Chapter 2: Aries the Solo Hunter

Nightshade leapt from the roofs of the buildings, following the trail that would lead to where the truck carrying the smuggler's loot was. He wasn't sure how he knew where the smugglers were, or how he had been able to teleport here totally on his own. All he knew was that he was chasing Mavericks, and that he had to stop them.

His attention was suddenly grabbed by an explosion about five buildings ahead and to his left. "Well, looks like they ran into some trouble," he snickered, adjusting his course.

"Ah, son of a bitch!" yelled one of the Mavericks as he clambered out of the wrecked truck. "Who the hell trashed the ride!"

"I don't know!" said his partner, who was brushing soot off of his armor. "All I know is that if I find the little creep who did this, I'll tear him apart!"

"Wrong gender and I'd like to see you try!"

The two Mavericks turned around quickly to see a Reploid leap down to them from the balcony of a building.

"Holy crap, it's Zero the Maverick Hunter!" yelled one of the Mavericks, shaking in fear.

"That isn't Zero, you bubble head!" said the other. "That's a girl!"

Sure enough, the Reploid was a female, although her armor did have a decent resemblance to Zero's. However, it was a combination of light red and pink in color. Also, the jewel on the helmet was red in color, and shaped like a circle. On her left shoulder pad was a pink A, and in her right hand was a crimson beam saber, similar to the Z-Saber.

"That's right, boys, I'm not Zero," she said, her green eyes flashing as she tossed her head, causing her long, silver hair to swish through the air. "You can call me Aries, the Solo Hunter, and I'm afraid I can't let you two pukes get away with what you're up to!"

The lead Maverick, who resembled a samurai warrior, grinned at her mockingly. "Miss, you're in way over your head if you think you've got us beat!" he sneered.

Aries did not look fazed by the Maverick's comment. "Come on, there's only two of you, and you're both small fry's!" she said. "What's the worst that you could do to me?"

"It's not me that you should be worried about. You should be worried about what I was really carrying in this truck!" He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a group of about twenty Preon robots leapt out of the wreckage of the truck, ready to do battle.

Aries managed to keep a straight face, but inside, she felt like the pit of her stomach had just turned to ice. 'Ah, hell, I've really got my work cut out for me now!' she thought to herself. Preons were small, pod-like robots, each with a different function, but they were extremely deadly in large numbers. Still, Aries was not ready to run with her tail between her legs yet.

"Okay, let's dance, you overgrown trash cans!" she shouted, dashing at the Preons. She slashed through the front line with her saber, but soon found that charging in might have been a mistake, as she was forced to shift from attacking to defending. She danced and weaved among the Preons with an air of grace and agility that would have made Zero envious.

It was while she was engaged in this dance of death that she realized that the two Mavericks were getting away. "Hey, you get back here-whoa!" She suddenly felt her feet get yanked out from under her, sending her sprawling to the ground. She turned to see what had happened, only to become petrified at the sight of a Preon about to strike her with a powerful electrical claw.

A blue power blast, apparently a charged buster cannon shot, struck the Preon, blowing it to pieces. Aries looked up at a nearby balcony, where the shot had come from, and gasped. The long, flowing hair, the glowing saber, the shape of the armor…could it be the legendary Zero, she wondered.

Suddenly, she noticed something was wrong. This saber was a ghostly blue, while she had always remembered that Zero's saber was green. But, if this wasn't Zero, then who was he?

The mysterious Reploid leapt into the air, shouting, "Lie flat on the ground, lady!" As he was landing, he swung the saber with a cry of, "GHOSTFIRE SLASH!" A blade-like wave of blue energy surged out, destroying the remaining Preons. Aries was glad she had listened to him when he told her to duck. Once the remaining debris had settled, she climbed back up to her feet.

"Hey, are you okay, miss?" asked the Reploid as he stepped into the light.

Aries was about to answer, but her voice caught in her throat and her eyes widened when she finally saw him. 'He's…he's a black Zero,' she thought in utter shock.

Nightshade noticed that she seemed rather stunned, so he repeated his question. "Miss, are you hurt or anything?"

Finally getting her composure back, she responded. "No, I'm okay, just a little shaken up," she said.

Nightshade looked off ahead of him when a beeping noise came through his wrist communicator. "Looks like X and Zero found the real smugglers," he said. Looking back at Aries, he said, "Just let the Maverick Hunters handle this, miss. You just take it easy or something." With that, he dashed off to where his companions were.

For a few moments, Aries just stood there, still in shock. Finally, her eyes narrowed, and she raised a hand, clenching it into a fist. "I finally found you…Black Zero!"

Off in an alley somewhere, the two running Mavericks were hiding behind a large dumpster.

"Oh, this just plain sucks hard," groaned the one who had done nothing but whine. "First, we get nailed by some chick from nowhere, and now the real cargo got caught by the real Maverick Hunters!" They had both received word from their partners that they had been caught by X and Zero.

The samurai Maverick was gritting his teeth in rage, his eyes flaming. "That bitch…those bastards…I'm going to make them all pay!" he snarled, reaching into the small case hanging on his hip, and pulling out what looked like a remote device.

His partner looked at him in horror. "What the heck do you think you're doing!" he screamed. "Are you out of your mind!"

The Maverick responded by pressing the button on the remote. "I don't give a crap now! They screwed with me, and I'm going to give them hell!"