D. Zero: Right, Z's still 'Nightmared', so I'm doing this Halloween special. Not really much to say. Just that it's a story for Halloween. Go figure.
Happy Halloween
…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… YES!!!
I calmly remove my hand from my mouth, and am glad to notice that the damn things don't fall out of my mouth. I take a look at the mirror and bare my teeth at my reflection. Two long fangs are now in the place of where my eyeteeth used to be. I move my tongue across them, and nod when they stay in place.
Good stuff.
I smirk at my reflection, then pull out a pot of gel sis bought some time ago. She said it would come in handy one day. Problem is, I don't have a clue as to how it works, so I read the prescription on the back first.
…Mwah, not too hard.
I pull out a handful of the sticky substance, and rub it over my hands, before running my hands through my hair and forcing my fringe back against my head. Seeing as my hair is loose now, it's easier to move the entire mass back. The gel makes my hair shine as a small side effect, but it looks pretty cool.
"Fancy," a voice says behind me and I turn around in surprise.
"Oh hey X," I say calmly, turning back to the mirror to fix up my hair.
X watches me in the mirror, but I pay him little heed.
"So, will the fangs stay in?" he asks teasingly.
"….Rar," I say sarcastically, and bare my teeth at the mirror, but I'm looking at X's reflection.
X whistles at the two teeth poking out amongst all the right-shaped ones. I look a little closer at X once I close my mouth again, and notice he's wearing a long, pitch-black cloak that seems to have stars everywhere but where you're looking at. You can see them from the corner of your eyes, but if you were to look, it'd be gone.
It was a special cloak sis made for such occasions. Usually, sis pulls it out with Halloween or other costumed-parties, but uh… this time we had to do it ourselves.
"So, how's sis coming up?" I ask X, as I pull two strands of my hair back down to frame my face.
"Red's helping Gate get rid of the Nightmare Virus," X mumbles. "Most likely, Zeal'll be alright before this night is over."
"By the way, where'd RCM learn of that virus?" I ask.
X simply shrugs with a look that said that he had absolutely no clue as to what was going on. Well, neither have I, but hey, who am I?
RCM was a new Hunter around here, with a very mysterious past. He rarely talks about it, but no one asks. And besides, if people were to ask any of our gang to talk about our past, we'd just clamp up. Personally, I refuse to think about it, and I'll do anything to avoid the subject. But anyway, RCM seems very good at working with viruses, whether they're the Maverick Virus (very simply cure there) or this new virus. He calls it 'Nightmare Virus', but no one knows exactly what that means. Also, he's called by different names around the base. Some call him Red, others Chaos, and more others call him Mage. But I simply stick with RCM.
He's not such a bad guy, and he's pretty tough when it comes to fighting. He's got a Buster, but his main-weapon's his Chaos-Sword, which is a burning green sword about the size of an average sword from the Middle Ages. I have to admit, it's a nice weapon, but I prefer my Z-Saber over any other weapon. It's thin, sharp, and it has the capability to change shape. But then again, that's only when I wield it.
The guy's nice to hang out with, but he's got a peculiar aura surrounding him. Sis trusts him though, so I guess I should learn to live with that.
Suddenly, there was an energetic knock on the door. I chuckle softly to myself as I pull the cape across my shoulders.
"Come in, Miranda!" I call out, loud enough for her to hear.
The door swings open, and the light-purple haired girl in question pops into the room, a broad smile on her face. A white and pink cat runs into the room, and jumps on the counter, meowing for attention. I smile and scratch the little critter behind her ears. Beta purrs and leans into my touch calmly.
"How'd you know it was me?" Miranda asks, still smiling.
I shrug and pick up the small kitten. I hand Beta over to Miranda again, who takes her in her arms calmly, stroking the kitten across her back. Beta purrs in contentment, leaning against Miranda for more.
"So, why you here? Shouldn't you get into your own outfit?" X asks.
True, Miranda's still wearing her armor, but that doesn't seem to stop her smile.
"Nuh-uh!" she says, and Beta automatically jumps from her arms.
A familiar glow surrounds her, and within seconds, her armor's gone, and all we can do is gawk at her.
She's wearing a long pink gown with all kind of decorations I can't even begin to describe. But I can say that she's got a really big collar, and a tiara that looked expensive from a distance, but it's just a fake, as were the other pieces of jewelry she was wearing. Her now golden blond hair is now tied up in a loose bun atop her head, and was tied up with a white bow.
"How do I look?! Sis made it for me!!" Miranda asks enthusiastically, twirling around for us to see the whole outfit.
I swear, it was like looking at a completely different person.
But…
"When'd Z make that for you?" I ask, confused.
Sis's known to have very little time for a social life, due to all those Maverick attacks and Uprisings we've been going through, as well as those huge mountains of paperwork. But she'd rather go through all that paperwork than send her mind through hell over and over again. So when'd she get to make something like that?
Miranda shrugged, and I suddenly notice she's got stuffing for her shoulders as well.
"I dunno, but sis gave it to me, saying she spent a lot of time on this!" she says with a smile.
Most likely. I wonder how she made it in the first place. Making armors is fine for sis, but clothing… crap. She's got enough problems finding matching clothes for herself!
"Well ANYWAY!!!" X says suddenly. "Let's head for the party!! I'm tired of just standing here!!"
Can't help but agree!
"Right, let's PARTY!!!"
The music's blaring from the boxes, and everybody's either dancing or getting drunk. I can't have anything because of these fangs. They're designed as decorations only, not as tools to eat or drink with. Even so, I'm not hungry or thirsty, so I just sit on a chair somewhere, after dancing nonstop for quite a couple of songs.
I've seen Chibiki someplace, dressed up as an assassin, all in black and dark blue, with her sunglasses on and her scarf hiding her mouth and nose. Typical. Even without that outfit she looks like an assassin. But even so, the outfit looks good on her, especially with that mass of brown hair of hers to top it off.
Axl showed up as well, and Gate and Dynamo somehow managed to get him to come too. He was dressed as a ninja, with just his eyes visible. Early on, Chibiki had picked him out to dance with, and I have to admit, they make a pretty good couple.
Gate dressed up as a crazy scientist, to which a few people had snickered, but to be honest, it suited him (a little). He even went as far as to draw slight bags under his eyes, indicating many sleepless nights filled with crazy experiments or something. Or, that's what he wants people to think no doubt.
Let's see… who else do we got?
Oh right! RCM. He's dressed up as a Maverick, surprisingly. He even imitated Sigma's emblem, but with a sense of humor to it, as the dog had a tongue now and was drooling. Pretty slick thinking. Not many managed to think of something that original.
Uh… ah! Dynamo! The silver haired male in question had dressed up as an ancient hero from the Middle Ages, with a (fake) broadsword in a sheath around his waist. He danced with a few girls, and sometimes with a few guys, but nothing too serious happened.
Now where the hell are… AH!!!
Elvor and Laze, the Reploid Twin. As both of them were each other's opposites when it came to personality, so were their costumes. Where Laze's a little devilin, complete with a Satan's trident, Elvor seems to be sort of an angel.
I let my eyes slide across the crowd again, searching. I sigh when I can't find the girl I'm looking for. Just then, I notice RCM walking away from the dancefloor, panting for breath, but still grinning. I whistled loud enough for him to hear, and he instantly looked in my direction.
I give a jerk with my head, indicating him to come over. He points at himself in confusion, then walks over once I nod.
"Yo Zero!" he asks as he sits down. "Wassup?"
"I was about to ask the same thing," I say calmly. "How's Z doing?"
RCM smiles and says: "Oh, she'll be fine. Just…" he looks at his watch (why he even has one is beyond me), "…12 more minutes and she should be rid of the virus."
"'Should be'?" I question.
RCM nods and says: "There's always a small chance that the Nightmare Virus still houses in her microfusiontanks, or any other part of her systems, so we can't celebrate just yet. But she'll have to stay in quarantine for at least a few weeks. We can't have her go out killing for no good reason again."
I nod, understanding what he was getting at. Unlike other scientists who go into detail of the problem, RCM keeps it short and straight.
"Thanks," I mumble.
"No prob," RCM says with a grin and heads for the bar.
I sigh softly, and before I know it, a familiar Reploid plops down on a chair close by.
"Ohayo Zero-san!" the girl says in her odd, song-like voice.
"'Ey Song," I say simply.
No kidding, that's her name. It most likely has something to do with her voice or something, I dunno. Anyway, Song's not really a Hunter, yet. She's trying, but it doesn't really work as she's always too caught up in that little world of hers she's created. That's what keeps her from focusing properly.
But she doesn't seem to mind. She's just glad she can stay here at HQ. And, like sis, she's a yaoi-fangirl. One of the reasons why she's such good friends with her.
One more thing, Song's dressed up as that girl from Radical Dreamers. Looks pretty good on her, but she's not my style.
"So, where's X-san?" she asks, looking around curiously.
I look around for a while, than say, without facing her: "Don't know. Somewhere I don't know of."
Not a logical answer, but it's true. Hmmm… I wonder where that 'magician' went.
Bah, I dunno, but he'll pop up somewhere around here.
"Aren't you going to drink something, Zero-san?" Song asks.
That's another thing about her. She always ads 'san' behind my name. Dunno why.
"Can't," I say simply and bare my teeth at her. "These things weren't made to eat or drink with."
Song nods in understanding, then turns back to the crowd. Suddenly, she squeals and stands up.
"My date's here!!!" she says excitedly, and runs off.
Crap. She's as bad as Chibiki after drinking cappuccino.
I never believed one could get high on coffee, but whoever thinks you can't, should see Chibiki after she's had coffee. Man… she'll keep bouncing around the room until she's killed something.
Many people are still dancing, but still X is nowhere to be seen. I'm not worried or anything, just curious as to where he's at.
Suddenly, a hand is slapped on my shoulder, and I flinch at the sudden touch, and look up in surprise.
"Yo Zero!" X says plainly, slinging his arms over my shoulders and leaning with his chin on my head. "Whacha doing?"
"Nothin'," I mumble simply, not even bothering with him. "You?"
"Same," he says calmly.
Silence befalls us, with the only sounds being the music and chatter of others.
It's not strange for X and me to just sit around, seemingly not doing anything at all. No one knows why we do it, but to be honest, we like it that way. I appreciate the silence actually. I know I can talk a lot. I talk a mile a second so to speak, as Zeal puts it, but still, if I have nothing to say, I won't say anything. And periods like that can take long if no one comes over and talks to me.
"Hey Zero, does that song sound familiar to you?" X suddenly asks.
I listen carefully. So far no music, only background sounds that are really familiar.
"Shall we?" X asks, peeking down at me, his light black hair falling down messily.
I smirk, baring my teeth, and say: "Why the fuck not?"
We get up and make our way onto the dancefloor, just as the first lines emerge from the boxes.
"When it's time to party we will always party hard."
The music picks up pace instantly before it's even started, and everyone starts dancing to the beat, which is pretty fast. A lot of people are barely able to keep up. But X and me can keep up easily.
"You!
You work all night! (All night!)
And when you work you don't feel all right!
And we!
We can't stop feeling all right! (All right!)
And everything is all right!
This thing hasn't even warmed up yet. This is still slow compared to what comes later on.
'Cuz we will never listen to your rules! (No!!)
We will never do what others do!
Do what we want and we get it from you!
Do what we like and we like what we do!!
"Alright, here we go!
"So let's get a party going!! (Let's get a party going!!)
Now it's time to party and we'll party hard!!! (Party hard!!!!)
Let's get a party going!! (Let's get a party going!!)
When it's time to party we will always party hard!!!"
Here's where it gets tough.
"Party!!! (Party hard, party hard, party hard, party hard…)
Party party party party party hard!!!"
You know, with songs like this, X and I always challenge each other to see who'll last longer. Not out loud, but we still know we are, somehow. Maybe it's the amused smirks we wear during the challenges, I dunno.
Anyway, this is one of those songs, so we're doing the best to be better than each other.
Once the lyrics return, we start dancing more violently.
"All right!!
You!
You break the thing!
And when you play you feel all right!
But we!
We can't stop feeling all right! (All right!)
And everything is all right!!
'Cuz we will never listen to your rules! (No!!)
We will never do what others do!
Do what we want and we get it from you!
Do what we like and we like what we do!!
"Heeeere we go again!!
"So let's get a party going!! (Let's get a party going!!)
Now it's time to party and we'll party hard!!! (Party hard!!!!)
Let's get a party going!! (Let's get a party going!!)
When it's time to party we will always party hard!!!
Party!!! (Party hard, party hard, party hard, party hard…)
Party party party party party hard!!!
Party!!! (Party hard, party hard, party hard, party hard…)
Party party party party party hard!!!
Party!!! (Party hard, party hard, party hard, party hard…)
Party party party party party HARD!!!"
And stop!
Every challenge we have ends with both of us standing in the final position, motionless. We glare at each other, but we're still smirking amusedly.
Silence, neither of us giving up, until loud applause sounds around us, making us turn around.
Everybody was standing in a circle around us, clapping with stupid grins on their faces. How long had they been watching anyway?!
It's about the witching hour when we (X and I) finally return to our room. We danced the rest of the night away, but managed to avoid most attention after that.
But before we went to our room, we went to see Zeal in the infirmary. She was just laying there, eyes wide and emotionless, just… staring at the ceiling. Her chest was moving up and down, so she was still turned on, but the glassy gaze in her eyes scared the bejezus out of me!
Whoa! I'm starting to sound like her!!
Anyway, she had several tubes stuck in her arm, and a mask covering her mouth and nose, giving her the oxygen she needed. Gate was there when we arrived. He said he came to see her every four hours. To his information, she hadn't moved an inch. Hadn't even blinked.
She looked like a puppet you'd find in one of those antique toyshops Miranda goes to all of the time. You know, those perfect china-dolls with their glassy eyes, vacant stares, and pretty little smiles. Zeal looked like one of them, but without the smile. With that white, porcelain skin of hers. Not at all like my own. Mine's white as a sheet, as is X's. Also, Zeal has naturally red lips, and with her good looks, she's a girl many a-men would kill for.
But if you told her, she wouldn't believe it. She doesn't look in a mirror, that's one of the reasons most likely.
Ever since…… never mind.
RCM came too, checking Z's condition. She seemed to be doing fine, but like he said, she had to go into quarantine for a few weeks.
I crash down on the bed, face-down, and mumbling unintelligible stuff in my pillow. Don't even remember what I said.
"Z looked really sick," X's voice says as I hear rustling of material.
A little later, I hear him fold up the cloak he had just removed. Yeah, believe it or not, we clean up after ourselves. I mean, who else is going to do it for us?
Well, I know sis won't, that's for sure.
"Wost wikewy…" I mumble with my head still in my pillow.
Suddenly, there was a scratching sound at the door, making me turn my head to the door. X blinks and walks over to the door. He opens it calmly, and almost immediately, a familiar red and green canine stormed into the room, looking mighty distressed. And I already know why.
"Hey Delta," X says and bends down to scratch the distressed dog behind his ear. "You wanna stay here?"
The dog whimpers and nods softly. That dog can understand everything we say, surprisingly. Just sad he can't say anything in return. But it doesn't matter.
I push myself up and lean against the headboard for awhile. Delta walks over and leaps on the bed gracefully. I scratch him behind his ears a little, before he circles around three times and lays down, still looking distressed. But he soon closes his eyes and falls asleep easily.
I reach up into my mouth and wriggle at the fake fangs I still have in my mouth. They easily come off. I pull the green putti from the fangs and put it back in its bag for reuse. The fangs go back in their tiny coffin.
No I'm serious, sis bought them in that.
X sighs and plops onto the bed as well.
"It started alright, but then it went straight downhill, huh?" he asks, not even looking at me.
I don't bother. I feel as bad as he's feeling.
*knock knock*
Delta's ears perk and he's awake in an instant, staring at the door intently.
"Hey guys?" a familiar voice says softly, though not as cheerful as earlier in the evening.
A soft meow accompanies it.
X sighs and says: "Door's open."
Miranda walks in, looking as crestfallen as the rest of us, maybe even more so, with her costume. Beta waddles in a little, and jumps on the bed as well. She rubs herself against Delta, as if looking for comfort, and Delta simply licks her over her head, not bothering with the fact that it looks odd.
"Sis's going to be alright, isn't she? She can't die! I know she can't!!" Miranda pleads, looking absolutely lost, hurt, and most of all… alone.
By blood, Miranda and I might not be related, or by model even, but I still dislike seeing her so distressed.
"'Ey," I say, motioning with my hand, "get over here."
Miranda instantly runs over and literally collapses in my arms, almost crying. I don't mind, and X watches it, knowing that Miranda needs the comfort more than any of us. I simply pull her up on the bed and onto my lap, holding her against me tightly as she cries on my shoulder. I look over at Beta and Delta, and notice they fell asleep, curled up together.
X puts his hands behind his head, giving a sigh as he looks at the ceiling.
Miranda keeps crying, but I let her and simply rub her back a little as she chokes on her own sobs. Some Halloween this turned out to be.
Just then, the sound of a bell rings out through HQ, making Miranda look up in surprise. She hiccups, and sniffles slightly, as the bell rings again and again. Exactly 12 times.
Midnight…
The witching hour…
"Hey, where's the smiles around here?" a familiar voice says, making all of us cry out in surprise.
Standing in the doorway, was Chibiki, holding up her shades with one hand, and holding about four pumpkin-buckets in her free hand.
"Come on guys! Cheer up! It's Halloween for Christ's sake!" she says. "By the by, I got you guys something!" she ads, holding up the buckets with a smile.
Hey whoa wait! She didn't--
"Chibiki…" I start threateningly.
"I went Trick-or-Treating, all right?!" she says, and before we can respond, we each have a bucket shoved in our arms.
Miranda stares at the candy, and I can see a slight bit of drool coming from her mouth. And to be honest, I can't help drooling myself at the amount of candy, and I can tell X's thinking the same.
"Come on! Z's going to be fine! I checked up with Gate and he said so himself!!" Chibiki says firmly, her shades pushed up to her forehead, before pulling out a candy-bar. "Anyone want to trade a Snicker with me? I got about three of 'em."
I checked my own bucket for a moment, then said: "Got about 5 Twixes. Want one?"
"Sure!"
And pretty soon, everybody's trading all sorts of candy, and munching on them at the same time.
"Hey guys?" Chibiki says suddenly around a mouthful of Mars.
"Hmm?" X asks, swallowing a Sweet Tart.
"Happy Halloween!" she says joyously.
We all smile and say: "Happy Halloween."