X's p.o.v.

I was on the ground with a crumbled Buster, and I was bleeding all over. I couldn't stand up because all of my energy was going into my constant gasping for air. Electricity ran across my open wounds.

"X!"

The pain suddenly faded, and my breath had returned to me. I looked around to see I was still in the pod I'd fallen asleep in. Was that a dream? Ice cold water fell on my face. "WHAH!"

"Wake up, we're gonna be late."

"I'm up, I'm up!"

Zero handed me a towl.

"Let's go!"

"I said I'm coming!"

Zero's p.o.v.

Immediately after saber training was over, I found Iris and explained to her what had caused the events of the day before.

"... so I'm not gay, I just had to find a way to keep Alia off of me and my friend."

"Ha ha! That sounds crazy," she laughed. "Sorry about Alia..."

"Ehh, it's alright. Just please don't tell her I told you this, it's the only way to keep her hands off of me and X."

She giggled. "Alright. I'd better go, my next class is about to start."

After she left, I decided to take a small walk while waiting for martial arts training to start. I looked up and saw Commander Sigma outside his office door, beckoning me to enter. I obediantly followed him in, closing the door behind me.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Zero," he said, "a Maverick has been spotted in a cave outside the city. We've been chasing him for months, but everyone at H.Q. has their hands full with a Maverick gang right now. Can I trust you with retrieving this Maverick?"

I felt my heart race. It was a mission! I stood up straight and solluted. "Yes, sir. On one condition, though, I wanna bring someone with me."

"Of course, I wasn't going to send you out alone," Sigma said as he sat back down. "However, the students here are all rather busy as well, so you can only bring two along with you and two only. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. I know just the men."

During martial arts class, I had the conversation with X while sparring with him. Of course, I approached maturely and was ready to accept the answer no.

"X, we're going to go catch a Maverick," I said as he blocked my kick. He pushed it back and punched me.

"What!?"

I blocked his punch and flipped him. "Start packing, we're heading out tomorrow. Also, be prepared to loose a couple of limbs."

"... Help."

After the class was over, we started looking for someone else to come along.

"Commander Sigma said we needed one more recruit. But that'll be hard, because there are very few students in here who actually do stuff, and the ones that are strong are also insane."

"Hey," Storm Eagle said across from us. "Glad to see you two are still talking after that dramatic break up."

"We're not gay!" I snapped. "Hey, Storm Eagle, Commander Sigma ordered me and X to chase after a Maverick out of the city, wanna come?"

"A Maverick? Of course, my wings have been getting cramps."

"What're you doing?" X whispered. "He's one of the students you told me to look out for."

"He's dangerous, but he's not as bad as the others," I whispered back. "We can trust him." I said in a louder tone, "We're leaving tomorrow morning. Meet us at my apartment, okay?"

"I'll be there."

X's p.o.v.

We left at morning, but we got to the woods with the cave near noon. I stayed a good distance from Storm Eagle at all times, and made sure I was close to Zero.

"Okay, so does anyone have a plan?"

"Commander Sigma didn't really give me much information. So, my best bet is-"

A loud beeping noise sounded through our ears.

"Can you hear me?"

"The fuck is that?" I whispered.

"Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hea-"

"Yes, we can hear you!" Zero said. "What're you doing, Alia?"

"Didn't Commander Sigma tell you? I'll be in charge of the navigation for your mission. Commander went ahead and gave me a bunch of information on this environment the Maverick's hiding in. This is great practice for all of us, doncha think?"

"I guess so," I said. "But Commander never said we'd have a navigator, did he really sign you up to this, Alia?"

-Flashback-

"Hi, Commander," Alia had said innocently, handing him a magazine. "Here's a porn magazine I found in the trash. I'll give it to you if you let me navigate Zero on his quest. Pretty please~"

-End of flashback-

"Totally," she lied.

"Well, it's reassuring knowing we'll be having help," Storm Eagle said. "Thanks for coming along, I'm sure you'll be a big help."

Alia squealed. "Aw, Storm Eagle, are you in love with me?"

Storm Eagle did a 'Oh crap, I just shit my pants' face. "Uh-"

"Aw, that's so cute!" she squealed. "Alright, once this is over, I can go on a date with you!"

"Help me," Eagle whispered.

"But you're gonna have to wait until after you catch this guy. This cave is really big, so the Maverick could be anywhere in there. Try luring him out first, then ambush him. You may not even half to hurt him if you move quick enough."

I felt myself smile at that last statement.

"Leave this to me," Storm Eagle said. He jumped up and hovered at least twenty feet above the cave. "STORM TORNADO!" He blasted a purple tornado at the cave, sending rocks flying everywhere.

"What the fuck is this!?" I cried.

"This is Storm Eagle's special weapon," Zero said calmly, standing tall with his head errect, unfazed by the blast. "It's called Storm Tornado."

"Uh, Storm Eagle, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Alia said.

A figure dashed from the cave. They ducked into the shadows wearing a black robe. I couldn't see who it was, but I knew from one glance it was the Maverick.

"Hey!" I cried. I jumped towards them, but they rolled out of my reach. They got up and ran into the woods. "Wait! C-come back!"

"Damn it," Zero growled. He pulled out his saber and ran after them. "Come on!" Storm Eagle flew after them.

I guess this means there'll be violence after all... "Wait for me!"

Zero's p.o.v.

"Damn, where the hell did he go?"

Storm Eagle landed next to me. "Should I try blasting him out again?"

"No, I think you've done enough damage."

"Boys, keep your guard up, he might be ready to spring an attack."

X ran up to us and held up his Buster.

"Be careful," I whispered, "he could be anywhere in here."

I heard footsteps to my right. I looked up and saw the black robe near a tree. Dashing forward, I used my saber to stab them, but no one was there. It was just the robe. I heard a Buster shot behind me.

"What the hell was that!?" I gasped. X was holding an open hole in his chest as he collapsed on his knees. "X!"

Storm Eagle shot out an egg, and out of that appeared four little birds which charged in the direction the blast had come from. Someone jumped over them and ran into the woods, grabbing the cape I'd stabbed earlier. They were going too fast, I couldn't see who it was.

"Get back here, you bastard!"

"After him, my children!" Eagle commanded his new minions. Obeying, they charged after the Maverick, Storm Eagle close behind.

"X! X!" I shook him repeatedly.

He slowly held up his hand, and extended it towards me. He tried to push me off of him. "I'm fine... You go ahead."

"I can't leave you like this!"

"Can you hear me, Zero?" Alia called. "I'll send someone to repair X-ey, you go after Storm Eagle and the Maverick, they're heading towards the mountain to your left, you can't miss it. You'd better go get my new boy friend back, or I'll kill you!"

"Uh, sure..." Poor Storm Eagle, he'll have to commit suicide to avoid Alia... "I've gotta go. You'll be okay, I promise, just wait." I ran after Storm Eagle.

I eventually got to the mountain Alia was talking about and immediately started jumping up it.

"Can you hear me, Zero?"

"You know, you don't have to ask that, the communicator's in my ear."

"X-ey got up on his own, he's coming after you."

"What!?" I stopped in my tracks and looked behind me. "He's injured, he can't fight."

"Your bro-mance is so strong!" She sighed heavily. "It's so romantic and hot. Hopefully I can see you two make out after this is over!"

"Erm... You do know he and I broke up, right?" I'd hoped that lie of ours was over. "Don't cancel the repair team, he needs to be fixed as soon as possible!"

"Alright~"

I was about to start climbing again when the sound of beating wings reached my ears. Storm Eagle flew down next to me.

"Zero, I lost him up there."

"Damn! This guy's sneaky-" Pellets fell on my face, making me fall backwards off the mountain side.

"Zero!"

I quickly regained my senses and landed on my feet. The pellets put several openings on my face around my eyes, revealing my metal insides.

"The fuck was that!?"

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think some rocks just hit me or something." No, rocks aren't enough to scape my armor. They didn't hurt like rocks did, either. They stung. But where did they come from? I didn't hear a Buster or gun shot. I looked up and saw the black robe. "There he is!"

"STORM TORNADO!"

Eagle shot the tornado again. The Maverick jumped off of the mountain before it hit, but the tornado made a giant rock fly off of the mountain and it hit him, causing him to fall into the woods.

X's p.o.v.

I gasped for breath while holding my wounded chest as I jogged as fast as I could towards the mountain.

"Stron... ger...," I muttered. "I have to... get... stronger... To win that bet... so I can... help..."

Before I could take another step, I heard the sound of the Storm Tornado in front of me. A bolder came flying towards me, causing me to dash backwards. When it landed in front of me, I noticed the Maverick in the robe underneath it.

I held up my Buster, knowing this could be my only chance to finish him off. My body trembled. He slowly looked up at me, obviously in pain. I gulped. My trembling stopped, and I fired.