"Marino… I'm getting a little worried." Cinnamon gently tugged on her friend's arm, as Marino smiled and waved at a handsome guy on the practice field. He blushed and waved back with a grin, and nearly got beaned by a stray bolt. The two girls were standing on a balcony, on the third floor, that overlooked the practice field.

"About what, Cinny?" Marino leaned out over the railing to get a better look at part of the exercise, oblivious to the damage she was doing to both sides.

"Axl. He's still a girl, Marino, and I saw him trying on dresses yesterday at Milinias." That was an upscale boutique. Axl was familiar with it, mostly because Marino and Cinnamon had dragged him along to carry the bags.

"Really? That's odd." Marino frowned slightly, remembering when they had bullied Axl into trying on dozens of outfits. He hadn't been enthusiastic then.

"And he tried on this top, Marino," Cinnamon supplied, looking even more troubled. "He didn't know I was there so I peeked… it was just like that top you have, the one that you were wearing when Spider hit on you." Marino snorted as she remembered that incident. The top in question was molded to her chest, held in place with criss-crossing straps over her back. Extremely sexy and perfectly suited to a nightclub or casino. But…

"Surely Axl wasn't trying on a hot pink top?" She hadn't made Axl model that one, because the color clashed so horribly with his hair. Cinnamon shook her head.

"No, it was scarlet red, just like his eyes in that girl form. But Marino, it's so WEIRD. Why's he being a girl all the time?" Cinnamon bit her lip. She liked Axl a great deal, so this was very strange and uncomfortable. It had been fun to dress him like a doll, but all the time? Marino considered that, tapping her fingers against the rail. Then she slowly smiled.

"Well, let's hunt him down and ask." She suggested, to Cinnamon's utter dismay.

"Ask him? Just… like that? Marino!" She protested, and Marino grinned.

"Why not, Cinny? C'mon." She started out purposefully. "If he lies, then we can spy on him." Cinnamon blushed, but trotted after Marino. She would never have dared to take this direct approach, but Marino was different.

They found Axl in the first place they tried… his room.

"Hehehe…" Marino tapped in the door code with a wicked grin. She'd never been given them, she'd just stolen them by carefully watching Axl a few times. It was a pretty simple code, in any case. Cinnamon's eyes widened.

"Marino, we shouldn't just barge in on him!" She tugged on her friend's arm, who shrugged Cinnamon off.

"Hush, Cinny. If he's cross-dressing we can catch him at it." Cinnamon blushed at that, as Marino entered Axl's quarters.

They were very, very messy. Axl obviously didn't believe in cleaning up… there were old magazines and comic books on a table, along with a half dozen fantasy and science fiction books littering the floor. Marino idly picked one of them up, studying it. She smiled, amused… Axl obviously had an active imagination and a voracious appetite for all kinds of fantasy. She was pleased to see that there were no Playboys in the pile… it was all action and adventure, which suited his personality.

The bathroom door opened, and Axl walked into the room, unsuspecting. He spotted them and froze, and so did the two girls, staring.

"…Axl, what are you wearing?" Cinnamon asked, staring.

"That would be lingerie," Marino said with a slow grin as Axl started to blush. "Really BAD lingerie. Axl, where did you get a bra and underwear with a skull print and red lace on them?" Axl backed away, looking slightly panicked.

"I, uh, ordered them on wait a minute! What are you doing in my room?" He hadn't let them in. Marino just grinned as Cinnamon hid behind her, staring at Axl with wide eyes.

"Hey, great thief here, remember? I can't believe you ordered lingerie from She snorted, shaking her head. "They have great costumes, but I wouldn't want to wear their regular lingerie collections." Axl blushed even more brightly. "And who are you wearing that for?" Marino asked shrewdly. She was sure Axl wasn't wearing lingerie just to see his female body that way.

"That's… that's none of your business, Marino!" Axl looked around desperately, and finally ducked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel to hide himself. Marino and Cinnamon were girls, just like his current body, but he still had no desire to parade around for them. "What do you two want?" This was all highly distressing for the red headed Hunter.

"We're both a bit worried about you. You've been staying in your female form a lot, Axl." Cinnamon said softly as Marino pulled away from her, noticing something on Axl's bed.

"Axl, what is this?" She asked merrily, as Axl squeaked, mortified. "A little black dress?" It was a very stylish dress, too. When Axl was wearing it, it would cling to his… her body like a second skin, and instead of shoulder straps, the fabric led up to a small gold ring that would rest in the hollow of his throat, connected to a neck strap. "Do you have a hot date tonight?"

"Marino, please…! Just leave it alone! I'm fine, okay?" Axl really didn't want to explain what was happening. X obviously knew and… Zero was being affectionate… and they had a date tonight. Oh hell, he was doomed anyway. Zero didn't care who knew. "I have a date with Zero, okay?" Marino looked over, startled, as Cinnamon gasped.

"Oh, well, that would explain the skull underwear." Marino said thoughtfully as Axl blushed. "That actually should go down pretty well, it's just about his style. But Axl… is he only attracted to this form?" She had never heard of Zero taking a male lover. She was actually rather amazed that he would overlook Axl's gender and get together with him in one of copying forms. Even a unique one. Marino glanced over at Cinnamon, and frowned. The little healer was looking very sad and misty eyed. She had always suspected that Cinnamon was fond of Axl in a more than friends' way, but she hadn't been sure until now. Still… Marino actually thought that Zero and Axl would make a better couple for the long term, personality wise.

"I don't care," Axl said, and Marino blinked at the determination in his voice. "I don't care if he doesn't want my real body… I'll stay a girl forever if that's what it takes!" He didn't want to, really, but he would do it for Zero. Marino stared at him, surprised.

"You care for him that much?" She asked softly, and Axl blushed, but nodded. "In that case… why don't we show you how to put on your makeup? You've done it all wrong." Axl had tried to get fancy with mascara, and the current effort looked a bit raccoon-like. Axl blinked, then smiled shyly.

"Could you? I couldn't figure it out. Why doesn't makeup come with instructions?" He'd looked all over for something to explain it, but he hadn't been able to find anything. Cinnamon sniffed softly, then managed a brave smile.

"Sure we will!" She said bravely. "You'll look great." Marino patted Cinnamon gently on the back, then tugged Axl back into the bathroom.

She wasn't sure how this strange love affair was going to work out, but it seemed worth helping along.

"Jacob?" A young girl frowned at the flower beds. She lived in a beautiful little bungalow, in the country. Her mother had planted flower beds all around the property, filled with dozens of different flowers. She was interested in them, and could name almost all of them. Except… overnight, it seemed, a dozen new flowers had infested the garden. They were all quite pretty, in a strange, lopsided way, and they came in dozens of colors. "Where did we get these?"

"I dunno." Her brother was supremely uninterested in flowers. Until he happened to spot one slowly scooting across the lawn. "Wow, Marjorie, look at that!"

"They can move?" Marjorie stared, then beamed. "That is so cool…! Come on, let's take them to show mom!"

"She's out, remember?" Jacob grabbed the flower. "Oops." Sap oozed through his fingers, where he had accidentally crushed the fragile plant. His sister huffed, disgusted.

"You are so useless. Here…" She carefully nudged another flower onto her hand. It went fairly willingly, and she carefully lifted it up. "Let's plant them in the front garden. Mom will see them when she comes home."

"Okay!" Soon, they were industriously transplanting flowers. And the more flowers they found, the more there seemed to be…

Zero looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was its usual, beautiful gold again, and rippled in a luxurious wave as she shook her head. She smiled, and pulled out the old red ribbon, tying it back in a ponytail again.

"You look lovely," Spider said from behind her, and ran a hand over her back with a smile. "I take it it's time to go visit Hunter HQ?" She had gone back to her original face and build, as well, overnight. It had to be a prelude to returning to the Hunters.

"Yes, I think it's about time." She sighed, then turned to grin at Spider. "Even amazing meals and wonderful entertainment can get a touch dull. I think it's time to be responsible again." That would be a bit of a shock, considering how long it had been since she'd had any duties, but it would at least be interesting.

And she really had wasted more than enough time. It had been almost two months, and she and Spider had collected several bounties, knocked over two Maverick outposts, taken out a convoy, and spent almost all the money they'd gotten. It had been a glorious time, but it couldn't last forever.

"Mmm. Would you like some company?" Spider asked, and Zero blinked, then smiled.

"To clear your semi-good name?" She said teasingly. "Sure, why not?" It was probably better for Spider to get that out of the way now rather than later.

It took them a while to get back to Hunter HQ. Zero would have teleported them there, but it had occurred to her that the satellite relays of this time might not be able to carry the full strength of her teleporter beam. She wasn't sure of that… they mainly reflected… but she wasn't going to experiment with her body. A botched teleport would be as disastrous to her now as it would have been a thousand years ago.

Zero smiled, enjoying the wind through her hair. She was riding a brand new, bright red hovercycle. Spider had a dark purple one, and together, they made an interesting pair.

Soon, they pulled up in the Hunter HQ parking lot. Zero hopped off her hoverbike, beaming, and started inside. Spider followed, more slowly and tentatively. Zero glanced back, amused, then took his hand. She was sure Spider was thinking about how the Hunters were likely to react to his presence.

The looks they attracted when they stepped inside were wide-eyed and amazed. Zero smiled and waved, then walked calmly over to the front desk.

"Rose, here to see basically everyone," she told the receptionist, who was staring wide-eyed at Spider.

"Uh… r-right away!" She picked up the phone, quickly tapping in a number. Zero turned away a bit, looking around the lobby. It still made her feel terribly nostalgic. Her gaze fixed on one of the walls, and she examined the mural there. It was a wonderful nature scene of a river, trees, animals… the sort of thing X liked. In the past, it had been too cloying for her, but now it was very homey.

She looked up with a smile as X came into the room… and halted, startled, as he saw Spider. Zero stepped back and took Spider's arm, giving X a friendly smile.

"Hello, X, it's been a long time." A terribly long time, if you didn't count cyber elfdom. It was very good to see X again, the way he was supposed to be.

"Rose… um… Spider?" X looked from Zero to Spider, confused and uncertain. "What is going on…?" If Rose was actually Zero, then she would know what had happened with Spider. And Spider was supposed to be dead… what was going on?

"I'm told someone was using my identity," Spider broke in smoothly. "And I wanted to establish my innocence. Rose tells me in her history, Zero almost took off my head." Spider wasn't at all eager to live out that episode. From Rose's description, it had sounded somewhere between dangerous and traumatic. Although Spider didn't traumatize easily. X blinked, and looked at Zero, who nodded.

"About six months from now, you would have met him on a mission and after what happened, well…" Zero shrugged expressively, and X nodded, but looked slightly troubled.

"You're telling us about the future… aren't you changing it? Should you be doing this?" X asked, frowning. Zero blinked, then laughed.

"Of course I am! I guarantee you, a circle of land wasn't transposed backwards in time during my history. In case you hadn't noticed, X, that circle is changing everything just by existing. You're already getting a bug infestation." That only made X look confused. "My very existence alters everything. There's no point in holding back, when I can possibly make this history better. A lot of my timeline totally sucked, X. Believe me."

"Hm… true." X admitted. "The butterfly effect must be wreaking havoc already." Actually, the butterfly effect would have begun to ripple outwards the instant Zero's circle appeared in this timeline. The enormous changes caused by the introduction of dozens of alien species, and Zero's own actions, would be busily scrambling the global gene pool to a hopeless mess. Zero frowned, suddenly realizing that Ciel would never be born. That… was a pity.

One of the ripple effects chose that moment to enter the reception area, beaming and carrying several bags. Zero glanced over… and stared, her eyes widening.

"Axl, you look great!" She said with a grin, as Spider slowly smiled in wordless agreement. "That jacket is perfect on you." Axl was wearing a smooth, supple black leather jacket over a light green silk tank top, and matching black leather pants. Zero's gaze fell to Axl's feet, and she grinned as she saw the high heeled leather boots. "What happened to the kid who wore nothing but stained t-shirts and tattered jeans? I never imagined this would happen when I gave you tits!" Axl blushed furiously, then choked as Zero grabbed him and gave him a tight hug. "You look great."

"Uh… th-thank you." Axl gasped out, feeling a little crushed. Zero promptly let go of him, grinning.

"Oh, did I squeeze you a bit too tightly there? Sorry, I keep forgetting my strength in this time… Reploids are all so fragile now!" That made X and Axl goggle at her, although Spider took it completely in stride. He'd seen her tearing apart a Maverick fortress all by herself.

"So you really ARE from 31XX?" Axl said, eyes wide. Despite the testimony of the datapad, and everything that had happened, he hadn't quite believed it. "Wow, what's the future like? What happened with everything?" Zero hesitated. That was a LOT of information, and they were still standing in the lobby, with all the new recruits listening in. It might be better if…

"Why don't we get Signas and Zero, rustle up some tea and biscuits, and talk about it where there aren't too many prying ears?" She said with a dazzling smile, and X suddenly looked around, reminded of the listeners. Several rookies promptly found other things to do, rather than be caught listening, but it was obvious what they had been up to. X winced, then nodded.

"Of course. Right this way." He had a burning curiosity about the future, but he would wait so Zero and Signas and everyone else could hear about it too…