Author: I have seen it! I have seen MMZ3! Now I understand what Rioni was talking about. For that question, those silhouettes are not the guardians that Dr. Weil built. You will find out who they are soon. The Harpuia error...damn strategy guide! Now I'm going to spell his name correctly. Again, bless the readers and reviewers. Now this is the part where the questions about Red Alert are answered. Let's rock!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. I do not own any characters from that series. I own my created characters (who will appear soon enough).

A Red Dead Revolver

Zero was lying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was waiting for Ciel to finish her data check on Red Alert and on the pistol. This made Zero think.

Are there other organizations planning to destroy humans? What is Red Alert? Zero pondered about this. Minutes went by like seconds as he swam through his ocean of thoughts. He thought about how the Resistance is doing, then Neo Arcadia, then X, then his memories. He didn't notice that his eyes were closed as he thought. Iris. That name. Who was Iris? Every time he thought of her name he had a small shot of pain in his chest. Close to his "heart." He thought about Reploforce. He had fought Cyber Dragoon and defeated Harpuia for a third time when he was controlled to kill him. He would have picked up the black box that was on Harpuia if he didn't destroy it.

Zero rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache. There were too many things to think about. It reminded him of Ciel. She was always overworking herself. If the research for the energy source hadn't been enough, now she was finding information on Red Alert. Feeling guilty, Zero got out of bed and walked out of his room. He wanted to tell Ciel to call it off, and that he didn't need to know about Red Alert.

There were only clothes on Zero's body. He wasn't even wearing the black suit he would usually wear under his armor. The armor itself was almost ready for repairs, but Zero felt natural wearing clothes, although they were the Resistance uniforms. As he was walking towards Ciel's lab, somebody from behind him bumped into him.

A Resistance soldier was on the ground, rubbing his head. He didn't wear a hat or cap. He had bushy, short black hair and a baby face. When he opened his eyes, he started to speak. "Oh...sorry I was in the way." Then he looked up. The soldier had realized that he bumped into the legendary Zero. He stood upright quickly and straighten himself out, then saluted Zero.

Zero noticed that during this time the soldier was trembling. He chuckled and said to the soldier, "At ease. You don't need to salute me."

The soldier put his hand down, but he was still trembling. He gulped and said, "Sorry Sir. Officer-in-training Max requesting apology...uh...Sir."

Zero smirked and patted Max's shoulder. "If you're in training, here's some advice. Around me, you don't need to do the reporting crap. Okay?"

"Yes Sir...I mean...Zero. Can I call you 'Zero?'" Max asked.

"Sure, Max." Zero held out his hand. Max shook it and slowly smiled. Then he asked Zero something else.

"Zero, where is Ciel's lab? I have to give her this weapon." Max held out the pistol recovered from the old Red Alert base.

"Here. I'll take it to her." Zero took the pistol. He noticed Max gazing at the pistol when it was in his hand. "Okay, Max. I'll do it."

"Sure..." Max snapped back to reality. "See you later, Zero!"

"Take care Max."

Max walked back into his quarters, which were next to Zero's room, oddly enough.

Change of scene

The doors slid open automatically as Zero walked in. Ciel's lab was filled with technology here and there. The main computer was on Ciel's desk while the capsules of her test results were near the corner of the room. Another computer was located near the door that had information on mostly any subject. The sound of the room was actually the whirs and beeps of the computers and such. The other noise was the one Ciel was making when she was typing on her computer.

Ciel didn't notice Zero come in until Zero knocked on the wall. Although he was already inside, he thought it would be humorous to knock. Ciel turned around, pleasantly surprised to see Zero. She stood up and walked over to him. Her face beamed brightly, and it seemed that she never looked tired at all. Zero knew better, though. He knew it was a near-perfect act to fool anyone that Ciel was always energetic and had a good night's sleep. Zero, however, can observe how the body's condition can fluctuate time to time, and even though Ciel looked energetic and radiant (this Zero noticed), how she reacted and the way her body responded, he can tell Ciel was getting lethargic.

"Hello, Zero. I assume you have the pistol?" Ciel had an upbeat voice, although it was probably forced.

"Yeah. It's right here." Zero held out the pistol. "By the way, have you gotten any data on Red Alert yet?"

Ciel nodded and said, "There was some data, but most of its files were in the base itself. I couldn't access it from my computer. Maybe you would have to get the data from there." Ciel's face lit up brightly at a thought as if a light bulb went off above her head. "Zero, while you are at it, can you bring over any more weapons from the base? I think we may have left some supplies there."

It was strange that Ciel was one to talk about weapons. Zero didn't question her, however. He knew Ciel always took extra precautions to ensure safety for the Resistance, since it was absent of a general. Besides, Zero wanted to check out the base for himself. "Okay." Zero said tersely.

"And one more thing," Ciel continued. "Cerveau wants to see you before you leave. Will you need the coordinates for the base?"

"No thanks. I'll drive there. It's not that far is it?"

"Probably an hour or so."

"Alright. Then I'll drive." Zero needed to clear his head. A brisk ride through the desert would be perfect.

Ciel wondered about why Zero decided to ride, but she thought Zero needed some space. At the back of her head, though, she wanted Zero to trans himself there so he can return shortly. It always worried her that Zero would be gone long on missions. Nevertheless, she had faith in him, and she knew he would return.

"Okay. Don't take too long, though. We all would be very worried if you were gone long." Ciel said.

The Resistance or you, Ciel? "Alright. Later, Ciel."

"Bye, Zero."

Change of scene

"Before you leave, I wanted to let you know that you should use this pistol on your way there." Cerveau looked at the pistol one last time.

"Why? Are you saying I will get attacked on the way?" Zero questioned him.

"That's not the worst, Zero. Danger aside, I need you to give this weapon a few tests runs."

"Why can't you try it out here?"

"Because for some reason, it won't fire anything." Cerveau picked up the pistol and pulled the trigger in front of Zero. Nothing came out, just the sound of an empty click.

"Oh. Then I'm supposed to figure out how to use it?" Zero crossed his arms.

"Frankly, yes. Hopefully you'll bring it back in one piece." Cerveau crossed his arms, mocking Zero in a way.

Change of scene

There were many vehicles in the garage of the Resistance. Many of the land chasers and air bikes were stored here, parked for safety. It wasn't like the Resistance soldiers rode on them everyday, or if anytime at all. Thus, dust collected on those chasers and bikes. Hopefully, for Zero's sake, they were still operational.

When Zero walked in, the hover bikes were parked on the right side while the land chasers on the left. The bikes were slimmer and thinner, also more mobile with their lightness in weight. However, one good shot and they could get blown up easily. On the other side were the land chasers. They were wider and a bit larger than the bikes, and were less mobile. The advantage they had was in sheer speed and armor. As Zero was making his decision, he heard the sound of metal clanking together.

A mechanic was putting together some random parts, mostly parts of golems found in the desert area. His face was marked with spots of grease and dirt, but he wore goggles. Under those goggles were eyes of a hardworking mechanical genius. Those eyes were scanning through every part to make sure those would fit or not. He had short blond hair, although some brown spots were noticeable. After he put in another part, he wiped some grease on his forehead and heard someone behind him. He turned around, half-surprised to see Zero.

"Well, hello Zero! What brings you down here? My name is Sam, by the way." Sam held out his hand to shake.

Zero glanced at Sam's hand and then back to Sam. Then Sam noticed his hand was stained with grease.

"Oops, sorry!" Sam rubbed his hand on his shirt, giving it another stain. The stains were like dots on a Dalmatian's back. They were abundant on his shirt.

"That's alright." Zero looked around. "So, do these vehicles still work?"

"Of course they do! I built them myself!" Sam rose proudly and patted his chest. "They don't call me Sam the Mechanic for nothing!"

Zero was impressed that Sam was able to build them all. "So, which one works the best?"

Sam rubbed his chin and looked around. Then he walked over to one of the chasers near him. He looked at it up and down, and then shook his head. After that, he went over to the side with all of the bikes, and examined one. He nodded his head in approval and wiped the dust off of the bike.

"She's a keeper. She may be old, but she's faster than any of the newer models."

Zero hopped on the bike and gripped the accelerators. He revved it up and it started up. He smirked and said, "I like it."

Change of scene

The gusty desert winds roared wildly as if were a storm. Zero, however, did not fear the storm nor noticed it, because his ragged brown cloak protected him. The bike was indeed fast, even faster than Zero imagined. In the sea of sand it ripped through and plowed its way to the Red Alert base. Ciel said the ride was an hour, but in the speed Zero was in, he could reach the base in half the time. His long mane fluttered behind him like a dog wagging its tail. Even with sand beating on it, it retained its blond volume and brightness.

Zero found the scene to be quite pleasing. Surprisingly, his ride was smooth in the thundering desert scene. The easy cruise made his body feel comfortable, and he dreamt as he rode.

Change of scene

"I like the stars at night." Iris said.

She and Zero were on a hover bike, riding through a desert area. It was a cool night, and the stars crowded the night sky. She hugged Zero tighter while she was riding behind him. Zero had a guilty pleasure when Iris hugged him tighter. It made him feel protective of her, and for both of them it was a turn-on (A/N: No pun.). Of course, Zero had time to admire the sky as well. His ride was smooth, and he slowed down a little bit. Iris then loosened her grip on Zero to point at something in the sky.

"Look, a shooting star! I never seen those before..." Iris awed at the star as it streaked across the sky in a brilliant light.

"You know, when you see a shooting star, you can make a wish." Zero informed her.

Iris smiled and said aloud, "I wish for..."

Change of scene

Zero stepped on the brake. The storm settled down a bit and Zero was able to see an underground passage of some sort. The sand never filled it up, although there was sand on the floor inside. Nevertheless, Zero parked his bike outside of the passage and walked in.

Change of scene

It was an abandoned base on the inside. He was in the controls room, and he looked around for any sign of a weapons room. Most of the equipment and old computers were either broken, covered in sand, or both. Most of them were the latter. Zero wondered how the Resistance found any weapons here. From the look of things, it would seem unlikely. Out of all the things that were broken though, the lights were still working. Zero found this too odd. Then he spotted a door that had a sign on it. It read "Weapons" on the sign in letters nearly illegible. Zero opened the door manually by pushing both of the doors open.

Someone beat him to the weapons. A cloaked figure was transporting the weapons into a small container (Zero found this an ingenious invention). On its cloak it had the symbol of two red-colored R's. The figure heard Zero opened the door and turned around. Its hood concealed its facial features, so Zero had no idea who or what it was. Zero didn't get a chance to find out because right before Zero could act, the figure quickly slid under Zero and ran behind him.

Zero cursed under his breath and chased after the figure. Zero transformed to Active form and gained speed. He was catching up with the figure quickly. The figure, however, was a couple of steps ahead and drew out a pistol. As it ran, it fired a shot without looking back. With remarkable aim, the shot hit Zero on his knee and slowed him down. Zero tripped and fell face first on the floor. He looked up and the figure was still running. Without haste, Zero leaped into the air and landed back on the ground with a dash. Now he was covering more ground.

They both kept running towards the orifices that lead to the exit. Once they were outside, the figure pressed a button on the container it had and it shot out a beam of light. The light materialized into a hover bike. It hopped on and floored the pedal. Zero also had jumped onto his bike, but he was a second or two late. Zero accelerated and chased after the figure on the bike.

The storm was slowly picking up. Damn, not now! Zero had perfect vision of the figure until some sand started blowing on his face. Now the cloaked figure was gaining more speed. Zero took out his Chain Rod and threw the spearhead towards the figure. It wasn't far away, so the spear barely made it. It stabbed onto the rear end of the bike, and Zero tried to pull himself closer to the figure.

His plan would have worked if the gust of desert wind ripped through the air and nearly threw Zero out of his bike. The noise of the wind roaring and the sand blinding his vision, he had no choice but to withdraw the Chain Rod. Now the wind finally threw Zero and the bike hurling in the air. Zero still couldn't see where he was falling. By the time he could see, all he saw was a large sand dune, and he was going to crash-land onto it.

Change of scene

"If you say out loud what you wish for, it won't come true." Zero told this to Iris, even though he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Oh. Well then, I guess we will have to wait for the wish to come true." Iris giggled softly.

Zero wondered what Iris was giggling about. He didn't notice the rock on the ground. The bike hit the rock and it tipped over. Zero quickly leapt out of the bike with Iris in his arms. The bike fell onto the ground with a few scratches on its paintjob.

"That was a close one..." Zero sighed.

Iris smiled and said, "My wish came true. I always wanted to know what it was like to be held like this..."

Zero finally noticed he was holding Iris closely. He blushed and Iris giggled.

"You can put me down now, O Knight in Shining Armor!"

Zero smirked and set Iris back down. After he did, he macho-posed. Iris laughed, and then yawned. She grabbed Zero's face softly and slowly drew his face closer to hers. Zero closed his eyes and expected a kiss.

"You better wake up..." Iris kissed him on the cheek instead.

Change of scene

A lone Condoroid pecked Zero on the cheek, mistaking him for leftover scraps. This hard peck woke Zero up from his dream. With a swift hand movement, he swatted the Condoroid away and sat upright.

The storm had subsided, and everything was in clear view now. He was sitting in front of a sign that said, "Welcome to Red River City!" Behind the sign was a bustling city. The houses appeared to be made out of wood, and the signs on the buildings were hand-painted with the words "Saloon" and "Sheriff." Tumbleweed rolled out on the city "street" and reploids wearing cowboy hats were talking with each other. Zero stood up and looked around for the hover bike. It was behind him. Fortunately, it wasn't broken. Unfortunately, it was buried under a large pile of sand, and that didn't help make it look nice. Zero decided to park it there and walk into the city.

Red River City closely resembled an old town back in the Wild, Wild West days. Zero was amused by the reploids wearing hats with odd, Western accents. He would have laughed out loud, but he noticed almost every reploid had a magnum or a shotgun attached to them. He knew when to keep his mouth shut. Besides, he had other important tasks to do, like to find that cloaked "RR" figure. A nearby building that had the "Saloon" sign on the top caught Zero's interest. There were loud shouts coming from inside the building, so he assumed there were reploids there.

As he walked up the couple of steps, he sidestepped out of the way of a reploid being thrown out of the door. Zero looked at the reploid and offered a hand to help him up. The reploid was knocked out cold, so it didn't help much. This didn't intimidate Zero, but he would regret it if he started a fight in a place like this. He pushed the two swinging doors opened and walked into the Saloon.

There was more life in the Saloon than outside. Reploids were gambling at the wooden tables while other reploids were hiding in the corner injecting NEF (narcotic energy fluid) into their systems. Others that were on the stools drank Enerages (alcohol for the average reploid). Drunk, the ones who drank punched each other playfully at first, and then they started brawling for real. Others, drunk and half-sober alike, were cheering them on. The bartender looked carelessly at the fight then back to cleaning his glasses.

Zero shook his head and looked around for a cloaked figure. He saw one person who was cloaked, but in the chair it was sitting in, he couldn't see the back or not. The figure turned around and gestured Zero to come over and sit. Zero was surprised that the figure saw him, but nevertheless, he walked over to the table the figure sat in. He sat himself down in a chair across the table facing the cloaked figure. Not him. Zero never saw the RR figure's face, but he knew who was who. In this case, the figure he was talking to now wasn't the RR.

The figure in front of him wore a cloak with a hood, but Zero could see that under the hood the figure wore a hat, and had gray hair cascading down on both sides of his head. His hat was tipped over his eyes, so Zero didn't have a good view.

The figure must have noticed Zero observing him, because the figure said, "I didn't think the legendary maverick hunter Zero would be in these parts."

The brown ragged cloak Zero wore didn't help much to conceal his appearance. At least the reploids didn't pick a fight with him yet. He wanted to know how this reploid knew Zero, but he decided not to ask him. Instead, he cut right to the chase.

"Have you seen a cloaked figure with an 'RR' symbol on its back?"

The cloaked reploid rubbed his chin with his right hand, which was gloved. Then the reploid smirked and said to Zero, "How about a quick round of Poker?"

"As long as you tell me what you know, first." Zero had no time to play games.

"Alright. The 'RR' symbol you speak of is the insignia of the Red Revolvers."

"The Red Revolvers?" Zero was curious.

"Yes. They are a notorious gang who usually roam the streets and rob reploids. Recently, they've been serving for a higher pay for an organization." The cloaked reploid rubbed his chin again. "I think it was called Reploforce."

Zero's eyes widen. Just the information he didn't think he would hear but useful anyway. He bolted upright from his seat and demanded, "Where are they?"

The reploid held up his hand as a gesture for Zero to calm down. Then he smiled under his hat and said, "Hold on, Maverick Hunter. Don't you remember the game you promised?"

"Where are they?" Zero repeated himself.

"Beat me and I'll tell you exactly where they are located." The reploid smiled again.

"Fine."

The cloaked reploid grabbed a deck of cards from under the table and shuffled quickly. His speed was reckless, but the grace and effortless motion of his fingertips and hands were a symphony. Afterwards, he dealt himself and Zero five cards each.

Zero knew how to play Poker. At the Resistance, the soldiers would play card games to pass the time on breaks. Zero would never join in, but he would observe how to play and learn. He never thought he would ever need to play, though. He discarded three cards and picked up three more. Zero had four aces in his hand and a three of hearts. He kept his Poker face on, but he was overjoyed that his luck would cash in.

The cloaked reploid, however, discarded his entire hand and picked up a new hand. He smirked, but he was smirking to Zero. Then he said, "Okay. What do you got?"

"Four aces." Zero slammed the cards on the table. "Read 'em and we-"

"Straight Flush." The reploid showed Zero his hand, which had a perfect two-three-four-five-six flush.

"..." Zero looked down at his cards and smirked. "Well, I guess you won that one..." When he looked up, the cloaked reploid had disappeared. Zero looked left and right but didn't find him. Then he noticed that next to the cloaked reploid's hand, there was a sixth card. On the back of the card, there was a picture of a spider on it. Zero picked it up and looked on the other side. It read, "Follow the white rabbit."

Zero immediately looked at where the stools were. He smirked when he saw a female reploid wearing a skimpy white bunny rabbit outfit. The males that were drunk hooted and whistled as she drank. She flipped her hair and caught a glimpse of her watch. She didn't pay for the drink and walked out of the Saloon. Zero quickly got up and followed after the white rabbit.

Change of scene

Although most of the buildings in this city were made of wood and had a Western theme, there was one tall pavilion in this city. It resembled a tower almost, with multiple floors. A cloaked figure walked towards the glass screen door. When he got close enough, the doors automatically slid apart and let the figure in.

Inside the building, there was a scanner and two reploids wearing hats and bandannas that concealed their mouth. The figure simply flipped the side of his cloak and showed them a RR symbol. The guards nodded to each other and said in unison, "Welcome back Boss."

"Yeah. He should be here any minute now." The cloaked figure spoke.

The first guard raised a brow and said, "Don't you mean 'she' Boss? The bunny?"

"No. I'm talking about Zero. And yes, the bunny should be here soon. Prepare for an assault."

The cloaked figure waved away his hand and the guards faced forward again. As he did, he stopped and said to the guards without looking at them, "If you do actually manage to injure Zero greatly, bring him up to me. I want him for myself."

"Yes, Boss." The two guards said.

Under the hood, the figure smirked and went towards the elevator. As he walked, he past by marbles pillars near the walls of the lobby. The walls and the floor were also made of this dark green-blue color. The figure waited for the elevator doors to open. When they did, he stepped into the elevator. He pressed a button and the doors closed.

Change of scene

The bunny walked (Zero wondered why she didn't hop) to a tall building. The RR symbol was marked on the front of the building, stories high. He didn't need to try to follow her furtively, because she didn't bother to look back. When the bunny reploid stepped close enough, the glass doors slid open. The bunny walked inside. The guards hooted at her and she smiled. The second guard slapped her ass as she walked by, and she giggled. The guards continued to hoot as she made her way to the elevator.

Zero found this arousing. Then he remembered what he was here for. He looked at his armor and noticed it was his regular red. So he switched forms. He transformed into the X form, since he didn't want to wear red in front of the Red Revolvers. Casually, he walked through the glass doors and walked up to the scanner. It started beeping.

The first guard stepped up to Zero and asked, "What do you got in there?"

Zero wore his ragged cloak, so it hid his Z-buster and his pistol. "Uh..." Zero tried to think of a plan.

The guards exchanged glances at each other and then said, "We are going to have to check what you got."

Zero heard that the Red Revolvers were muggers, and he did not want to get mugged. In an act of brutality, he thrust-kicked the first guard. He fell to the floor clutching his stomach. The second guard drew his revolver and aimed to shoot Zero, but Zero reacted faster and shot three buster shots at the second guard under his ragged cloak. Those shots hit the guard in the chest, and he staggered back. Zero then drew out the pistol he had and pulled the trigger. This time, a green buster came out, but it hit the weapon the guard had instead of where Zero had aimed. The shot disappeared into the revolver.

Zero was dumbfounded that it didn't do anything. The guard smirked and aimed his revolver at Zero. Just then, the shot materialized out of the revolver and went back into Zero's pistol. Both stared at it oddly. Then Zero pulled the trigger again and this time a red shot came out and blew the guard's head off.

"Whoa." Zero was impressed.

The guard that he knocked down aimed his revolver at Zero. He pulled the trigger and fired. The shot hit Zero in the back, and he collapsed to his knees on the ground. He was in Defense form now. He didn't take much damage because he transformed before the shot hit. It still hurt, though. Before the guard could fire another shot, Zero turned to the guard and fired a shot with the pistol. It headed for the head, and off it went.

Zero realized that the pistol shot a buster shot like a revolver. It copied the gun from the guard. Zero smirked. I'll call it the "Copy Shot."

Zero didn't have time to admire the capabilities of the pistol, because the elevators doors opened and more Red Revolvers burst through the door, guns blazing. Most of the shots missed their mark, so Zero used this opportunity to roll to the side and hide behind a pillar. The Red Revolvers then shot at the pillar Zero was hiding behind. The shots careened off the pillar and some broke marble off the pillar. Although they didn't penetrate the pillar yet, Zero could feel the marble crumbling.

Zero reloaded both his Z-buster and his pistol. He also changed into X form. Before the entire pillar fell, Zero leaped in the air and literally flew to the other side of the lobby. As he did, he fired several shots. When he was firing, he dodged many shots because he was able to detect the buster shots and avoid them in mid-air. All of the shots met their mark, and most of the Revolvers were shot in the chest or head. The others were injured and unable to fire as quickly as they did.

With that attack, he made it to the other pillar on the other side of the lobby. Reinforcements came out of the elevator again, and now they decided to approach Zero before they were going to attack. Zero was able to hear their footsteps over the cover-fire, so he thought quickly of a plan of attack. On his left side, there was a marble wall. Zero smirked and ran towards the wall. The Revolvers saw this, and they shot without haste. Before the shots could even reach Zero, he took a step on the wall. With his other leg, and pushed it up and started to run on the wall. The run turned into a wall-dash. During this, he avoided many shots and fired some of his own. Now these shots were aimed at their heads, and they all met their mark.

Zero finally landed, and there were still some left. He ran towards them, approaching a wounded Revolver. The others fired, and Zero grabbed his body and used it as a shield. The blasts damaged the wounded Revolver's body and absorbed the shots. Zero was charging his Z-buster during this time, and when he threw the body away, he fired a Blast Shot. The shot hit a Revolver in the center, and when the shot made contact the blast radius burned the nearby Revolvers. And those were the last batch.

Zero blew the smoke coming out of the gun barrel and pressed a button near the wall. The elevator doors opened. Zero casually walked in and pressed the "Close doors" button. When the doors closed, a piece of marble fell on a Revolver still alive and knocked him out.

Zero pressed the button for the highest floor, but the elevator ignored his request and brought him to the next floor. This floor was only a narrow hall, and on the end of it was a door. Zero figured that the elevator he took could only reached this floor, so he dashed to the door. There were also doors on the side of this hall, and Zero wondered what they were for. His answer came when Revolvers rushed out of some of the doors and started firing. Zero threw his cloak to blind the Revolver's aim. They all shot the cloak and tore it apart. Zero, however, had already leaped above them and fired shots in mid-air. The Revolvers were caught by surprise, and the shots pelted through their bodies as if they were tissue paper.

When Zero landed, he thought to himself, These Red Revolvers have powerful weapons, but they don't wear any armor. He walked gingerly towards the door and was about to open it, but he stopped. Then he dashed into the door and aimed his Z-buster and his pistol to his left and right side. Without looking, he fired shots to both of his sides and hit two Revolvers trying to surprise attack Zero when he entered the door. They both fell dead.

There was a small counter when Enerage drinks on it. Zero scoffed. No wonder they can't hit me; they're punch-drunk. Just as he thought that, a powerful charged shot hit Zero in the back. The force of the shot caused Zero to fly into the counter. Zero turned around, injured, and saw a Revolver with a large cannon. Three more Revolvers came after him and started to fire. Zero leaped behind the counter and avoided their shots. The Revolver with the cannon began charging for another shot. This time, he would blow up the counter.

Zero had to think of a plan fast. He couldn't confront them head-on because he injury would slow him down, and that cannon could blast him away at any given moment. Then he noticed an Enerage bottle next to where he sat. Now he had a plan. Zero turned around and shot at the counter. The shots went through the counter and hit the Revolver's legs. This distracted them from taking aim. Then, Zero threw the bottle of Enerage in their direction. The bottle flew towards their direction, and the Revolvers looked dumbfounded. Before it landed, Zero fired a shot from his pistol aiming for the bottle. The shot hit the bottle a few inches from the Revolver's faces. It made contact and made a large explosion (Enerage has a high flammability). That explosion took out the Revolver armed with the cannon and the others.

Zero struggled to get up. The elevator door was a few feet away, but Zero's vision started to blur. He was losing some blood (A/N: Lack of better term.), and it dripped onto the floor. He knew what he had to do. He opened the elf container and selected a Nurse Cyber-elf. That elf was Parick.

"Hey Zero! I can completely heal you!" Parick flexed his muscles, posing macho-like.

Zero nodded weakly. Parick started to fly around Zero sprinkling glittering dust on Zero's back. Then Parick disappeared into Zero's back. Now he was completely healed. Zero's sub-tank was empty, so he had no choice but to use a Cyber-elf. He always was uncomfortable using each elf, but he knew they wanted to be used that way. He shook it off and stepped into the elevator.

When the elevator reached at the highest floor, the doors slid open. Zero stepped out of the elevator expecting an attack or an ambush, but there weren't any. All he saw was the cloaked figure standing in front of a window. The cloaked figure turned around and faced Zero.

"Well, the legendary Maverick Hunter never disappoints. That was a pretty cool performance you had back there." Under his hood, the figure smirked.

"I think it's about time you show your true self." Zero crossed his arms.

"Alright."

The cloaked figure grabbed his cloak and threw it off. He was a reploid with black armor and a helmet. However, two spikes of hair stuck out behind his ears, and he had a notable scar that ran from his right eye down to his mouth. An obnoxious smirk ran across his face.

"And you are?" Zero asked.

"The name is Axl."

Red Revolver Leader

Axl

"I suppose you're the leader of the Red Revolvers and working for Reploforce." Zero twirled his Z-buster and his pistol. "Give me those weapons back."

Axl laughed at Zero. "You expect me to give them up that easily? Heh. Well then, I'll give you what you want to know after you beat me."

"Whatever makes you talk." Zero loaded both of his guns.

"We'll start this the old-fashioned way. Meet each other's backs and 10 paces before fire." Axl drew two guns of his own. Good 'ol Red Magnums.

The two walked up to each other and stood back-to-back. Then they starting counting paces.

"1....2....3....4....5...." Axl started.

"6....7....8....9....10!"

By the time the count was up, Zero was near the elevator door. Quickly, he stepped on the wall and dashed up the wall. Doing so, he was able to avoid two powerful red shots. They were as strong as charged shots, but Axl never charged his Magnums. Zero didn't have time to think this over, so he jumped off the wall and turned to Axl, firing several buster shots.

Axl rolled to the side and dodged the shots, and he shot two more charged shots. One missed Zero by an inch while the other got him. The impact from it threw Zero into a wall. Axl aimed his Magnums at Zero again and fired. There was a slight recoil time between each shot, but Axl didn't care. Zero drew his Shield Boomerang and tried to reflect the shot. The shot wasn't reflected, but it canceled the attack out.

Then Zero aimed his pistol at Axl and pulled the trigger. A green buster shot came out and disappeared into one of Axl's Magnums. Axl recognized the shot. Before he could react, the green buster materialized out of the Magnum and went back into Zero's pistol. Zero pulled the trigger again and out came a charged red shot. Axl had no time to dodge it and was hit, but he stood his ground. The shot made a smoke cloud. Axl ran out of it and threw his Red Magnums away. He ran to the side of the room and pounded a button. A large cannon came out of a hidden compartment in the wall. Axl grabbed the cannon and charged it up.

Zero quickly got up and ran along the wall. Axl fired several Red Plasma Shots with the cannon, but Zero was in Active form and was able to barely outrun Axl's aim. After those shots, Axl had to charge the cannon up again. Zero took this opportunity to draw out his Z-saber and dashed towards Axl. He slashed vertically in Axl's direction, but before the Z-saber could slice Axl, he disappeared. Zero completely stopped and looked around. Axl, however, did not disappear but only activated his cloaking ability.

Zero realized this and saw Axl's outline of his body, but he was too late. Axl had two more Red Magnums on him and fired them both point-blank range at Zero. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was blasted into a wall and was covered in a cloud of smoke. Axl deactivated his cloaking ability and ran towards the center of the room and pressed a switch on the floor. Two large minibusters (miniguns) and held one in each hand. He pulled the large triggers and shot repeatedly at the smoke cloud Zero was in. This made it bigger and blew smoke throughout the room. Then the minibusters overheated. Axl threw them away and reached for his Red Magnums. He twirled them with his fingers and smirked.

"The Legendary Maverick Hunter Zero is already beaten? Man, that sucked!" Axl laughed heartily, but when the smoke cleared, Zero was still standing. Three glittering objects were circling around Zero.

"Don't get so cocky, kid." Zero smirked and said to his Cyber -elves, "Bomgro, Bomserow, Bomphew, Bomblow, go!"

The lead Cyber-elf said to the others, "Super Cyber-elf Kamikaze Attack!" All four of the Elves flew towards Axl. He held up his arms to shield himself, but all four exploded on contact and completely blew Axl's armor to dust. When the smoke cleared, Axl was on the ground, balancing himself on one knee.

He smiled weakly and said, "All right. You win."

Zero wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Okay. Give me back the weapons and I'll let you live."

Axl laughed and said, "I suppose my plan backfired. Fine, I'll let you have those Red Alert weapons back. I guess even Red Alert's best member can't beat Zero..."

"What? You were in Red Alert?"

Axl smirked and said, "Yeah. Well, I was. You heard of Red Alert? I figure you would, since you were snooping around there."

"How did you know I was...?"

"Well, the Resistance was anyway. I thought you were in the Resistance, so I hid my old pistol there as bait to lure you in. Then I would get my shot at you, Zero."

"You did this just to fight me?"

"Kind of. Those Reploforce bastards forced me into this..."

"How?"

"Heh. Well, after the Sigma Wars ended, X built that Neo Arcadia shit-hole. When he did, he started retiring reploids. He went after Red Alert and leveled the damn place. Everyone was gone. I was the only one left." Axl's smile faded. "I got angry at X for that, and I wanted to kill him. I knew that I wasn't strong enough. I was about to go and die, but then I found some of my other buddies that survived. We decided to rebel against this reploid extermination and form a gang."

Zero crossed his arms.

"So that's how the Red Revolvers got started. The time flew by when that happened, and then I heard that some reploid was single-handedly fighting the Neo Arcadia. It was you, Zero."

"So you heard about me?"

"Yeah. I wanted to fight you badly. If I could defeat you, I would be ready to take on X. But I could never find you. That is, until Reploforce showed up. They came and retired all of my buddies and were about to finish me off." Axl clenched his fist. "They let me live if I served them and helped them destroy the Neo Arcadia. As much as I didn't like it, I didn't want to die. So I joined them.

"So they hired some loonies as my gang members, but they weren't my buddies. I figured this was the only way to get to you. I don't care about this war or exterminating humans..."

"Wait, Axl. Tell me what Reploforce plans to do."

"I don't know much, but I know where that information is located. It's in a database. I had the password on the Red Alert computer. That is where your information lies." Axl smiled again. "Well, I could die without regrets, now that I've known I finally fought against you."

"What do you mean?"

"He comes for me. Run while you can, Zero. Get away before He comes!"

"Who?"

A large cloaked figure hovered behind the window. It carried a large scythe. And had bright yellow eyes under its hood. It raised its scythe above Axl's head.

"It's been fun, Zero." Axl smiled sadly.

"No! Axl!" Zero ran to Axl.

It was too late. The scythe slashed through the window and the figure decapitated Axl. His head rolled on the floor. With its large yellow eyes, it fired two lasers and blew up Axl's body. Zero watched in horror as Axl's head rolled to his feet.

"Later, Zero..." Axl's eyelids glazed over his eyes. His mouth hung open. Zero picked up Axl's head. It felt like a hollow, empty shell. It was.

"You..." Zero charged towards the cloaked figure but it laughed and disappeared. It was pointless now. Axl was dead. Zero found the container on Axl's desk, and the two Red Magnums Axl had used in battle. He picked up Axl's head and picked up the cloak Axl wore. He wrapped his head with the cloak and set it on the desk. He placed the two Red Magnums next to it and he picked up the container.

"Rest in peace, friend." Zero walked out of the room.

Change of scene

"Hey, Zero!" Max ran up to Zero as he was walking in the hall. Zero turned around and greeted Max.

"Hey." Zero said, tersely. He didn't feel like talking after what had happened, but he tried to get over it.

"So, how was the mission?"

"It was successful. I had some trouble, but nothing too difficult."

"Yeah, !"

Zero saw something in Max. He couldn't put his finger on it, but somehow Max reminded him of Axl. Then he knew what to do.

"Max. Take this." Zero handed Max the pistol. "You will need this for training."

Max's eyes glistened. Now he was as giddy as a boy on Christmas morning. He grabbed the pistol and immediately started posing with it.

"Th...thanks, Zero! With this, I can beat anybody! I can beat X! Or those Neo Arcadian generals! Maybe I could even beat you, Zero! Er...I didn't mean that..." Max laughed and ran off to try it out.

"Don't get so cocky, kid." Zero smiled.

Author: Whew! Sorry if I took longer than usual to update. I had schoolwork and sudden urges to be lazy! This chapter was originally going to be parted, but I grew tired of typing Chapter: Part 1 or Chapter: Part 2. So, I just wanted one large chapter. This is a turning point in my writing, so I'm trying to be more descriptive and added more story elements than action scenes. Please read and review! I'll update soon!