"Time to have that brawl," Zero said with a cheerful smile. Spider chuckled softly, shaking his head, swallowing a glass of brandy. They were both already plastered.

They were in a Reploid bar. It wasn't officially Reploids only, but in real life, people had ways to discriminate. Any human who came in here would get the worst service in the world, and the cold shoulder from all the other patrons. If they were stupid enough to persist, they might even get something unsavory slipped into their drink. Reploids could tolerate things humans couldn't, so it would be easy for the bartender to protest that it was an honest mistake.

There had been some confusion about Zero's status when she walked through the door. The bartender had finally decided in her favor… probably because Zero's slightly altered form was even more feminine than her usual one. She had decided to keep her height and build the same, but had darkened her hair to jet black, and made her features gentler and sweeter. Really, in the classical terms of beauty, she was far more pretty now. And she had also come in on Spider's arm, and he was most definitely a Reploid.

Zero was already quite drunk, and so was a lot of the crowd. She was sure she'd have an opportunity to start a fight soon. Someone was sure to…

Zero stood up, stretching slowly. She was wearing a tightly clinging t-shirt, so that made her assets move in a fascinating way. She slowly walked up to the bar, a little unsteadily, to get another drink. As she stood against the bar, someone groped her ass. Ah. Score!

A quick elbow to the chest laid him out, to the laughter of the other patrons. But the perpetrator, a Reploid at least twice her size, stumbled to his feet with an angry curse. Zero only smiled contemptuously, and turned back to the bar.

"You bitch!" He lunged at her, and she dodged easily, kicking him in the chest so hard he fell back and landed on another table, completely destroying their drinks. They came up from their seats with a roar, and the fracas was on.

Zero had a ton of fun pounding the holy hell out of a few Reploids, although it was annoying how she had to pull her blows. She threw one Reploid clear through a wall, and scowled petulantly.

"All so fragile! This is no fun-" Someone nailed her from behind, smashing a bottle over her head. "Ohh… that smarts." She grabbed the woman who had done that, and tossed her after the other guy. But now she was covered in booze and the fun was wearing off. She grabbed a bottle from the bar, and looked around from Spider. He was amusing himself by hiding behind an overturned table and tossing cards at anyone who got too close. She laughed and ran over to his side.

"C'mon, Spider, let's go!" She could hear the sirens… the cops were arriving. She casually kicked a hole in a wall, and dragged Spider out with her. He was laughing, easily as drunk as her. She took a swig from the bottle, and passed it to Spider, who also took a drink.

"I am so drunk." He announced loudly. "What should we do next?" Zero pondered that question.

"Well, we could blow up another bar," she said thoughtfully. "Or… we could find Sigma and spit in his face!" Spider cheered at that idea. "Or… we can make mad, torrid love all night long!"

"I vote for door number three." Spider pinned her against a wall, making her squeal in surprise. Then she laughed, necking with him playfully.

"For gods sake, get a room!" Someone crotchety called at them. Zero would have flashed them the one finger salute, if her hands hadn't been busy.

"Mmm… a room, yes." Spider nuzzled her throat. "That sounds good. Let's go." Zero gripped him tightly as he used his PDA to call up a cab. Her teleporter could have cut through the ambient city energy and brought them directly to the Luxor… if she was willing to trust herself to input the coordinates accurately. Which would probably be a bad idea right now. She had instructed her nanites not to intervene until she fell asleep, unless her life was in danger, so she was truly blasted. In the future, synth-alcohol didn't pack this much of a punch.

"So when are we going to kick Sigma's ass?" She said, muzzily, as they got into the cab.

"Hmm… how about tomorrow?" Spider suggested with a grin. Zero laughed, leaning against him and enjoying his arm around her shoulders.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow… it's only a day away…" She sang softly.

She was having a wonderful time.

At Maverick Hunter HQ…

"Zero, I'm not sure about this." Axl squirmed uncomfortably, blushing lightly. He really liked what Zero was doing, but it felt… strange.

He'd always had a secret crush on Zero. Zero had been his best friend since he'd joined the Hunters, and they'd always had a blast, fooling around, playing pranks and killing Mavericks. But Axl had also harbored a secret desire for his friend. Secret, because he was sure Zero wouldn't be returning it… he liked girls.

Until he had received this new DNA, he hadn't considered the possibilities of his copying ability. But to his surprise, he'd found that something about this DNA made it much easier to hold onto then other ones. He could maintain this form for hours. And if he fell asleep in it, it tended to stick around. Axl was amazed by that. Normally, if he lost consciousness, violently or otherwise, he immediately reverted back to his primary form.

And his new form had something else going for it. It was unique, not merely a copy of some other female in HQ. Zero seemed to think it was sexy as Hell, where he'd never been interested in Axl the other times he'd transformed. So now Axl was in Zero's room, lured in by his crush and Zero's obvious interest, experimenting on the couch. Axl's shirt was already on the floor, and since his body was almost identical to Marino's, Zero had a lot to explore. Which he was doing now, with his lips and… Axl tensed with a moan as Zero found a particularly sensitive spot. It was strange, but it felt so good… "Ahhhh… Ze-RO!" Axl's hips bucked up as Zero touched something there! "Wh-what… is that…?" He gasped out, eyes wide. He knew how his male form worked, but this female one had some dark and mysterious features… which Zero apparently already knew about.

"Hm?" Zero looked up at him with an amused smile, his eyes dark with lust. "That's what little girls are made with." Axl blushed. "Are you a virgin?"

"Y-yes." Axl whispered, to Zero's surprise. Zero pulled back a bit, tilting his head to one side.

"In both forms?" He asked more gently, and Axl replied with a small nod, blushing. Zero regarded him for a moment, then smiled slowly. "Well, don't worry. I'll teach you." He leaned close to kiss Axl again, and Axl submitted with a mixture of desire and fear.

He wanted to learn this, and learn it from Zero, but he had heard it hurt the first time with girls. How would this really be? But Zero wouldn't hurt him… Zero knew what he was doing. Surely it would go fine.

Surely.

The next day, X tapped on Zero's door with a scowl. The red Hunter was late for a meeting. Not a huge surprise, Zero hated meetings, but still…! Now X had been asked by Signas to go fetch him. It was a duty he'd have gladly passed on. Zero was always grumpy as hell when he was woken up early in the morning.

"Zero, come on…" X grumbled, then finally tapped in the door combination to let himself in. Zero had given it to him a long time ago, and never bothered to change it. The only time X used it was to drag him out of bed, anyway.

As X walked towards the bedroom, his attention was caught by the couch, and he frowned. Was that…? He stepped closer, and reached down to touch the russet stain on the beige cushions. Yes, it was dried blood. Not a lot of blood, but why would Zero have that on his couch?

X scowled, and cautiously walked towards Zero's bedroom. Maybe the red Hunter had just cut himself. Maybe there was an innocent explanation. Maybe pigs would fly, too. X wondered exactly what girl he had deflowered. One of the rookies? Although he'd never figured out why Reploid girls had that particular feature of human girls… a hymen was an entirely useless thing to them. Maybe Dr. Cain had had a fetish about virginity? A hymen was a very easy way to tell…

Pushing away his musings, X peeked into Zero's bedroom. Yes, there was a girl there, curled up on the pillow beside him. A very pretty girl, too. X blushed… the room was warm, Zero liked it hot, and the blanket had gotten pushed down sometime during the night. X jerked his gaze up to her face, trying to figure out who she was. Hmm, long orange hair, scars between her closed eyes… scars?

X stepped back, feeling stunned. Amazed, baffled, and utterly, completely stunned. He considered the situation for a long moment, then walked to the door to use his communicator.

"Signas? This is X. Zero's a little… indisposed right now. Can we go on without him?" A pause. "No, he's not hungover. It's… different." Another pause. "I'd really rather not say. But I'd rather not disturb him right now." Pause. "Okay, I'll be right down." X set off, grateful that he wouldn't have to wake up Zero and mortify Axl in the process.

Although he wasn't sure he'd be able to look at the spiky haired kid the same way again.

"Okay, it is time to totally whup some ass," Zero said, squinting at a Maverick base. Then she laughed, high and cold. "I think I should make the opening strike… memorable." She and Spider had been playing at cards and games for almost two weeks. Now she wanted some real action, where she could outright kill something, not silly barroom brawls.

In the history she remembered, the Hunters would have assaulted this facility a half year from now. It was an outpost the Mavericks were currently using to launch attacks on some major population centres. Sigma wouldn't be here, but that was probably just as well. Zero was coming up blank on how to get him fixed in one place where she could annihilate him. And while she was completely immune to any infection, Spider was not, so it was probably better this way. And speaking of him, Spider was looking at her quizzically.

"Memorable? How so?" He questioned, and Zero smiled nastily.

"Just stay here." She stepped out confidently, onto a hill overlooking the base. The Mavericks would be detecting her shortly, but she was out of their missile range. However… they were within hers. White light enfolded her as she called up her ultimate form, Angelus. As she called it, she floated upwards, standing on nothing but air.

Spider watched her, wide-eyed. The body she had assumed was glorious, but almost painful to see. Spirals of light encased her limbs, and her whole body had assumed a sinuous grace. Long hair was blown around her in a spectral wind, but it was no longer any normal color. Every color in the rainbow shone through it, shifting like an opal as she moved. Dozens of slender tentacles had sprouted from her back, and formed delicate patterns with entrancing grace. Her jumpsuit had turned silver, but energy was running up and down it, and Spider was certain that if he dared touch her he would receive an almighty jolt.

But he found one part of her change unsettling. Her skin had turned a very light green, and her eyes were a flat, reflective jet black, like pieces of polished hematite. He had the unpleasant feeling that they hid a transformation that was even more alien than it outwardly appeared… a change that involved her thoughts and feelings. But if Zero was uncomfortable, she made no sign of it. She only raised one hand and-

Pure power lanced down from her fist. It crashed into the Maverick fortress like the wrath of an angry god, and Spider stared in something approaching horror as it scythed through the outer wall and tore a huge breach in their defenses. That weapon was beyond anything the Hunters had… except perhaps long range, heavy duty lasers, the type that were absolutely huge and needed permanent placements…

Zero abruptly dropped her Angelus form, and landed neatly on her feet, grinning. "That's what I meant by memorable." She turned to see Spider giving her a wide-eyed stare, and grinned. "Ah, Spider, don't be afraid! Remember, it's been a thousand years for me, and we spent a hundred of it fighting with the Enemy." The pace of science always increased in wartime, and they had spent a long time fighting a truly vicious war.

"You could end this war right now, couldn't you?" Spider said softly. "You're powerful enough to destroy them all." Zero's grin faded as she saw he was serious.

"Not exactly," she replied, touching her chest. "The problem is Sigma and his body jumping ability. I could certainly destroy his hosts… I could in this time!... but actually get HIM? No. My anti-viruses and threat routines are strictly programmed to stay in my body at all times. I can purge other Reploids by interfacing with them, but I can't send out my virii."

"Then perhaps you should network with Sigma," Spider suggested, and Zero looked startled, then thoughtful.

"That's… an interesting idea. I'm not sure it would work…" She said, considering it. Movement down near the Maverick base caught Spider's attention.

"Ah, look. They appear to be launching a counter attack. Perhaps we should go meet them? Ladies first, of course." Spider said with a smile and a courtly bow. Zero laughed.

"Of course!" She quickly assumed another DNA form, one of her favorites. It was a combination of her own DNA and X's, but maximized for speed and agility. Ancient, but fun. And she felt like having some fun…