World of Reploids

“Well, not just me, no. I’m not even a combat model, that would be pretty ludicrous for me to be the sole person responsible for stopping you. I had… help.” Io elaborated, tone slow as she picked carefully her words as to not spill beans - as far as she was concerned, she preferred not to spill anything without Dizzy’s express permission. She twiddled her thumbs nervously, before cracking a more relaxed, genuine smile. “And, there’s no need to apologize. You didn’t even hit me. I’m not sure what exactly you were briefed on but, I was busier with trying to pin down the other Maverick interloper in the building. He did a lot more hurtin’ than you did.” 

She grimaced nervously, still remembering the raw burn of the scruff of her neck being yanked about, reaching to touch the fur to soothe the unpleasant, yet tenavious memory. Io promptly felt one last shudder course through her, causing her fur to stand on end briefly, before she shook her head, returning to a smile. “It IS nice meeting you on good terms. I’m Io, I usually don’t use my more offical, model-ish name. Io just feels shorter, simpler. And, I’m glad you’re doing much better! It definitely shows.”

The feline Reploid took an exaggerated step back, putting up her paw-like hands as if wanting to hide behind them. “Those punches look fierce enough that I don’t really wanna’ get too close, for sure.” She chuckled warmly, grinning.

“Heh, you betcha! One punch from these beauties’ll knock ya flat on your ass if you don’t put up your guard!” Flame Stag snorts with pride, as Magna is seen on the side just awing slightly. “So uh, yeah, I’m just spending some time here for now. Doc’s saying they’re trying out a new formula on this antidote we’ve all been getting for the Sigma Virus an’ what-not, so hopefully we’ll be even safer in no time!”

“-- I should really hope so, Flame Stag. Would be quite unbecoming of you to not be in prim shape.” came a voice from nearby, and a red/yellow, tall and lanky insectoid Reploid was seen standing by the doorway, a trademark pair of scissor-blades adorning his head as his mandibles clicked idly. “Glad to see you’re doing better though.”

“Aah! If it ain’t my pal Boomer Kuwanger! How are ya, chump?” Flame Stag grins heartily... and if Io were to look around, he’d find that Magna Centipede had suddenly gone absolutely rigid, as if he had a spur case of Reploid Rigor Mortis. Stiff as a board, not moving an inch. Not even seeming to breathe. Kuwanger seemed to not notice Magna at first, however, as he spotted Io, who, to his surprise, was about as tall as he was.

Io merely rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face gave away she still thought fondly of Magna’s theory, shimmying along to the infirmary. She felt compelled to ask if he had seen it personally often, but decided to leave it be- even if he wasn’t particularly rowdy, every Hunter landed there at least once. Or, so she figured. Upon finally shuffling into the white, neat room occupied by physicians moving from bed to bed, Io herself couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised at the amount of seemingly healthy Reploids occupying them. However, she didn’t have much time to spend gawking, as her friend found the person they were meant to visit, and they both moved along.

As expected, the reunion was met with a lot of happy tones, and high-fives. Lots of them, on account of Magna’s many, many hands to smack. And one noogie, courtesy of Flame Stag, of course. Io would have nagged that having a live flame in a hospital wasn’t such a great idea, looking at his antlers, but knew better than to mention it, greeting him when he looked away from the centipede-themed reploid with a polite nod. And freezing with an awkward, buggy-eyed expression when he mentionned having seen her before, somehow.

Her stunned expression morphed into a sheepish smile. “Ah… that might be because we have met. Though, not exactly in the best of circumstances. I was running evacuation during the H.Q. attack incident. And… I might have played bait for all of five minutes by trying to… provoke… uh… you.” She cracked a massively sheepish smile, poking her fingers together with a nervous wince. “So… I hope the familiarity isn’t tied to wanting to punch me in the face.”

While Magna was busy recovering from the forceful, yet playful noogie he had received, Flame Stag would just look over Io for a while as she’d explain herself. He seemed to slowly understand what had been going on, and with a few grimacing facial expressions, he seemed to be recalling the scenario she had explained and described. “... Huh... so that was you stoppin’ me huh...” he mutters, rubbing his head a bit. “Well, uh--”

“Sorry if I did end up punchin’ ya in the face or something. I just-- I dunno what happened with me! One moment I’m just idly passin’ time and fighting off holo-battlers in the training arena, and the next I know I’m being hauled into the infirmary! Can ya believe that? Ugh, not to mention it felt like havin’ the worst headache ever...” he mutters to himself, before he chuckles.

Io gave an internal sigh, accompanied by a light pang of guilt as the conversation swerved neatly around Magna’s little mistake, and into… barely better waters. The why of Magna coming to leave the hunters remained a sore subject for Chill, and just talking about it brought back the trademark, noisy squawking angry voice of the high-ranking hunter. Even when he was only mildly annoyed about something, the sound was unpleasant for Io’s ears, and they quickly folded onto her skull to deny passage to his voice.

She watched a somewhat dumbstruck Magna shake hands with a rather pleased Chill, smiling warmly all the while and nodding in approval as he looked for a sign that all was her with her. Chill might’ve been somewhat frightening to anger, but he was a genuinely good person, and had always been kind to his juniors and subordinates. Io let the conversation go on, nodding along politely, before waving the senior officer off as he waddled off to his own devices - such small legs didn’t make the gesture dignified, but she dared not smile at it.

Although, she did have to break the serious facade to elbow a little Magna as he joked about the ‘bots Chill had gone off to meet, following along by his side. “Magnaa, it’s not nice to assume. From what… little I do know about Maverick hunters - I wasn’t like everyone and their mothers, I didn’t collect Hunter cards, well… Those two other hunters have been in service for a while too. So if anything, they’re not hanging out because they’re bird-themed, they’re hanging out because… they’re all sort of old.” Io lowered her voice, muffling a little snicker and grinning. “…But yeah, the bird theory makes sense as well.”

“Hehehehe~ Never count out the easy theories, Io!” Magna snickers as he would just nudge Io’s side playfully, as the two of them kept on going their way towards the infirmary. As they finally arrived, they’d see the scene of a semi-full and active infirmary, with multiple beds housing Reploids that the medics were checking up on. None of them seemed critically ill, they actually seemed to do real fine! Maybe it was just a double-check due to what happened with Flame Stag?

Speaking of which, the tall, buff fighter Reploid himself was seated on one of those beds, his flame-antlers idly blazing out of the exhaust ports on his head, as Magna spotted him immediately. “H-Hey, there he is! Hey, Flame Stag! What’s up ol’ pal?!” he’d ask as he walked up to him, which prompted Stag to turn and face Magna.

The sudden, but distinguishable squawk caused Io’s head to quickly dart to look behind herself, ears swiveling rapidly in search of the source of the friendly voice, which soon arrived, waddling as fast as its short legs could allow. The feline reploid’s face lit up with a delighted smile. She gently arched her back, leaning forward to meet Chill Penguin. “Chill Penguin, sir! Hello!” She greeted with obvious enthusiasm, refraining from thrusting a hand forward to shake, or jumping on top of the guy - though she did feel her rear wiggle a little, as if prepairing to do so anyways.

No time for niceties though, Magna was here. And under fire from a particularly awkward question. Io’s face paled, and her gaze leaped between her nervous friend, and her hierarchical superior. Sensing impending disaster should Magna’s blunder be the first thing to be thrown in Chill’s face upon his return, she was quick to swoop in.

“A-ah, yes, about that!” She chirped with a grin, taking a small step forward to get herself in Chill’s line of sight. “Let’s just say it was a bit of a complicated process but, me and Magna decided to make our return together. I had paperwork to fill, he needed emotionnal support after mustering up the nerve to return. But, I suppose he’s here to stay, now!”

“Huh... well, I suppose it all checks out, given the circumstances of your sudden leave, Magna.” Chill said with a bit of a scowl, but not directed towards Magna. “I’ll let you know in person, I do not think I have EVER been as angry as when I found out that Zero -- A TOP-RANKING HUNTER -- had essentially BULLIED one of our youngest, yet smartest Hunters out of our ranks!” his voice raised a few pitches as he went on his tirade, but that was normal for Chill Penguin.

“REGARDLESS!” he’d then state, as he’d walk up to Magna, thrusting his hand out for him to shake. “Glad to have you back on the team, Magna! The Hunters lost a very talented recruit when you left!” he’d state, to which Magna was just baffled and awed to hear that he was missed that much. He’d shoot a glance of surprise to Io, as he’d just reach out to shake Chill Penguin’s hand.

“U-Uuh... t-thanks, Sir...” he said slowly, a bright smile bending his mandibles upwards a bit. “W-Well... me and Io were planning on heading to the infirmary to check up on Flame Stag--... y’know, since he was in the same predicament as I had been at the same time... so I just wanna check up on him.”

“That is all fine by me! I am just on my way to meet up with Storm Eagle and Overdrive Ostrich; very confidential meeting! Well, gotta waddle!” he’d salute Io and Magna, before he’d waddle off quicker, to which Magna leans over to Io and whispers;

Io tidily gathered the paper documents as she put the final signature on the last paper, and handed it out to Colonel, returning his polite nod of goodbye and smiling pleasantly. “Thank you, sir. The pleasure was all mine. Have a nice daaaaayyyyy-” The end of her goodbyes stretched into a squeaky protest as she felt four different hands latch onto her long, bulky forearm and tug harshly, pulling her out of her seat, and back into the hallway. She barely had the time to wave the millitary-grade hunter off, before her legs finally caught up with Magna’s enthusiasm, and she shifted her attention back onto him.

“Alright, alright, we’re going , we’re going!” She chuckled, but didn’t move to unpry Magna’s fingers from her forearm, instead simply choosing to walk alongside him, at whatever speed he wished to keep. She felt her ears perk up, yellow optics with an inquisitive glimmer zeroing in on her excitable friend, whom had a lot to catch up to. “So, aside from Flame Stag at the infirmary, got anywhere else in your old haunt you want to show me? I mean, Colonel did give us the green light to stick around as long as we want… And it’s not like civillians get to see this place often.”

“Well, sorry, I’m just really excited! Oh you’re gonna love some of the Hunters, I bet!” Magna said with an unmistakable amount of cheer to his voice. He was clearly oh-so ready to show Io the rest of the place. As he held onto her arm, and walked along with her, they’d soon hear the loud, obnoxious, yet friendly squawk of a familiar hunter;

“IO!” the sharp voice almost cut clear through the hustle of the H.Q, as up to them waddled none other than Chill Penguin himself, who had a big bright grin on his face. “I just heard from Colonel that you’ve done remarkable progress with the rehabilitation of Dark Dizzy! Just so you know, that makes me proud to hear! And-- Magna, is that you?! Well well! Seems you finally answered on our offer to return!” at that, Magna once more turned sheepish, nudging his fingers together.

“Oh, good, that’s a relief.” Io didn’t sigh this time, but the gentle loss of tension in her armored shoulders helped indicate that she did feel somewhat better from hearing that the aptly named Flame Stag was doing okay. She cleanly signed another paper, finding herself crack a satisfied smile as the operation was rather smooth going, and so far, without an broken pens of ink splashes. Magna’s nagging however, did get her to look away from her work and to his wiggling, pulling a few chuckles out of her as she watched her friend box at the air to put some emphasis on his story.

“Ah, do I sense a bit of fanboying?” She chortled, her tone just that tiny bit nagging, but remaining quite benevolent otherwise, waving a hand in the air to quickly dismiss any defensive comments. “I’m joking, I’m joking. But, you do seem to hold him in high esteem. And making up his own style does look pretty impressive. Maybe we should pay him a visit. I doubt he remembers me much - but I have a feeling he’d like seeing you.” Io crackled a little grimace. “Scratch that, I hope he doesn’t remember me. I don’t really want him to challenge me to a fight. I can’t really pull my weight in a versus match.”

“It’s gotta’ be easy being the champion of a style you’re the only one able to practice. Not that I’d say that to his face, hehe…” The feline reploid smiled to herself, returning to signing the papers. Boring, but calming, oddly so. “As long as he’s competent, I’m pretty sure there’s no problem with him doing a bit of martial arts on the side.”

“O-Ooh, yeah I’d love to visit him~!” Magna exclaims, as if he was really looking forward to meeting Flame Stag. “Err-- if we’re allowed to, that is?” he then asks Colonel, who nods a bit.

“Sure you can. He’ll probably be stuck in the infirmary bay, still, but he is stable enough to handle visitation.” he replies, whilst he notices that Io had all papers filled out by now. “There we go, much appreciated. Thanks again for coming, Io. You and Magna are free to stay for as long as you desire, and meet up with some of the other Hunters, given that their schedules are not too occupied.” he says, as he stacks up the papers neatly, puts them in his portfolio, and gives both of them a nod as he heads off to archive them.

Io was ready to take whatever half-arsed apology she could get - at least it was better than the dismissive, unpleasant attitude Neon Tiger had offered up until then. Until he caught up with the fact that she took care of an ex-maverick, at which point she quickly tensed, feeling herself suddenly disappointed he was no longer acting dismissive. Oh dear, oh geez, oh nuts. She let out a huff of relief as Colonel was quick to break up the tension, scuttling out of Neon’s way as he was dismissed. Her tension only vacated her body when she was allowed into the office, and took herself a seat in front of the desk, feeling ever-thankful for Reploid-sized chairs.

Io plopped down without much grace, but quickly tidied her posture, folding her hands into her lap and strenghtening her back, after pawing a little at the thick locks of fur of her chest, which had stood nervously on end when Neon Tiger had paid her a little too much attention. She leaned forward to look at the papers, only to find the tension back with a vengeance as the mention of Flame Stag, and Magna’s sudden return to the conversation, with a tone she definitely didn’t like. She cringed, spared a small glance at her bristled fur before straightening her back and letting out an awkward sigh. Colonel, once again, swooped to the rescue.

“I’d… hoped not to think about this too much. I was there, still have no idea what happened. That day was a basket of questions and a half, alright… I still remember having to carry that frozen guy around to get him out of the building.” Io grumbled before returning to the documents, fishing a conveniently placed pen from a display before going to town on the papers, chewing on her tongue to avoid making smudges on the paper - once more, curse her fat fingers. The sooner she was finished, the faster she could focus on helping Magna. NO SHE WAS NOT MOTHERING HIM. Just a wee worried.

“Speaking of, is he well? I haven’t had news in a while.” She piped, ears perking with the smallest smidge of curiosity.

Colonel just sat quietly whilst Io filled out the papers that were needed, which were only a couple of signatures and an assurance that she was doing everything in her power to rehabilitate Dark Dizzy. Meanwhile, he’d just nod slowly to Io’s question. “Yes, Flame Stag is quite alright. He’s currently undergoing more experimental treatment with some other anti-bodies that we’ve recently developed, and we’re seeing some results already. He’s currently not acting in his Hunter duties, much to his dismay...” Colonel gives a bit of a chuckle.

“Well DUH! ‘Course he’d be dismayed if he can’t pummel down some Mavericks! Dude was literally BORN to fight!” Magna comments from the sidelines. “And he’s a damn kickass at doing it! Hey! Hey Io! Did ya know--” he said as he was imitating a few boxing stances and jabs in the air. “He invented his own brand of boxing! Usin’ his fire powers and equally hot temper as inspiration and all that!”

Oof, not the best way to start a conversation. Io winced a little, ears drooping as Neon Tiger’s seeming allergy to innocent conversation starters came to hit her in the face. She held the leash firmly on her urge to bugger off and leave that conversation die in the ditch it had created itself, swallowed through her dry mouth, and kept her nerve. “Well, no, I do watch the news, sir. Used to, anyways, but it was mostly on the whims of what could be transmitted by satellite relay over on the arctic reach.” She answered his question, trying her best to remain polite, chewing a bit nervously on the inside of her mouth.

The mention of Dopple City was carefully swept under the rug as well, Io preferring not to press down on a sore subject. Not that he had any problems with being rude about it. “I was built for search and rescue in subzero conditions, but, currently, I’m… the caretaker of a recovering ex-Maverick.”

“... Hm. Arctics Reploid, huh? Well, sorry for being rude on you earlier then.” Tiger huffs as his shoulders shrug in apology, even if it didn’t seem genuine. Guy wasn’t one for emotions, possibly? “... ex-Maverick? Who would that happen to be?” seeing that this could potentially get hairy, Colonel would clear his throat.

“Incase you had anything else to add to me, Neon Tiger, I would say our business is concluded.” he’d state, as Tiger would just huff out a ‘Nevermind’ to Io, and passed by both her and Magna on his way out. “I just didn’t want him to get angry or vindictive, is all.” Colonel then explains after he’d left. “He’s been sore on the whole Maverick issue we’re facing ever since he was saved from Dr. Doppler’s betrayal.”

“So, with that out of the way--” he’d then gesture for Io to sit down on a chair near his desk, as he had placed the stack of papers in front of said seat. “I’d just like you to fill out a couple of forms we missed from last time.” he’d sit down at his seat in the meantime. “Speaking of which, I’d like to bring forth the apologies of the Hunter that accidentally went Maverick last time; Flame Stag--”

“Wait, what?!?” Magna piped up loudly, as if he had only popped up recently. He had just been... very quiet in the face of the huge tiger Reploid. “Flame... Flame Stag went Maverick again?!? B-B-But he... But he was cured, right?!?” he seemed extremely worried for Flame Stag’s sake, but Colonel once more diffused his worries.

Io herself was quite glad that Magna didn’t seem to take poorly her display, or that Colonel didn’t arch a brow in traditionnal “really? REALLY?” fashion, and promptly hurried along behind him, not saying much else. The path quickly appeared rather familiar - well, as familiar as a path could be when everything was metal-plated to some extent and standardized.  Downsides of being only populated by Reploids, people didn’t build them with much food for the soul, so to speak. No color, no flourish…

If you exempted the bundle of neon colors, vaguely shaped like a humanoid tiger, standing right next to Colonel’s office, that is. It wasn’t often that Io found that many feline-themed Reploids running around, and so, her attention was piqued. Ears swiveling forward, she hurried her pace, a somewhat pleased skip in her step as she came to stand by the officer, putting on her best, if a little meek, greeting smile. As Colonel did the introductions, she took care of greeting the stranger with a happy nod of her head as her designation was given.

Thouuugh… Neon Tiger didn’t seem that interested in the whole meet ‘n’ greet part. No problem, just keep being polite and nice, Io… Plus, Colonel did mention he was pulling double duty. Oooh, juicy details! “Hello! Nice to meet you, sir!” She chirped, waving a broad hand with a cheerful smile. “Can’t say I meet a lot of Hunters who have side-duties… then again, I haven’t met that many of them. I don’t really count either, all I’ve ever done were brief scouting assignments… Where are you stationed, if I may ask, sir?”

Neon Tiger would just look Io up and down for a little bit, seemingly trying to get a rough estimate of her, but he’d finally respond; “... South America. You know, where most of Earth’s endangered specimens are now kept under strict conservation? Or are you one of those Reploids who don’t read the news very often?” he’d ask, his voice seemingly annoyed. “But yeah, I’m one of few Reploids here who are double-duty as a Hunter and something else. The other one would be Toxic Seahorse.”

Io shot yet another gawking look Colonel’s way as he mentionned standard procedure for Hunters still part of the force, which including sending a mail. THAT MAGNA HAD THRASHED. Her gaze bounced between her friend and the older Reploid, and came to a stop on Magna as she gave irritated sputters, face twisting into a disapproving, if confused, frown. “Eh? HW- Whaaaaaaaa? You mean-” The feline reploid felt her fur stand on end as a mixture of irritation - at her friend’s behavior, and bemusement, also at her friend’s behavior, washed over her. He could have avoided SO. So much angst and self-loathing, had he not acted rashly and deleted that email!

Her annoyance, though quick to rise, was also quick to fall, and she let out a deep sigh, Magna’s apologetic look managing to cool her metaphorical jets. There would be time to chew him out another day, and besides, his relief at being still on board was not one she was willing to spoil. She gave a mild groan, and cracked a smile at her friend. She nodded politely at Colonel, returning to a shred of professionalism. “Of course, of course. Just… before we head out, there’s something I want to do, while there’s still no one around.” She smiled, her attitude back to polite calm.

Only for her to bowl that over by swooping Magna into a large bear hug, lifting him off the ground in one, fell swoop, rocking him a little into her arms, and just as quickly, putting him back down as if nothing had occured. She even took the time to dust him off before smiling back to the much calmer hunter, ears twitching with just that little bit of mischeviousness. “Sorry, sorry, here, I’m ready. Lead the way, sir.”

Magna was a bit surprised that she wasn’t lashing out at him, considering how much her fur stood on end, but at the end of it all he’d sigh in relief, before once more yelping as she had swept him off his feet and into her arms, squeezing him into a big hug and rocking him back and forth. He felt himself go limp for a while, before he was dropped back down, as he’d just smile and chuckle nervously. “E-Ehehehe… w-well, guess we’re both equally happy, heh.” he mutters, as Colonel merely nods and leads the way for both of them.

They’re guided the exact same way as Io and Dizzy had been lead down, and once they stopped they’d be at Colonel’s office, where there was already a Reploid standing about; he was about as tall as Io, if not a bit shorter, and he was definitely feline-themed as he looked like a tiger with neon-colored armor, and had five ‘vents’ sticking out on his hands, one for each knuckle. He’d notice Colonel as he’d chuff a bit. “Hmf. You know I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Apologies, Neon Tiger.” Colonel says curtly. “I had to pick up the next couple of Reploids for my next appointment.” he said, introducing Io and Magna. “Io, Magna Centipede; I’d like to introduce you two to Neon Tiger. A rather seasoned hunter… but also a wildlife and nature preserver, working to safekeep the little remaining wildlife of Earth.”

“Psh- honestly, Colonel is the last person I’d get bad vibes from. If you’d been there last time…” Io left the phrase hanging in the air, promptly shifting her undivided attention to Colonel, walking closer with a pleasant smile, ears perked forward to put empahasis on her good mood at seeing the millitaristic ‘bot once again. His apology was met with the feline reploid lifting up a large, padded hand, waving it calmly as if to shoo it away. “Ah, it’s quite alright. Don’t worry about it, I doubt anyone could’ve predicted everything that happened that day.” She sighed, offering a polite smile.

Magna’s antics, while they weren’t aknowledged by Io, did earn him having the ear closest to him swivel in his direction to catch his rather disrespectful muttering, but Io, ever polite, chose to ignore it. If Colonel didn’t pick up on it, no use berating Magna for his misconduct and risk drawing attention onto him, so, even as the centipede-themed reploid came close to feeling the burn, she simply kept smiling politely, keeping an outwards appearance of calm. While also very much wanting to swat Magna on the head with a hand.

As Colonel’s attention drifted from her, to Magna, however, her expression relaxed, and she even snuck in a few less than amused glances at him as his famous antics of messing with the database, and doing memey, stupid stuff, earned him some more attention. She had been… aware, of his antics, and frankly, she preferred to hide the fact that they had been fairly funny. Io still cracked a half-smile, however. Nothing wrong with it, she could justify it by saying she was happy Magna was allowed to visit.

Until Colonel dropped a metaphorical bombshell, that, after a few moment of polite silent processing, got brutally suddenly gawking at the two presently-STILL-Hunters, eyes as wide as dinner plates, absolutely gobsmacked. She stayed silent during the explanation, but barely. Seconds after Colonel was finished speaking, Io inhaled deeply, turned to Magna, dropped both hands on his shoulders, and… promptly started shaking.

“I’m sorry, WHAT?!“ Io squawked, her voice climbing to a shrill alto she herself wouldn’t have thought possible. “YOU MEAN - HE’S STILL LEGALLY A HUNTER?! AND NONE OF YOU THOUGHT TO- NEVERMIND, THAT IS PROBABLY NOT YOUR FAULT! HOW?! H-hbl-gh- WHOA! MAGNA, YOU REALISE WHAT THAT MEANS? YOU- A LOT OF THINGS.”

Yes, a lot of things indeed. Magna was also feeling a lot of things that moment, too, as he was just trying to register just what the hell he had just heard. All this time, he was still a hunter! And he never knew! Well-- he could’ve known, because of--

“Well, we did not want to force him back or anything, from what I’ve been informed of.” Colonel said. “But he did receive a message from the Hunters talking about their decision and wishing him back. But he seems to have never picked up on it--”

“Uuuh, yeah... ‘bout that, ehehehe... kinda uh, trashed ‘em... ‘cause I was still really upset and all... sorry.” Magna said sheepishly, even looking up at Io with an apologetic look on his face. Sure, it was a dumb thing to do, but at least he admitted to doing it, and his reasoning for doing so was... understandable, given the circumstances in which he did it.

“Attaboy’, that’s the spirit!” Io laughed, a loud and hearty sound that carried far and was less than meek and shy. She let her hand fall down with some heft onto Magna’s shoulder a few times before unwrapping it from him, an approving expression onto her smiling face. Though, the big ol’ heartfelt expression was soon replaced by a somewhat meeker one as she was reminded exactly that - oh, yes, paperwork. The feline reploid reached to nibble nervously on a thumb, crossing the large glass gates into the building, trading the murmur of the street for the confined, busy sounds of the bustling H.Q.

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I hope this is quick. I’m not that great at paperwork.” She gave him a sheepish smile, before scanning the few reploids going about their business within the entrance hallway, ears perking up as she caught a glance of a familiar, tall Reploid in heavy-duty black and white armor, of a heavily militaristic design, complete with a stack of paperwork under his arm. She threw a small glance at Magna, aknowledging that he’d also spotted them, before looking back to whom she supposed would be helping her with the paperwork.

And then back at Magna when he pointed out the obvious. That this particular Reploid was not exactly a nobody. She grimaced, hissing through her teeth. “Yeaaah. That’s the guy. He was the first person I reported to in the H.Q. and, as for what he’s doing here…” She gave a beat of silence, letting out a light chuckle. “I have no idea how he was accepted into the Hunters, but he was. So, now, I’m used to him being around and being my interlocutor. He’s very professional.”

She nodded approvingly, and turned back to stretch her arm up, waving at Colonel from the crowd, smiling. “Colonel, sir! Hello!”

“Well, however he got in here, I’m keepin’ my eye on him, Io... I dunno why, but I’m getting bad vibes...” Magna mutters as he was beginning to walk alongside Io again, as she stepped up towards Colonel, who began to recognize Io. “Ah, Io! Greetings, and welcome back to the base. I do apologize that I was not able to schedule an earlier meeting, but due to the... aherm, incident we had a few weeks ago, we had to do a complete rehaul of our base’s security system, which you can imagine took some time...” meanwhile, as he spoke the last bit, Magna seemed to get a bit cocky again as he was mouthing the Colonel’s words in -- what he thought was -- a sneaky manner.

 “-- Which you can imagine took some time... hah. Betcha I could do it twice as fast...” he mutters to himself, before a glance at him from Colonel made him flinch up a bit. “E-EEK! I-I-I didn’t mean nothin’ by it!”

“Hm? Sorry, I just thought you said something.” he didn’t seem to have caught what exactly Magna said, only that he said something, so the centipede-themed Reploid sighed a bit in relief. “Hm... you must be Magna Centipede. I’ve heard a great deal about you and your... misdeeds.” Colonel mutters, but just before Magna was about to go defensive-- “Something about filling the Hunters database full of... ‘memes’, is what they called it?” to which Magna had to chuckle a bit.

“Heheheh, yup! Tha’s me alright! But I’m not here to do it again.” he’d assure him. “Truth is, I... I’m just here for a visit. I’m... allowed that, right?”

“Well, since you do still have the status of a Hunter here--” however, as Colonel said this, Magna flinched up a bit. Wait, what?! He was still having the status of a Hunter?! Didn’t Zero make him resign that?! “Hm? Oh, allow me to explain--” Colonel begins. “Well, your walking out here was... a bit unexpected, according to your database profile. But, seeing as it was considered a provoked and instigated walk-out, your Hunter status was never rescinded, and your profile was merely put on ice, so to speak.”

“Magna. Magnaaaaa.” Came Io’s patient, but firm, calls to reality. She dipped her head down to rest her chin briefly against Magna’s head, letting loose a deep, rumbling croon from her chest before pulling back, the reassuring gesture executed. She smiled reassuringly at her smaller friend, hooking an arm around his shoulders to keep him grounded.

While it had been his idea to go to the towering, admittedly quite ominous building that was the Hunter H.Q, filled with equally ominous ‘bots for many different reasons, Io hadn’t hesitated to offer her assistance in facing the trial.   Well, under the admittedly true pretense that she had to pass by the H.Q. herself to fill in certain forms that had been, unfortunately, left blank due to an incident a few months back. She would’ve offered her moral support regardless of he circumstances, naturally, but she felt that sort of approach left Magna a bit more freedom.

“Like I said before, this is likely going to go better than you expect, so have a little faith.” She purred, nodding to the massive glass doors of the building with a confident smile, gently pulling him forward - just enough to be ancouraging. “If you meet Zero, nuts to him! You’re not coming back to the H.Q. to see him. We’ll just speed-walk past him, and he’s likely got better things to do than to go after you. As for your friends, I don’t think any of them have standards as harsh as his.”

Magna was a bit miffed as he suddenly felt Io’s chin resting upon his head and heard her deep crooning, but it got him to relax, so it wasn’t all that bad, he assumed. He was almost pulled away completely from the fact that they were now right in front of the Hunters H.Q, but as he looked up to see the massive glass doors he’d gulp a bit again. “Y-Yeah, I know you said that... doesn’t make my nerves any less fritzed...” he said, just shaking his head clear. “N-No... you’re right, I was the one who suggested this, so I gotta have some faith in my former teammates and all that...” he said, as he’d look up to Io.

“Well, I do hope that your paperwork is over relatively quick. Wouldn’t wanna be caught with one of the more rule-savvy ones. Would be a nightmare, hah!” he chuckles softly, as if trying to convince himself to lighten the mood, as the two of them enter into the H.Q, met by the mumbles of dozens of voices as Reploids ran about and did their business.

“Ugh... I feel all sorts’a nauseous...” Magna Centipede mutters as he was walking alongside Io. He was staring at the Maverick Hunter H.Q base towering before them as they were approaching, being mindful of morning-time traffic and what-not, and he looked nervous. More-so than when he usually got nervous. He was almost pressing himself up against Io as the two of them kept walking, almost as if he hadn’t been outdoors in forever.