Zero's p.o.v.
I just got finished with Saber training when my purple rival popped up in front of me.
"Hey, Rapunzel."
"What do you want?"
"It's about this bet of ours..."
"Oh that? Yeah, I'm working on it. X is coming along great, actually-"
"No, I've just realized that you're taking too long. So how about we make a limit? I want Mega Man X to be a skilled Hunter, if not a better Hunter than you, by the end of the year."
"What!? But that's only three months away!"
"I don't have all century for X to grow a spine, and Iris isn't gonna stay single forever if neither of us land a move."
I growled right before an idea came to my mind.
"Alright, bucket head, but I'd like to throw in some steaks of my own," I said with a smirk. "If X and I do this, then you have to walk around for twenty four hours with pink butterflies painted on your helmet wearing a tiara, and try seeing if Iris still wants you."
I can't see his face, but I'm pretty sure Vile was staring at me with his mouth wide open.
"F-fine. But if you loose this bet, you have to do the same!"
"Ha ha! Fine."
I angrily marched through the Academy. X was no where near being a Hunter, he needed way more than three months. That power that I knew was in him, I needed to find a way to unleash it. I needed to give him a little push.
I stared at the mission bill board looking for a rough mission for me and the blue bomber. Eventually, one particular mission caught my eye. It was helping a C Class Hunter named Magma Dragoon finding a Maverick in a volcano.
"Hello, little push!" I found X in the middle of warming up in the martial arts dojo. "Hey! See you're already in here, I was looking for you." I walked up to him and showed him a mission flier. "Good news, I found another mission for us, maybe we can redeem ourselves."
"A-a volcano? What if our armor melts?"
"Fighting students, report to the saber dojo."
"HASHORYUKEN!"
I kicked him into the wall.
X's p.o.v.
Zero was already on his bike and started riding down the road. He stopped when he saw I wasn't following, and instead staring at my own bike.
"You coming? Is your bike not working?"
I gripped the handle.
It's terrifying, but... I have to do this! I zoomed past him. Seeing as I was ready, he drove after me. "... Stronger," I whispered. "I need to get stronger...!"
Eventually, we got to the volcano where a large dragon-like Reploid was at the base waiting for us patiently.
"Are you the two students who're supposed to help me today?"
"Yes, sir," we said in unison.
"Good. The Maverick we're after has yet to be identified, but we tracked him down here. I fought him head-on, he should be easy enough for rookies like you two. Head in and keep your guards up, we'll be accompanied by my Navigator."
"Hey, boys," a girl said through our communicators. "My name is Lumba, I'll be taking care of you for this mission."
"We're going in. Are you rookies ready?"
We nodded. Dragoon ran in first, beckoning us to follow silently. Zero started to run in, but he stopped and turned around.
I wasn't moving, but was staring at the heated area, trembling from fear like hell. He grabbed my hand with a trusting smile. I formed a firm grip around his hand with both of mine, and my fear slowly faded. I smiled, and we headed in.
"Heads up, Dragoon," Lumba said, "the Maverick's close."
I lightly gasped, backing up to get my back against a wall. The wall I chose to lean against was a bit of a poor choice, because it was right next to a ledge with magma and a bridge at the bottom. Right as that caught my vision, I saw a figure in a cloak start to run across the bridge. I recognized that cloak as the one the Maverick we were chasing was wearing.
I didn't want to shoot him, and even if I did, I didn't have aim. So, I did the next logical thing. I shot the path in front of him, then the path behind him. The pieces of the rock bridge were destroyed, leaving him stranded in one spot.
"What were you shooting a-" Dragoon noticed that I'd trapped the Maverick, who was giving me the middle finger. "Nice." He flew up and held up a gun. "You're under arrest!"
The Maverick jumped up and shot Dragoon into the wall behind him.
"Dragoon!"
The Maverick punched me in the face, knocking me into the ground. I got up as fast as I could to see Zero's saber slash being blocked by a giant white gun. I knew then that it was the Maverick we'd been chasing.
Zero shoved him away.
"So, you escaped did ya?" he asked. "It looks like H.Q. didn't capture you at all... Did they, Vile?"
"Vile?" I repeated.
The Maverick didn't move for a second. He out of nowhere fired his gun at Zero, who ducked forward allowing the shot to miss him by a centimeter, and instead tearing a hole in his hair. Zero attempted to pierce his armor, but he slid out of the way and hit his neck before he could, knocking him unconscious.
I stood there in shock. The Maverick seemed to sense my fear, as he ran off. I didn't think about him, but instead ran towards my only source of hope.
"ZERO!" I fell on my knees and shook him. "Zero! Zero, are you okay!?"
He coughed up blood and looked at me.
"Where did... he go?"
"I-I don't know, I wasn't looking."
He grunted and stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Where's Dragoon?"
The Hunter stood up from the rubble, sending it off of him with his wings.
"It looks like that Maverick was holding back when I fought him before," he said as he dusted his wings off. "Did you see where he went?"
"N-no, sir."
"Crap. Okay, rookies, it seems this might be a bit too much for you after all. Lumba will guide you out of here, follow her directions and get the hell outta here."
"... Roger."
Zero's p.o.v.
We had to cautiously climb down some rocks of the inside of the volcano, it wasn't as easy as it was to climb inside of it.
X was looking at the ground the whole time with a look of guilt glued to his face. He never made eye contact with me, nor did he even look at me. He didn't take my hand when I reached to help him down, ether. Growing tired of his attitude, I tried talking to him.
"I thought that Maverick might've been Vile, but Vile's not that strong." No response. I sighed. Well, if I can't get him to talk, I might as well try to make him smile. I blushed at the first idea I came up with and got in front of him, walking backwards. "But hey, he shot my hair pretty well. Look at it! It's all messed up! Ha ha..."
Lumba chuckled at my statement.
He looked up finally.
"Did you say something?"
I'm actually relieved he didn't hear that.
"Err, never mind."
"Boys! Get out of there now! The Maverick is close by! I'm sending Magma Dragoon over right now!"
X's eyes widened. I grabbed him and we started running again. After a few minutes, we'd stopped to hide and rest, both of us were out of breath.
"A-are we gonna die?"
"Quiet."
"We're gonna die here, I know we're gonna die."
"Quiet, X!"
"We're gonna die...!"
He immediately covered his mouth when the sounds of a Reploid's footsteps sounded outside our hiding spot. I held my breath, praying he'd go away, and I could tell X was doing the same while doing his best not to start crying.
I looked back down at the blue bomber.
I almost forgot. I'm sensing an extraordinary power somewhere in X. I think he might be programmed to be extremely strong, way stronger than I am. But what's keeping him from reaching his full potential? ... Maybe he's not feeling it. Sometimes one's full strength can only come out when they really need it. Well tell me X, will you need it to save your life? I only have three months. If I loose this bet, then I'll be humiliated and loose the only woman I'll ever love forever, so you have to unleash it NOW!
I grabbed him and threw him out.
"W-WAH!"
Show me your power, Mega Man X!
X slowly stood up right as the Maverick noticed him. He held up his Buster, but he was trembling more than ever. The Maverick punched him into the ground and started digging his foot into his face, causing him to scream in pain.
... What're you doing? You can hold your Buster up, shoot him!
He continued to scream in pain.
"AAAUUUGH! HELP ME, ZERO!"
... W-was I wrong!? I thought I saw unbelievable amounts of potential inside of him, I thought he could be as strong as Commander Sigma. Was I... His screams blocked out my thoughts. I couldn't bear to see him like that. I ran forward, about to slice the Maverick with my saber. "CUT IT OUT!"
I didn't hit anything. When I opened my eyes, I saw Magma Dragoon holding up X and pointing at a burned black coat with a gun dripping lava.
"D-Dragoon..."
The Maverick got up and fled.
"Damn it! Get back here!" Dragoon roared. He tossed X at my feet. "You two get outta here, it's clear that neither of you rookies are ready to take this outlaw on!" He ran after him.
I looked down at X. He couldn't talk, but I could tell just by looking in his eyes, he was wondering why I did that to him, and why I didn't help him.
I bent down and picked him up, and I got the hell out of there.
I went back to the Academy to give X repairs and to report to Commander Sigma. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Each time you two go on a mission, the Maverick always gets away and there's a panic. You're causing more trouble for the H.Q.!"
"I'm sorry, sir..."
"I can't allow this. You two are prohibited from going on any other new missions until you reach the next rank."
"B-but, sir-"
"I won't argue with you, Zero. You are excused."
I lowered my head in shame.
"Yes, sir..." I left his room and went to the repair room where X was getting his face fixed. "Hey, buddy," I said. "Sorry about what happened back ther-"
"Zero." X looked up at me with tears streaming down his face. "Don't ever make me do that again..."
"... No... No, you won't. ... We're done."
I left, closing the door behind me. I knew it was over, I had lost the bet.
