One thing Iris quickly learned about her care takers was their resourceful nature. Eight times out of ten, they would prefer to restore something old rather than buy new. It was this trait that lead them to the female Reploid in the first place, and it was a trait that Iris herself picked up on. If a piece of clothing tore, she would sew a patch on it. If a glass broke, she would glue the pieces back together. Anything can be fixed- Alex's motto had rubbed off on Iris.
However, there were times when the Heap family needed to by new. Most of these occurrences were linked with Justin's work. He was fully capable of fixing just about every problem his costumers came to him with, he did need new parts for them every now and then. This was a problem. Between being a single father and working, Justin was a very busy man. It would take him weeks, sometimes months, before he could get the right parts. Alex had offered to pick up the parts for him in the past, but he always rejected the idea. He didn't want her to go to the city on her own. Muggings, kidnappings, Maverick attacks, and other terrible things could happen to a young girl on her own in the big city.
Of course, now she wouldn't be by herself.
"Iris and I will go together." Alex pointed out with pleading look on her features.
"Alex, you've never been to the city by yourself, and Iris hasn't been to the city at all." Justin's arms were crossed, and he had his serious-father-business face on. Uh oh. If she didn't come up with something soon, then the argument would end with an 'Absolutely not'. Again.
"Exactly! It's been five months and Iris still hasn't seen the city for herself. We can't keep her cooped up forever, right Iris?" Alex now looked back to her Reploid friend, who had been quiet up till now.
"Actually, I would like to see the city for myself. If that's alright." Iris gave a soft smile. "I promise that if anything goes wrong, we'll call you, Justin."
"You both really want to go?" He gave a sigh. The Reploid had been living with them for five months now, and she had proven herself to be trustworthy in that time. "Alright, but call me when you get there, and when your heading back. I'll write out the directions."
Alex let out a 'yessss' while Iris smiled with delight.
…..
The two girls took an above ground train into the city. Iris and Alex both found themselves staring out the window as the back drop drastically changed from an old, cluttered suburban area to a bright, shiny city. Sunlight reflected off the glass walls of the skyscrapers like a glittering jewel. All of the buildings were so new and tall. Iris couldn't help but to stare with wonder. The city was beautiful. Why on earth did Justin think this place could be bad?
"Is the whole city like this?" Iris asked as the train pulled into the station.
"Pretty much." Alex grinned. "Come on, this is our stop." The human girl rose out of her seat, and Iris followed.
The station was a very crowded place. Many a human and Reploid were rushing to make their trains, some of them pushed, but Iris observed that all of the pushers were humans.
It was so strange to see so many Reploids in one place. There weren't really any Reploids in their neighborhood. Actually, it was pretty exciting to see so many of her kind in the city. Their designs seemed so different from hers. These Reploids were so sleek and slim. Her design seemed almost bulky, and less human like by comparison. Iris had force herself to look away to avoid staring.
She and Alex carefully maneuvered their way through the crowd, and ended up on the side walk. The human girl pulled out the directions from her pocket, and looked them over. "Hmm… Okay, we take a left here, and walk for four blocks, then we go right." Alex said while she pointed in to the left. Iris nodded, and followed.
Up close, the city was as vibrant as it was pretty. While it was far passed rush hour, the streets were still crowded with pedestrians. On each side of the two females were high end retail stores for both human and Reploid. Iris looked at the window displays curiously as the walked passed. She was more than happy with what the Heaps provided her with, but it didn't hurt to look. Besides, she caught Alex looking on more than one occasion as well.
"After we get the parts for dad, we should just hang around for a bit." Alex suggested.
"Sure, sounds like fun." Iris smiled. So far, she really liked the city.
At least, she liked this part of the city. Their destination drew them further away from the lively down town area to the east side. There weren't as many people around, and the ones that were didn't look to friendly. Iris really didn't like some of the stares they received.
"Alex… why are they looking at us like that?" The question made Iris feel uncomfortable, but she wanted to know.
The human girl bit her lip for a moment. "Well… crap, how do I say this? The relationship between humans and Reploids hasn't been in good shape for a while, and the last major Mavrick tore open some old wounds."
"What happened?"
"Long story short, a new generation Reploid went Maverick."
"Just one?"
"He was kind of important. He was working on this space project with humans. Working on the project together was supposed to help heal the relationship between humans and Reploids, but it all went down hill after he went Maverick. All of the new generation Reploids were destroyed after that, and things have been pretty frosty ever since."
"That's… that's horrible." Iris's gaze fell down to her feet. She had no idea how bad things between humans and Reploids really were. The Heaps always treated her like one of the family. She just assumed everyone was like that. Apparently not.
"Hey, lets not talk about this now. Let's just have fun today, okay?" Alex said with a hint of a smile on her face.
Iris looked back up to her friend. At the moment, she decided it really didn't matter how the world wide relationship between humans and Reploids was. All that mattered was how the people closest to her viewed her kind. "Sure." She smiled back.
The two girls continued down the sidewalk, both they and the other pedestrians unaware of what hid in the shadows till it was too late.
…..
Zero did not like paper work. That was no secret in Maverick Hunters Headquarters. The crimson Hunter much preferred to be out on the battle field than hunched over a computer screen any day of the week. Too bad he didn't have a choice in the matter. Signas required each one of his Hunters to type up a report after a mission.
There really wasn't much to report on, though. Ever since the last incident involving Sigma an Lumine, things had been very quiet. It reminded Zero of the old days, before the Maverick wars, back when this job was more like police work than a military branch. The Mavericks no longer had a leader to guide them. X hoped this meant there could finally be piece between humans and Reploids, but Zero… he really did want X to be right about this. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that this was the calm before another storm. Perhaps the warrior in him just wasn't ready for a peaceful life.
Zero let out a sigh, and stared at the screen. There was a whole, whopping the sentences written. Great. Just five hundred more to go.
"Hey." He heard a familiar, friendly voice behind him. Zero turned in his chair, and gave a slight grin.
"Hey X. Don't you have a report to write up to?"
"Yeah, but I finished. Why, are you still working on yours?" X peered over his best friend's shoulder to find that, indeed, Zero was still working on his report. The blue Hunter couldn't help but to chuckle softly. This earned him a glare from the blonde. "Hey, calm down. At least you'll beat Axl."
"Heh, true." The only Hunter who hated paper work more than Zero was Axl. The younger of the three had 'forgotten' about it on more than one occasion. The fourth time he 'forgot' earned him a three day suspension. "How is he doing?"
"Okay, I think. I don't think he remembers a lot about the fight with Luminee." X's face turned into a frown. While it had only been his crystal that was smashed, Axl had been more damaged than they had originally thought. He was out of commission for over a week, and when he came back he seemed… different. It was hard to finger on it, but he wasn't completely himself.
"Think we try talking to him again?" Zero questioned.
"Yeah. I think there's something he's not telling us."
The document on the screen suddenly vanished, and a 'ping' noise rang out in the room. Zero turned back to the screen just as Layer's face appeared.
"Zero, there's an incident in the east district."
"How bad?"
"Three Mavericks, and civilians are in the area."
"I'm on it." Zero rose up from his seat, and turned away.
"And Zero." Layer began. He turned back to her. "Be careful." He gave a nod, and headed to the door.
"Want any help?" X offered.
"Nah, I got it."
…..
It all happened so quickly.
One minute there was calm, the next screaming.
Iris's ears were still ringing from the explosion. The Reploid pushed herself off the street.
"Wait, what am I doing on the street?"
Fuzzy memories came back to her like rushing water. She on the sidewalk. Alex was there too. There were some other people, then an explosion.
Where was Alex?
Iris looked around her. There were other people trying to regain their bearings, but no sign of her human friend. "Alex?" Iris called out. When she received no answer, she shouted her name again. Fear began to pool in her gut. What if she was hurt, or unconscious? Or what if she was… no, Iris didn't want to think about that.
Her eyes finally fell on a small, female figure on the ground. She had short, light brown hair. Without hesitation, Iris ran over to the girl.
"Alex?" Iris rolled her over on her back as carefully as she could. Her face was dirty, there was a very bloody cut on her forehead, her face was dirty, and her knee caps bled; however, she didn't have any serious injuries. A pair of green eyes finally opened, and the fourteen year old let out a moan.
"Okay… that hurt." Iris smiled slightly in response, taking her remark as a sign that she was alright.
"Can you get up?"
"Yeah, I think." As Alex began to sit up, Iris moved to help her injured friend stand. "Any idea what ha-"
"Well, well, well- What do we have here?" A manic voice bellowed out at the two girls. Before them stood a tall, cobalt blue Reploid. He was large in size, easily dwarfing the two girls. The saw blades on his arms shrieked like a banshee. A deranged grin practically consumed his face. Everything about him screamed Maverick. "A Repliod helping a human? Ha! She isn't worth your time, babe." Behind him stood two other Mavericks- one yellow, the other green. The yellow one tossed and bomb up and down in his hand.
"Why did you do this?" Iris's voice was barely above a whisper. Never had she seen such destruction before. They were surrounded by the bodies of the less fortunate. The remaining survivors ran in terror- only for the green Maverick to chase after them. Their dying screams chilled her to the core.
"Why? Were continuing the work of the great Sigma! He dreamed of a work without humans. And you know what? So do we! Humans treat us like second class citizens!" Their apparent leader shouted. "So why don't you just drop it." He pointed at Alex. "And I'll let you go. There's no point in hurting a Reploid."
His manic grin suddenly turned into a smug smirk. As if his words could so easily change her mind. The very thought of it made Iris sick.
"No."
"Why not?" He was no longer smirking. His expression was eerily deadpan.
"She's my friend! I would never leave her behind." Iris stated firmly. "There's nothing you can do to change my mind."
"Is that so?" The Maverick let out a sigh. "Such a waste." He slowly raised up his left arm, and without warning, launched the saw blade in their direction.
Iris only had seconds to dodge the deadly attack. She dropped to the floor, bringing Alex with her. The saw blade ended up striking in a nearby car instead, destroying the back window and getting stuck in the seats. It's teeth viciously gnawed at the fabric, slicing through it like butter.
The female Reploid stood up again with Alex. Iris mentally prepared herself for another hasty doge, but the Maverick was no longer in front of them. "Where did he go?" Iris thought out loud. The yellow Maverick was still there, but he wasn't interested in attacking the helpless girls. Instead, he just watched them with amusement. He knew they weren't his to kill.
After a very short second, Iris decided she didn't want to know where he went. This was their chance to get away. She grabbed Alex's wrist, and made a break for it. She heard the human girl panting behind her. Her blood condition prevented her from doing strenuous physical activities, and right now it was biting her in the butt real hard. Even a short sprint like this left her out of breath. Iris pulled on her wrist harder. They didn't have a moment to spare. "Just keep going a little further. We can make it. We can-"
She was cut off by a saw blade. It embedded itself in a wall, only inches away from Iris's face. Her whole body froze.
"You really didn't think you'd get away that easily, did you, babe?" An all too familiar, manic voice fell onto her ears. She turned her head. Sure enough, there he was. The blue Mavrick had been toying with them. He wanted them to think they could escape, just so he could crush whatever hope they might have. He had recovered his other saw blade while their backs were turned. Sneaky bastard. Once again, he aimed his saw blade at the two. "Oh, and don't even try ducking again. No point in putting it off."
With no options left, Iris decided to use her body as a shield to protect her weaker friend. She turned to hid Alex, and left her back facing the blue Maverick. He scoffed. "Time to die, human lover!"
Iris shut her eyes tight, and waited for the saw blade to be launched into her back. But it never came. A cry rang out in the air. Iris opened her eyes, and peeked over her shoulder.
On the ruined street lay their attacker. His body was cleanly cut into two halves. "How… who did..?" She looked up, and saw their savior.
Bright red armor, and long blonde hair. Those features stood out the strongest. She didn't get a good enough look at him before he walked towards the yellow Maverick, who was absolutely livid.
"You bastard, you killed him!" He no longer tossed his bombs in the air playfully. "By the time I'm done with you, they won't be able to identify your body!" The Mavrick growled, and chucked his now lit bombs at the Hunter, one right after another.
The never touched him. The red Reploid dashed out of the way, and ended up on the left side of the yellow Maverick. With the saber in his hands, he swung out the blade, and sliced him in two. Just like his college, he fell to the floor in pieces.
"Two down, one to go." He spoke just as the green Maverick reentered the scene. Iris noticed with no small amount of horror that this claw like weapons were covered with blood.
"What the hell is this?" The Maverick gestured to his dead companions. He looked up to the red Hunter, and snarled. "You did this, didn't you? You're in for it not punk!"
He dashed towards the Hunter, claws at the ready. The green Maverick slashed downwards at the Hunter, but he blocked the attack with his saber. They stayed like that for a moment, both locked in a battle of strength, one trying to overpower the other. It was the green Maverick who broke the lock when he attempted the slash at the Hunter with his free hand. The Hunter jumped out of the way, and into the air. He held his saber high, and came crashing down on the Maverick. The green Maverick was impaled by the saber.
The Hunter had taken them all down with one well placed blow.
"Hmph, hardly even work my time." He muttered to himself. "This is Zero. The situation has been neutralized. There's some collateral damage, and some casualties. Send ambulances for the survivors."
He turned their attention back to them. Iris felt her heart skip a beat, or the Reploid equivalent of a heart. He was quite the handsome one. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Those blue eyes carried a sternness to them as he walked towards the two.
"Are either of you two hur…"
He trailed off.
Suddenly his eyes didn't look so serious.
"I-Iris…?"
…..
Authors notes!
Oh. My. God. I am so sorry this too so long to get out! I wrote an extra long chapter to make up for it! I swear I'll get back on the ball! I'm oddly a better writer when school is in session than in the summer.
Special thanks to Sunnychance for helping me out with some writers block!