Heyo. This is your narrator again. If I annoy you people with these interruptions, good. I live only to bug my fans. After all, the whole bloody lot of you deserve it. Today, like that fateful day 11 chapters ago, I got another shot in school. This one was for hepatitis B. And I am in pain. Pain is bad, just so you know. So just to warn you, certain intervals of this chapter might contain some 'gibberish'. If you see this in the middle of a sentence, it means I passed out on the keyboard. Here's an example, to make sure you know what I'm talking about:

"And then, X told Zero that he could take his lightsabre, and shovejifowu9kmv fdkjdai8 793jkmfs ajiiiiii iiiiisji oowj aUntil his eyes popped out."

Well, you get the idea! On with the chapter!.....Why do the Canadians get these shots? Why can't the Americans suffer for once? Are we more diseased than them? Or are they just to GOOD to catch hep B? (I don't REALLY mean that!! Or do I....?)

Spark Mandrill sighed longingly. He missed the old days...the days where he could wander the streets of the city freely. The days when his name struck fear into the hearts of humans. The days when he held 24 hour Mug - A - Thons with Storm Eagle and Toxic Seahorse. He sighed again. Suddenly, Storm Eagle's harsh, grating voice pulled the primate out of his fond memories.

"Throw the ball, you reject from the Planet of the Apes!"

Storm Eagle had an irritated expression on his beaky face. He was leaning on a lightweight baseball bat, waiting for Sparky's pitch. Playing baseball in the main hallway of Maverick HQ was a creative and fun way to pass time. Not a smart one, but still fun.

"Oh...sorry Eagle!" Spark Mandrill said a bit sheepishly. Then a dreamy smile crept up his mouth. "I was just thinking...of the glory days. Remember when there were no Hunters to interfere with our fun? Remember the destruction and killing? The screams, the shouts, the pleads for mercy? I tell you...those were the days!"

Toxic Seahorse was also present in the hall as a fielder. "Spark, my man, you suuuure bring back a lot of good memories. The Wonder Years will always have a place in my black, corrupt soul. But unfortunately, that's what they are. Memories."

"Well, maybe not." Said Sparky, who was always optimistic. "According to Vile, that new Maverick, Hellfire, is supposed to change things around over time."

"Vile!" Eagle snorted the name contemptuously. "He thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread." Storm Eagle mimicked Vile's dark voice, throwing in a bit of a girly - squeal to it for spice. "Sigma! Let ME go after X and Zero! I won't fail you! I mean, I've ONLY been thrashed by them twice! But now I have the Goliath to hide behind, like the chickenguts that I am!"

The Mavericks in the room erupted into laughter. Eagle beamed. "Thank you, thank you. I know you love me. No applause needed, just send money."

Toxic Seahorse stopped laughing abruptly. He cocked his slender head to one side. "Shhh!" He hissed. "Someone's coming!"

The other Mavericks heard metallic footsteps echo in the hall as someone approached the band. The footsteps were clunky, uneven, and made a lot of noise. Only one Maverick walked like that.

"Wheel Gator!" Storm Eagle greeted the leviathan. Storm Eagle knew how much Vile picked on the big reptile, so he made an effort to be extra nice to Gator. "What brings you here?"

Gator flashed his 264 - tooth smile at the Mavericks. He was holding a crumpled paper. "Hey everyone. Storm Eagle..remember how you told me that I shouldn't keep my stress and troubles locked inside me?"

Storm Eagle nodded. That had been true. "Yes."

"So you told me to write down my fears and anxieties in a creative, expressive way to help me feel better about myself?"

"Uh huh."

"Well...I did! I made a little poem out of my troubles. When I wrote it down, I felt a lot more confident. Can I read it to you all?"

The Mavericks shrugged. They had nothing better to do.

"Okay.." Wheel Gator took a deep breath and began.

ODE TO VILE by Wheel S. Gator

Vile is mean. Yes, mean! You heard me!

He is the Devil. He is Kaiser Sosaie.

For example, I was just sitting in the rec room yesterday, minding my own business, when he comes in and smacks me over the head REALLY hard, for no apparent reason whatsoever! Then he punched me in the stomach.

I was in pain. I was coughing up blood, and he was laughing! Laughing!

DAMN YOU VILE! DAMN YOU TO HELL!

The End.

Eagle didn't know quite how to react to Gator's passionate poem, which contained no rhyme or reason. He raised his eyebrows under his blue and red helmet.

"Um...very...nice Gator. Very good. You'd better not let Vile see that, though."

Gator snapped his massive jaws together. A nervous habit of his. "I won't."

Three heavy knocks landed on the massive door to the fortress. The Mavericks all jumped at the sudden sound. They exchanged surprised glances.

"Guests?" Muttered Flame Stag.

Toxic Seahorse shook his crested head. "I don't think so."

Spark Mandrill was looking at the door, apparently in deep thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with hope. "Maybe it's Sigma!"

"I don't think Sigma would just knock on the door if he returned." Flame Stag said doubtfully.

Sparky frowned at the metallic stag. "Do you have to put a damper on everything?"

"It's probably a salesman." Eagle grumbled. "But Babykins should have made lunchmeat out of him ages ago, if that's the case. Maybe she's getting old, and her hearing's going..."

The knock sounded again, louder than before.

"Well, SOMEONE answer the door, or I'm gonna have to start whuppin' some asses!" Eagle announced, glaring at each of the Mavericks. "If it's a beggar, just give him a time bomb and send him on his way."

Sparky irritably stomped over to the gate. He took ahold of the heavy wooden doors, and opened them just slightly. He stuck his ugly head out to whoever was standing outside.

"Hello. We don't want any --"

His words were cut off by the sound of plasma striking dense metal. Then there was a gore - choked scream from the ape. The Mavericks watched in horror as Sparky, now missing an arm and covered with plasma wounds, staggered back from the door, which swung open wider to reveal two Maverick Hunters, and one human Huntress. The warriors had no - nonsense looks on their faces, and they brandished weapons. They obviously had not come for a spot of tea.

The Mavericks that were present were terrified out of their small minds. They were not armed. They didn't have sufficient battle armour. Did they flee? No. That would have made too much sense. Instead, they sat there, gawking stupidly at the Angels of Death. It was Storm Eagle who brought the evil reploids back to their senses. He took wing, and hovered above the stunned group.

"Don't just stand there like an oil painting!" He shrieked.

"Someone...HURT them!"

Panic - stricken and unarmed, Toxic Seahorse made a noble effort. He tore off the midnight - blue baseball cap he was wearing and hurled it at the Hunters, in hopes that soft cloth and foam would damage the fighters, or at least scare them away. Seahorse's deadly cap fell in the middle of the room with a soft plop. He was rewarded for his gallant actions with a plasma shot from X. The blast of energy struck the animal squarely in the chest. He tumbled backward over and over like an acrobat preforming a show, until he came to rest against the far wall, where lay was still.

The chaos prevailed.

Attacking unarmed Mavericks was like shooting fish in a barrel. X and Forrest took care of most of them with their plasma cannons, while Celeste sliced up a few of them with her lightsabre. The Mavericks tried to flee in every direction, bashing into walls, as well as each other. Storm was still circling above the room like a devil - bird after its prey. The whole time he was screaming out orders that absolutely no one listened to.

"Why!?" X heard him screech. "Why is this happening!? What happened to those half - wits, Violen and Neon Tiger? They were supposed to be monitoring the Maverick property! THEY were supposed to tell us when you idiot Hunters were coming, so we'd be ready! We're NOT ready! Go away! Come back when we ARE ready! Don't call us, we'll call you."

"Nah, we won't be doin'' that," X remarked casually as he powered up his arm cannon and aimed it at the foul fowl (sorry, BAD pun. Couldn't resist!). A deadly spear of white energy leapt from his weapon, and tore right through Eagle's feathery right wing. Eagle swore in pain, and pumped his charred wings madly in a futile effort to remain airborne. Before very long, his badly damaged wings fell apart in the air, spilling Eagle to the ground with a hollow clang. He lay there silently.

X was surprised to look up from the reploid bird's smoking corpse and see that the dark stone hallway was littered with the bodies of dead Mavericks. Black circulatory fluids spattered the walls like crazy modern art, and collected in pools on the stone floor of the main hallway. Twisted, smoking Maverick parts lay strewn about. Forrest wiped off some circulatory fluid that had gathered on him through the battle, and brushed off his hands.

"Boy I'm hungry!" He commented cheerfully.

A small, trembling whine sounded from behind X. He whipped around in alarm.

There stood the two last live Mavericks...Flame Stag and Wheel Gator. Flame Stag looked at the bodies of his fallen comrades in silent regret. Then he looked up at the Hunters and cut them a dirty look. He wished that he had his weapons to toast them all on the spot; but Vile had commanded Stag some time ago to deactivate his flaming weapons while inside the fortress, after Stag had nearly burned the building down no less than three times. The main hallway, X noticed then, branched into three smaller corridors. Flame Stag suddenly turned tail and ran down the middle corridor with unworldly grace.

This left Wheel Gator - Still clutching 'Ode to Vile' against his huge chest - standing there all alone, shaking and looking like a motherless child. He had emitted the whining sound earlier, and he echoed it as he turned and galloped clumsily down the corridor next to the one Flame Stag had fled down.

Forrest started to follow the reptile, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed how hesitant X and Celeste were to follow him. "Come on!" He shouted to them. His voice seemed to bounce off the stone walls of the empty room eerily. "He's probably gone to tell Vile that we're here. He should be easy to follow...when that guy runs, he sounds like a heard of goddam elephants!"

"Forrest, we don't know for sure if Gator is headed towards Vile," X reasoned with the silver reploid. "Flame Stag may just as well have been on his way to see him, too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Forrest muttered, giving in. "So the question is, WHO do we follow to get to Vile?" Forrest tapped his boot on the cold stone floor. His glance went from one dark corridor to the other. "Guess it's time to use my Maverick Hunter scout training," Forrest grinned. He covered his eyes with one hand, and thrust the other out, pointing to the mammoth door of the Maverick's Fortress. With that, he spun around three times in a whirl of platinum, chanting, "My mother told me to pick this one.", before he came to a halt. Dizzy, and slightly nauseous, he removed the hand that was covering his eyes. When he found that his outstretched hand was pointing to the passage that Stag had escaped down, he nodded in satisfaction. He motioned to the other Hunters. "This way. We'll follow Flame Stag."

X started forward, but Celeste fell back suddenly. "Oh man...my head...I'm dizzy....guys, give me a second, will you?"

X ran back to Celeste in alarm. "What's wrong? Are you allright?"

Celeste slumped weakly against the wa ll. "I'm fine." She said after a minute. "I guess I should have taken it easy while fighting those Mavericks." She shook her head, and the dizziness seemed to clear. "Forget about me. Let's go find Vile and give him what for!"

Just a few minutes later, the Hunters and the Huntress were walking down Stag's escape route. It was a rather nasty place. The corridor was made of nothing but crude, grey stone. Because they were so close together, the short walls seemed to swallow up any sound. And it was DARK. Celeste couldn't see a thing. But since X was able to see quite well in the void, he lead the party, walking about ten meters ahead. Occasionally, he would call back to the others to warn about pitfalls, turns, etc. Forrest walked alongside Celeste. The passage was so narrow that there was barely room for the both of them to walk shoulder - to - shoulder. The tunnel seemed to have no end, and Celeste was beginning to become annoyed with the constant dripping that sounded in the long chamber. It played a monotone note that really got on her nerves. She decided to break the uneasy silence by talking to Forrest.

"I hope Zero's okay."

Even in the pressing darkness, Celeste knew that Forrest was looking at her with surprise. "Why's that? I never knew you were that concerned about him."

Celeste remembered just then that Forrest hadn't been around MHHQ long enough to get to know the history of everyone. "Zero is one of my closest friends. There's a bit of a story to the reason why. Basically, he saved my life." Forrest didn't press on and ask 'how'? Like Celeste had been hoping. So she said, "Want to hear how?"

Forrest laughed out of the blackness. "Of course I do. I would have asked you, but I didn't want to be nosy."

Celeste smiled. "Alrighty then. When I was about 19, I lived with my parents in a nice little neighbourhood. It was crowed, but a neat place to live nonetheless. Then came the day that the good old Mavericks declared war on the humans. There had been rumours going around my community that stated that the Mavericks were planning on attacking our area." Celste paused for a dramatic effect. "The rumours were right, unfortunately. It was only a matter of time before my mother woke me up in the middle of the night to say we were going to be attacked by Mavericks. She had me get dressed, and come outside. It was quiet outside, I remember. The night was extremely still. There was no hint of attacking Mavericks in the area, yet everyone seemed nervous. There, along with my family and several other residents of the neighbourhood, were three Maverick Hunters, claiming they were ready to guide us to the safety of Maverick Hunter HQ. We followed them, not know ing what else the hell to do. But then the idiots take us right into Maverick occupied territory." Celeste snorted. "I don't think they MEANT to do that. I think it was just raw stupidity in all it's glory that made them accidentally lead us to a death trap. Panic began to rise among us when we saw the Mavericks' symbol posted all over the city clearing we were huddled in. Do you know what a heard of panicked humans is like? It's not nice. Forrest, before I fought that raptor back there, I had ne ver been so freak ed in all my damned life. It seemed that no matter where I turned, the Mavericks' crest met my eyes. It was everywher e, harshly reminding me of what I was...a weak human who had no right of being in Maverick territory. I was sure that if the Mavericks found us, it was over. All of us knew that death trailed a Maverick like an evil shadow.

"It was only a matter of time before I saw three small pairs of illuminated reploid eyes glaring at me. Two more pairs lit up beside them. Before long, we were completely surrounded. A blue wolflike reploid stepped out of the shadows. His glance went from the worried Hunters to the group of us humans. Gruffly, he asked us our business. But what could be said about two Hunters and a pathetic pack of humans. One of the Hunters raised his arm cannon at the lupine, but before he could even fire, the wolf pounced at him as if he were little more than a mouse. The Hunter was slashed up rather quickly. As if on signal, two other wolf Mavericks leapt out of the darkness and took care of the other Hunters. By now, the humans, now guideless, were in a panic. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to get out of there and go home. So, not thinking, I tried to tackle the lead wolf. He grabbed me and raised me off the ground with one arm, laughing. I fought, but couldn't break the wolf's hold. There was only one solution...I bit the jerk right on his arm. Celeste grinned at the memory. "He howled in what I hope was severe pain, and dropped me sure enough. But I barely had time to hit the ground before the wolf shot me in the arm with his plasma cannon. I'm sure you've been shot with an arm cannon before." Celeste told Forrest. "I don't know if getting shot as a reploid is the same as getting shot as a human, but let me tell you this; my arm hurt like a bastard. I'd never felt such pain in all my life. I could only lie there, curled up, crying. I knew that the wolf was standing over me, ready to finish me off. He raised his head and howled in triumph...but with is howl mingled a far - off war cry. In bare seconds, a certain red reploid with blonde hair raced onto the scene followed shortly by his well - known blue friend.. The wolves yelped in terror and tried to hide. While some got away, others - like my captor - were blown into neat little bite sized pieces. I don't remember much at this point. I was delirious. But I remembered that the blonde haired reploid was kneeling beside me, gently telling me to keep still and as calm as possible. He said his name was Zero, and he and his friend, X, were Maverick Hunters. He said that I was badly hurt, but I would be okay. He assured me that no one else was badly injured.

"Needless to say, I ended up in the hospital to get my arm fixed up. But Zero stayed with me most of the time to make sure I was alright. After I had recovered from my little Maverick attack, I was taken to Maverick Hunter HQ, where the rest of my family and neighbours were holing up until we could go back to our houses (which WERE destroyed by Mavericks, by the way). It was during that time that I discovered I would make a good Huntress. So I stayed at the HQ and trained. The rest is history."

Forrest yawned. "Nice story. Sorta cute. So you and Zero have been close friends ever since, huh?"

Celeste was about to respond when X's far - off voice echoed back to her.

"There's a light up ahead! Get ready for whatever is waiting for us there."