I would like to give special thanks to PY687 for the beta-read and all the help he has given me.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"AI Talking"

A Blast from his Past

A shattering scream pierced the night. Chris picked his head up when he heard Morgan screaming at the Pirate who grabbed her and started to take off. Chris did his best to lift the arm cannon, but with the suit only at ten percent capacity, it was like lifting a load of bricks. Chris saw movement from the abandoned house and a figure came out. The figure was wearing armour similar to the Gravity Suit but it was orange. The figure started to fire its Power Beam at the Space Pirate, hoping to force it to release Morgan. However, the figure had to turn its full attention to the weakened Pirate because it was firing power shots and rockets at it.

"The fighter's graceful, I'll give it that," Chris thought as the figure used a combination of the space jump and the speed booster to dodge all the shots and rockets. Chris saw the figure charge the Power Beam and fire a Beam Combo, the Super Missile, at its enemy to finish it off. The armour-clad figure turned to the last conscious pirate with its cannon raised, but did not fire at it. The last Pirate had Morgan in its arms and was already twenty feet in the air; it was gaining height rapidly. As the pirate climbed and disappeared out of the two remaining fighters' sights, Chris saw Carl walk out of the front door.

"Aw, damn! Mom is going to be so pissed about that… Now, where could Morgan be," phrased Carl, not really asking a question so much as a statement. He took a passing glance at the wrecked truck and looked around the area for Morgan. He saw the two figures: one in a large orange suit and the other on the ground in a small blue suit. The orange figure pointed up at the retreating pirate. Carl looked up, and after seeing his little sister, exclaimed, "Let's see, Morgan bitching 24/7 or dad complaining about the truck… Morgan bitching 24/7 or dad complaining about the truck…" After some more thinking, he shouted, "KEEP HER!"

Everyone could hear Morgan's screams and curses as the Space Pirate took her away. Meanwhile Carl just walked back inside and shut the door after looking at the two figures in suits one final Carl left the scene, the figure in the Varia Suit walked over to Chris and knelt down. It reached up to take off its helmet to reveal a human underneath. The head belonged to not just any human, but a girl who looked to be around the age of sixteen.

"You alright now?" she gestured with his left hand for her to remove his helmet; after she had removed it, he saw the brief look of shock as it passed across her face. "So, um, are you okay?"

As he spoke, Chris felt the metallic taste of blood coming out the corner of his mouth. "Except for my pride and the area from my chest down, I'm fine."

"Can you get up?"

"Of course – why wouldn't I be able to?" he said a little gelidly.

"Right, sorry." The girl blushed, apparently a little embarrassed. She changed the subject. "Do you know why those pirates were here?"

"I think they were looking for someone or something, but I can't be certain. I doubt their intended target was Morgan… you know, the girl," Chris stated blandly.

"But then, why didn't you kill them?"

Chris looked away, his cheeks stinging. "I meant to, but my suit wasn't fully calibrated." His hands moved up subconsciously to the back of his neck and rested there, rubbing the area for no reason.

"I saw you trying to use the Wavebuster, and then your suit malfunctioned. Is that what happened?" The dark brown-haired girl asked tentatively. Her green eyes and thin nose held a hypnotic look, and Chris found himself staring at her too long. The girl shifted uncomfortably and Chris' gaze swung towards the floor.

He replied as coolly as possible, "Well, I wouldn't know, but I believe my A.I. Maverick would be able to answer your question. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"Rachel, what about yours?" the girl replied, a smile lighting her face. Out of habit, Chris returned it.

"My name is Chris."

"So, do you have a house to stay in?" Rachel inquired.

"Technically, it's not a house… but yeah, behind that house in the woods," Chris said, pointing to the abandoned house.

Rachel helped him to his feet. "Here, I'll give you a hand." She offered her left hand shyly, yet firmly. Chris winced as he put his right leg on the ground "I think you injured your leg, Chris."

With Rachel's help, Chris led her to the caves. As he leaned against the opening of the second one, she stated, "It's not much of a hideout."

Chris chuckled. "Here, let me turn on the lights." He flicked the switch, and light flooded the hanger, revealing the tubes, firing range, and obstacle course.

Rachel's jaw dropped as she took in the sight before her; it was awhile before she spoke. "So this is where you live?"

"Yup. Still not much of a hideout?" he said in a joking tone.

"I take back what I said," Rachel said, obviously offended. Her face quickly twisted into either surprise, contempt, or both.

After a few seconds, Chris could not take it anymore. "Has something caught your attention?"

"How did you get the Gravity Suit? I mean, I've looked all over the place, but haven't found any trace of it!"

"Here's the short story: Maverick scans for upgrades a few times every month, and when he finds one I go out and get it. After that, we test the modification… and if you're done gawk- er, admiring my Gravity Suit, would you please give me a hand at this tube so I can get the amour off?"

Rachel regained her posture and helped him over to the left tube in the cave. When she released him, he collapsed. "Maverick, get this suit off and give Rachel something to drink; and I think I need medical attention for my leg. The right leg – that's the one opposite the left."

"I apologize for last time. I will do so right away… And who did you say is your lady friend?" Maverick responded.

"Her name's Rachel and she saved my ass-" Rachel shook awkwardly from Chris' crude language, who did not seem to notice. "-from a couple Space Pirates. Oh, the Wavebuster also failed, and that's why the Fusion Suit is beat to hell."

Robotic arms descended from the ceiling, and, after dismantling the Fusion Suit, carried the pieces off to the barely-noticeable repair room in the back of the hanger.

"I warned you about the unchecked missile system… You will have to give me as many details as possible of what happened."

Therefore, Chris explained what happened with the occasional help from Rachel when he was struggling to remember. "And so, when I pressed the button for missiles the ball of electricity kinda got sucked back into the cannon and it shocked the crap out of me," Chris finished moodily.

"Interesting… I will look into it."

Chris looked over at Rachel and saw her eyes moving across his athletic figure perceptible through the Zero Suit. He said in a teasing voice, "Like what you see? Maybe you could show me yours later… Nah, I'm joking." Ignoring the blush emerging on her face, he said, "Would you like to get out of that suit? Because we can store it in a spare tube while my Fusion Suit is being repaired."

Rachel's blush deepened "Um, thanks for the offer, but I don't…well, I don't really have anything on underneath my Varia Suit."

It was turn for Chris to flush. "Uh, you can take it off; that's fine with me." Rachel's face gave a half-surprised and half-disgusted face. Chris quickly improvised. "No, I mean you could use the second Zero Suit for now, if you wanted."

"Okay thanks… I think I will. So where's the other suit, and where can I change?" Rachel considered after eyeing Chris warily for a moment or two.

"In that locker over by the wall." Oh, Maverick, can you give Rachel a screen?"

There were a few beeps as Rachel walked over to the locker; once she reached it, a metal screen was placed next to Rachel, so Chris would not be able to see her change. Meanwhile, robotic arms picked Chris up and placed him on a soft bed with medical equipment around it. Another screen was placed, around him this time. Chris winced as the arms went to work trying to remove the Zero Suit to get to his injuries.

Rachel looked at the screen before her while some mechanical arms dismantled her suit and helped her into a Zero Suit. "So what does a Zero Suit do exactly?"

Maverick answered the question monotonously, almost seeming to read from a brochure. "A Zero Suit acts as a strong, second skin; it can take a fair amount of damage before collapse or tears, and can also enhance speed, reaction time, and strength to a slight degree." Then he spoke lowly so only Chris could hear. "And there is a problem with your suit; I believe that when you were shocked from the failed Wavebuster, it became melded with your skin."

Chris was hesitant about the benefits. "So what, exactly, does that mean for me?"

"It means that the suit has added a second layer to your skin, and is now a part of you. I will have to run some more tests, if you feel it will amount to anything." If it were possible for an A.I. to sound mocking, Maverick did it without failure.

Chris heard Maverick's tone and, for the hundredth time since he had made the Artificial Intelligence, wished he had not placed the recommended emotion chip in him. Then his mind switched back to pondering the significant details of his life, and Chris was lost in thought. "I wonder what's going to happen to me now that the Zero Suit is a part of me. Well, there's at least one silver lining to it: I don't have to change my clothes anymore."

He heard soft footsteps approach him, but he did not look around until a hand touched his shoulder. "It's alright, Chris; besides, you look good in a Zero Suit," Rachel said with a slight blush on her cheeks. At the confused, questioning look on his face, Rachel replied, "Maverick said he will be unable to remove the suit for a week or two."

"So she doesn't know the whole thing." He looked at her and could not help gazing at the Zero Suit. It was a bit big for her frame, and thus was low-cut. "Wow, that's some cleavage… Wait, I can't… look… I cannot seem like a pervert in front of her."

Chris was relieved when Maverick interrupted his tense moment. "Chris will need to have a goodnight's sleep, because he has school tomorrow. I believe you do too, Rachel, from my scans." Rachel stiffened, and Chris thought Rachel was wondering what and when Maverick scanned.

"Don't worry; he just scans metabolism rates, adrenaline, those types of stuff." The he moaned when he remembered Maverick's words. "Great, I've got school tomorrow; I'm just going to hope that nobody notices me in a jumpsuit walking down the hallway."

Rachel tapped him on his shoulder "So where am I going to sleep?"

"There's a room back there where I sleep, but you can use that as it seems like I'm stuck here for the night," Chris responded. He pointed toward the back of the hanger.

"Don't you have a home?"

"This is it… my dad died in an accident, and I don't know where my mom is. She… well, let's just say I don't remember her being that nice; but that's biased, since I haven't seen her after two."

Rachel looked embarrassed as she said, "Sorry I asked."

"It's fine. Besides, you probably would have found out eventually. I reveal things like that when I'm around good-looking ladies. Anyway you should get some rest."

Unable to ignore Chris' third comment, Rachel shrugged it off temporarily to answer him. "Okay; goodnight, Chris. I'll see you in the morning…"

"G'night. You sleep well too."

Maverick spoke from a speaker close to Chris' head. "There is something critical that I didn't want to say in front of Rachel, but because the Fusion Suit received such a large jolt from the failed Wavebuster, some of its systems have been lost or are too damaged to function properly at the moment."

"Like what?"

"The speed boosters and missiles are lost, and because you don't have missiles, you have also lost the Wavebuster as well. However, the good news is that you still have Morph Ball and bombs; plus, the Space Jump is functioning within safety parameters."

Chris tried to sit up but he was too exhausted and slid back down. "Damn it, you were right. We should have tested all of the systems first."

"No, Chris, I am not entirely right." Chris's eyes widened in shock at the A.I.'s show of humility, and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Maverick. "We will never know for sure if the Pirate would still have been at the abandoned house or would have moved on had you tested more parts, and you were right in that matter previously. What if you had not tested those first few parts? Would you have died against the Space Pirate instead of just being injured? Like I said, we will never know for sure." An arm came toward Chris and pricked his skin, injecting a fluid into his arm. When Chris asked what it was, Maverick answered, "This is to help you sleep better and deal with the pain. It's basically a sleep-inducing anesthetic."

"Well, hopefully everything will turn out better in the morning," Chris drowsily wished, and fell asleep seconds later, hoping for the best to happen the next day.