#slice cricket

“Are you sure about this?” X asked softly. 

“X, they’re a part of our crew. And the crew is family! We can’t leave them behind-“. 

“I know! But they might be alarmed if they see us in person.” X informed her. 

“Don’t worry. Radio Mosquito gave them a heads up!” Marty assured. 

X exhaled. 

“Okay.”. 

He gave her a kiss. 

X and Marty entered the intake-release area. 

It was bigger than expected.

The room was circular, and the main palette was white, teal, gray and gray, with geometric abstract columns reaching up to the ceiling. 

The chairs had restraints on them, clearly for mavericks show eye being checked in for criminal behavior.

There was a logo on the floor: a huge T in front of an eye, the T clearly being for Thompson. 

At a front desk was a Reploid with red hair in a bun. Her armor almost resembled a secretary’s suit and was white and red, an eye symbol on her left breast pocket.

“Hello. You must be X and Marty.” She spoke softly. 

“Yes, we’re here to see Mr and Mrs. Thompson about some of our crew members here.” informed her. 

“Hold on, please.”; she pressed a button on her headset. “Mr and Mrs. Thompson, X and Marty are here and ready to see you.” She spoke into the microphone. “Now, just go into the elevator and go to the fourth floor. They’re in room 301.” She directed.

“Thanks.” Said Marty; they both went inside the elevator, which had a glass window. 

As it rose, they could see the jungle below them; it was rumored it took some deforestation to make this place possible, or at least in this specific location. 

“X, look, isn’t this pretty?” Marty inquired, pointing at the jungle below. 

“It is! Maybe we can stay here once we get them out.” X answered, though he could name something-or someone-prettier than the forest below. 

The doors slid open and they walked into the long hall. 

The palette was the same as the intake-release area. Teal, white and gray, with hints of gold. 

There were photos along the walls of the staff, including various humans and reploids. 

At the end of the hall was room 301; the frame of the doorway was gold and had two letters: M&R. 

The doors slid open. 

The office’s walls were a stark contrast: a velvety, bright red. The desk was curved and had screens on them, as well as a projected computer screen hologram. 

A woman with shiny black hair and a lab coat, as well as some light makeup and a headset, presumably Mrs. Thompson, was typing on a digital keyboard. 

On the right side of the desk was a man with curly red hair and glasses, and he too wore a lab coat. This was presumably Mr. Thompson. 

They both looked up at them, and immediately lit up and speed walked over to them.

“You must be the famous Maverick Hunter, X!” The woman beamed, hands up slightly. 

They both went to shake his hands. 

“Oh, and don’t forget my girlfriend, Marty!” X reminded them. 

“Oh, and the pirate girlboss, Marty.” The woman added, shaking her hand, but her expression was more relaxed and her voice more flat and matter of fact. 

They both stepped back. 

“As you already know, our names are Maria and Rudy Thompson, owners of Soyada Prison, pioneers in advanced technology and advocates for anti-Maverick justice!” Rudy beamed. 

“What brings you two here?” Maria inquired, folding her hands. 

“Oh, we’re simply here to take out some of our members. Their names are (insert names). We agreed to have them visit as an experiment and it’s been more than three days.” X explained. 

“Oh! Those three!” Maria quipped; the two quickly stepped back to their desk. 

Rudy playfully hummed as he did a quick search on his tablet. Maria did a quick search on her laptop. 

“Well, we’re having some problems doing that.” Maria said. 

“You see, there’s a lengthy process in releasing our incarcerated reploids.” Rudy added. 

“Well, we’re willing to wait as long as possible.” X said assuringly. 

“Exactly. They’re family. And family doesn’t take too kindly to leaving each other behind.” Marty spoke, crossing her arms. 

“We are so sorry, but our release process is private for safety purposes. We’ll let you know when we’re able to!” Maria assured, putting her hands together after walking to the couple. 

“You don’t trust us? What a shame.” Marty retorted sarcastically.

“Now, Marty, I know you and your boyfriend care very much for your…little “family”, but you’re also both known by mavericks since you are both famous vigilantes! It’s be a shame if a Maverick ransacked your boat-“. 

“Ship.” Marty interrupted her. 

“Whatever. Just tend to the rest of your crew.” Maria carelessly said, making a shooing movement with her hand as she walked back to the desk. 

“In the meantime, we’ll have some of your fellow reploids escort you!” Rudy beamed. 

Just in time, two guard reploids escorted the two back to the elevator. 

“Bummer, I think they’re hiding something. We gave proof of it just being an experiment.” Marty complained when they were leaving the facility. 

“Well, surely they must be telling the truth. The public trusts them a lot.” X responded. “Although, we could do some more research…”. 

They eventually re-entered the ship. 

“How did it go?” Harry asked. 

“They say they’re doing the process of releasing them at this moment, but we’re gonna do some more research before we figure out whether we should wait or not.” X answered. 

“I’ll get the computer set up. Meet me down there, okay?” Marty asked, before giving X a peck on the cheek and dipping. 

X and Marty, as well as Harry, Blade Axolotl, Brenda and Owen were huddled around them. 

“It says here that some of the mavericks that went here and came out returned to crime before they were retired, so so much for rehabilitation.” Marty said. 

“Ma’am, I have a bad feeling about that place.” Harry added. 

“Well, it says here that they were physically and verbally mistreated  by prison staff and were in cramped environments.” Blade Axolotl read to them. “Maybe we should check on them.”. 

“I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to just barge in and ask to see them.” X stammered. 

“I agree. It’s a top security system. And it isn’t like Mavericks, human traffickers or poachers. We might end up in hot water for breaking in.” Brenda informed him. 

“No need! I put cameras on them!” Blade Axolotl quipped. 

A moment of silence. 

“…you what?” Harry asked. 

“Blade Axolotl, that’s an invasion of privacy!” Jules yelled. 

“It’s a genius invasion of privacy! Now come to the lab.” Blade Axolotl retorted, before turning to head to the small lab. 

Blade Axolotl got on the big computer he, Antonio, Jules and Electric Monarch had been using. 

“Alright. In pieces of their body structures, I placed hidden cameras that allow us to see as they do!” Blade Axolotl explained. 

He went on the computer and tapped on a program. 

“What do you guys wanna see?” Blade Axolotl asked, leaning on the panel. 

X and Marty glanced at each other, then agreed wordlessly.

“Just…show us where they are, please.” X solemnly requested; to his surprise, he found himself with an odd feeling of dread, like they were about to find something out that would change this whole situation, and he’d have to be thrusted into another rescue mission. Not that he minded, but he let Marty take him so he could escape from the constant drama of war, where he only had to intervene if necessary. After all, and especially after the incident with Launch Octopus and having to rescue his beloved from the blades of Bubble Crab, he still wanted to protect her, even as she had gotten better at protecting herself and even him. 

The Axolotl Reploid typed ferociously on the keys, then clicked on something, before leaving it on the screen for all to gaze upon. 

The individual boxes of camera footage all showed the exact. Same. Thing. 

A cramped concrete cell, with only another concrete seat provided. 

The door was made of maxi glass, and there was metal lining at the front of the cramped cell. Hell, it could barely be called a cell. It seemed more like a charging capsule or coffin than anything else.

A small security camera was tucked away in the corner of this supposed cell. 

Looking through the cell’s door a need one could see rows and rows of prisoners in the same cells. One reploid each, and unisex as well, though there wasn’t a need is everybody was all in a cramped cell. 

Some of the prisoners looked furious, others glum, and others downright petrified. 

A female Reploid, with a purple hair structure like bubbles, holding a baton, looked to the new prisoner they were seeing the point of view from. She pressed her hand against the glass. 

“We heard your little pirate crew came to check upon on y’all, boo. Guess what, baby boy? Looks like your little friends ain’t comin’ to save y’all.”. 

X and Marty both clenched their fists, while Blade silently bit the tips of his sharpened fingers. Harry covered his mouth with his fingers. 

“Hey, hey, hey!”- the voice belonged to Dash. 

“The voice belongs to Dash!” X exclaimed. 

“Leave him alone! He didn’t do anything!” A woman yelled. 

The other woman turned around, a wicked sneer on her face. 

She strutted over, pressed the numbers on a keypad, opening the cell to a Reploid with flowing blonde hair in the same uniform as the other prisoners. 

The woman beneath her shrunk back into the corner of her cell, silently begging for mercy. 

X clenched his teeth, looking on in a sickening anxiety. 

“Well, well, well, little miss bimbo here decided to speak out.”. 

“Leave her the hell alone!” Another woman screamed; it was a cell close to her. A cow Reploid, tall and cramped within her face, and very strong and dangerous looking too. 

“Cow, don’t rock the boat!” A man exclaimed; this was a cricket Reploid, who looked very anxious as the woman turned to them both. 

“All of you, quiet!” Another male voice exclaimed; into view came a Reploid, built off an assassin bug, covered in armor and parts that…didn’t belong to him… 

He pressed a red button next to the keypad of the door; immediately, electric restraints tightened the cow Reploid. 

He entered the password, then pulled out a rod; immediately, with the press of a button, the rod sparked to life, and he poked her with it, causing her to cry out in pain as electricity was sent through her body. By the time it was finished, he turned off the restraints, and shut the door before she could fall out of her cell. 

The insectoid turned around. 

“This is what will happen to you worthless criminals!” He boomed, his accent as visible as the woman he worked with. 

“What have we done…” Marty breathed in absolute horror; they had sent their crew mates, parts of their family, to a hellhole. Where reploids were being screamed at, insulted and electrocuted. And judging from the woman’s baton, likely beaten as well. 

“We need to do more research.” Electric Monarch concluded. “I’ll try and hack into their database to see what I can find! I’ll get our navigators to work on seeking out info!”. 

“Alright.” X responded, full of determination. 

“In the meantime, we’re breaking in!” Marty stated, full of freshly born fury. 

“Wait, Marty, we can’t just barge in! This crew was already wrongly deemed Maverick once. We can’t go through that again!” X explained, shocked but, not really, deep down.  

“X, members of our crew are trapped in there! We can’t leave them behind, and they won’t let them out!”. 

“There has to be another way! These aren’t reploids this time! This isn’t like Bit and Byte or The Proud Reploids! These are humans!”. 

“I know that!…but they’re being Maverick too! And you saw what they were doing to the reploids in there!”. 

“I know! But-I-“. 

“If it helps you two, I can try hacking into their security systems while Monarch and the rest handle their database! I can see if there’s anymore reason to break in!” Blade Axolotl suggested. 

“…Alright. But we only break in if it’s severe. In the meantime, Crystal Maine and I will try and convince them. I’m sure we can reason this out peacefully.” X decided. 

“Fine then. But if I find out they hurt them-“. 

“Then we will break in. But only if this place is legitimately wrongful in its practices.” X spoke firmly. 

He sighed, as he went upstairs to get Maine. In the meantime, Blade Axolotl got to work on hacking into their security cameras. 

Slice Cricket didn’t know where he was…

All he knew was that he was somewhere dark…

He tried to retrace his steps. 

Okay. So, he was in Abel City. He had just gone to see a movie. Those were expensive nowadays, despite the fact that few went there. 

He tried to move. 

“Huh?”; he looked down. 

He was…wrapped in something sticky. 

He used his hand blades to cut himself free, then used the blades behind his legs to tear off the rest. 

Slice Cricket immediately went to find an exit. 

“Okay, Cricket. Just gotta identify where you are and-“; he was starting to panic. 

He looked through the maxi glasses of the door. 

He began cutting at it. 

“Hello?”; he perked up at the feminine voice. 

It seemed familiar. 

“Who’s there?” He boomed. 

“Who’s talking?”. 

“My name is Slice Cricket! I used to be in the 0th Shinobi Unit-“. 

“Cricket?”. 

He paused. 

“April?”. 

“Ohmygosh! Hi!”. 

“How could she be so sunshiney at a time like this?” He thought; he was surprised he felt so angry about it, but that was probably just panic speaking for him, or at least internally. 

Then he connected the dots. 

Some enough, they were both telling. For anybody else. 

“NO FREAKING WAY!” a voice boomed. 

“Force Cow! Hi!”. 

No.

No they were not. 

“This can’t be happening…” he whispered, his voice shaking. 

He remembered the abuse. 

The insults. 

All of Maria and Rudy’s talk about how they failed their purposes to not grievance humans. 

“Nonononono-“. 

“You okay, girl?” Force Cow called. 

“I-I’m okay. Are you?”. 

“Oh sure, I just got tranquilized and now I have no idea how the hell I got here! I’m doin’ just peachy!” She sarcastically exclaimed in response. 

“I…I think I know where we’re at…”. 

“…I know…but-but we got out last time! And besides, Marty and Amina taught me how to fight! I think we’ll be fine!”. 

Crick. 

He kept cutting the maxi glass. 

“ImgettingoutofhereImgettingoutofhereImgettingoutofhere-“. 

“Everybody stay calm!” April exclaimed. 

The sound of Force Cow punching the maxi glass and forcing it out echoed. 

Crack!

He had successfully cut the glass. 

He kept working at it. 

“YOU’RE NOT KEEPING ME IN HERE!” Force Cow bellowed. 

“AND IF YOU’RE GOING TO, LET THESE TWO LEAVE!”. 

At this point, Slice Cricket was starting to panic. 

He could faintly hear April trying to settle her breathing. 

He kept working around the edges. 

It wasn’t long until he finally cut out the glass and began working trying to feel for the keypad he had seen the first time he’d come here. 

Beep-beep-beep-beep!

BUZZ!

Beep-beep-beep-beep!

BUZZ! 

Beep-beep-beep-beep!

BUZZ! 

1114.

1115.

1116

1117

1118

1119 

1120

1121

1123

“Wait, no-“. 

1124

1125

His core was racing. 

Not again. 

Not there. 

Force Cow was screaming now. 

“LET US OUT!”. 

1129

1130

1131

1132

“Wait, I was supposed to start with zero-“. 

As he was yelling at this revelation, he began thinking of his commander. 

How was he doing? 

Did he know he was here? 

Come to think of it, did he even think of him at all? 

The boat stopped. 

He ran backwards into the corner. 

If guards were here…

No. 

He held his blades up. 

Footsteps. 

Like soldiers. 

Beep-beep-beep-beep. 

BZZT! 

K-CH! 

The door swung open. 

The guards marched-…

Wait a second, these weren’t guards…

They were wearing the prison’s uniforms. 

No. 

No time to wait. 

He sliced them in half and ran out. 

Force Cow was already beating the uniformed reploids. 

She ripped the odd netting that had ensnared Cricket off of April. 

She began tearing the rest of it off when-. 

BLAM! BLAM! 

Thud. 

“FORCE COW!”. 

She fell to the ground with a thud. 

A thud. 

A thud. 

A thud. 

A-. 

He didn’t notice he was being carried off. 

He instinctively began fighting back against the dead eyed reploids. 

They didn’t speak. 

They were…almost like ragdolls. 

He found himself desperately finding the exit. 

He scrambled up the stairs and met with the cool air of the vast ocean on a starlit night. 

He was about to throw himself overboard. 

FWISH! 

He found his face hitting the floor. 

He groaned in pain and tried to look up. 

It was…

No way. 

A finger lifted his chin up. 

“Hello…Slice Cricket…”. 

He looked up at the familiar eye and ruby red scope. 

“You’re-you-re-you-re Web-your Web Spider…what are you doing here?”. 

“Needed a place to hide…my unit should be here to see me at some point.” the spider Reploid spoke, his voice monotone and relaxed. 

“Why-why here?”. 

He looked down on him. 

The scope glowed, giving some crimson undertones to his yellow face. 

“A favored one of mine thinks you should be requited for your misdeeds…”.