Flame Stag ran. And ran. And then for variety, he ran some more. Finally, he burst through the end of the narrow corridor he had been running down, into a very large, hexagonal shaped room that was perfectly empty. Vile had vowed several times that he was going to furnish that area, and perhaps make it into a nifty little parlour. Nothing had become of that, however, and it looked like nothing would in the near future; Vile was about to have bigger things to worry about.

Here, Flame Stag dared to take a brief rest. Although he was accustomed to running at breakneck speeds, his lungs now felt like they were being rubbed with sandpaper. Dashing through a dark hallway was murder. Stag had bashed into more than one of the walls, which had caused him quite a few 'ouchies'. He slouched against the cool, tiled wall, gasping greedily for air. His sharp ears could pick up the sounds of the Hunters in the dank, black corridor he had just fled down. They were coming closer...and closer...and when they got here, they would probably...but Stag prefered not to think such nasty things right then. He sternly reminded himself that he had rested for longer than he had originally planned. He had to reach Vile before the Hunters did at all costs! The south end of the giant room had just one exit. Another corridor. Stag was pretty sure that Vile was beyond that blackness. Sighing, Stag plunged into the dark mouth of the exit and continued his mad sprint, showing no mercy on his exhausted systems.

Vile, Phoenix and Overdrive Ostrich had been filled with new confidence for their war against the humans. They blustered in a small room about their plans to expand their armies and resume the planned genocide of the species they hated so much. Hellfire stood with them, listening silently. Hellfire was truly a nightmare of metal and plasma now; he had not trained very much in the art of fighting since his activation, but he could still certainly give any of the Mavericks a run for their money. He was still a little shy and timid, but very dangerous. The scary part was, Hellfire had only discovered about a fraction of what he REALLY could do. Vile mentioned that he wished to teach the grey newcomer exactly what kind of powers he possessed before the war resumed.

"Ah yes, genocide and holocaust." Vile sighed blissfully. "How fun this will be! Just like Sigma wanted it! I hope you're watching me from down there, old buddy! Maybe you can return again..." There was a low sounding cough from behind Vile. Vile turned around in utter surprise. There was a hunched over, panting figure coming near him that claimed to be Flame Stag. It looked more like a shapeless mass of metal and fur. Vile eyed the creature suspiciously.

"You say you are Flame Stag?"

"I AM Flame Stag, milord." The creature croaked.

"What's the password?" Phoenix now challenged the figure.

"Aw maaann...."

"Come on, now. Can't be too careful with all those weirdos around."

Flame Stag sighed. He was forced to give in. "'Lord Vile is the greatest. He holds the sun and moon. We all wish we could be more like lord Vile."'

Vile gave a smug little grin from behind his cowl. "The password checks out. He's Flame Stag. What news to you bring us, Oh Hoofed One?" Vile was in an exceptionally good mood. Stag cringed slightly when he realised that would not last much longer.

"There are Hunters in the building, sir. X, Celeste, and some new fellow. They killed a lot of my comrades, but I managed to escape. In fact, the Hunters are right behind me. I had to run my fastest to get here and give you a warning in enough time. But there might not BE enough time."

Vile was silent for a terrible second. Finally he spoke. "What?!"

"There are Hunters in the building -- "

"I HEARD you the FIRST time, you ijit!" Vile snarled. What I want to know is WHAT are they DOING here!? And how did they defeat you all so easily?"

"We were...uh...unarmed. And unarmoured. Most of us had accumulated in the front hall for a game of...baseball when they burst through the front door."

"WH - AT!?"

"We were unarmed and --" Stag began to repeat patiently. Vile kicked the ungulate's shin in frustration. Stag howled in pain and doubled over. Vile was in a frenzy. "What happened to Neon Tiger and Violen!? Why didn't they warn you people that there were Hunters in the vicinity of the fortress? And what happened to Babykins? I thought she was our ultimate security."

"Vile sir...this was supposed to remain a secret between me and them...a secret between pals. They...uh, how do I say this...?" Flame Stag coughed.

"Tell me, or I'll have you torn apart and flushed down like a dead goldfish!" Vile roared. He was clearly no longer in the mood for games. Following that threat, Stag found his voice quickly.

"Sir, Violen and Simba..er, I mean, Neon Tiger, found out that the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' was playing in the city of Kapcom. They disguised themselves and went to...take part in the festivities."

If anyone in the room had been able to see beyond the dark opening of Vile's mask, they would have seen the reploid turn some pretty ugly shades of angry red.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing! I just CAN'T believe what I'm hearing!" Vile repeated over and over.

Flame Stag dared to try to make excuses for his friends. "Sir, I understand you are upset. But Ed Dickenson was playing as Rocky, and you know how much Tigger and Vio love that actor..."

Vile jumped angrily from one foot to the other. "Listen to me!" He bellowed so loud that the walls in the petite room shook. "I couldn't care less if the Pope himself was playing as Dr. Scott! I told those jerks to watch over our property in case the Hunters attacked! I did NOT give them permission to go out and cross - dress and 'Time Warp' the evening away!"

Phoenix tried to calm down the hot - headed Maverick. "You can't really blame them, Vile. Nobody, myself included, thought that the Hunters would get beyond our force field."

Vile would not be cooled. "I CAN blame them, and I AM blaming them! Argh! Am I the only one who sees what is going to happen here? We'll be slaughtered like cattle, and I don't think anyone's going to sing any ballads for us! What happened to Babykins? Does anyone know?"

"I, uh...assume she's dead, milord." Flame Stag squeaked. "It's my guess that the Hunters killed her."

"Oh, GREAT. That just HAD to happen right after I spent a fortune on getting her fixed and vaccinated!"

Overdrive Ostrich blanched. Vile's mood was souring as rapidly as milk left out on a hot day. "Now, sir." He said briskly. "Don't worry about Babykins. I can make you a new dinosaur...this one will be bigger and better!"

Vile responded to Overdrive's gracious offer by wheeling around and pounding his powerful fist on the wall. "Don't insult my intelligence, Overdrive!" He snarled. "I may not know nearly as much of that genetics junk as you do, but I sure as hell know that dinosaur DNA isn't something you just pick up at the corner store for a dollar ninety - nine. We're screwed! I'm not ready for this attack I wasn't warned in enough time to recruit more Mavericks. Flame Stag, quickly go to the control room and turn off the force field. It needs to be down in case we have to flee. Then come back here." Flame Stag quickly departed to do as he was told.

"Whoa, hey WHOA! Let's pause, boys and girls!" Phoenix shouted, making the 'time out' sign. "Vile, PLEASE calm down! You really don't seem to realise what a golden opportunity we have here." She pulled Vile aside, and lowered her voice to a near - whisper. "We have one of X's best friends here." She jerked her head towards Hellfire's direction. "Could you imagine how much it's gonna crush X and that miserable pet human of his when they see Zero as a Maverick? And then...we convince Hellfire that the Hunters mean him harm. What will it be like to see X destroy his bestest buddy?"

A slow smile worked its way to Vile's unseen face. Phoenix knew that the Maverick leader more than agreed with her plan. However, Vile found a glitch in it.

"Hellfire's a very good fighter," He noted, "but he's not quite ready for a veteran Hunter like X. I don't really want to put Hellfire through this quite yet."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Phoenix reasoned with him. "Besides, WILL X and Celeste attack their friend, or will they just stand there, refusing to fight, until Hellfire slashes them to bits? Come on, it'll be fuuun!" Phoenix coaxed.

Finally, Vile had to give in. "Alrighty then. Here's the plan; I'll go with Hellfire to meet up with the Hunters in that big, empty room. (It WILL be a parlour some day! I swear it!) If our timing's right, both our parties should arrive in the room at about the same time. That way, Hellfire will have plenty of room to fight. Here's what you will do. Just hide in the corridor that links these rooms. Keep an eye on the battle. If, by some great miracle of God, the Hunters should win the fight, you and Stag will set this place on fire, then teleport out with me and Overdrive. Hopefully the Hunters will be trapped in here. You never know, their teleporters could malfunction or something."

Phoenix nodded and slapped Vile on his back. "Good plan, Stan! I wish us luck! Here's to the end of the humans!"

"Ayuh!"

The bright light in the large hexagonal room stabbed Celeste's eyes painfully when she first walked into it from the dark corridor. She was having a hard time adjusting to the sudden change. Although she was temporarily blinded, she could hear X's threatening voice confronting someone before him. So she knew that there was going to be action soon. That was very good. She was itching for a fight. Celeste rubbed her spotted eyes, and squinted to see who challenged X. As soon as she saw who it was, however, her fighting spirit died, and was replaced by icy fear.

"Vile!?"

Upon hearing his name, the lone purple reploid looked over X to face the human.

"Heydli - ho, neighbour!" He said with all possible cheerfulness. "The Lord has certainly given us a wonderful day for a fight, hasn't He? It's too bad you won't be around to enjoy it."

"You're going to fight all three of us alone?" Celeste said with a small laugh, unsheathing her lightsabre.

Vile pretended to be shocked. "Alone? Certainly not, dear one! I respect the fighting skills of you and X much more than that." Vile paused and stood on his tip - toes to get a glance of Forrest. "And just who are you?" He growled.

Forrest glowered. He wasn't about to tell a Maverick leader what his REAL name was, unless he wanted the leader to die with laughter.

"I am...Cornholio."

Vile tilted his head slightly, as if trying to get a better view of the platinum reploid. "All right then, buddy. Now where was I..." Vile turned his attention back to Celeste.

"So, human!" He said cheerfully. Ready to die? Of course you realise, once YOU'RE gone, I'm not going to stop there. I don't plan to rest until your whole race is destroyed. Why do you people bother to fight? You've messed up this world enough...it's time for the reploids to take over, don'tchya think?"

A low growl was the only response from Celeste.

"You don't agree with me, human? You don't agree with me that this planet is almost inhabitable now because of your kind? Every other species on this planet respects the delicate and crucial balance between biotic potential and environmental restraint...except yours. As a result, this planet has become overpopulated and half of the humans in the world are starving. Valuable resources are almost gone. Plus, you people are constantly fighting amongst yourselves. The reploids can create a new, peaceful world once you humans are gone, Celeste. And we won't make the same mistakes you did."

"Quit the dramatics, Vile." Celeste flourished her lightsabre. "Either fight, or shut up."

"Typical human...always lusting for blood. I assume it was either you or one of the Hunters who killed my raptor, Babykins?"

Celeste grinned wickedly. She was ready to have some fun with Vile before she fought. "That was me. Raptorsbane, the Lizard Queen. That little creature of yours was no match for me, of course."

"Of course," Vile said in a light, almost friendly tone. "But let me tell you what WILL be a challenge..."

Vile threw out his arms as if he was about to embrace the Hunters, tilted his helmeted head back, and bellowed:

"Hellfire! Come on doooown!"

A Maverick stepped out of the black maw of the corridor behind Vile. Celeste rubbed her eyes again. She was sure she was still blinded, because that Maverick seemed to look almost exactly like....