Cutman

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Rock and Zero continued firing in hopes that if they at least couldn't destroy the machine, they could instead buy time to come up with a plan. Then the worst happened. The two trucks came to a screeching halt as they ran into an obstruction in the road. The duo continued firing as the blond warrior yelled, “I've never seen a model like this! It's completely free of any armor flaws! We're not even scratching it's paint job!” Jake said, “It's going to take a miracle to get out of this mess.” No sooner was that said than a powerful blast tore the doors of Zero's truck and hit the machine, knocking it back.

The swordsman slid into the truck and yelled, “What the Slag was that?” Axel sat there with a blank look on his face and a large rifle type weapon in his hand. “Hey!” the youth yelled. “This isn't peanut Butter! What a Gyp!” Zero took the rifle that was still smoking and smiled. “You're right. This isn't peanut butter. This is even better.” He tapped his comm and said, “Guy's! Get over here and equip! We found ourselves our Miracle!” In seconds, the three people stood there and Zero handed each of them a rifle.

Jake said, “Buster rifles! Perfect.” Axel looked at the one he was given and said, “You promised me peanut butter, not a gun...” His eyes widened and sparkled as he continued, “A nice, big shiny, brand-new gun... So... Pretty... and I shall name it Bob.” As the four, rational members of the team took firing positions, Jake asked, “Is the kid always like that?” Rock nodded. “Yep, ever since he put his logic core next to a magnet during scheduled maintenance.” Zero said, “The secondary fire really did a number on that thing. We're going to have to wail till it drops if defense field before we can strike.”

Wes looked at him and said, “How long will that take?” Zero shrugged. “How in the Matrix should I know? I didn't build the the bloody thing.” Jake took a look at Axel and said, “Okay... Now the kid is singing the rifle a lullaby. Ever thought of making a new logic core for the poor soul?” Zero laughed and said, “And lose our comic relief? I mean, yeah, sometimes I feel sorry for the Idiot and want to make a swap, but when the factory he came from got destroyed, so did the the plans that could fix the poor guy. Besides. On the plus side, He's too dense to do anything evenly remotely dangerous, harmful or in any other way that can be classified as wrong. The accident made him our little five year old saint in a thirteen year old shell. And when in a pinch, his stupidity manages to save your sorry outputs.”

A small team of Lode Runner soldiers caught up to  the team. One of them said, “Peril, sir, Mavericks  have completely lost interest in the stronghold, but we have a lot of casualties.” Zero said, “And it looks like the tank is toast. It just scuttled it  mobility systems. Rock looked at the machine coldly. “Something's up.” Everyone turned to him confused. “The shot hit it in the leg. It should still be able to fight. There was no reason to scuttle.”

Wes closed his eyes and extended his hands. “what's he doing?” Rock asked. Jake looked at him and said, “Listening.” He made a hand sign for everyone to be silent. Several seconds later, he opened his eyes and yelled, “EVERYONE DOWN!!!” as the group hit the dirt, the three soldiers were hit by blades in the center of the head. Jake turned to Wes and yelled, “Dammit! Cutman!” A machine with scissor-type blades on it's arms looked at them and yelled maniacally, “He-he-he! Lookie what I found! Fleshies, He-he-he! Don't be scared. I Just want to cut, Cut, CUT You!!! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!”

 Zero had an unimpressed look on his face as he muttered, “I don't know what's more disturbing. The fact we're being threatened by a Over-glorified Hedge trimmer, or the REALLY lousy maniac stereotype it's using.” The others nodded slowly. Cutman laughed insanely and said, “He-he-he. Now, Who do I cut, Cut, CUT first? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” A loud clang filled the air as a stone roughly the size of a baseball decapitated the machine. Everyone immediately said, “Thanks, Jake.” Jake sighed and muttered, “No thanks necessary. He was starting to grate my nerves.”

Rock sighed and muttered, “I'll never wrap my head around how something as stupid as Cutman ever made the rank of General.”
"This coming from the guy who has a gun naming, klutz prone peanut butter addict as a teammate,” Jake retorted. Zero shrugged. “We, if you want to get technical...” The group entered the trucks and drove to the decommissioned gate and stopped. Jake said, “You three better cover you audio receptors! This is going to wreak havoc on them.” Rock and Zero covered their ears while Axel continued to talk to the rifle

A loud high pitched whine filled the air and the gate opened. The two trucks drove through and pulled into an advanced complex. Jake looked around and said, “Wow, this place looks well maintained.” Zero shook his head and said, “Hardly. This was originally a nuclear bunker created over two centuries ago during something called the Genesis War . We found it by fluke while trying to locate survivors out here.” Wes nodded. “And by fluke, I'm guessing something along the lines you guys search for survivors, junior back there has a klutz attack and falls into the bunker, right.”

Zero shook his head. “Close. It was actually Rock's sister who fell into this place.” Jake let out a low whistle. “Okay. Didn't see that one coming. You have a sister?” Rock turned to him and said in a cold voice, “Don't want to talk about it. Zero, as a friend, never mention my sister again.” The blond warrior looked at him and said, “Boss, you can't run forever.” The blue clad soldier replied, “As a superior, drop it!” The swordsman shook his head. “Not this time. I can't stand by and let you punish...” Rock quickly drew his pistol and aimed it at his teammate's face. “As a Reploid with a gun to your head, Shut the Slag UP!!!”

Zero walked to his enraged teammate so that the pistol was pressed against his head and said, “If that's what it's going to take to save your soul, then pull the Slagging trigger, because like it or not, you're going to have to face this demon sooner or later... and I'd prefer it to be before it's too late.” Rock stood there, his eyes now glowing red. He swung the pistol and smashed Zero hard enough to break off a piece of his face. While he stormed off, Zero yelled, “Slag it, Rock! Don't act like you're the only one who lost something more valuable than life that day! You'll have to stop running eventually!” Rock turned and fired six shots into Zero while surrounded by a dark energy. He then stormed off.

Zero raised his hand and motioned for Jake and Wes to lower their weapons. Jake yelled, “What the hell just happened? Why'd you simply let him shoot you? And what was with that energy?” Zero said, “You heard about the ability we Reploids have known as the Overdrive, right?” The two humans nodded. Zero said, “Well, when the Reploid exists for chaos, infected by the Wiley Virus, they have a different ability. One that can't be controlled... It's called Limit Break, and it can easily destroy the very thing that makes us what we are. It can destroy our Souls. All Reploids are infected with it, including me. I think it's time we gave you a bit of info on what really happened A couple of months ago when the clock struck twelve, and Why the world truly went to Hell”