Heavy Metal!
Chapter 6
"Who's Hunting Who?"
By MEGAMANX411

Metal shook his head slowly as he looked at the sleeping female reploid beside him. He smiled faintly and then stroked her cheek gently. He then thought back to all of the times that he scared Goth, all of the times that she begged him to be a better person. Was he really that terrifying and evil? All he wanted to do was break away from being labeled an outcast. He wanted to escape from persecution with his girl, and make sure they were both safe. In order to do that, he would have to become stronger, become complete, and ultimately, destroy his rival.

"Am I evil? I don't know..." Metal whispered.

All of the people that Metal killed weren't exactly innocent themselves. He preyed on thugs, lowlifes, bounty hunters, and other assorted rabble that were deemed low. He was a bit terrifying with his methods, and he admitted that he honestly didn't really care about most of them. But he did care what Goth thought. That's why he decided after he took care of this, it would be the end. After he killed that demon who haunted him, he would be able to escape. No other hunter would be able to even dream of touching the one who could kill the legendary Zero.

"Goth, I'm going away for awhile. I have to take care of one last thing before I can finally take you to the place where I promised. I won't be long. I'll come back for you," Metal whispered, standing up straight.

Metal silently walked towards the door, not taking the time to look back at all. When he finally got out, he was embraced by the darkness of the light, as if he was joining with an old friend. The pitch dark night enveloped him and cloaked him, giving him assistance in his last mission.

Meanwhile, back at Maverick Hunter HQ, Copper, Pop, Alt, and Queen were busy explaining the situation to Signas. He now realized how much more serious things had become. Queen was a bit more emotional than usual, and was not her usual cold, condescending self. She still was Ace's partner, and seeing Metal drink his blood like some sort of vengeful demon was definitely unnerving.

Pop, Copper, and Alt were just humiliated that they not only failed, but they failed miserably. They were beaten, bloodied, and insulted. Metal had them entirely outclassed, and he wasn't even trying to fight them at all. They were completely ashamed to think that they even had a chance in the first place. Copper just rubbed his cheek, still in pain from the spikes. Pop and Alt were the victims of hurt egos, seeing as Metal insulted them during their fight.

Queen explained to Signas what Metal did to Ace, while the hunters were trying to explain why they failed their mission. The only possible solution was becoming more and more clear by the minute, but even Signas knew what that was going to mean. This was going to be widespread news. People everywhere would hear about it, and it might even stir up a panic. Even so, they were running out of options.

Alia then entered the room, stood before Signas, and saluted him. She took a deep breath and gave Signas a pleading look. She knew that she had to ask him to deploy X, Zero, and Axl.

"Sir, we're really running out of options. Metal is really becoming out of control, and he needs to be stopped. We need to send out X, Zero, and Axl for this, they may be our only chance now. If he gets even stronger, the three hunters may not be able to beat him," Alia pleaded.

Signas closed his eyes and sighed lightly. He knew this was coming, he just didn't want to admit it. It was definitely time to haul out the big guns.

"Yes. It would seem that we are left with no other choice. Contact X, Zero, and Axl and update them on the mission. We don't have much time. Queen managed to place a tracking device on Metal when she hit him, but we don't know how long it will take for him to remove it," Signas answered.

"Sir!" Pallette screamed, running into the room.

Signas turned to face the young navigator and gave her a curious look.

"Yes Pallette, what's the matter?" Signas asked.

"It's Metal...he's in the building!" Pallette screamed.

"My God...he's already here," Signas muttered.

"I'll get X, Zero and Axl right away," Alia answered, running to her communication terminal. "Maverick Hunters X, Zero, and Axl! Your presence is required immediately for an emergency assignment! There is an intruder in the building, you are needed to hunt this subject!"

Metal, who was just at the entrance of the building, heard Alia over the intercom. It didn't faze him anymore. He knew how much shit he was in now, but there was now way to avoid it. They would track him down eventually, and he would sooner die then let anyone lay a finger on Goth. He would take care of the biggest threat before it could have the preemptive strike on him.

Just then, a hoard of rookie hunters ran into the hallway. Metal just stared them down, not even acknowledging their existence in the least. They were like bothersome insects to him, not even worthy of his effort. He would exterminate them if they stood in his path, because no one would stop him from getting his vegeance.

"I don't have time for you. Just go to hell!" Metal screamed, running through the hallway.

Metal gracefully did a spiralling jump, using the blades on his arms to clear out anyone in his way. He properly timed his movements so that he would slice off heads with minimal effort. It was like a symphony of bloodshed, with at least a dozen low class hunters being decapitated in a matter of moments with a few quick movements. Metal ran through them like they weren't even there, and when he reached the other side, the hallway was littered with bloody heaps of circuitry.

Alia, Pallette, and Layer were watching the scene from their computers in the navigation room. They could hardly believe their eyes. Seeing someone so easily and so graciously killing so many in such a short time was so frightening they could barely comprehend it. X, Zero, and Axl, the three top-ranked hunters, then entered the room.

"What's wrong Alia?" X asked.

"What's the emergency?" Axl asked.

"X, Zero, Axl! You're here, finally!" Pallette screamed.

"Calm down and tell us what the problem is," Zero answered.

"There's an intruder. You can see him on the screen," Layer replied, pointing to her computer terminal.

"Who is this guy?" Zero asked, looking at the screen intently.

He knew he had seen that figure somewhere. He wasn't quite sure who it was, because he didn't look exactly how he pictured him, but Zero was positive he saw him sometime before.

"His name is Metal," Alia replied.

"Metal...I've heard that name before. I can't remember where...but..." Zero muttered, scracthing his head.

"Zero? You know this guy?" Axl asked.

"Ah, nevermind. Nothing important," Zero replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Right. What does matter is that we have to stop him before he kills any more hunters," X added.

"You know, I don't think he's come just to kill them," Alia muttered.

"What was that?" X asked.

"He must have come for a reason. He couldn't just have come to kill some low level hunters, he has to have some kind of goal in mind," Alia added.

"I see your point..." Zero replied.

"Doesn't matter. Either way, he's going down," Axl added.

At that point Metal looked up at the security camera and gave it a hard glare. He slowly walked up to it, trying to get as close as possible. Then then glared hostilely at it.

"Zero. Get out here now," he shouted, smashing the camera afterward.

As the transmission was cut, the screen then displayed plain static. Alia's, Pallette's, and Layer's faces grew grim when they heard what Metal was after. He wanted to fight Zero. This would no doubt be one violent fight, and they weren't even sure if Zero could beat him alone. According to the data they had received from Metal, they knew he was incredibly strong and vicious. And there were still so many unknowns.

"I've got to get down there," Zero muttered, walking towards the door.

"But Zero!" X shouted.

"You need us!" Axl added.

"You shouldn't come. You'll just get in the way," Zero replied, turning his back to X and Zero.

The red hunter then left, his cascading blonde hair following him short after. The blue bomber and Axl just stood there silently, trying to think of a good way to deter Zero from doing this alone. Zero was not one to be easily persuaded.

"We just have to go after him," Axl muttered.

"I agree Axl. Zero might need our help," X added.

Metal then walked into a nearby room, taking the time to observe what was there. It was a training room, so there weren't any immediate obstacles. All of the training devices were not in operation. Metal would have make sure that this room would best serve his fight. He walked down to the main computer in the room, and smashed it with his fist.

As he dug his spiked fist into the console, all of the lights went out and everything ceased functioning. It was a pitch black haven for him, perfect for fighting. He would now have vengeance on Zero, and he would be able to easily escape thanks to the darkness.

"Come on Zero. I've waited for this," Metal muttered, getting ready for the fight.

Just then, a figure entered the room. He slowly looked around, and his blonde hair swayed side to side as he looked around the room. He then pulled out his beam saber and held it out, which partially helped in illuminating the dark room.

"Metal! You wanted me, so here I am!" Zero shouted.

"Zero. You've finally come..." Metal whispered, almost in awe of the red hunter.

Metal had spent so much of his existence feeling inferior to Zero. Zero was the one who surpassed Metal in the beginning, the one who received the attention of Dr. Wily. Zero was the masterpiece, but Metal knew that he was there first. It was his role to be the ultimate robot, not Zero. And he would prove it to him by killing him once and for all. He would prove to fate itself that Zero was not the one who should've been completed.

"I'm going to kill you Zero. You may have been his masterpiece, but I don't care. I'm the better of the two, and besides, I have a promise to keep," Metal hissed.