Harry the Met: Hey, what's wid da trivia questions anyway?

WB: Its just something I do to keep the readers involved.

Harry: Okay... Whatteva,you wanna answer it or should I?

WB: Go ahead.

Harry: J, SKnight, hava cookie, chocolate chip? Ya nailed it. Lion VI is an anagram for Violin. Sorta makes sense dat dem guys'd show up.

WB: Right, we're going to keep this in the X and Zeroseries, nobody older than X1 is going to show up.Uh oh, Harpuia lovers are in the audience... -nervous swallow-

Begin Chapter!

"One last question," Zero fingered his Buster as he kept his blade raised. "Who are you working for?"

"Why, Neo Arcadia of course!" With that remark, Lion VI reached behind his back and yanked the spiked sphere out of its holder; the robot balanced it over his head, before launching the weapon through the air.

Zero saw the move coming in plenty of time, and proceeded to leap over the projectile.

He never expected the ball to boomerang.

The spiked sphere slammed into the ground, and then rebounded backward to its owner, catching the Hunter squarely in the back during the process.

"Ha! That was easy!" Lion VI rejoiced as his adversary slammed into the cold, hard ground.

"Cheap shot." Zero muttered as he sheathed his blade; he'd have to keep his distance on this one… instantly he snatched up his Buster and cut loose, pelting the robot with powerful blasts of rapid-fire.

"That's even cheaper," The Arcadian rumbled, "You'll never pierce my armor at this rate."

The Hunter didn't reply, but kept his Buster firing as he dashed forward, closing in on his opponent.

Lion VI grinned, and raised his arms, intending to strike his foe with his blades when the Reploid came within range.

"HIA!"

Zero holstered his Buster as his Saber slipped into his hand. His sword seemed to take on a life of its own as it flared to life, eager to take out Lion VI. With a battle scream, the swordsman flew past his opponent, his blade lashing out.

Bringing his blades down, the Arcadian laughed wildly as Zero brushed past him. He hadn't even taken a scratch of damage from the swordsman's Saber.

The Hunter gasped as his right arm exploded into pain. His eyes slid along the appendage, coming to rest on a long narrow gash sitting above his elbow. Ignoring the wound, his feet slammed into the rocky floor, bringing his dash to a stop. Instantly he was facing his opponent again.

"Now, you titanium troublemaker!" Lion VI grabbed his sphere from off his back. "Prepare for destruction, taste my Demolition Sphere!"

Desperately hoping that this would work, Zero snatched up his Shield Boomerang, and began charging it up.

Lion VI tossed his load through the air, and watched it plummet down towards his opponent.

The Hunter raised his shield, and braced himself for the impact.

The next thing he knew, he was flying backward straight into the rough wall of the mine. The Reploid slammed into the side of the mine, digging another crater in its surface. Gravity took effect, sending him crashing to the ground; his hair spilled over him in a tangled mess.

His demolished Shield Boomerang plopped down beside him.

"Cerveau's going to kill me…" Zero muttered as he got to his unsteady feet, and retrieved his destroyed weapon.

"You are the legendary Zero?" Laughing at his opponent's predicament, Lion VI caught his boomeranging mace single-handedly. "I am the weakest of my brothers, and you cannot destroy me? What a joke of a warrior."

"That's enough!" The Hunter stood up, and drew his sword. "I'm tired of your big mouth, so lets end this now."

"My pleasure," The renegade raised his arms, showing off his own pair of blades.

The two robots dashed in towards each other, closing in for the kill…

Zero raised his blade; he could almost feel its desire to destroy this bragging brigand.

Lion VI rushed his opponent; then leapt in, swinging his sharp blades.

His Saber flashed out as the swordsman rushed past his opponent.

The swordsman's legs gave out, as he hit the ground. His battered body refused to support him any longer, and without a sound Zero slumped to the stone floor. His breath came in ragged gasps. Who knew that this guy was so tough?

Lion VI only chortled at his defenseless opponent. "Ha, ha! I've finally done it! I did it!"

"Guess again." Zero forced himself to his feet, his pride refusing to show the amount of damage that he had taken. The Hunter glanced at his opponent, and nodded in approval. "You on the other hand…"

"What the?" Gasping in disbelief, the Arcadian could watch as his right arm crashed to the floor. A split second later, his mace also split in two. "This can't be happening!"

"'Friad so." The Hunter produced his Buster. Without another word or sound, he pulled the trigger, and dispatched a blast of intense firepower aimed straight at his adversary.

"NOOOOOO!"

And then it was over, Lion VI was smothered in a burst of light as he took the attack full force. When the glow faded, he was nowhere to be seen.

Zero holstered his Buster, and then turned to trudge over to the captured Reploids. Without a word he quickly dashed over to them, and proceeded to release them from their restraints.

"I'm glad to be out of that nutcase's hands." One of the Reploids stood up and flexed her arms and legs, testing them for damage. "My name's Phoenix."

"Yeah, I was afraid we were goners." The second proceeded to identify himself, "Thor."

"Scope." The third replied as he also stood up, "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to get out of here."

"Leave it to me," Phoenix tried to activate the com-link, "Operator? Hello? Anyone there?"

"We're underground," Scope explained for the bewildered Phoenix, "The walls must be blocking the signals."

"Oh, then I suppose we should get out of here."

Together the four Reploids headed up the mineshaft, only to stop dead in their tracks when they reached the elevator. The demolished car was still sitting there on the ground floor, blocking the only way out, and preventing anyone from leaving.

"Even if we could move the elevator…" Thor mused over their predicament. "We still wouldn't be able to get out, because there's no other way up the shaft."

"So in short, we're stuck here." Scope agreed with the analysis.

"Hardly." Zero drew his Saber, and proceeded to slice with controlled precision at the destroyed elevator. After a few swings he had managed to hack away a decent sized hole, large enough for a Reploid to squeeze through.

"Well, I guess that we start climbing." Thor shook his head.

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

With a blinding flash of light, the four Reploids reappeared in the Resistance Base, safe, sound, and out of danger.

Zero blinked as the room came into focus, the only Reploids in the room aside from himself and the mining Reploids were the two Trans Server operators.

"I'd advise you all to go get checked out." The Hunter spoke over his shoulder as he limped away. Although he hated the thought of facing Cerveau again, he needed to get his Boomerang Shield back up and running as soon as possible.

He kept the scientist busier fixing his weapons than doing his research…

As Zero headed through the corridors, a pair of familiar voices caught his attention. The swordsman slowed to a near stop as he homed in on their origin, a few seconds later he had searched them out, and they were coming from a nearby room.

As quietly as possible, the Hunter crept over to the doorway and edged it open an inch.

And a shadow of a smile spread over his face.

Ceil and Alouette were deep in discussion, about Cyber Elves of all things.

Zero knew how much the two depended on each other, Alouette drew safety and security from Ceil's never-ending presence, and Ceil relied on Alouette for her inner strength. The Hunter wasn't exactly sure about Alouette's past, as he sensed that bringing it up was frowned upon, but he did know that Alouette longed to become a scientist one-day, just like her mentor.

After a few more moments of watching the two discuss Alouette's dreams of a future, Zero turned away, he would do everything that he could to make that future a peaceful one.

Abruptly he arrived at Cerveau's lab, and proceeded to enter the room.

"Zero?" The scientist heard him coming and turned to face the Reploid. "Which one did you- ZERO!"

The Hunter didn't reply as he fished out the ruined shield and shuffled into the room.

"Look at yourself!" Cerveau exclaimed. "You look like… I don't want to go there. Hurry, get over here and let me patch you up."

"I'm fine." Zero set his weapon on a nearby table. "Just fine, But I blew out the Shield Boomerang in a fight, can you-"

"I'm not the least bit worried about that." The scientist displayed a previously hidden leadership as he brushed aside the shield. "I'm worried about you. Now, no arguments, I'm going to get you fixed like it or not."

"I'm not that bad off, you should have seen the other guy."

"Zero, yin this case, you are the 'other guy'." Cerveau grabbed the hunter and proceeded to pull him towards an examination table. "There is no conceivable way that your self-repair mechanism can handle that much damage."

"You'd be surprised."

"How long have you been leaking fluids like that?" Cerveau hoisted the unwilling hero onto the table, and then proceeded to gather up his tools.

"What?" Zero glanced down to see some kind of fluid dripping out of his arm.

"That does it." The scientist sighed as he prepared himself for the coming operation. "You're staying right there until I get you fixed, so no arguments."

"Yes SIR." The exasperated Hunter gave a mock salute.

End Chapter!

Harry: Enda da chapter, ain't it a shame. Ah well, dings'll start pickin' up speed here soon, so come on back!