Zero peered nonchalantly at Sigma as the Spartan prattled on and on with no meaning across the cafeteria table that Zero was anchored at.

"Sorry to cut you off, sir," Zero finally had to beg of Sigma when he was unable to stuff his ears with anymore nonsense, "but basically what you're saying to me is that another evacuation has to be performed tonight?"

Sigma nodded gravely. "This time, according to our sources, the Mavericks are targeting Levitt Cresent."

"Sounds typical. I take it that you want me to help you?"

"Indeed."

Zero stood up stiffly from the table. He yawned hugely whilst cracking his back. "Fine with me. So the evacuators are you, me...and who else?"

Sigma made a quick mental count. "Let's see...we have all eight of my Spartans -- Chill Penguin, Launch Octopus, Sting Chameleon, Storm Eagle, Flame Mammoth, Boomer, Armoured Armadillo, and Spark Mandrill -- as well as Lady Draco and Lord Skysheen (or Vile, as he now wishes to be called...don't ask me) from the Regal Dragons, and finally ten human hunters from the Night Vipers."

Zero raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "That's quite a load."

Sigma smirked. "Yes, well, we're not going to let the Torrisham Crossings incident occour again. Which reminds me, is Celeste able to join our little party?"

Zero now raised both eyebrows in surprise. "You want her to come on a mission after what happened with Skysheen?"

"She may as well." Sigma reasoned. "That was an isolated incident. She still shows great potential. It would be a shame to let those sharp instincts go to waste, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. But at any rate, she can't come. Ever since she passed out after shooting Skysheen, Celeste's been in the infirmary under observation. Genesis is worried about her; she hasn't been sleeping right, and she can't seem to keep anything down. It's like she's very upset about something all of a sudden, and she refuses to talk about it."

"Ah." There was a shadow of disappointment in Siggy's voice. It was not regret about Celeste's condition; it was something completely different, something Zero couldn't quite track. "Well, that IS unfortunate. However, there's always next time. I want you to be ready for the evacuation in two hours."

Zero was reluctant. He didn't like the idea of shoving more refugees into the squalid camp, which was already bursting at the seams. He didn't have a choice, though.

"All righty."

Zero was surprised to learn that Celeste was asleep when he went to visit her an hour before the evacuation was to take place. Zero had tiptoed past Genesis (who was getting very tired of the Hunter's frequent visits to the Huntress) and stuck his head into the door of her room, only to find her snoozing peacefully, if not a bit fitfully.

Zero padded his way around her bed and seated himself in the now-familiar chair parked beside it. He had his journal in one hand and was preparing to open it when a streak of brown and white fur flew into the room and leapt neatly into his lap without hesitating once.

"Matzah," the Hunter muttered critically. "You're gonna kill me one of these days."

The spunky kitten only pawed playfully at a stray lock of Zero's hair in response. Ignoring the bundle of energy, the Scarlet Hunter opened his journal and reread an entry he had made yesterday:

June 3rd 21XX

Here's a story that's almost funny. As I mentioned earlier, Cain has real malamutes near MHHQ, and his prize is a female named Jessi. It turns out I was right: Getting those two maintenance reploids, Terrence and Phillip, to tend to the dogs was pretty damn stupid. A couple of weeks ago, one of the male dogs -- I think his name's Tommy -- was clawing and howling to get out of his cage. T and P put two and two together and they let Jessi and Tommy out of their cages to 'play'. Now Jessi probably won't be able to be used for any sort of hunting for four months or so. Cain's really upset about it. As far as I know, T and P were demoted to potato peeling. The puppies will be born in the fall.

Zero smiled as he read the old entry. He sobered, however, when he remembered what he had originally come to do. Without procrastinating for another second, he tore a blank page and prepared to write on it. What he was about to do was copy a scene from , a book that he had particularly liked. The Hunter hastily scribbled on the paper:

He did not sign his name or mark up the paper any further. Instead, he folded it into fourths and slipped it under Celeste's pillow. He took the opportunity to land a small kiss just next to her nose. The Huntress stirred, but did not awaken.

Zero stood up, spilling Matzah from his lap before exiting the room. Matzah leapt on the foot of Celeste's bed without hesitation to resume his broken nap.

"I got rhythm! I got music! I got my man, who could ask for anything more?"

Red sang like one possessed as she twirled her lance like a baton. It amazed Zero how Red could swing that thing around so skillfully at the brisk pace the Hunters were setting. The night was absolutely gorgeous. Flawless, even. Sigma's proud form crested the still air while Zero, Red, and the human Hunters were just behind him. The rest of Sigma's Spartans, along with Vile, brought up the rear. They were perhaps 20 minutes away from their destination: Levitt Cresent.

"Watch where you cut with that stick of yours, milady," one of the humans was finally forced to ask when the wickedly sharp blades of the madly spinning lance gave him a close shave.

"Why don't you sing something else?" Zero suggested to his Mechadrake friend.

Red happily obliged. "Would you light my caaaaaandle?" She crooned seconds before a jet of flame launched from her mouth and into the inky sky.

"Uh...I meant a song where no one could get hurt."

"Oh." Red paused for a moment in thought before her face lit up again and she bellowed, "Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball..."

"Ugh!" Zero clamped his hands over his ears in protest. "Just forget it all together."

Red laughed and playfully poked him in the back of his neck with a claw. "I can't seem to please you, sugar! You're such a dick."

Zero couldn't help but smile back. He punched Red in the shoulder. "I am not. You're a dick."

"No, you're a dick."

"You're a dick."

"You're a dick."

"You're a dick."

"YOU'RE a dick."

"You were probably the most annoying dick in Canada, Red."

The dragon thoughtfully scratched her head with an ebony talon. "Well, maybe I was." She threw a scaly arm around Zero's shoulders as they marched side by side. "At any rate, my Candyman, if you don't shut up, THIS is gonna happen to you!" Red laughingly speared the human next to her on her lance.

Zero stopped. He just stopped. There was Red Draco the Maverick Huntress with her lance passed right through an innocent human Hunter. The young man had a look of utter terror and shock twisted on his face. He twitched feebly at the other end of the weapon. Red merely lifted him off of the ground like a steak on a pronged fork and shook the body off of the lance's shaft with a look of mild annoyance on her face. The lifeless bag of blood soaked flesh sagged to the ground.

Zero noticed at this point that the party had stopped completely. All of the other reploid Hunters, Sigma and Vile included, had ringed themselves inexorably around the rest of the humans. Not a word was exchanged. Not even between the humans. Only slow, demonic chuckling could be heard from the outer edges of the circle.

Zero did not join the other reploids in the ring of death. The only word he could managed past his parched throat was "Red....Red...."

Red looked at Zero. She was amused, not at all regretful or shaken. "What?" She laughed out loud. It was a ringing sound. "Did I do something wrong, honeycake? Hey Siggy!" Red turned to Sigma. "Zero's all broken up here. He seems to think I did something unneighbourly. You know I wouldn't do anything like that, right? I'm a good girl I am!"

"Why, no, Lady Draco." Sigma smirked dangerously. "You did nothing wrong. All you did was this!" The brawny Spartan plucked a helpless human from the condemned crowd. Lifting him off the ground a bit, Sigma expertly broke the man's spine, ceasing his futile struggles at once.

"Stop it!" Zero took a step backwards as the Spartans fried, froze, burned, sliced, stung, bulldozed, and stabbed the remaining humans accordingly. "What...what...?" He could not get past those words.

With the slaughter over, the so called Hunters fell at once to cleaning their bloodied weapons. No emotion whatsoever penetrated their faces, and none paid any mind at all to Zero's babbling. Only Red approached the shocked blonde warrior. The Mechadrake had not bothered to clean her lance yet, and the fresh blood trickled down its shaft and oozed in inlets over her fingers. There was something erotic about the scene in Zero's mind, and it brought that well known sweet 'feeling' with it at the worst possible time. He summoned all his will to repress it, and was successful after a very difficult struggle. Red smiled terribly as she watched.

"You think I'm stupid, my dear."

"Huh? No, Red! I don't...what the hell did you...why...?"

"Don't pretend to be appalled. You loved every moment of that massacre."

"No! I..."

"Why didn't you try to stop us, then? Why didn't you shoot me?"

When Zero did not answer, Red fished a still-warm body from the lifeless pile. Sheathing her lance, she held one limp arm up near Zero's nose and eyes, drawing a claw across the supple wrist. Blood instantly welled up in a thick red rope. This time, Zero's will could not stop the dreamy feeling from invading, and it surfaced on his face like a light. Red caught him.

"There you go, Zero. I don't know who created you, but you and I both know that it was someone who wanted you to kill. X avoids blood whenever he can. Celeste, despite her Hunting instincts, passed out at the sight of Skysheen mangled. Yet, you seem to get -- dare I say it -- almost a sexual pleasure out of mass death and suffering. That's why you didn't stop us."

All Zero could do was stare blankly at the Huntress' sneering face.

"Here's my point, muffin. You may or may not have noticed it by now, but we're going Maverick. All of us." Red's eyes narrowed. "You were meant for killing: it's your calling. Are you with us?"

Zero found his voice at last. "Red...why are YOU going Maverick? Is it because of Celeste and Skysheen?"

Red shrugged. "Kinda. When Skysheen told me that he was going to battle humans, I could hardly resist joining Siggy's cause with him. He's family. Mechadrakes stick together. Sky and I have been through a lot. I'm not gonna abandon him now."

"But..what about ME?!"

"That brings me back to my original question. Are you with us or not?"

Red's eyes cut into Zero again. He was in the spotlight: the other killers had stopped their cleaning and conversation and waited eagerly for the confused Hunter's reply.

Zero remembered. He remembered the dream he had had moments before awakening for the first time in his life. He remembered his beloved brother Bass' last words about 'making him proud.' He remembered feeling ashamed for falling in love with a human female who had wanted to follow in her dad's footsteps. He remembered Tess, sick and hungry, struggling to survive in the unpleasant atmosphere of the refugee camps. He remembered them all, and he came to a decision.

"No."

Red did not utter a word. Rather, she shrugged seconds before hitting Zero square in the chest with a blast of flame from her gaping jaws.

The firey blossom had confused Zero more than it hurt him; he struggled to stand and began a panicked run away from the Mavericks. He could hear their malicious laughter from behind. It burned his ears worse than Red's breath had.

Red. Suddenly, a black shadow, like one of a giant reptile in flight, draped Zero in its darkness as he desperately tried to flee. A nanosecond later, Zero was staring right into a gaping dragon mouth planted with rows of ominous teeth. The small spears promptly sank into his right shoulder pad. Red had her teeth locked on him. He could barely move for the weight she applied.

Zero resisted for as long as he could; soon, however, the pressure became unbearable. The armour on his shoulder gave way, and Zero finally allowed himself to scream.

The pressure eased. Zero sunk to the ground almost as lifelessly as one of the murdered humans had earlier. His swimming vision caught sight of Red glaring at him with a strange cross of sorrow and contempt before she flew off in the opposite direction, headed towards Sigma, Vile, and the rest of the New Mavericks. The Regal Dragons were dead. The Spartans were nonexistent. These were the only thoughts that occupied Zero's mind as he lurched his way back to MHHQ.