[[ Cosmo Canyon - Cosmo Candle ]]

Spider is lounging by the fire as per usual, but something seems slightly... off. A wider grin, perhaps, or a faint malicious sparkle in those deep red eyes...

Marino wanders in to the area, he quickly picks out Spider in the distance, but before waving to him, stops in her tracks and notices his un-suave appearance.

Axl is equally casual by the light of the fire, eyes closed and looking oddly... meditative, considering who it is.

Spider waves to Marino. "Hey, cutie." Maybe he -hasn't- changed, then.

Marino also takes notice to Axl's appearance by the light. Being announced by Spider, she descide to move closer. "Hey yourself".

Spider says 'Find any interesting treasure around here yet?'

Marino nods slightly, keeping Axl in the corner of her eye. "A big-game item infact, probably the best find in a lifetime"

Axl perks up, leaning a little closer and looking interested. He seems more like himself now, but he sure is quiet...

Spider also looks interested. "What is it? Force Metal, perhaps...?"

Marino says 'Better then anything a Force Metal could grant you.'

Spider says '...Tell me.'

Marino places one hand on her hip, slanting slightly for a seductive pose (It's in her programming). "It is known as the Limited-Chip, from what I heard it was fold inside a meteor when it struck down-".

Spider says 'Where is it...?'

Marino says 'It is probably just rumors, but some have come in contact with it and have said to now have super natural abilities... for a Reploid!'

Axl casts a skeptical glare in Marino's direction, glancing to Spider briefly in a 'don't do it, you idiot, it's a trick' kind of way. "Oh yeah? Why haven't any of us heard of it, then?"

Marino says 'One case is a Reploid actually regenerating it's body completely from nothing due to it.'

Marino waves off Axl. "Not my fault if you are out of the loop".

Spider says 'Where -is- it...?'

Spider speaks with quiet intensity...

Axl strengthens his glare at Marino for a moment before noticing his action and looking back to the fire before his out-of-character behavior is even -more- evident.

Marino says 'Dunno exactly, somewhere in these mountains the crash site is, but it is said to be protect by this large creature.'

Marino says 'But like I said, it is probably a rumor.'

Spider says 'It's worth sending a team to investigate, at least.'

Marino says 'Give it a go, I'm not messing up my hair over it.'

Marino says 'If the creature is protecting it, no doubt it is using the Limited-Chip's power.'

Marino says 'Anyways, enough about ghost stories, what have you two been doing? Still fighting turtles?'

Marino giggles.

Spider says 'Pretty much, yeah.'

Marino looks towards Axl. "Any word from Zero or X?".

Axl suddenly stares at the fire more intently for several moments, then faces Marino with a markedly put-upon smile. "Nothing from Zero, but X is here! 'bout time, too!"

Marino smiles at Axl warmly. "That's good to hear. I can' wait to see him".

Axl nods quickly, more to hide a change in his expression than to actually agree with Marino. /I can't wait, either.../

Spider is idly fiddling with one of his fortune cards, still somehow off...

Marino looks at the two, then slowly looks around.

Axl is still looking at the fire, huddled up in a little ball, though even though the familiarity of this, something still looks wrong. For one thing, he's staring -directly- into the fire. Anyone with half a brain wouldn't do that.

Marino steps back once one of her hands slowly moving behind her towards her weapon hilt. "So, see anything interesting in this world yet?"

Spider grins. "Lots of cute girls, for one. And not a single decent poker player."

Axl keeps a careful eye on Marino. "...er... there aren't any guns around?"

Marino says 'What about that Signas fellow?'

Spider says 'Signas? He can't play poker to save his life, if that's what you mean.'

Spider says 'Also can't hold a drink...'

Marino says 'Where has he been lately?'

Spider says 'Training his troops, mostly.'

Axl doesn't make a comment on Signas, oddly enough...

Marino says 'Hey, mind if I borrow one of your Force-Metals? I seem to have misplaced my spare.'

Spider clenches his fist. "...You have force metal...?"

Marino says 'Of course, three, used to be 4.'

Spider says '...Could I borrow one...? I lost mine in the fall here...'

Marino says 'What about you Axl?'

Axl shrugs a little. "None here, sorry." His gaze is still intent on Marino's weapon hilt and how dangerously close her hand is to it...

Marino uses her free hand to motion to Spider to come to her. "Alright then".

Spider gets up and walks over, an odd look in his eyes...

Marino unslots one of her Force-Metals but then 'accidentally' drops it. "Oops, let me get that" she kneels down then to pick it up and some rocks in one swoop.

Spider waits, fairly patiently, considering.

Axl stands, glaring quite intently now as he discreetly readies his own weapon..

Marino says 'So do you miss Giga City, Spider?'

Spider shrugs. "I suppose..." His eyes narrow a little. "Now, could I have the Force Metal...?'

Marino ponders a moment. "Yeah I miss Giga City too.."

Marino says 'It makes me realize how safe it was compared to most places..'

Marino holds out her hand to Spider, her visor going over her eyes. "It was better then here".

Spider takes the hand (force metal with it?) and shrugs. "Turtles are better than Mavericks."

Axl recognizes the visor going down and immediately fires off a shot at Marino's shoulder, trying to distract her before she can attack...

Marino tilts her body from where the shot flew over as a delayed reaction. "I knew something was up..."

Spider backs away, clutching his prize. "The hell, Axl?!"

Axl immediately follows with a low sprint, trying to get around to Marino's back. He doesn't bother keeping up his 'normal' look now that he's been found out, his armor fading back to white and purple. "Well, well, aren't -we- clever?"

Marino backs off from Spider, openning her hand revealing (da dum) the force-metal, so meaning that in Spider's hand is (buran-buran) the rocks.

Marino slots her metal back in, and withdraws her weapon. "So who are you both, really?"

Spider looks annoyed, his own form becoming enveloped in white light, clearing to reveal... Redips. ((Too lazy to charaswitch hoorj))

Marino says 'Redips?! But aren't you X's contact?'

Spider says 'Feh. It was easy enough to fool you all.'

Axl steps around behind Marino, leveling his rather antiquated gun(yay for Shrike) just close enough to the back of Marino's neck to let her know it's there. "And don't worry about me, I'm still the same..."

You say 'But let's just say I got to know my brother a little better.'

Marino says 'Brother?'

Marino says 'You two are brothers?'

Spider says '...Well, sort of. But he means a different one.'

Axl sighs, rolling his eyes. "No, no, he's got nothing to do with me." He pushes the happy end of his gun against Marino's neck to emphesize his coming point. "Really, how many of you -are- there that haven't heard of me?"

Marino throws her weapon away. "Why is all I want to know"

Spider says 'It's all a matter of evolution, dear Marino... the strong will conquer the weak.'

Marino says 'It still doesn't make sense, you are backstabbing all of your friends for Maverick ideals, and you Axl... I don't know where to begin!'

Axl smirks, keeping his gun in place. "Maverick... Everyone turns to that -label- when they can't understand someone's true intentions." He leans in closer, nearly whispering. "All I want to do is have a peaceful world without any interference from those base, degraded old-models. Not to mention those -filthy- humans..."

Marino says 'Reploids are labeled Maverick when they go against Humans, but you are a Hunter, you know more about that then I do Axl.'

Spider has quietly drawn his batons and now crosses them, the two Red Hubcaps appearing. "We were both Hunters, remember? But we realized the truth...

Marino glares at Redips a bit teary eyed(aww). "I don't even know you anymore, so just Delete yourself!".

Spider smirks faintly, raising the baton. "How cute. You cared for Spider, didn't you...?"

Axl pushes his gun even harder against Marino's neck, his tone as smooth and deceiving as ever. "Sorry, but I can't let him do that. He's just awakened, I can't lose him now."

Marino says 'Axl this is not you!'

Axl grins madly, voice rising in a manic bout of laughter. "Well -DONE-! And here's your prize for being -so- cognitive!" Briefly scanning Marino's DNA data, he moves his gun and fires off a shot against her back, just below the lower extreme of her reactor.

Marino is sent forward from the blast onto the ground, her body showing signs of failure.

Spider steps forward, looming over Marino. "It's almost sad... If Spider had just stayed away from the copy chip, maybe you two could've been happy together. Works out better for me, though..." He prepares to swing the baton-thingie.

Axl steps up and takes Redips' baton-wielding hand in his own, keeping it suspended in the air. "Wait. We don't need to take her out completely just yet."

Spider says '...She could tell the others. She's a threat.'

Axl offers a sly grin accompanied by a twisted sense of reassurance. "Tell the others and gather them in one place, you mean. We could take them all out at once."

Spider pauses for a moment, then nods. "...Alright. But let me do one thing..."

Axl steps to the side, gesturing towards Marino with a casual wave of a hand. "Be my guest."

Spider kneels by her side, grabbing the Force Metal she unslotted and slotting it in himself, smiling momentraily before straightening. "Finally..."

"Yes, yes..." Axl pats the taller Redips on the shoulder comfortingly a few times. "Of course the addict needs his fix." He glances around briefly, his gaze stopping on the Starlet Tavern. "...We'll put her in there. On the higher floor."

Spider looks somewhat annoyed. "I am -not- addicted."

Axl hefts Marino over his shoulder with a bit of effort, nodding in mock acknowledgement. "Of course you aren't." He starts casually floating towards the bar, with or without Redips in tow.

Spider follows behind, returning to his usual calm now...

[[ Cosmo Canyon - Starlet Pub ]]

Axl drops Marino unceremoniously on the floor(probably to the innkeeper's chagrin), pushing her against the far wall. He crosses his arms in consideration, looking to the locked door next to him.

Spider smiles brightly at the innkeeper. "She drank one too many Starlet Fires. Ended up in a bit of a brawl."

Axl peers closer at the door, huddling over the doorknob...

Redips gives you the Shildra Suite Card.

Axl hefts Marino up again, walking into the room...

[[ Cosmo Canyon - A Room ]]

Axl slips the card somewhere conspicuous on Marino's person after placing her on a bed, nodding. "That should do for now." Funny how he neglects to notice the gunshot wound...

Redips looks annoyed. "And I had plans, too... I was going to wait until -after- the koopas were gone, then declare Signas' division traitorous while I sent them after a nonexistant base. That's not going to work now, I suppose... Might as well find that Vava fellow and tell him so."

Axl blinks, considering the plan for a minute... then grumbles and shoves Redips. "Well, if you would have just -told- me about that, I wouldn't have pulled this! That's brilliant, you idiot!"

Redips glares down at Axl. "I wasn't expecting her to realize, damnit! And plus, I was rather distracted while -you- decided to go trigger-happy!"

Axl glares right back up at Redips, not quite as intimidating as he'd like to be. "Well, excuse -me- for noticing she was about to stab you!"

Redips says 'We could've found another way to deal with it! Accuse her of being Maverick and attacking her friends! Shooting is not the answer to everything!'

Axl maintains his glare on Redips for a moment longer, then turns around and looks at his hands. "...It's because of this. That imbecilic prototype's obsession with ordinance is still there... I can't do anything like this. Not like I usually can."

Redips says '...Don't know what to tell you, but... the problem can still be fixed. It'd still be easy to take her out. Say she got killed on a stealth mission.'

Axl looks to Marino again, smirking and forming his ever-familiar ring of 'gems' around him. "Sounds good to me."

Redips says 'You can do the honors...'
Axl holds out a hand, the lighter blue gem glowing faintly and starting to rapidly cool the air around Marino to such an extreme that frost begins to form on the bed... It would be slow, but more importantly, it would be silent...

Redips watches quietly as the frost forms.

Marino opens her eyes before the final blow, and throws a chrome chip at Axl. (The chip being a recorded image of their friends in Giga City during some R&R).

Axl stops as soon as the chip hits, the other manifested Copy Forms fading in the process. Nothing seems to happen for a moment as the image lingers at the forefront of his attention...

Redips says '...Axl? Are you alright...?'

Marino says 'Remember who... you have become, not who... someone makes you..-'

Marino shuts down.

Axl stands still, eyes wide in a strange mix of nostalgia and resistance... Even his breathing has changed, coming and going at varying, irregular speeds. /Let me -go-! Damn you, Lumine!/

Axl shakes his head and growls almost ferally, ripping off the chip and throwing it to the ground, stepping on it fircely thereafter. "...No... You can't come back. I'm not done!"

Redips says '...Axl...?'

Axl pushes past Redips, more than frustrated over this recent turn of events. "We've got a drama to act out, come on." /...I was so close... Marino.../

Redips nods. "I should probably go back to pretending to be that moronic bounty hunter, shouldn't I?"

Axl offers no reply, shifting back to his more recognizable visage as he walks out of the room...

Redips follows, shifting as well.