is it Alia?" Signas asked, his voice calm and dignified as usual.
"I researched a little more about this Metal person. I found something," Ali answered.
"Anything of use?" Signas asked, becoming more intrigued.
"Well, according to the file, Metal was originally labeled as maverick quite some time ago. During the time of the first Maverick War, Metal was one of the original reploids that were branded as mavericks. He did not fight with Sigma's rebellion, however. He was called a maverick for looting during a maverick riot and for being in posession of illegal goods. Before we could find out what he was using them for, he got away. Sadly, with the presence of Sigma, we lost track of Metal..." Alia muttered.
"So you're saying we simply forgot about him earlier and that he's grown stronger over time?" Signas asked, completing Alia's thought.
"Yes sir..." Alia muttered.
"Even so, I don't think we should get Axl, X, and Zero involved in this. I don't want this turned into a big crisis. The people have enough to deal with already; Sigma's already a huge threat. We don't want Metal to stir up even more panic than there already is. We have our informant out passing the information of the stolen goods. Metal will probably show up at the designated place and time, and that's where our hunters will subdue him," Signas answered.
Layer and Pallete, the other two navigators, then entered the room. They each quickly gave Signas a salute, and then stood beside Alia.
"Have you two found something you would like to share also?" Signas asked, his arms behind his back.
Layer nervously moved the hair from her eyes and did her best to retain her composure in the face of her boss. She had a hard time however, considering she was a rather passive person.
"Well, sir, we have received a little more information on Metal. We think he might have an accomplice," Layer announced.
"Some various sources have reported that during a really rare sighting of Metal, they supposedly saw a female reploid with him," Pallette added.
Signas' expression turned somewhat hard, and he turned his back to the girls.
"I really appreciate your concern and work ethic on the matter, but we can't place our faith in mere rumors and sightings. We don't look into urban legends for reliable information. Based on what we do know now, Metal will go for stolen goods. That's all we can say for certain. The other information simply prove irrelevant anyway, considering that we have now executed a plan to capture Metal. We'll just have to see how this turns out," Signas answered.
"Sir, I'd like to continue a search on Metal's background history regardless," Alia replied, her voice more firm than before. "I think we should be careful. The sitation might escalate if we take him too lightly."
"You can do what you wish, but remember to attend to your other duties first. If another hunter needs navigation, do that first before returning to this investigation. Understood?" Signas asked.
The three navigators nodded in unison before scrambling back to their computer terminals. All three of them were completely involved in this investigation for mixed reasons...partly from interest, partly from concern...and partly from fear.
Meanwhile, the informant that the Maverick Hunters had used just passed the information of a supposed illegal force metal shipment being made. The information passed through some underground groups that the hunters kept tabs on until it finally made its way to a duo of bounty hunters.
The first bounty hunter, a male reploid with long blue hair and a solidbrown frame sat at a table in a bar, holding a drink loosely in his hands. He simply stared at the liquid as he pondered the rumors he had heard. If the information was true...he might meet the legendary criminal Metal. And if he could bag him, he'd be rich. The bounty hunter moved the hair out of his emerald green eyes and looked over at his partner.
"You up for this Queen?" he asked.
The bounty hunter's partner was a female reploid with short black hair. Her armor was solid purple, and she was eager to accept the proposal of going after this bounty. Her dark brown eyes flashed wtih a hint of greed, a typical trait for most bounty hunters. The beautiful bounty huntress just smirked and looked back at her male companion.
"Yeah, I'm up for this Ace. The money seems to good to pass up," the female reploid answered.
Ace just smirked back and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, I hear ya. The bounty on this guy is unreal. Some of these bounties are so overhyped though. You think he's just being advertised for the sake of being some kind of urban legend? I mean, a lot of people talk, but it's just rumor," Ace answered.
Queen's expression suddenly turned harsh and she looked down at her drink. She picked it up, took a quick swig, and then set it down.
"All I know is that money is too good to pass up. We should jump on this before the compeition has a chance to get involved," Queen answered.
"What about Maverick Hunters? Won't they be on it?" Ace asked.
"We'll just have to kill them if they get in our way," Queen replied.
Meanwhile, on top of a building perched Metal. He hunched over, looking down on a group of common thieves. Metal had overhead one of them mentioning something about a big shipment going down, so he became interested and tailed them. However, they hadn't mentioned it again and he was becoming rather tired of this. Metal gritted his teeth angrily and finally decided to jump down and face the thugs.
The thugs were all human, perhaps around 17 years of age or so, and they all had short black hair. They wore similar clothing as well..so it was obvious that they were in some sort of gang. Not that something like that concerned Metal though. Metal merely grabbed one by the neck and brought him close.
"You hear about a shipment of illegal force metals?" Metal asked, grinning at the human.
The human thug freaked as he saw Metal's long fang revealed, and he tried to wrench himself free of his grip. The humans apparently had the rather arrogant idea of trying to beat Metal in a contest of strength. Something that was definitely not intelligent.
"Yo man, what the hell do you think you're doin'? Get yer damn hands off me!" he shouted, trying to shove Metal away.
Metal began to grow tired of this human in his hands. He furiously gritted his teeth together and tightened his grip on the human's neck and slammed him against a wall.
"Listen! Either you tell me right fucking now, or I kill you and just ask your friends over there!" Metal threatened, his face becoming even more harsh.
"Alright, alright..I'll talk! Just put me down man!" the human whined, trying to get free.
"Talk. Then I let you go," Metal spat, strengthening his grip even further.
"Ok..ow..just..there's supposed to be a big shipment going down in the east sector of town. In one of the old processing plants, there's going to be a big deal. That's what the word on the street is anyway...now can you please put me down?" the human whined.
Metal just shook his head and gave the human a malevolent smirk. Instead of loosening his grip on the human, he opted to squeeze harder. He pushed the human against the wall harder, to the point of where the human's bone's might crack at any second. The other humans that were with him just looked at Metal in silent terror.
"You took quite some time to tell me that little piece of information. Too long. The world doesn't need more idiots like you, so I'm gonna do it a favor," Metal hissed, tightening his grip on the human.
Just then, a hand grabbed Metal by the shoulder. Metal wheeled himself around to see Goth behind him with tears collecting in her eyes. She just shook her head, almost unable to speak. Metal loosened his grip on the human and let him fall to the ground, wheezing. He and his friends ran off like a pack of injured dogs.
"Why'd you stop me?" Metal asked, turning to Goth.
"Please Metal..you don't have to kill people so easily..." Goth whispered, her voice meek and feeble.
Metal just shook his head and sighed. He placed an arm around Goth and brought her close to him.
"Alright. But I'm telling you...those Maverick Hunters will get no such mercy from me..."
