It was true that Sheldon knew some amount of martial arts, but he wasn't exactly very well trained. He knew enough to defend himself against an attack from an average human, but since he hasn't trained much since Jenny came into his life years ago, his skills were very rusty. His body wasn't very strong either, so he finally decided to start training again.

There were a total of four gyms in Tremorton, but usually, any guy starting out would never go to the largest gym first. Let's just be real for a moment here. All bullshit aside; if you're a guy who is as out of shape as Sheldon is, you would most likely not only constantly feel inferior to the other really muscular guys around you in the bigger gym, but you would also likely get picked on as well. If you are a girl, try to imagine yourself in the same situation in a women's gym.

With this realization in mind from years ago, Sheldon decided to go to the smallest gym around. On the other hand, it is also true that most people know who Sheldon is and that he helped save the world more than once, but he decided that he's not going to take the chance regardless.

After applying and paying for his membership, he made his way into the main training area. Upon walking into the room, he noticed four other people in there at the moment. He looked a little more, and he then made eye contact with the fifth person sitting on a weight bench about fifteen feet away.

"And you know what's so crazy; I'm guessing you chose this gym for the same reason I did," Jason pointed out.

"Would this happen to be your first day as well?" Sheldon asked.

Jason raised his right hand pointing his index finger straight up while smiling with a look of realization on his face, and then he said "That reaction tells me you have a bigger reason for asking that question, but yes, this is my first day."

Sheldon quickly sat on the bench next to Jason, and then he said at a volume low enough so the others couldn't hear the conversation. "I'm tellin' you man; this is just the kind of thing Jenny's been talking so much about lately."

Jason raised his hand again, and then said with a somewhat more serious expression "Just a moment…You tryin' to tell me that Jenny's been studying…probabili…wait…I meant causality?"

Sheldon paused for a few seconds, and then asked "Causality? Well…yeah…that's part of it. You can say that. What it really is...is that; you know all those things we call coincidence…?"

Jason cut him off asking "So she's started to notice that a lot of things in life really don't seem as coincidental as most people treat them as, huh? Very few people treat that thought very seriously. No offense, but as extreme as she usually is, I'm guessing she's dwelling into this a whole lot."

"Extreme?" Sheldon asked confused.

Jason giggled a little at Sheldon's reaction.

Sheldon then replied "Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking. I don't think of her actions as being very extreme because I chose to put up with them because I'm her boyfriend, and that I've been doing it for so long that I don't really notice it. You can't get enough of removing every veil and exposing every little truth, can you?"

"Pretty much," Jason answered.

Sheldon grinned and said "You know; it's real convenient that you don't seem to have much to be revealed about you. You spent all this time insuring that you never seem to put on a front for people. We focus on that detail so much that it makes us think subconsciously that you don't have any uncomfortable truths to be revealed. You told it like it was pretty much every time, but when I try to remember all the information pertaining to you, I realized you never revealed much to us at all. I bet there's a whole butt load of Jason we know nothing about."

Grinning, Jason replied "Well, when you look at it like that, wouldn't you agree that pretty much everybody is like that? I just happened to decide to be as careful as possible. There's really not much anyone can pin on me besides the obvious things and that stupid decision I made because I wanted that money. Besides my parents, Grace is the only one I ever shared sensitive information like that with. Just like all the others, you decided to make a big deal out of this because every time I lift your veils, it feels like an attack. Just to let you know though, there's a whole lot of those events I don't really even remember the details to. I sometimes fear that a lot of people think that I'm some kind of huge database of every little truth I've revealed and plan on somehow using that to my advantage in the future. I'm really not that devoted. I do remember a small portion of that info because of how much they stand out to me. Shit; school was as boring as watching cows graze in a field all day. It just so happens that was one of the most enjoyable things I could find to do. The thing is, people usually aren't used to being called on their bullshit by people they aren't forced to live with everyday, and when it happens, they become defensive and are ready to throw figurative stones at the aggressor. Look at how stunned I was when people exposed my bullshit when I tried to have Jenny kill herself for money. I'm only saying that part of it to show that I recognize that I am not incapable of bullshit. But look man, I never apologized to you personally, but I am really…really sorry for what I did back then. That shit has been haunting me ever since."

By this time, Jason was no longer grinning.

"Well, you managed to save yourself just then. Your apology is accepted. You seem truthful enough. Yes, you're right about that one thing: the part about people not used to being called on their shit. It's like 'Fuck you man. You just exposed my well hidden secret." In other words, it's just as you said. It feels like an attack. I'm used to having my dirty little secrets exposed and put under the spotlight that I don't really react so strongly towards what you do. I just advise that you not take it too far. Some guy might shoot you one day," Sheldon warned.

"A possibility, but I'm not gonna say something like that to somebody that overwhelming evidence suggests that they might be dangerous. You might say that I'm a coward for only doing it to those I think I can get away with it, but if a person has a gun in the first place, doesn't that suggest that they're prepared to win the argument at any cost? Shooting me to avoid dealing with the problem seems pretty cowardly to me," Jason said.

"It's good that you just unjustified the guy with the gun, but try telling him that," Sheldon warned further.

"You got me on that one. Only, are you really suggesting that I sit back and allow the bullshit to continue unexposed like practically everybody else?" Jason asked.

"No, but try telling him that. I said that again to try to say that the gun will always decide the winner in an argument. Guns were invented specifically for insured victory. I gave that some really serious thought when I realized that Jenny's body is damn near a big gun. I'm just telling you to be careful," Sheldon replied.

"You surely made your point. I'm not trying to exit the conversation right now to avoid anymore of my bullshit from being exposed. I just need to get back to lifting these weights," Jason said.

"That…would be a waste of money to spend all our time talking. I do wanna know one thing; you tryin' to impress Grace or Angel?" Sheldon asked with a grin like he already knew the answer.

Jason gave him an odd look, and then replied "Somebody would eventually try that one on me, wouldn't they? Of course it's Grace, but…hmm…if I ever find a way to separate Angel from Grace, you can have her if you want. Man Angel can be a real bitch sometimes."

"The way their fully transformed state looks, I'd be afraid to know what Angel would look like alone: a scary thought indeed. And she's huge. I think that might be too much woman to handle," Sheldon said.

"My thoughts exactly. I think their transformation looks cool, but it's kinda hard to…you know…" Jason said as he signaled Sheldon.

"Yeah, it would be quite the issue. Also, sooner or later, Jenny will be…you know what I'm sayin', right?" Sheldon asked with a grin.

"Ah! A secretive plan cooking?" Jason asked with a grin.

"I'll leave it up to your imagination," Sheldon replied as he started pulling a bottle of water out of his bag.


X spent most of his time in his home world. Since very few Maverick attacks occurred nowadays, he spent most of his time in construction work. Both worlds had become much more peaceful than they used to be and X had finally begun to feel a sense of happiness he can't remember feeling.

The particular construction site he was working at today was very busy and potentially very hazardous. One of the orbital elevators needed to be shut down due to a need to install many new support structures to the base. The issue was not to let the elevator fall. Since it reached all the way up into the upper atmosphere, the height of the elevator was tremendous. If it fell, the damage it would cause would take months to recover from. Many force field structures were set up over the cities below in case of a disaster, so the elevator would be the one to take months to rebuild.

X was currently holding a large twenty ton metal plate up against a wall while other workers fastened it into place. The effort to hold something this heavy caused him to need to draw energy from his body as if he was firing a constant stream of weak buster shots. This caused his entire body to glow. He only agreed to this because the giant mechaniloid that was supposed to hold it in place had malfunctioned and was being repaired. This is one of many possible potential hazardous situations that could take place.

He had been holding up for over nine minutes now, and he was now starting to regret not transforming before volunteering for the task. He couldn't simply let go.

"Would it be okay with you if I help him hold that in place, sir? He looks like he's struggling," A voice he hadn't heard in quite a while said to one of the crew captains.

"Well…seeing as how you were strong enough to survive in a fight with Sigma, you ought to be strong enough to help X with this. If you want to help, just sign here saying that we won't be held accountable for injuries you may sustain. I'm asking you to do this because you aren't contracted to work with this company. X…also had to sign the same agreement," The captain explained.

"I can't believe you're here to help me, Killgore," X said.

After signing his name, Killgore made his way over to the platform and began holding up one side of the plate. X inched his way over to the other side in order to even out how much weight each of them was holding.

"So the Megaman thought he could hold this giant slab up all on his own without transforming? Seems you're becoming overconfident in your strength," Killgore pointed out.

"Bad judgment on my part to be sure. Fighting isn't exactly any easier, but I am more used to it. Where have you been lately anyway?" X asked.

"Here and there: I've grown to like the constant traveling lifestyle. I even joined a few berserk mechaniloid extermination teams. You know, the one's still left wandering aimlessly through the areas that Sigma used to control. There really doesn't seem to be anything left of Sigma at all," Killgore replied.

"Every time I hear those words, I feel even more relieved," X said.

"By the way, did you hear about those people in this world that suddenly started claiming to see ghosts just like they've been doing in my world?" Killgore asked.

"I ignored it when they started talking about that in your world, but I didn't know that people here had started doing that too. I've been too busy lately to notice. My best guess is that it's a prank or something to keep some kind of drama going around" X replied.

"You really don't think Sigma might be making holograms to scare people to death?" Killgore asked.

"No, I don't, actually. Sigma's a military-head warmonger. I would never expect him to stoop to the level of using tactics that would make him look like a high-school prankster. Plus, that day he died, I'm sorry, but that didn't look like an act. He was scared out of his mind knowing he was going to die. I have pretty much no reason to believe he survived," X explained.

"It would seem you have made an accurate assessment. Who am I to judge? I didn't know him as well as you did," Killgore said.

A man from a distance yelled into a megaphone saying "All right. X and…whoever you are; you guys can let go now."

Hesitantly, they both let go a finger at a time. When they were done, they both gave a sigh of relief.

"So, how much longer until they repair that mechaniloid?" X asked.

"About two more minutes. You guys can rest, or you can help with one of the other support structures if you wish," the man with the megaphone replied.

"So X, wait, what are you doing?" Killgore asked surprised at the fact that X was aiming his buster without warning.

X fired a single shot into the far distance. Killgore followed the trajectory and saw that the projectile hit a large mechaniloid that was about to fall off of a platform. The impact caused no significant damage to the well-armored machine as it forced the mechaniloid to regain its balance.

Everyone who witnessed this gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Maaaaaan, that was really quick thinking, X. You actually calculated the right amount of force at this distance. That's about three and a half miles from here. It's a good thing you did all that fighting for so many years. Experience really pays," One of the other workers complimented.

"Thanks," X responded.

Shocked, Killgore said "Now I see why you were able to save both XJ9 and Giga-Watt."

"The thing is, that's not the first time I've had to shoot something from this kind of distance. The first time I missed by about twenty feet. I've gotten better since. I'm not perfect or anything," X explained.

"Is that so? Whatever. It's time I hit the road. I can see how long it would take to complete this project, and I don't want to stick around that long," Killgore said as he jumped down off the platform.

"So, you were really just passing through?" X asked.

"Correct," Killgore answered.

"I think I might be wasting my time by asking, but would you like somebody to talk to for a little while?" X asked.

Killgore turned and looked X directly in the eyes in surprise.

A moment later, Killgore answered "Hah! Why not? Where should we meet?"

"Do you know where the Maverick Hunter branch is in this city?" X asked.

"I do actually. What time?" Killgore asked.

"How does tomorrow at 5:30 pm sound to you?" X asked.

As Killgore started walking away, he replied "That's fine. It's not like I have anywhere important to be anyway."

When Killgore was about a mile from the site, he thought to himself "He's an odd one. He's knows my name and my past, yet he still looked at me with such a genuinely friendly smile. Most people are afraid to even stare at me for longer than they have to. Such power…and yet so gentle."


Later on that day, XJ6 and Grace were spending time together in the apartment Grace rented. They were in the middle of listening to some music and talking about many different things.

"Hey. You wanna know…what practically no one listens to…anymore? Watch this," Grace said while picking up a remote.

A few seconds after the song changed, XJ6 said surprised "The last thing I expected from you. I never thought you'd like 1970's disco."

"And you know what, I actually…don't get why people think…it's corny. For the life…of me…I can't figure out how it…went out of style," Grace said.

"I think…it was probably that 80's rock n' roll thing. I read somewhere that it had a much bigger affect on the population than most people these days seem to know. Then there was the whole 90's rap thing. Hold on. This disco stuff isn't bad at all," XJ6 said as she realized that her body was involuntarily moving to the rhythm slightly.

Grace grinned, and then said "I thought you might like it."

Just then, Angel spoke up saying "Every major music genre must've had a huge impact on the population. You're a robot, and you still started moving to the music without even knowing it at first. I always wondered how music is able to do that to people. You know how if there is a loud sound system with a lot of base playing nearby, and you happen to be walking through that area, you have a tendency to start walking to the rhythm of that beat? I accidentally took control of Grace's body and made her do that once. Music is some powerful shit."

"Knowing you; you might try to tell me that you could probably mind control people like that," XJ6 pointed out.

"Knowing her, that's…exactly what she's…thinking," Grace commented.

"Just look at how extreme people would act when listening to those types of music. The disco attire and bad hairstyles, the Mohawks and the insane looking dancing people did with heavy and death metal, the ridiculous high top fades and baggy clothes with that whole old school rap thing. It went even further as rap changed from what it was into constantly talking about sex, drugs, lavish living and self-exaltation. You know what happened? Each time, the listeners followed suit. They went way out of their way to mimic what they saw and heard. Seems like mind-control to me, even if it wasn't deliberate," Angel explained.

"And what the fuck is 'death' metal? That sounds awful. I've heard it before, but the name sounds like some sick weirdo made it up. I don't know about all that mind-control stuff, but I do agree that people did act really strange back then. They still do come to think of it. It's just 'different' these days," XJ6 added.

"I'm sorry about that. I think that X guy's constant seriousness rubbed off on me. I'm already about to turn this get together into angst territory," Angel said.

"Don't worry about it too much. I do get a little annoyed with you sometimes, but I understand you. You're inside Grace all the time, so you think a lot because you're not doing much else most of the time. Jenny used to be so depressed, and when you added to that atmosphere, I got so mad. I don't dislike you or anything. I actually like you a lot believe it or not," XJ6 explained.

"Thanks. I like you too. You're the first to tell me that besides Grace. Jason told me that, but the way he said it, I wonder if he was telling the truth. See…dammit…I'm doing it again," Angel said.

"You used to be so ready to write anybody off at the drop of a hat. Now you're really trying to be nice to people. I wanna let you know that the others like you too. Killgore is questionable especially since he's never even mentioned you since Sigma…and he hasn't been around lately, but whatever. Everybody has let me know that they wouldn't mind being your friend. All you need to do is open up to them," XJ6 explained.

Slowly, Angel started crying. It was obvious because it showed through Grace. XJ6 never saw Grace make an expression like this one before. Grace didn't bother to interfere. XJ6 knelt down in front of Grace and hugged her.

Angel hugged her back, and then said "I feel…so foolish. I only valued Grace at first. Then…I saw how all of you…got along with each other…and now I regret pushing you all away. All you guys have ever done…was try to be nice to me. I'm sorry."

"Is this the first time you've ever cried like this?" XJ6 asked.

"It's the first time I've ever cried…at all. I've bottled in all these years," Angel replied.

"Crying is not a weakness. Being alone does not prove that you're strong. The only thing my so-called strength proves is that I can break stuff easily or lift heavy things. We robots were built with the idea of perfection in mind, but no one is perfect, and they can never be. No matter how much we try to be contrary, we can't escape the fact that we need each other. We have our greatest strength in our numbers and our bonds. Killgore told me once that Sigma said that he realized this the hard way and that's why he had an army. He knew he couldn't do what he did alone. If mega-villains like him can see it, why can't we?" XJ6 asked.

Wide-eyed, Angel said "As evil as he was, he managed to teach us one of the greatest lessons we should all learn. I really hope I didn't ruin everything."

"Not at all. I've actually been waiting for you to open up to me. I feel a sense of accomplishment. I'm really glad," XJ6 said with a smile.

"You mean…you've been waiting…all this time…to be my friend?" Angel asked surprised.

"Not just me, but the others too. It was depressing for us to know how lonely you were. Well, I know it was depressing for me at least. All you've ever truly known was Grace. I'm sure you would feel so much better inside to have more friends," XJ6 replied.

"Thank you so much. I do want to be your friend," Angel said.

"That settles it then. Another thing though: I won't try to embarrass you by announcing this so quickly. I'll let you handle whenever you want to tell the others how you feel, but I will help you if you ask," XJ6 said.

"Okay. Thank you for that," Angel said.

Grace spoke up saying "It's about…time. Was…that really so hard, Angel?"

"Grace had been trying to get me to be honest with myself. She stopped a while ago to give me time to think about it on my own. She didn't believe me when I said that the only person I cared about was her. I guess she was right after all," Angel explained.

"Well then, now that we've come this far; let's have some fun," XJ6 suggested.

"Yeah. Let's do it," Angel said.