Back at MHHQ, Dr. Cain decided that he was having a rather bad week.

"Why does everyone keep defecting to the Mavericks?" He asked X. "First Zero, now my precious glider. Are the Mavericks offering some kind of discount for new members? Do they offer more holidays and better insurance packages? I doubt that very much." He paced around his lab. Finally, something in him cracked. "Oh, my poor, poor glider! Goodness knows what the Mavericks will do to it!"

X stood silently during this outburst, noting that Dr. Cain seemed to have little consideration for Zero. Personally, X was rather relieved that the glider was gone. It was certainly far more of an irritant than a help. However, he didn’t enjoy the thought that members of the Hunters were skipping off to join the Mavericks.

"You don’t think that there is some way to get Zero back, Doctor?"

"Oh, but X, my precious glider must almost be at the Mavericks’ camp by now!" Dr. Cain exclaimed between muffled sobs. He seemed unaware that X was not talking about the glider.

"I think that most likely, the glider will have joined with Zero. In that case, if we can locate Tinky-Winky, we can get Zero and revert him back to a Hunter." X couldn’t help but feel that his plan was terribly brilliant.

"But how can we retrieve my poor glider? We can’t afford to launch a full-scale attack on the Mavericks yet, we’re not quite prepared! X, you’re a soldier, what attack plan do you have?"

"You should be able to track Tinky-Winky’s signal, right, Doctor?" Dr. Cain nodded sadly. "In that case, send our best soldier out," he resisted the urge to point to himself, "and sneak Zero and the glider back here. The problem lies in getting them subdued enough to drag back."

Dr. Cain recovered himself when he heard that X had a viable plan. "Our best soldier? That would be you, of course. I’m sure you would like to help get Zero back." X couldn’t help but admit that he knew Dr. Cain would choose him as most competent for the job. "I’ll just whip up a homing device, then you’ll hurry after the glider, all right?"

Strange as he was, Dr. Cain was a genius at what he did. The scientist dug out some items and furiously tossed them together. After a short moment of tuning and adjusting, X was given a grey box. It had some buttons, a screen, and the name "GAMEBOY" written on it.

"It was my favourite antique, but I’ll sacrifice it for the good of my glider. Just follow the dots, X. Hurry back, and good luck!"

X hopped on the motorcycle with the Gameboy safely tucked in the console. Dr. Cain waved a little white handkerchief after him as X sped off towards Elysia.

As Theta and Zero walked down the corridors, Toxic Seahorse poked his snout out of the security room. Seeing Theta, he motioned her inside.

"See this glider?" he said, pointing to one of the many screens around the room, "isn’t that the one that helped X when you last met him?"

All Theta had seen of the glider was a huge black blur with rather gaudy flashing lights. She watched as a black object flew towards one of the domes. "What an aerodynamic monstrosity."

"What are you saying? That’s my baby!" Zero exclaimed.

Various Mavericks turned towards Zero and stared.

"Well, I mean, that’s my…glider," he corrected himself lamely.

"It’s one of Dr. Cain’s creations. Should we shoot it down?" Toxic Seahorse asked.

"What?! NO!" Zero screamed, embracing the screen.

"Should we shoot it, Theta?" Seahorse repeated as he attempted to pry Zero off with a crowbar.

"Only if it gets close enough to appear hostile. We don’t want anything triggering a battle before we are fully prepared." She peered at the bit of screen that Zero hadn’t covered up, "it appears to have landed some distance from here. Zero and I will go check it out. By the way, do you know of any robotics labs in Elysia? I am lacking a few parts for the generator."

Seahorse stroked his snout in thought, "actually…I believe there are a few domes south of the glider that’s marked as labs. I’m not sure whether they’ll have what you need, though."

"I’ll go see if I can borrow a bit there. Come on, Zero, we’re going to see if we can’t save your precious glider."

At the mention of getting the glider back, Zero happily released the screen and hurried Theta out the door.

"Excellent, Seahorse," Eagle said, stepping out from inside a garbage can where he had been crouching.

Seahorse suppressed the instinct to withdraw from someone reeking of garbage. "Thank you, sir. Our detectors predict that X will get catch up with the glider in a few minutes."

Eagle smiled to himself. "X versus Theta and Zero...it's a win-win situation."

"Oh, there’s my poor little baby," Zero cooed to the glider, "did you miss me?"

"If you would kindly extract yourself from it, perhaps I can run a check on it," Theta suggested impatiently.

"Hey, you’re not coming any closer to my baby with that thing," Zero said, referring to the instrument in Theta’s hand.

She had a utility belt buckled around her waist, and a cord led from it to the device she was holding. It was terrifyingly similar in appearance to a dentist’s drill, or perhaps a very small jackhammer.

"Come, Zero, I just need to scan to make sure it’s not carrying any homing beacons or such. Now be a sport and find something else to hug."

"It said it is on our side, don’t you trust my baby? You don’t need to run a check."

"What, just let Dr. Cain’s glider fly right into our camp? Zero, now I’m quite certain that your name refers to your IQ."

"You have no idea how many times I have heard that one." Zero reluctantly stepped away from the glider. He made various pained noises as Theta happily pried open its sleek engines and probed the wings.

"Please, be careful! That’s a delicate part! Not so rough! Let me do the rest," Zero exclaimed with all the characteristic of a father watching his son drive his new car.

Theta allowed him to run the check, just so he would stop complaining. It took much longer, since he spent a large amount of time soothing the glider, but at least he did a satisfactory job by himself.

"There, now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?" Zero gently stroked the glider as Theta packed up her equipment.

"I’ll send it back to camp for review," Theta said.

"Wait. Why don’t we take it for a fly? Besides, it would be far easier to find your science lab if we have a vehicle."

Theta saw that for once, he was speaking logically, and agreed. She sat sideways in the back and watched as Zero ecstatically switched to high gear. She buckled her belt tight and wondered why she had agreed to his suggestion.

Onwards to Chapter Ten
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