Chapter 2:  Tricks of the Trade (written by Michael Keens/Exodus)  

At Hunter Headquarters, the Hunters had returned to base, a huge egg-like 
fortress that resided in the centre of the city.  
Woo departed to get his arm fixed (again), while Cable, Jack and Laser laid 
down their latest catch in Doctor Reed’s lab.  
“Another rogue?” he questioned, not yet laying eyes on the android as he was 
busy with another project.  
“Uh huh, and he managed to seize some heavy duty armour.” commented Laser.  
“And weapons?”  
“A meat cleaver from his own resources, but the flamethrower I’m not so sure 
about.” stated Jack.  
“We tried to get him here with minimum damage but you know how Woo is.” sighed 
Cable.  
“Yes I do, I’ll see what I can salvage.”  
“What? Can’t he be fixed?” questioned Laser.  
“Like I keep saying, until we find a cure, it’s doubtful, but I’ll do what I 
can for him.  You know if you can bring in androids without lethal or heavy 
damage, my chances of figuring out this change in androids will be higher and 
faster.”  
“Reed, it Is an illness, right? The androids aren’t doing this out of their 
own free will?” questioned Cable in a worried tone.  
“Of course it is.  I’m a scientist, I know these things.  Don’t let Woo tell 
you any different.”  
“Thank you Reed...” sighed Cable.  
“We’ll find a cure someday...” he comforted, “Oh yes, I almost forgot, Chime 
wants a word with you lot.”  

The three Hunters entered a private room, complete with comfortable seats set 
up in a half circle around a large screen fixed to one of the walls.  
Chime was one of the higher-ups of the Hunters, he worked in a place that was 
able to watch the entire city for threats and disturbances, and he relayed 
those locations and situations to the Hunters in order to help them get to 
threats quickly.  
The screen blinked into action and Chime appeared on it, in front of a silver 
desk surrounded by computers and pieces of computers.  
He was an android, and he wore relevant clothing to show for it, he wore a 
smart purple suit with red rings around the shoulders and black sleeves, he 
also wore purple shades, and a communication device that looked like a black 
sports band connected to communication devices hanging around the sides of his 
face.  
“How’s it hangin’ guys? Congratulations on the latest catch, no casualties 
were reported.”  
“Except for the rogue itself, thanks to Woo.” grumbled Jack.  
“Keep it up, the casualties must be kept to a minimum or the human-android war 
could kick off again if humans feel that androids can harm people and not be 
stopped.”  
“It’s just not fair, why don’t they understand it’s not our fault, it’s so 
easy for them to use this as an excuse to have us all destroyed.” stated 
Cable.  
“Don’t get down Cable.” comforted Chime.  
“Yeah, we’ll make sure no one’s hurt, find a cure, and then androids and 
humans will surely be able to live together in peace.” smiled Laser.  
“That’s my dream, but it seems so far out of reach.” sighed Cable, Jack 
nodding in his direction in agreement.  
An alarm could be heard on Chime’s end, he peered down at his many machines, 
tapped a few buttons, and a 3-Dimensional hologram of a small part of Central 
City appeared in front of him, with several pale green dots to symbolise 
people, human and android alike, and one red flashing one.  
“Guys...” Chime questioned in a tone which explained all, “You’re up for this, 
right?”  
“Of course, but I guess we’ll have to do without Woo.” stated Jack.  
“Best thing to do really, I’m surprised we don’t do it more often.” grumbled 
Cable.  
“Woo’ll come round someday, until then we need his skills in the group.” 
sighed Jack, “Where’s the renegade?”  
“East side of Central City, shouldn’t take too long to get there.” briefed 
Chime.  
“Consider this threat nullified...”  

The Hunter’s transport vehicle landed, Jack dashed out first to lead his 
group, followed by the android and hybrid.  
It was one block away but due to several alleys in the area, the Hunters had 
landed their vehicle as close as they could get it.  

A short distance away, someone was already engaged with the threat.  
“Trick...  What’s with you?...” spoke a robed female, android in appearance by 
the little that wasn’t covered up.  
The blue female android had occasional sparks bursting out of her spiked 
silver neck, her head kept tilting to one side as her eyes flickered, and she 
approached the other android with her limbs working at different speeds.  
“Target Armour... Centre.” she spoke irregularly, “Midnight!”  
“Shut up Trick! You’re not thinking straight, someone might hear you!” pleaded 
the other android girl.  
“Kill all... Staff! Destroy... All Resources!”  
“What are you saying?...” shuddered the girl, “That’s not how we planned it.”  
One arm was raised, and the silver hand retracted into the tube of the weapon 
arm, it then opened up by pulling back like a flower blooming open, the three 
pieces folded back until they faced forward, a needle like attachment extended 
on each one and blue energy drew into them while the entire lower arm rotated 
until it spun wildly, surrounded by the glowing energy.  
The other android was about to raise an arm under the robes to defend herself 
but suddenly dropped it and turned away at the thought of fighting back, “I 
can’t, you know what I could do to you...  You-”  
The charged energy emitted a loud rising high pitched sound before three 
energy spheres spinning together in a ring were propelled forward at a 
blinding speed.  
The android girl’s eyes narrowed moments before she was blasted and sent 
flying back at great speed, hitting the nearby metal building would surely do 
a lot of damage if not kill her.  
“Its okay Buddy, cavalry’s arrived.” said Laser in a confident voice as he 
leapt forward and snatched the girl in his grasp, both fell to the ground, but 
at a reduced speed than the girl was at.  
“Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-” spoke the blue android 
constantly as her head twitched to one side and she raised the same arm and 
began the charging process again, before long it was ready to fire again, and 
Laser hadn’t time to untangle himself from the heap he’d ended up in nor move 
the girl to safety.  
A wire slapped around the arm part and tightened, Cable rose his arms and the 
coils up and then down quickly so that a curving wave shot down the cables to 
the tangled arm, causing it to be raised into the air as the shot was fired, 
it flew directly upwards harming no one.  
The wires then loosened only for shotgun blasts to tear into the weapon and 
render it useless to the infected android.  
Jack and Cable arrived from either side of the area which was surrounded by 
tall buildings and several alleyways.  
“We’ve got your back Laser.” spoke Jack pleasantly, though not taking his eyes 
off the opponent.  
“And your front, and the rest of you.” added Cable, letting out a mild smile.  
Laser picked himself up and laid the hurt girl on the ground before looking 
her over.  
“Better check for damage.” he noted, removing the hood to inspect her head 
before checking the rest, she had turquoise hair and bangs, a yellow 
triangular tattoo on the right side of her nose and she wore red.  
“Hey, it’s that girl we rescued this morning.  You sure are one for being at 
the wrong place at the-”  
“Wrong...” shook the blue android violently, “Time!”  
“Right.” agreed Laser, “I was about to say-”  
A silver object was ejected from the android’s foot and quickly kicked forward 
by her.  
“That!” yelled Laser, and having noticed a light groan from the female, leapt 
between the object and her but failed to stop the projectile even when 
blasting it with rapid fire lasers from his wrists and shoulders.  
The object collided with Laser’s chest, exploded in a cloud of smoke but 
rather than damage his body directly, crackling electricity shot through 
Laser.  
He screamed out before dropping to the floor and weakly adding, “Ow.”  
“Trick...” murmured the red android.  
“Is that this one’s name?” questioned Cable.  
“She just lived up to it, we can’t give her any opportunities to attack, she’s 
obviously got weapons hidden up her sleeves, but wherever did she get them 
all?” stated Jack.  
“We’ll find out after we neutralise her.” called Cable, hurling two cables in 
order to bind the girl’s arms together while Jack dashed forward, adjusting 
his thick metal gloves in order to deliver a blow to render the enemy 
unconscious.  
It didn’t work out, the blue android Trick leaned back while keeping her feet 
on the ground where she stood, her arm parts landed on the ground and 
supported her as if she were a deformed table.  
The cables flew over her while she lifted one leg to aim the foot in Jack’s 
direction, the front of this opened swiftly like the other had, and Jack had 
to throw himself to the side as a spinning projectile with several sharp 
points launched past where he had been running and instead pierced far into 
the metal wall of a nearby building.  
“She’s not only got weapons attached to her limbs, she’s got plenty of hidden 
extras inside her.” warned Jack.  
“You reckon someone’s given her those as well?” spoke Cable.  
“I’m not sure, I think she must have added them herself while she was free 
minded.” he replied.  
“Some sort of criminal or thief perhaps?...” suggested Cable.  
The blue android moved from her frozen awkward stance suddenly, flipping back 
to land on her feet and hands (the arms rotating completely to do so) and then 
raising the only arm she hadn’t used in the battle.  
The hand disappeared into the bulky wrist and lower arm to be replaced with a 
grappling hook.  
It fired towards Cable who sent two of his own to stop it before it reached 
him, but the enemy stared up at him through blank eyes, tilted her head 
suddenly and a large spike was fired from a secret part of her helmet towards 
Cable’s face, without time to activate other cables, he diverted one of the 
ones already out to come between it and swat it aside, while the other reached 
the fired hook, curved under it, gripped the black cord it was attached to and 
pulled it away from him.  
Trick stood up properly, and without moving anything, a surge of power shot up 
the cord and then into Cable’s one, giving him a shocking, but this one didn’t 
stop like Laser’s, it just kept on shooting into him.  
Jack quickly approached the cord, but backed away as the slightest proximity 
nearly attracted some of the electricity to him.  
“Stand back Boss.” groaned Laser weakly, standing up with difficulty, and 
extending his arms before shooting into a large lamp post constantly.  
Due to both android’s cords being stretched tightly, as the metal pole was 
broken by Laser and descended on Trick’s extension, it tore right through it.  
Cable tumbled back while Trick received a backlash of power and was affected 
by her own electricity, a yellow gem in her helmet cracked and then 
shattered.  
“Broken.” she uttered, “Robbed... of-”  
She suddenly ran away strangely since her legs were for some reason working at 
different speeds, and so looked like a limp.  
Jack kept an eye on her location as he briefly ran to his comrades.  
“Cable, how damaged are you?”  
“Surprisingly not very.” he smiled lightly, Jack then noticed that two of his 
cables were planted in the ground to reduce electrical damage, “Let’s finish 
this, Laser?”  
He slumped to his knees, “Give me a minute, will ya? Besides, I should check 
on the girl for damage, I’ll catch up...”  
The two nodded and chased after Trick, while Laser crawled to the girl on his 
knees and observed her head for damage, “Anyone home?”  
The girl coughed a little, “Yeah but you’re not invited.”  
Laser smirked as he gently and carefully tilted the female’s head occasionally 
to check out the entire thing for heavy damage.  
“You’ve got a tiny gash on the back but I think you’ll be okay, it’d be a 
different story if I hadn’t caught you.  Now how’s about I check the rest of 
you and then get you to a hospital just to be sure?”  
As he reached for the long sleeves the girl pulled back and spoke 
hastily, “No, there’s no need to do that, I’m fine.”  
“And those gashes?” challenged Laser.  
“Chip can handle them.” she answered.  
“Chip?” Laser questioned, before noticing a small black cuboid creature with 
tiny silver spider-like legs at its sides and two big eyes at its front crawl 
out of the girl’s robes, up her head to rest on the cut, a faint blue flashing 
could be seen from underneath it as tiny attachments from its underside worked 
to seal up the damage.  
“Handy little pet you’ve got there, but I still think you should be checked 
all over, those bolts looked like they did some serious damage to you.” Laser 
said in concern.  
As Laser offered a hand, the girl accepted it, but not with the left one Laser 
had reached for.  
The right hand took his and the girl stood up, but then the cuboid bug leapt 
onto Laser’s face and sent a jolt through him that stunned him before 
returning to its master.  
He lay on the ground unable to move his body for a few moments.  
“I’m sorry to do that but I’ve got to take care of something...  Thanks for 
saving my life.” the girl said before running away.  
“And this is how you repay me?!” shouted Laser, hardly even able to move his 
lips.  

Meanwhile, Jack and Cable had caught up with Trick and were engaged in another 
battle, but they were currently on the defensive, Trick was unleashing a 
constant arc of energy from her cracked gem.  
Jack had hidden behind the corner of an alley while Cable used two large wires 
to shoot forward at the ground and then lift his whole body through the air to 
get to closer and then circle Trick.  
In mid dodge, Cable nodded to Jack, Trick’s attention was on Cable and soon 
her back was turned to Jack.  
He ran forward as soon as the opportunity came and wrapped his armoured arms 
around her neck and shoulders before gripping tight, trying to make her lose 
consciousness, Trick tried to face Jack in order to blast him but couldn’t 
rotate her head back that far, at least not with his arms binding her neck as 
well as her upper arms.  
“Release...” she spoke, “From Imprisonment! Objection-Obliteration!”  
With that, hatches on her stomach opened up like double doors, and Cable 
gasped.  
“Jack! She’s carrying explosives!” he yelled.  
“Bind her arms quickly!” he shouted back, “I think I’ve almost got her!”  
Cable’s wires shot forward but dropped suddenly as Trick gave up on trying to 
pull Jack’s arms away from her and swiftly seized two of the tubes inside of 
her.  
“Release-Die.” she said, her head shaking for a moment before she 
repeated, “Release or die.”  
“Do as she says!” called Cable, “Those are high level explosives! If any of 
them go off, the ones inside her will too, and that’ll wipe out all the 
buildings around us!”  
“And not everyone is aware there’s a danger and will be inside.” growled Jack, 
suddenly letting go.  
Trick stumbled forward and stared at Jack with a blank expression, before 
raising an arm with the intention of dashing one of the explosives to the 
floor, “Release And Die!” she shouted.  
Cable’s wires suddenly rose from the ground and slammed into her arms, making 
her fall onto her back, and the explosives falling through the air.  
Cable quickly grounded his feet and activated two more of his cables to rise 
up and coil around the explosives to catch them but not allow any sudden 
shocks to set them off.  
“Restrain her again quickly!” Cable called.  
Trick pulled herself up though her legs still sat on the ground in an awkward 
way, an arm bent towards the explosives inside her and her fingers opening and 
closing.  
“No other choices...” she uttered, preparing to plough her fist into the 
stock.  
“I’m so sorry Trick.” said the other female’s voice sadly.  
She stood a couple of levels up on one of the smaller buildings, her robe was 
removed to reveal a bulky gun part on her left arm and instead of the dress 
she wore earlier, she was now wearing red, silver and black armour parts, and 
a smaller but thick plated skirt, the hand had retracted inside the gun long 
ago, and the weapon had been drawing in particles of energy for a while and 
was still doing so right now.  
“No!” shouted Cable, but the female fired.  
A green beam had been charged up to full and shot, but it wasn’t aimed 
directly at Trick, but to the side, some of the blast clipped Trick’s head and 
destroyed a part of it, sparkles of electricity crossed her face and Trick 
simply collapsed entirely.  
The girl wasn’t done there, and leapt down from her height to land next to 
Trick, without any damage to her legs and feet as a result.  
With a swift movement she unlocked a roll of the remaining explosive tubes 
from inside the android, and then fired at the ground ahead of Cable and Jack 
to cloud their vision with smoke while she leapt great distances to 
escape, “I’ll finish what we started...”  

Cable and Jack pushed through the smoke to the fallen android, her head was 
damaged and so her recovery couldn’t be guaranteed, which probably meant this 
wouldn’t help Reed’s research into the virus either.  
“Guys...” panted Laser as he arrived, “Guess I missed the rest of the party.” 
he grinned through a tired expression.  
“Its not like you.” commented Cable.  
“Hey it wasn’t my fault, that little girl surprised me, she’s more able than I 
ever gave her credit for.” Laser protested.  
“You don’t know the half of it, see Trick over there? She did that to her, and 
then made off with a bunch of explosives we didn’t know Trick had concealed 
inside her.” stated Cable.  
“Well at any rate, we’d better see if Reed can do anything about this one, and 
hurry to locate that girl.” finished Jack, “She was involved with this one, 
possibly with all the recent cases.  Whatever she’s planning on using those 
explosives for, it’ll surely put innocent lives at risk.”  

End?...  

Chapter 1:  Virus Detected
Chapter 3:  Targeted
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