Phoenix stood just outside of the blinding yellow force field that encased the Mavericks' HQ. She seemed unaffected by the awesome illumination that the field was giving off, unlike her "assistant," the behemoth of an X - Hunter, Violen, who was muttering complaints about the heat and glare. Phoenix ignored his griping, and smiled in anticipation. The security force field would keep X and Zero from teleporting with ease into the HQ. They would have to come here by foot like anyone else....and she'd be ready for them when they did...or so she hoped.

Phoenix's breathing was shallow. She'd better get ready. "Violen!" She barked. Violen stopped rubbing his sore eyes, and grunted a response.

"Violen, have you got the Nullifier ready?" Phoenix asked harshly.

Violen grinned hugely. "Like, of course!!" He held up a small vial, containing a clear liquid.

Nullifier...the worst enemy of Reploid or Human. A shot of it would attack your CNS and/or CPU, knocking you unconscious for a good while. Even when you came to, you'd be extremely woozy, unable to move. It slowed your thinking process, making you rather calm most of the time. In other words, it was nasty to be stuck with one if an enemy was in pursuit.

Phoenix was impressed. She was surprised Violen hadn't lost it or spilled it. It was expensive stuff. "Attaboy, Vio." She praised him. "Load it into the dart gun, and don't do something stupid, like stick yourself with it. 'Kay?"

Phoenix fluttered her wings and paced about. She was growing restless. Soon enough, the Hunters would be showing their ugly faces in the area.

Phoenix's predictions were right. Not far away, Zero was trooping along to the Maverick's HQ, muttering bitterly the whole way. He was walking instead of using his traditional long-range Rocket Dash. He wasn't in the mood to sprint merrily. To make things worse, he couldn't teleport to the Mavericks' HQ because of a force field surrounding the place. The Mavericks were smarter than Zero had given them credit for.

Zero was thinking about what he had done to X. "X is an idiot to get so worked up about that stupid CD of his," he grumbled. "With the way he played that thing every day, at window - shattering volume...I think I saved the world from going deaf. Besides, with the vocabulary on that noisemaker, you couldn't bring a child within 100 feet of MH HQ....."

Zero pulled himself out of his thoughts. He noticed for the first time that he was very much alone...and he was getting close to MHQ. No enemies charged him or pursued him. It was kinda eerie. "What am I supposed to do at MHQ?" He mourned. " Challenge Vile? Wait for X...? No, wait, X is probably halfway to China by now with the direction HE was going in. Guess I'm on my own." Zero drew a deep breath to steady himself. He couldn't believe that he was Šscared. Damned emotions. What good where they on a robot? Zero drew his lightsabre to comfort him, the way a child holds a teddy bear. He felt better, and marched towards MHQ.

Phoenix was sure she had seen some movement far south of her. Could it be the Hunters?

"Pssst! Vio!" She hissed, nudging the sleepy monster. Violen woke with such a start that he nearly shot the nullifier into his own foot.

"Wha - wuzzat? Huh?"

Phoenix leaned closer to Violen. "Tell me if that's the Hunters down south of us, will you?"

Violen was wide awake now. He shielded his eyes from the glare of the force field and started to look around madly.

"No, my dim witted friend." Phoenix sighed, as she grabbed Vio's massive shoulders and spun him around. "South is THAT way."

"I knew that, " Vio grunted. He squinted to the moving shadow south of him. "Well, I'll be a pansy - assed human!" He said, amused. "It's the Hunters....but there's only one of them.....!?"