- - -

The sudden exertion after long days of inactivity had begun to take it's toll on the young Reploid. His legs had grown sore and had weakened considerably, and his head throbbed with an immense amount of pain. At the same time, he was caught in phase of contemplation, which did not soothe his increasing headache. One memory, a somewhat recent one, too, was what seemed to claw at his mind with it's jagged talons; to shred the remains of motive and determination. Why did something so trivial take such effect?

...He had promised himself he would not do this anymore...

Yet, there he was, fleeing from the carnage and malignity that he firmly believed he had created. The youth's countenance was tainted with a frightened expression; with a glimpse of him, one could assume he was being chased by a bloodthirsty murderer. In reality, however, this was not far from the truth; for, a short distance behind Axl, followed the Reploid of sterling silver pigmentation, who called himself Rovin. He was even complete with a trademark arrogant smirk, and upheld an atmosphere of mock-nonchalence.

Utilizing his own animalistic instinct, Axl was sure that he could taste the untainted air of the outside world. It was so near, and at the same time, a large part of him knew that this freedom was impossible to attain. There was no 'negative' outlook on this, it was merely the bitter truth. Whether or not he made it out there did not matter; he was a criminal, forever condemned to this life of fear and hatred. The location would change nothing.

Still, even with the heartache and confusion that welled within, there was the neglected part of him that pressed him forward. A forgotten part of his soul, that had been buried so deep beneath layers of conflicting emotions. It was the remaining spirit of a child, the light, youthful hope that had once graced him so beautifully. It was faint, nobody could deny that; but, it existed, for it was the only force keeping him alive. And, while this escape attempt was a tiny flicker of that shrouded innocence, only intended for the purpose of the Hunter's good, it was still a fragile dream.

Meanwhile, behind him, Rovin was struggling to stifle his laughter. What wasn't there to laugh about? All was perfect. Since he had planned everything prior to this, and had already visualized the outcome as he saw fit, Rovin saw the situation as a mere game - a game he was bound to win. With this thought, he then rapidly picked up speed, which now placed him nearly right beside Axl.

Once this was attained, the opposing Reploid kept his speed equivalent to the younger's, also making sure to stay out of the kid's vision. With a slight twist of his metallic spine, and with as much thrust as he could formulate, the predator then lunged onto Axl. In an instant, the two Reploids came in contact, which dragged both of them to the ground.

Despite the fatigue that troubled Axl, he still instinctively chose to resist the grip of the other. With his eyes closed, mostly due to the discomfort, he slammed his fist into the side of the other's face. Although the runaway had no way of knowing, he had split his enemy's synthetic lip; blood trailed from the predator's mouth, and now dotted the young boy's face. Rovin, growing increasingly annoyed with Axl's reaction, despite the fact that it was normal, delivered a sharp blow to Axl's throat. The elder Reploid's expression was stained with satisfaction, due to the choking gasps the youth was releasing.

"Now that I've got your attention," Rovin began, pausing only to spit the red fluid from his mouth. Axl felt the mixture of saliva and blood hit his left eye, causing him to flinch in disgust. "I need to ask two things of you. One, is for you to quit being a coward. Open your eyes, dammit."

Since Axl knew better than to refuse a request under these circumstances, he decided, for the sake of his health, to obey. Reluctantly, he allowed his optical sensories to focus upon his attacker; something he instantly regretted. A look of shock passed across his features, while at the same time, an expression of satisfaction had come to Rovin.

"Surprise," muttered Rovin, grinning. "Did you miss me, Axl?"

The shocked child immediately recognized Rovin, and mentally cursed himself for not realizing it sooner. Rovin was once a mischevious theif of a sort, who spent his spare minutes picking off those weaker than he. He was not stupid, though; he kept out of trouble with the laws of their world, having enough experience to perform expertise thievery without punishment. Most of all, though...

He was one of the Red Alert Syndicate's agents.

It was not a representive task that he was involved in, but instead, the art of spying for his and Red's gain. He and Axl had never been particularly friendly with each other; both of them were in constant competition to be Red's 'favorite.' When Axl's former mentor had adopted him as a son, Rovin had been beyond the limits of furious. The two has been at each other's throats from the very beginning of Axl's days with a family. It was almost a sibling rivalry; except, it could prove to be much more dangerous.

It had become clear, that Rovin had not regressed in his ability to complete dirty work without detection; because of this, he carried the advantage of being free of bad reputation, as far as the Maverick Hunters knew.

"Shouldn't you be mugging so--" Axl was then cut off by a sharp gasp; the tone belonged to the gentle Maverick Hunter, X. The cerulean armored Hunter was stunned by the scene laid before him, and felt as if the bonds of destiny were keeping him in a paralyzed state. Zero, however, was strong enough to resist such emotional manifestations.

The Crimson Elitist struck Rovin's side with the thrust of his armored leg, sending the malicious one a short distance across the metallic floor. Using his superior strength and larger structure to his advantage, he prevented any attempted movements originating from the silver Reploid. The young runaway saw this glint of opportunity to repay Rovin for the events that had just taken place; as soon as the chance was given, Axl threw his fist into the side of the spy's face, which further split Rovin's lip.

Noticing the potential danger that the situation held, X now became intwined in the fray. Snatching Axl's dominant hand to prevent further damage, the azure armored Hunter pulled the youth from Rovin's figure; it bore a resemblance to a mother seperating two of her quarreling children.

"X, stop it! Get off!" cried Axl, obviously in vain.

"I always told you the kid was insane! Far be it for you to actually admit that I was right!" Rovin shouted at his maximum volume, despite the fact that he and Axl were only a few feet apart.

The eyes of the two Maverick Hunters met, and as if the two had formulated a plan in that moment, a nod was given from each of them. Without a word, Zero pulled Rovin to his feet, rather violently, and guided him through the twisting array of hallways. Where they went from there, did not really matter to either X or Axl.

"So, Axl, would you mind explaining exactly what's going on? Although, if you don't trust me enough to talk, I can just get Zero. I'm sure you'll tell him everything." X's voice had a bitter edge to it, although it was not intentional. He was a little bothered by the fact that the child would engage in conversation with Zero, but not him. Was trying to protect everyone such a crime?

"You want to know what's up? Fine," Axl snapped, shifting his gaze to the floor. "I tried to help you, and it didn't work. Kinda like everything else I try, right?"

"Help? How is running going to help anyone? Axl, if we had wanted you out, then we would have done so long ago. I trust everyone, unless they've done something to convince me otherwise."

"I wanted to get one problem out of your life!" the young Reploid then paused, releasing a sigh of defeat. Fighting had gotten him nowhere. "..And if it means so much, I'll talk.." His voice was distant and choked, much like that of someone approaching their death. It was fitting, as this was how he felt.

X flashed the younger a weak smile, as a means of consolation. But, Axl wasn't really the only one who needed it. "It's going to be all right, okay? I'm not going to expose what you say to anyone...And, you know, this will help me understand you better."

Axl merely nodded, but was unable to return the smile he was given. He could not even bring himself to look at X any longer; he lacked the inner strength to accept a false display of happiness, especially from one of the Reploids he had idolized so long ago.

"Somehow," the young Axl started, shutting his eyes. "I don't think it will.."

- - -

...I'm sorry...About the leave...

PRIVATE: No, my Spring Break was weird.. I bet nobody had it the same time as I did. As for Rovin...Go ahead, burn him all you like. The

MyGBACanTalk: Like I said, I'm really sorry about that month thing...I hope nobody wants to tear my head off for it...

Rue-07: Thanks for the concern. It's all right, though. Except, now I have a lot of catching up to do...

Prjct. WAR: Thanks, and I'll go see your story's update as soon as I can.

EvilRobotZombieLoofaOverlord: Wow, that's a long name...I hope I didn't spell it wrong. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Archaon: Glad to have you here, and I'll go read you're new fic too. Liza probably shouldn't eat so many paint chips. She might pop her remaining brain cells..