The partnership was more accidential than anything else, really. They just both happened to find the same bounty and go after it on the same day. Upon running into each other, they figured the bounty was large enough and the target dangerous enough to merit a split.
The mission worked wonderfully, and the two bounty hunter's styles meshed perfectly. They agreed to do it again next time.
The friendship grew out of this. Waiting between missions, they discovered they liked similar things - gambling, women, the works. Soon, they were playing poker together every night. Both cheated horribly. Neither cared.
And soon, the two Reploids - one brillant orange, the other deep blue - were an inseperable team.
Aile's decision to go legit didn't come as much as a shock.
It had started with that one contract where the target was clearly innocent, hunted by shadowy figures in the Rebellion. The orange Reploid had at first refused to accept, but Spider had all but forced him.
After that, Aile had slowly become more distant, hanging around the Resistance base more and more. Spider worried, but didn't say anything. And then, one day, Aile had announced that he couldn't do this any more, that he wouldn't hunt the innocent, that he needed a life of decency.
Spider had just nodded and tried to fight back the pain.
It was their last mission together, one more job to cement their friendship. The target was a difficult one, but they were confident and skilled, and soon the massive Maverick had fallen.
As they were cheering and celebrating this final victory, the Maverick had managed to fire off one last shot. Spider had tried to lunge in the way, to save the other, but he was moments too slow.
When the smoke cleared, Aile was lying on the ground, legs a charred, mangled mess, the rest of his body in bad condition too. Spider had screamed for the Reploid to wake up, but Aile's eyes remained closed.
The scientists explained why his mobility would never be the same, why damage to his CPU had prevented him from moving his legs or mouth. Why simpler, easier devices would be controllable, why Aile could survive.
Spider just sat there, numb. The words washed around him, leaving only a few thoughts in their wake.
Aile was crippled, damaged, any hope of normality shattered.
And it was Spider's fault.
Aile said he would continue his plans to join the resistance, that he could be a commander even with the damage. He said he didn't blame Spider for the incident, and that it was his own slowness to react that was at fault.
Spider wished him luck with the Resistance, and apologized a thousand times over. Eventually, Aile stopped telling him it wasn't his fault.
Spider wondered if he had convinced the other, or if Aile was just tired of saying it. Either way, he continued to apologize, over and over, trying to alleviate the guilt.
It didn't work.
The guilt started to drive them apart. Spider would go out of his way to avoid Aile, afraid of looking into the other's clear-blue eyes.
Once, Aile caught Spider in a corridor, asked why Spider was avoiding him, what had happened to their friendship.
Spider had turned away, saying nothing, and walked away from the orange Reploid. From his past.
He didn't want Aile to get hurt again because of him.
They had heard about the copy chip before the incident, but not put much thought to it. However, the latest mission put Spider close to a factory where they were made.
Since that final battle, Spider hadn't been the same. Partially the lack of performance had been due to the fact it wasn't a team any more, put part of it was because the navy Reploid was distracted with thoughts about his failure.
Perhaps, with the copy chip, he could gain back his stride, and never let a partner be hurt again.
His fingers closed around a chip, and he dashed away from the building with the device in hand.
It was easy enough to get someone to install it. The chip contained instructions on what modifications had to be made, as well as containing the programs required to use the transformations.
However, he wasn't designed to use it. Transformation the first few times brought sharp pain, and even once that was alleviated, a dull ache started that never quite faded, even when he went weeks between transformations.
Still, he couldn't deny that the chip was useful. It had contained on it one basic form, a stealth mode of sorts, that left him all but invisible and with much faster reaction time. There was no risk of anyone hitting him like this, and most people didn't even notice the shadow before it crept up on them.
He dubbed the form "Trickstar". He was never certain why, but it had a nice ring to it.
He started to go through addictions like other men went through coats.
First came tobacco, but the nicotine had little effect on his systems, doing nothing for him that he could notice. Then came alchohol, which while it did have an effect, seemed to make the pain - physical and mental - even worse.
Then he discovered Force Metal.
No matter what type, when inserted into his systems, the alloy eased the pain of transformation. And after using enough, the mental pain started to fade too.
But it never lasted long enough, it felt like. He needed more.
Spider stood in the hall of the Hunter base, back against the wall, shadowy thanks to Trickstar. He wasn't certain why he was here any more, and his mind felt somewhat foggy. Eventually, he remembered.
The Hunters had acces to Force Metal - some was found on the bodies of retired Mavericks, some was manufactured For the Hunters, others were donations. No matter where the origins, they had more than Spider. He wanted access to that goldmine.
And the easiest way was to become a respected Hunter... Although not through convential means.
He ran silently through the corridors, heading for the door marked "COLONEL REDIPS". The irony of the name appealed to him.
The screams were cut off very quickly, and when a guard entered, they found Redips standing peacefully at the window. If something was different about his pose, his manner of speaking, and the like, noone noticed or cared.
He ordered the Hunters to Giga City for many reasons. The Force Metal there, the blocks to his power that needed to be removed...
He wasn't sure when he had come to crave power. But something about the rush of strength Force Metal granted to him was appealing. He wondered if it could be felt on a grander scale, power so great it consumed entirely in the rush, power for its own sake...
Well, he would find out, wouldn't he?
His smirk reflected in the windows, the smirk of the once-fair Colonel.
He took the mission as Spider more for fun than anything else. He only needed a few Hunters, after all, and the extra income would be useful.
And X would likely be a problem near the end. Best to deal with these things now. A stitch in time...
So, when the blue Hunter dropped the ID, he made little of it. A useful tool, nothing more.
And then the name "Aile" ripped out of the Hunter's lips, with anger and fury behind it.
Spider tried to fight back the shock, but failed. He did, at least, succeed in fighting away the tears.
There was no funeral. There was no body, after all, and besides, they didn't have the time.
The pain was returning to Spider's mind, and it was harder to smother it with Force Metal now. He had failed Aile again.
He wasn't sure why he was with the Hunters now. It would interfere with his plans, but...
Aile would've wanted it.
And some part of him still thought that Aile was all that mattered.
The battle against Shadow went well enough. Afterwards, all three were discussing the battle, Zro angry as always, X more calming.
Only Spider noticed the defeated Reploid starting to move.
Afterwards, he wasn't sure why he had done it. While the "sacrifice" later was a fake (amazing what one could do with Trickstar) and planned in advance, this one actually damaged him, setting him back.
All he knew was that, for a moment, the other Reploid's armor had looked almost orange in the light, and a memory of smoke and sparks had replayed itself.
He had said he would never let a partner get hurt again, hadn't he?
It felt almost good to reveal himself as a traitor. To open fire on the poor, foolish Hunters, who had trusted him for so long.
He couldn't quite recall who the man who had fallen was, at first. Then he remembered. He was the one Aile had sacrificed himself to save.
The thought was, somehow, amusing now. The pain faded behind layers and layers of Force Metal, allowing him to laugh, the sound echoing through his airship.
A second revelation, this one even more painful to the Hunters. The one who had aided them, guided them, sacrificed himself for them... was a fake.
Zero's eyes filled with pain, X looked almost like he pitied Redips, and Axl was just staring in evident horror.
He just smirked, and headed to the final stage of his plan. But somehow, he couldn't stop imagining Aile, and the hurt that he knew Aile would display if he was here to see this.
Here to see Spider betraying everything the orange Reploid had sacrificed himself for.
And when the rush of power came, the pain destroyed the joy.
As he tumbled slowly to Earth, feeling his energy supplies draining, feeling the slip into blackness, he came to realize something.
Aile had never blamed him for anything. When he had told Spider that the incident wasn't his fault, he meant it. It was only Spider who blamed himself.
He wondered if Aile would forgive him for this too. He hoped he would, that enough of Spider remained that he could be forgiven.
And as the last of his energy disspiated, as the blackness overtook him, he could swear that for a second he saw Aile smiling at him, one hand extended in an offer of peace...