Chapter 19 - Forgotten Parties

Steam rose forth from the manhole in the alleyway, the thick screen of gray particles shrouding the forms of three figures running. One of them tore through the thick smog, zipping past the roadways and sliding to a stop, a spray of rock and dirt flashing upward. This first figure was a dark gray in color, a golden boomerang adorning its forehead. It's eyes were a light green, and small ruptures sparked along his entire body, showing him off to be a robot through the smoke.

The next figure leaped through the smoke and landed beside the gray robot, this one was human, and a kid, slightly shorter than the first robot. He had locks of a dirty blonde color, the bangs always slipping out in front of his eyes, which were a light green shade. He was breathing heavily as the two both turned as the last of their little troupe came running through the smoke.

The last was much taller than the other two, his paint job was a mix of dark grey and black patches. Green flames adorned his head, the backs of his shoulders, and the tips of his fingers. He stood before the other two, the green flames increasing and decreasing in size as he breathed.

"We can't run forever.."

Claude sighed heavily and fell to the ground, his bangs sweeping across his forehead, the tips sliding in front of his view. He looked over at Prototype Quick, who was still sparking. Claude noticed that his knee joints were practically shattered, and he shook his head slowly.

'Sebastian made him fast, but he didn't make him durable..'

Claude turned his gaze toward Prototype Burn, who was gathering bits of paper and cardboard from around the alley and setting it all in one pile. He stacked a piece of wood up against the wall, nodding in satisfaction. Burn turned and crouched in front of the stack of trash and ignited it with one finger, the flame roaring to life quickly. Claude smiled and moved closer to it, shivering a little.

"Thanks Burn.."

The massive robot nodded his head and stepped over to Prototype Quick in two steps. The two began talking about something that Claude couldn't catch. He stared into the flames, watching them dance. He then turned his gaze toward the ground, sighing heavily.

'I can't believe it.. Dr. Sebastian didn't give his Mavericks information about me.. I was one of their targets, just like everything else. Not even the Prototypes were offered any mercy.. Quick took the blunt of the attack, trying to give us time to get away. And then Burn helped cover our escape with his burners.. This is so screwed up.'

Claude and the two prototypes had made it halfway from Sebastian's laboratory to the where they had met up with Enzan the first time. Claude had been angry at not only Enzan; for the destruction of both Prototype Cut and Prototype Guts, but at Sebastian as well.. He had tried to force him into killing his own kin and he wasn't going to let someone tell him to kill his family.

"Claude, we have company."

Claude hadn't been paying very close attention to what was going on around them, when Prototype Burn had interrupted his internal ranting with a word of warning. Claude stopped where he was and watched as a swarm of Mavericks swooped in around them on all sides. Claude barely had a chance to open his mouth before they began firing.

"AHH!"

Prototype Quick had took charge of the situation almost immediately and activated his Quickdrive and vanished into a swirling blur. He spun around both Prototype Burn and Claude as quick as he could, using the golden boomerang shaped appendages on his gauntlets to block as many shots as he could. Prototype Burn added his own unique detail to the plan and roared his flames to life, letting them leap straight from his fingers and form a ring of blistering hot green flames around Prototype Quick.

"We have to hurry!"

Prototype Quick came to a stop, and Claude had noticed that he was pretty banged up. Prototype Burn turned and lead the way, with Quick following after him, Claude bringing up the rear. Burn threw a ball of flame out through the ring of flame, and all three of them could hear the sound of melting metal. Burn extinguished the flames as he passed over them. Prototype Quick zipped through it, with Claude following. Burn took up the rear to make sure that Claude wasn't injured in their escape. They had fled down a nearby alley and just ran, turning random corners to get as far away as they could from the Mavericks.

Prototype Burn finally picked out an alley and sent a wave of fire into the ground, creating a barrier. He then extinguished it to create a smog barrier. They ran through it and ended up where they were now, in a dank alley with a small fire. Prototype Quick was injured, Claude didn't know if he could fix him, but he would try once he had a chance to. Prototype Burn was injured very little, or not at all, as far as he could tell, and wouldn't be needing repairs. And Claude himself was in good shape, he still had all his body parts attached, and he wasn't bleeding or in pain.

Claude lifted his gaze away from the ground, staring into the dancing flame before him. He slowly closed his eyes, pulling his knees up against his chest and sighing heavily once more. He closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep, hoping that the two Prototypes would wake him up when they decided to move on.

The city of Calamity wreaked of destruction. Life hadn't been in this town for a long time. And it seemed like life would never again become a part of this town's existence anytime in the future. Calamity had been the location of the final showdown of the Hunters and Sigma. Most of the town was destroyed in the ensuing blast of Zero's self-destruct of both himself and the base, but a few structures had stayed standing, one of which had a pillar of smoke billowing from its smoke stacks.

Within the factor, the roar of machines was everywhere, the sound was extremely loud that you would have to shout to get anything out, even if the person was standing right next to you. The gears were turning, the conveyor belts were rolling along, and everything was abuzz. A figure stood at the edge of a high up balcony, his light blue eyes watching over the progress of the machines. He had been at this factor for more years than he could remember, and never had this place been working at such a hurried pace.

He had been contacted a few weeks ago, by someone by the name of Robert. This 'Robert' character offered him a large amount of money to restart the factory and begin producing Mavericks as quick as the factor could make them. He had unwillingly agreed to do it, knowing that the money would be useful in the end, but the idea of reintroducing Mavericks into the world, after all the hard work he had done, was like stabbing himself in the back.

The Robert fellow had shipped enough parts to the factory to be able to create millions of Mavericks, and he had wondered just how this fellow had come across all these supplies, but he knew better than to ask. He immediately began setting the machines up, setting up the auto-loaders so that he wouldn't have to hire anyone to help him run the factory, and he was machine-efficient enough to be able to fix almost any problem that might occur. The factory was in good hands.

He sighed lightly, setting his gloved hands on the railing of the balcony. He smirked a little in satisfaction at how quickly he had begun the process of Maverick reproduction. He shook his head to get the thoughts of his head, he wasn't going to fall into that state ever again. He turned from the railing and walked back into his office. He set his right hand lightly on the cold metallic surface of the table in the center of the room. When the parts for the Mavericks arrived, he had found multiple parts that only Hunters would have and gathered them up and put them in his office. He had begun a project that was almost finished, 'Trigger.'

"You will be one of the greatest assets the Hunters will ever have.. The silent trigger of death."

Prototype Burn turned his head and noticed that the fire was almost out, and walked over to it. He grabbed the log from the wall and set it ablaze, laying it lightly down on to the brittle, scorched paper. He watched the fire ignite once more into a small fire and he nodded in satisfaction. He turned back to find that Prototype Quick had slid down the wall, his legs fully extended in front of him and shut himself down for a manual recharge. He sighed and sat down across from the sleeping Claude, who had curled himself up closer to the fire, but still at a safe distance.

'What am I here for? Am I really just a prototype made to test the limits of my abilities.. Or do I have a bigger purpose? Maybe there is something out there that I could do.. That would.. Allow me to surpass this standard.. This simple programming.. And become something much more than I ever could have been..'

He turned his eyes to where Prototype Quick was resting against the wall, slitting his eyes a little. He pushed himself to his feet and stepped over to the other prototype. He set his hand against Quick's chest and pressed lightly, pushing him against the wall. He stared into the face of his fellow prototype and nodded lightly.

'The peaceful look on his face shows that he would agree with me.. I must convince Claude that we have to go to the Hunters. I want to be something more than just a simple robot.. I want to be.. More. There will be no guidelines for me.. I will prove myself worthy of a better destiny.'

Claude slowly jerked awake, staring into the dying fire. He noticed that the log had been added into the flame, to keep it burning longer. He slowly pushed himself up away from the ground and he stretched himself out completely. He looked around a bit and saw that Prototype Quick was recharging against the wall a few feet away from him. He then glanced around once more, noticing that Prototype Burn was no longer in the alley.

"Where did you go.."

He got to his feet and walked down the alley slowly, his sneakers padding along, silencing his steps. He stopped at the end of the alley and looked both ways, seeing that Prototype Burn was leaning against the wall of the building to the right. The prototype turned and saw Claude staring at him.

"Good morning, Sir Claude."

"Hello Burn."

Prototype Burn pushed away from the wall and walked back into the alley, following Claude back to the fire. Claude watched Burn reignite the log, the flame bursting to life almost immediately. Burn sat down on one side of it and he sat opposite of him, staring up at the massive robot. Claude closed his eyes for a moment and let his mind wander. He opened his eyes when he realized that Burn was speaking.

".. and I think that we should go see the Hunters."

"The Hunters?"

"Yes, Sir Claude."

"I might get to see Enzan then.. It sounds like a good idea to me, Burn. We should leave once Quick is completely recharged. He took the blunt of the force today, he should get his rest."

"As should you, Sir Claude."

Claude nodded and huddled close to the fire once more. Burn got to his feet and sent a flame into the fire once more, making sure it stayed burning. He walked to where he had been before and once again disappeared behind the wall, leaning there as he had when Claude had disturbed him. Claude shook his head a little.

"What a strange bot." He sighed a little.

'I wonder how you're doing Enzan.. It seems you got the right side of this entire conflict, being with Faern and all. I wonder if I could become his second assistant and help you two, and do something good for once. I've tried to understand Sebastian, but I don't think I'm cut out for such a harsh environment. We will just have to see.. Hopefully..' He closed his eyes and fell back asleep.