Ch. 2 - Life just got better

'Well, that hurt like a bitch,' Var mused to herself, wincing as she rotated one new shoulder joint to get her jacket on. And they would take getting used to... the limbs were stronger, faster than before... There were new limits to test. But there would be enough time to do that during the mission... Thinking of which... "So... what's the job again?"

"We've been over this..."

"Yeah, but that was before I was knocked over the head with the equivalent of a metal bat to keep me unconscious. Seriously, use gas next time, that hurt." The larger Maverick chuckled as she rubbed the sided of her head.

"But that way was so much more fun." Was his response, and he chuckled at her glare as she lit a cigarette. "Anyways, be prepared to meet Hunters on this one --" And he was cut off by what sounded like a rather evil and amused chuckle, her smirk almost impish at the though. But he understood... partially. "I know you'll have fun with this, but you just have to watch out for Megaman X and Zero. If things get too hot, they usually call one or the other in, if they're not there already." X or Zero... sounded familiar, but she wasn't one to pay much attention. "They don't seem to have the same restrictions the others will."

"Mkay, mkay... just tell me what I gotta do." It took all of twenty minutes to lay out the plan and gather equipment before they moved out...

"I'm in..." Var whispered softly, walking down the hospital's hallway. She was supposed to be visiting a sick or injured 'relative', but that wasn't quite why she was roaming. Popping into and out of random rooms, as though lost, she finally asked someone where a certain person was. Big hospital, was her excuse, as she had to go to the top floor. Chatting idly at someone in a coma for a short while, she left without being noticed...

Six blocks away, she walked into an alley-way -- she walked everywhere, it seemed... Var gave a slight thumbs up to someone in the shadows...

BOOOOM! BA-BOOOMOOM!

Instant chaos! The human chuckled coldly as people were screaming, calling for help, running, staring, and everything else as sections of the city were on fire, crumbling, shaking, or absolutely destroyed.

No immediate medical attention -- the hospital was at least half-gone, and still collapsing on itself.

No automatic disaster relief -- the fire-fighters seemed to have been caught in the blasts in their stations.

Yep, it was a good day, she decided to herself, as Mavericks swarmed out of their hide-aways, attacking the confused citizens and added to their panic. Twirling a beamsaber, Variable gave a harsh laugh as she cut through a man running away from one of her allies. As the blood splattered to the still-snowy ground, she stepped over the body and moved on. For several long moments, the city was lost in the turmoil caused by the attacks before the Mavericks seemed to steadily fade away. The Hunters were there, but they were too late to stop most of the attacks. Crimson weapon cutting through yet another human, Variable raised her azure eyes... and the smirk grew wider as a few of the Hunters aimed, but couldn't fire. "What's'a matter?" The human Maverick teased coldly, their faces horrified when they made the connection. They couldn't stop her if they wanted to...

"Stop!" One of the Hunters ordered, and she looked over at him, lazy smirk on her face... Blue armor, he looked so young... yet so old. His eyes were fierce, determined, yet they longed for peace... Were her eyes once like that..? Perhaps... but right now, they seemed to make him uneasy. "Put your weapon down." He could shoot her... So this must've been... X? Mmm... fun. Instead of lowering the weapon, she raised it, getting into a fighting stance. "I don't want to hurt you..."

"So that shall be your mistake..." Was the cold response, as she dashed at him. These limbs were indeed faster, and more stable than her other ones... Apparently, he didn't expect that move, and let go of the charged plasma blast he had been holding. Blocked with the saber, she managed to knick the side of his shoulder, dodging a few rapid blasts as she heard a voice in her ear.

"Pull out, Variable... We've accomplished our mission." With that, she spun, throwing something small and metal at X, surprising him and knocking him somewhat off balance.

"Later days, stranger... maybe we'll finish this soon..." And before he could attack again, she was in an alleyway and gone.

"Who was that, sir?" One of the men asked, seeing a bit of Reploid blood running down X's arm. The blue Hunter paused, looking down at the cell-phone he had been hit in the head with, picking it up.

"... I don't know... Alia, get us out of here..."

Back at Hunter Base, it seemed X wasn't the only one confused about the random human warrior that had been fighting with Mavericks at her side. "We've been scanning files since she showed up on the street, but without a name, we're not going to make much progress..." X held out the cell-phone, which seemed to have been a temporary pre-paid deal.

"Check it. See if there's a name, or number to call..." All it took was a moment, and Alia paused.

"Var. That's all it says. No stored numbers, no recent calls... I can't even get a hold of any records from the service provider's server..."

"Stolen?"

"Perhaps... it must've been going through a secondary system, then... I'll do a search for Var, though it might not limit the results much..."

"Good luck... I'll let Zero know what we're up against -- he might have better luck against her than I did." The Hunter replied with a sigh -- this would be a problem... Lost in thought as he wandered to where he knew his friend would, in all likely hood, be lounging and enjoying the day off, X, didn't match the red Hunter's smile. "We've got a problem."

Zero's smile immediately faltered. "Problem? It was just a Mav attack..."

"They've got a human with them... and she's dangerous. Does 'Var' ring a bell?"

"Var... Var..." He tried pronouncing it a couple different times before a single word clicked. "Variable?"

"Who?" The other shrugged, head tilted as he frowned.

"I don't know, that's the only word that comes to mind... but any human crazy enough to join the Mavs, and be tolerated by them, can't be good news... Let's go."

"Hehehehe... now they know we're still around..." One of the Mavericks chuckled in a pleased sort of way, tossing a bottled beverage to Variable as she lounged on what may have been either an old couch or a compressed mass of thrown away foam and fabric -- she wasn't quite sure. "And I saw that, earlier... how many Hunters froze up when they tried to shoot you, Var?"

"Mmm..." The drink in question was alcoholic in nature -- what kind, she didn't care. "Half a dozen, or so... didn't quite count, was having too much fun."

"So, what's the plan now?" Another asked, the small group relaxing for the time being.

"Let them think they've scared us off... let them calm down a bit... then we hit them again."

"Where?"

"You'll see..." The human replied with a slight smirk, downing her drink.