Chapter 9: What is War?

"A, do you read me?" Alia crackled through the ear piece. I nodded and said, "Loud and clear." She seemed to hesitate a bit, before informing, "Go due west forty feet before stopping. The mirrors cause it to look like there's no ledge, but the Hunter security has a fake floor there in case of emergency." Like now? I wondered as I stopped at the forty foot mark. "Break the mirror to your right," Alia said. I withdrew my saber and slashed, causing the mirror to shatter. In an instant, several other mirrors shattered and for the ledge to be revealed. I sighed softly in relief as I placed my saber away.

"A, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Who else can, Alia? It's all riding on my shoulders isn't it?"

"Alone, I mean. Can you do this alone?"

I didn't answer, instead asking, "How can I cross over?" Alia didn't respond for a minute, before saying, "You can reactivate the floor itself by stating your name, where you come from, and Hunter rank. But you have to be of A rank to open the floor, so as of now A, you are an A-Class Hunter." I nodded, biting my lip. Signas had informed me of this. He'd already upgraded by position in the Hunter mainframe, so as of now... I was an A-Class Hunter. I took a deep breath before calling, "Maverick Hunter Arain." A red button on the other side lit up and I continued. "Maverick Hunter HQ. A Rank!" A groan sounded from above me as the metal floor reappeared and I crossed.

I skidded to a stop as I approached a familiar door. I couldn't help but glare, and I pushed through the door, drawing my saber as I called, "COPY KAT! COME OUT!" I heard a purr and then a giggle as a voice echoed, "Awww. Is the little lion cub ready to play?" I held back a growl and tighten my grip on my saber. I jumped suddenly, the air rippling behind me as the floor where I'd previously been standing was slashed in half.

"A! Are you oka-"

I turned off the ear piece as I stared at my opponent. She was tall, with brown hair and a shock of gold for eyes. She stood on all fours, giving me a sadistic grin as her tail swished back and forth. "Aren't you tiny!" she trilled, slinking forward. I held my saber up and barked, "Stay back!" She laughed and lunged, and I barely dodged as she swiped my cheek. Blood broke through the cut and Kat looked at her claws with curiosity. "Blood?" she questioned. "I've never seen blood before."

Then, she licked my blood.

I felt revolted as she did so and her face seemed to light up. I took a small step back, my grip on my saber tightening so my knuckles were white. "You know," she whispered, suddenly behind me. I stiffen. "I like your blood." I ducked as Kat swiped and I kicked up, hitting her chin. She fell back and growled, licking her lips. And then, Kat changed. Her brown hair shorted and became gold. Her gold eyes changed to a piercing blue. She grinned. I stumbled back, horrified. She looked like... me!

"I like this," she purred, "all the power. Who knew such a tiny little half breed contained so much power? And in one drop of blood. I suppose Sigma did, if he's been chasing after you for over eight wars." What!? "What?" Kat grinned. "Didn't know? I'll admit, the first war was mostly of the original reasons, but halfway through Sigma discovered something deep within the Hunter base files. He discovered... you." My breathing hitched. What...? "Yeah, he told us the basics. You have some weird power that could add the reploids in destroying humans, kid of some crazy doctor, been in stasis for who-knows-how-long." Kat was waving her hand like it was no big deal, like she hadn't just told me maybe half the mysteries in my life. And then added some.

"What I want to know however," she continued, causing my grip on my saber to tighten slightly, "is what. Makes. You. Tick." She lunged, causing me to jump out of the way, and for her to only nick my shoulder armor. The piece of armor came clean off. I hit the floor with my toes before diving forward. I blocked Kat's claws as we were face-to-face. I glowered. I pushed her claws back as I kicked Kat in the gut, causing her to be thrown a few feet back. She landed on all fours and eyed me cautiously.

"You've gotten better somehow," she realized, doing a once-over of me. "I don't know how or in what, but you've defiantly become a threat. Last time you couldn't even dodge me." My teeth gritted together. "I guess I need to take this seriously."

Then she disappeared.

I felt my body tighten. This is what happened last time, I realized. She'd disappeared. But how? I glanced around, noting every mirror in the room. Is that possibly it? I didn't get an answer as I went flying, smashing into several mirrors. I let out a short scream as Alia screamed equally loud something over the unit. I hit the floor, taking my breath from me for a brief moment. I had a small struggle with my legs as I stood shakily. Well, I can just hear Six say, "You're screwed." The thought almost brought a smile to my lips.

If not for the fact I was then thrown against another mirror. When I hit it, I swear though, I saw a blur of Kat's image. "A I WILL KILL YOU FOR TURNING OFF YOUR EAR UNIT!" Alia and Zero screamed over the set. I winced. Must have turned on when I hit the mirror. "I get it! Now help me dammit!" I barely dodged the next blow, having just barely seen a strand of blonde. Thank god my hair is so conspicuous!

The mirrors make it seem like she's disappeared, when in reality they are only distorting the light in the room. Kat is moving at a regular speed, angling herself to the mirrors can hide her. So-"

"If I destroy the mirrors, Kat's wide open," I concluded. I switched my saber off as I pulled out my A-gun and began firing. The sound of shattering glass filled the room, and was almost deafening. I pushed my shades down (Dougla fixed them and Zero had only told me when I was about to leave for the mission), them blocking any glass that would and could have blinded me. I jumped up instinctively, the mirror below me shattering as Kat's image was seen. My blue eyes glared heavily at me, hate echoing in them. I was beating her and she knew it too. And she hated me for it.

I double-jumped up the mirror (thank you Zero!), smashing them as I got higher. I shot into the distance as even more mirrors shattered. Just as I'd reached the roof and was going to side-jump, Kat punched me in the gut. I hit the ceiling, blood coughing up my mouth as I fell, fell, and fell. My back collided with the floor as I coughed up even more blood and landed on my side. Kat landed next to me as I struggled up. She was panting as well. We were finally evenly matched, I noticed, as only a dozen mirrors were left. Kat was bleeding oil from several cuts and I realized I must have accidentally hit her when firing at the mirrors. I couldn't hide the small, victorious grin that was on my face.

"H-happy?!" Kat snarled at me, her hands in fists. "You're winning! You damn Maverick Hunters always win, don't you?! You never listen to anyone's pleas, shooting us down like Mavericks!" The grin slipped off my face, replaced with confusion as I stared into Kat's gold eyes. She must have changed back during my firing barrage. My grip on my A-gun loosen.

"What... do you mean?" I asked hesitantly. "A, don't listen to her!" Zero spoke to me over the com. "She's lying! She's tricking you so she can get a clear shot!" I didn't listen. I know I should have. It probably would have done me good, but I didn't. Instead, I let her continue. Kat laughed breathlessly. "I-I guess you probably wouldn't know," she panted out. "Those damn Maverick Hunters are always covering shit like that up. Ever heard the saying, 'Winner's write history?'" I nodded my head hesitantly. "Well-well, that's what h-happened with those damn Maverick Hunters. Every battle won, another reploid lost, some stupid Maverick excuse to cover it up. Did they listen to our reasoning? Answer me, did they?" I didn't answer because I know none of the Hunters had asked for a Maverick's reasons since the first war. Kat laughed knowingly.

"I knew it. You kill everyone I know and not a single damn one of you asked why. That's why I joined Sigma. So go write my revised, twisted reason in those damn history books! At least I know I told the truth!"

Kat lunged at me with a deadly snarl, claws extended like sabers, surprising me so much I didn't even dodge. My eyes widen as a saber were right through Kat's stomach. She coughed up oil on my chest and cheek as she looked into my eyes with glazed gold eyes. Her eyes seemed to say, "See?" And I saw. I saw exactly what she meant. Kat's claw, which had been centimeters from my face, fell limply as her dead body fell off the glowing saber. I didn't even bother turning to my savior. I knew exactly who it was.

"I told you not to listen," Zero muttered. Even though it was Kat who had lost, Zero sounded as though he had lost. And that's when I knew Kat had been telling the truth. Because Zero never sounded defeated, and now, even though we'd won and it should be no different than any other win, he sounded as if he'd lost the battle. Because Kat had been telling the truth. "I'll give you a minute to get her copy chip. We can decode and recode it and place it in your systems. That way you'll be able to copy the other Mavericks attacks and use them." Zero pulled his saber back and deactivated it, leaving the room and warping out. I stared at Kat's corpse with blank eyes.

What... just happen?

Mindlessly, I reached down and pulled out her copy chip, which had ejected itself when Kat had collided with the floor. I clutched it, staring down blankly. Her voice still echoed in my mind.

"H-happy?!"

"No," I answered. "I'm not."

Even if I had been prepared and on guard, she still would have surprised me. I didn't really react when I found a saber at my neck. I was still blank, trying to take in what Kat had been saying. I turned my head slightly, meeting bright gray eyes of which glared at me emotionlessly. I blinked as I realized I could die and I regain some of my senses. "Who are you?" I asked. The figure continued to glare, her gray eyes burning with hate. "Are you a Maverick?"

The gray eyes narrowed. "I won't fight back," I stated. "I don't have the energy. Or the will. I have so many questions now... it doesn't make sense. My brain is muddled. Nothing seems to make sense. You could kill me right now and I don't think I'd care until it was too late. Honestly." The gray eyes seemed to say, "I know." But something hid deep behind them. Something like, "It's not you I hate." It confused me, but the confusion did nothing to snap me from my daze. "What do you hate?"

This got a small reaction. The gray eyes narrowed as the saber came closer to my neck. I didn't even wince. I just kept staring. "It's weird," I stated. "Kat had gold eyes. Vile had onyx eyes. And you have gray eyes. I thought Mavericks were to have blood red eyes but instead I'm finding a euphoria of different variations and shades. I'm confused. How can we tell who Mavericks are if they all look so... so humane." The gray eyes continued to stared into me, learning and wondering. Then came one word as the gray eyes disappeared.

"No."

I... updated? Holy shit I updated! And without one sobby-boo-hoo moment to go along with it! Holy shit I'm amazing! If only I wrote my Wattpad stuff as fast...

Haha, you all thought I'd died, didn't you? Well, nope! I'm alive! Haha! Came back from a con and just got the chance to update. I even got myself a plush dragon from What Pumpkin... I've been wanting one for over a year, give me a break!

Anyways, a bit over due, but starting is the hardest part...

Anyways, who do you think the person with gray eyes is? A male or female? Hell, they can be genderless. It's up to you. Marina no spoilers.