Zero's eyes opened, and he woke with a groan. He, X and Axl had been working very hard the past week to put in place the new security for Arcadia city, and after a week and a half they all finally, and very reluctantly, gave in to their navigators and went into their restore room for some rest. Zero lay in his restoration pod with a sigh. This sleep period had been anything but restful. Bass was wrong; knowing about the memories didn't stop the nightmares from coming. Even though Wily had been goofy in person, Zero never forgot or underestimated his evil. And as his mind was quieted through the sleep process, the fright factor of his creator only increased. This madman had been the originator of the robot apocalypse, and that was something that would always chill Zero.

Zero had to wonder if there was a way to shut off his mind entirely as he slept, or to make him dream about something specific. For now, he was too emotionally drained to bother. Mornings like these he felt himself good for nothing, and it took a while for him to get his head sorted out. Sighing again, he reached for the controls to open the top of his rest pod. Like all the others, it was a complex, tilted metal bed with a metal cover. There was a little lever on the inside that would allow him to exit from the inside, and he went for it just like usual, just hoping to forget his dreams and move on with his day.

However, as he did, he heard a crumpling sound. It was a piece of paper, and scrawled in thick pencil were only few words. It read:

"I'm sorry about the other day. Roll."

The pony-tailed Hunter blinked, a bit curious. What had Roll done to him? It took him a moment to realize that she was probably talking about the day she braided his hair. It wasn't that big of a deal. Sure, it hurt his ego a little, but in the midst of having his darker origins revealed, it didn't even compare. It was actually silly enough to make him feel better.

Zero crumpled up the note in his hand and opened the cover of his pod, stepping out into the restore room and trying to focus on what he was going to do that day. He was technically off, as he and X would shortly going on an inspection of reploid manufacturers for the next several months, but he figured he would catch up on paperwork and other organizational duties. He let his mind settle in on boring, technical things which happily drowned out his conflicting emotions much the same way a cup of coffee fought against early morning exhaustion in humans.

Hey wait a minute. Zero curiously wondered. The note wasn't there when I shut down. That means Roll opened the pod and put the note there while I was asleep. How does she know how to do that? No one can open pods unless they're a navigator.

His thought process was immediately disrupted by the opening of the restore room doors. In came Bass, holding an electronic data pad. That was not what Zero noticed about him first. For some reason, Bass' helmet was gone, and his hair was...not Bass at all. Someone had braided his short blonde hair into pale cornrows that extended all the way down, a little past the base of his mechanical skull. Making it even worse, these were not straight cornrows, but ones that waved back and forth for every inch of scalp. Zero's mouth crumpled as he tried to force himself not to burst out laughing.

"Hey, Sis, Alia wanted you to have these." Bass gruffly shoved the pad in his direction. "Some files or whatever."

"Um, thanks." the effort not to laugh was even harder as Zero spoke. "Being her little errand boy, I see."

"Shut the hell up. I was on my way down here to get the scans from X so I can cure your stupid virus." Bass noticed the weirdness in Zero's face, but his suspicion lasted only a moment before he went over to X's rest pod. "You're welcome, by the way."

Zero couldn't handle it anymore. He snorted, trying to keep it together, but the laughter would not be denied. He put his hand over his face, only muffling his laugh a little.

"So I see Roll got her hands on you."

"What are you talking about?" Bass glared at him. "Alia's been doing scans on me all morning. I haven't even seen Roll yet today."

"And you didn't notice that you're missing something?" Zero tapped the side of his helmet.

With annoyed confusion, Bass went over to a monitor on the wall, accessing a camera function - the Hunter's nearest equivalent to a mirror. Instantly his snarl burst out like a beast, and he hissed with horror.

"What is this? I look like a dang poser!" Bass turned back to Zero with accusation, furiously narrowing his eyes. "You did this!"

"No, I was in my rest pod the whole time." Zero managed between laughs. "You can look at the computer. Besides, look at these hands. Way too big to make a...nice hairstyle like yours."

As Zero wriggled his fingers to prove his point, Bass' growl indicated that he believed Zero's story, though he wasn't going to let him off easy for laughing at him. Interrupting everything was the hiss of the machinery as another rest pod nearby opened. This was X's, and the bomber emerged from his pod just as he did every day, with a stretch and a prompt systems check. Noticing the others, X approached with some anxiety. It looked like he was going to have to solve a conflict again.

However, as X approached, both Bass and Zero froze in place. X's helmet was also gone. X's black hair normally was just like his older brother's: long-ish and wavy. Today that hair was just the proper length to make a headful of dreadlocks, each easily three inches in length. His hair was so lightweight that the dreads didn't fall down completely, but stuck out in different directions like spikes. Zero could recall seeing the same hairstyle on a surfer once.

X curiously looked back and forth as both of the other robots stared at him. He finally settled on the dark robot. "Gee, Bass, what's wrong with your hair?"

That did it. The Wily-bots practically exploded with merriment, leaving the stunned X to wonder what was going on. He finally got the idea after a moment, and he drifted towards the computer to get a look at what had been done. He just shook his head and facepalmed. This was far too silly for him.

"That's...special...well, at least I have today off..." he shrugged, running one hand through his odd style as he inspected it.

"But I don't! I can't go to work like this!"

This pitiful call came from another open rest pod, Axl's. The poor reploid had suffered a far worse fate than the others. He had more hair to work with than they, and the culprit of the malevolent braiding had used this opportunity to its fullest. Two skinnier braids extended from the front part of his reddish-brown locks, then swung back along his head to join with the rest of his hair in the most elaborate French braid any of the robots in the room had seen. Adding another insult, someone had woven bright pink carnations into the back.

Zero practically howled with laughter, and X had to join in. Poor Axl didn't find it funny at all and struggled to pull it out.

"I think they used those tiny little rubber bands...they never come out!" Axl complained. "Come on guys, somebody help!"

Fortunately for him, this pissed off Bass enough. He hastily went over to Axl and started to undo the complex hair art.

"Hold still, kid." Bass said as he roughly snatched out the flowers and started working on the rubber bands. "Dang, you need to get a haircut."

"I like my hair!" Axl protested. "When it's not like this, anyway."

"I said hold still!"

As Bass attacked the ridiculous braidwork, a beeping light went off at the computer. It was the video communicator. Despite everyone's loud protests, Zero pushed the proper button to let the monitor come to life. He had a feeling he knew who it was. He was wrong. Expecting to see Roll and the navigators (obviously the co-conspirators), it instead was Signas. The commander looked about to speak, but at the appearance of several of his Hunters, his mouth shut abruptly. It took him a minute to say anything, and he cleared his throat in a mood between amusement and annoyance.

"I see." he said lifting one hand to apprehensively rub his eyes. "Please inform your navigators that any pranks that they wish to pull should not be disguised as official Hunter business."

Zero wanted so much to apologize, but his laughter had renewed itself even further. He couldn't speak at all. X shook his head, the only other person amused. He stepped in for Zero and approached the video screen.

"I'm sorry about this. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Signas let himself indulge in a small grin. "That hairstyle doesn't suit you at all."

"Yeah...I noticed."

The screen cut to black only for a moment before X started to work on the controls to get the navigation office. All four girl-bots were already there waiting, bright and devious grins on their faces.

"Aw, he's pulling it out already." Pallette pouted a little as she laughed. "Axl's so cute with his hair braided."

"No, I'm not!"

Axl's complaint sounded only more adorable, and the girls burst out into fresh laughter. It didn't help that Bass had finished with the main braid and was starting to work on the two smaller ones. The already loosened hair poofed out like a fluffy wig, only further serving to push his comic appearance. The young Hunter wished more than ever he had his helmet on.

"You're getting a haircut, and that's final." Bass hissed.

"We'll cut it for you." Roll teasingly winked, waving around her cute red comb, much to the delight of her conspirators.

"No!" Axl and Bass objected at once, giving fresh fuel for the merry girls' laughter.

"Guys, you really don't need to get Signas involved in any of this." X said. "Don't say it's official business if it isn't."

"We never said that." Layer was mischevious. "We just said that you needed to talk to him, that's all. No harm done."

"Yeah, and your helmets are in here." Alia lifted Axl's. "That way if you needed to leave in a hurry for an emergency, they'd be ready for you."

"I really like Axl's helmet." Roll admired it as she spoke. "If you look at it a certain way when he wears it, it looks like he has kitty ears! Kawaii!"

"Cut that out right now." Bass snapped. "My son does not look like a cat!"

That was the absolute worst thing he could say if he really wanted the silliness to end. This time, even Axl had to crack up. Zero laughed so hard he was afraid something would short out.

"Aw, he actually admitted it!" Pallette squealed, clapping her hands. "Axl is his son! That's so wonderful!"

"No...he's not...I didn't...he's just...dang it, you know what I mean!"

Completely embarrassed, Bass immediately let go of Axl's hair, obstinantly backing away and starting on his own unfortunate do. That was fine for Axl, as what was left of his braids was in reach of his own hands.

"Aw, now Bass is pulling his out too." Layer's grin was smug, and she in particular seemed to enjoy his annoyance. "At least we were able to send him through HQ with his hair like that."

"Roll, you're lucky you have diplomatic immunity." Bass growled. "The rest of you better watch it."

Alia shook her head, mischeviously swinging a finger at the video screen. "You can't do that, Bass. See, this is revenge for you guys laughing at Zero the other day, so now things are even again and you don't get to do anything about it."

"I'm really sorry, Zero." Roll nervously said. "I just thought I would try to make it up to you."

"This really does." he said. "It means a lot. I don't think that you needed to go quite this far, but it is hilarious. Apology accepted."

Zero didn't say it, but he had all but forgotten his troubles in the morning's events. He grinned with delight, feeling a lot more happy then he had been since the elder robots had shown up again.

"Hey Roll, I wanted to talk to Dr. Light." X said, approaching the screen. "Can you meet me there and pull these dreads out?"

"That means you're going to have to walk through headquarters." Roll pointed out. "You're okay with that?"

X shrugged, poking at the dreadlocks. "I don't really have a choice. Besides, unlike some people I actually have a sense of humor."

"Shut up, X!" Bass hissed.

-t-

The gentle blue light of the hologram flickered. The vision had always been somewhat haunting to X before, but he was finally able to associate it with a feeling of warmth. He was speaking to Dr. Light without having to deal with Mavericks, and that was indeed a pleasant change. He could hardly believe his luck.

"Hold still." Roll said as she ran her comb through X's hair. He was sitting, but even then Roll had to use a stool to get a good reach of his scalp. "I'm almost finished. You'll actually look pretty nice once I'm done. I really am an expert."

"At least at making us look silly." X laughed. "Doctor, you really should have seen Axl's hair. It would have looked perfect on a fifteen year old girl."

Roll blushed. "I really should just use my powers for good..."

"Well, now that your little prank is over," Dr. Light said. "What else are you going to do with your day? X leaves for his trip to the robot manufacturers tommorrow, doesn't he?"

"Don't remind me." Roll promptly hugged X's neck. "I don't want to think about it!"

X grinned, patting his sister's arm. "Well, Roll's dragging me out to get some flowers for the garden outside. She's can't really do anything inside HQ so they're letting her root around outside. Yeah...fun..."

Roll smacked his arm teasingly before getting back to work on his locks. "Well, if could go out more I'd get this done while you're gone."

"I'm protecting you. That's what I'm supposed to do." X's gave a melodramatic sigh. "Sometimes the price I play is going out to buy daisies."

"Poor X." Dr. Light smiled. "Rock never liked gardening either. Except for bamboo. He was obsessed with it."

"Playing with it, not growing it." Roll winced. "I remember one time when he actually made a little fleet of old fashioned airplanes all entirely out of bamboo."

"That was very clever!" Dr. Light said. "The propellers and wheels all spun, and he decorated it with the bamboo leaves."

"You say that only because you never cleaned the house. There were airplanes everywhere! And bamboo kites, fishing rods, even a minature village with tiny people! Plus the house looked so terrible with all the bamboo growing around it. I just had to clean it up."

"Wow, that's terrible." X snorted. "You must have broken his heart."

"Hey, I let him keep some of them...in his room." Roll said. "And come on, Dr. Light, you know the house looked so much better once I removed all the plants."

"I never really understood how you did it." the good doctor commented. "Bamboo type plants are notoriously difficult to permanently get rid of."

"I'm the best!" Roll winked. "And that means I've got to at least spruce this place up a little bit. Besides, I'm letting you and Zero pick the movie tonight. I don't know why he wanted to spend his last day off for a long time doing paperwork."

"Gee, that's really sad too. I'm sure Zero would have had a lot of fun coming out flower shopping with us." X said with mild sarcasm. "After all, it really is a lot of...fun..."

"Keep it up and I'll make you shop for new carpeting for the inspector's lounge." Roll teased.

"No, anything but carpets!" X pretended to be afraid. "Dr. Light, save me!"

The good doctor laughed at X's joking plea. "You two are true siblings. Seeing the both of you here...I feel so blessed."

Dr. Light smiled, more peaceful than X had ever seen him. At the same time, there was a sadness in his holographic eyes, one he couldn't avoid. It was easy to see that he was remembering interactions between Roll and Rock. They had been very close as brother and sister, and now to see two of his creations still alive, it warmed his heart.

"Here we are, done!" Roll gazed with satisfaction at X's head of hair, now combed out with satisfaction and looking delightfully voluminous. "I think I've really outdone myself this time!"

"Okay." X said, interrupting her little celebration. "So where's my helmet?"

Roll started. "What? Why do you need it? You're only going shopping today. Come on, just let me show off your hair for a little while."

X chortled. He guessed that Roll wanted him to show others that she could brush hair and make it look good rather than goofy. "Roll, I have lots of enemies. I don't want anyone to think that I'm ever off guard, and you'd like it a lot worse if a Maverick took a pot shot at me without my helmet on."

"But you have such nice hair! It gets all flat from being under your helmet all the time."

"Roll, you know why it's more important." X's tone was soft, but relentless all the same. "Now, where is it?"

"I left it back in the navigation room." Roll admitted. "I was sort of hoping you would forget about it for a while."

"Go and get it then. I'll wait for it here."

Huffing a bit, Roll obeyed anyway, going off with an air of slight disappointment. X just shook his head, smiling a little. That was his sister.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to recharge this capsule soon," Dr. Light said, taking a look at his holographic generator. "But for now, X, please stay safe on your travels. I think that for once things are going to turn out better. Between you, Zero, Axl, and I believe that this war with the Mavericks will be over soon. Also, Bass is well on his way to figuring out the Maverick Virus. I think with my help we can actually make progress to defeat it."

X immediately soured at the mention of Bass. He glanced down at the floor, hatefully recalling Bass' misdeeds since his return to activation. He didn't want to spend his last talk with Dr. Light going on about the robot that annoyed him the most, but apparently Dr. Light wasn't going to let this go. As X's eyes returned to the hologram, Dr. Light frowned.

"What is it, X?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like leaving Bass here." X admitted. "He's rude, selfish, and he has no ideals. I don't want to come back and find that he's caused a lot of trouble."

The doctor's frown deepened, and his disapproval darkened his face. "Why would you say something like that? Bass has ideals."

"Really?" X scoffed. "He mocks Zero any chance he can get, he can't see anything outside of wars and fighting, and he's teaching Roll to fight like a villain. You can't possibly approve of that."

"Well, I don't like Roll fighting." Dr. Light admitted. "But I know why Bass does it. He wants her to understand that our enemies will take any advantage they can get in a fight, and he doesn't want to leave her defenseless. He feels responsible for her."

"I'm not afraid of something bad happening to her, or not much." X let out a sigh. "I just don't see what you see in Bass. I'm grateful he saved Roll and repaired your capsule, but it feels like he needs to be on a leash if he so much as steps out of the research lab. I can't trust him to behave."

Dr. Light mused over his creation, studiously going over X's reaction. The tall bomber was clearly frustrated, but Dr. Light knew better than to give in to that kind of emotion.

"I saw his good side the very first day I met him." Dr. Light smiled, fatefully remembering. "He had tricked Rock into thinking that he was an ally that needed repair. After I fixed him, Bass destroyed my lab."

"What?" X exclaimed. "You didn't put that in my memory!"

"With good reason, I see. In any case, he destroyed my lab and stole upgrades, but he didn't kill me. He could have done it and left Rock alone, then defeat him once his support was gone. But he never did, and he never kidnapped Roll or cheated his way to a simple victory. That's his ideal."

"So he fights fair." X muttered. "That's it."

"No, that's not it. Bass once came to my hospital room in the attempt to attract Rock's attention for another fight, and he didn't harm me. He spoke with me almost respectfully even though he had no reason to do so. He rebelled against his tyrannous creator, and after that he visited me every day until I was released from the hospital. He listened to what I had to say, and he was with me the day that I died."

X closed his eyes. He couldn't bear the thought of Dr. Light's death, and it hurt him to think of it. He forced himself to push away the imagery and focus on what his creator was saying, as little as he wanted to hear it.

"I think I know why you really don't like him." Dr. Light said gently. "It's for Zero's sake."

"Of course." X answered, slumping back in his seat. "He treats Zero with nothing but contempt. The very first day I met him he tried to kill Zero."

"Can you really blame him? He must have known that Zero was Wily's last creation."

X winced. He didn't like hearing this, especially from the good doctor. He wished so much that Dr. Light didn't know anything about Zero.

"I guess Bass or someone must have told you about it."

"No." Dr. Light was plain about it. "I already knew a long time ago."

"But..." X was stunned. "How could you know?"

"It was simple. Zero found some of my capsules and downloaded the armors I had to give to you, and when he did I was able to scan his body. That was how I created his black armor. I saw his build, and it was very clear that he was Wily's creation. Everything about him fit Albert's technial style. It also didn't help things that he actually asked me if I knew an older man - essentially Albert, though his description wasn't very specific."

The blue bomber leaned forward in his chair, cupping his face in his hands. After a moment, he raised his eyes again and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't need to know, and you couldn't have wanted to." Dr. Light sympathized. "I didn't want to know myself. I believe the reason you hate Bass so much is that he revealed this to you. It's easy for you to blame him and even hate him for this, and the annoyance you have for Bass has the bonus of making it easier for you to accept Zero's origins. Would you have taken this the same way from me, had I been the one to tell you? You trust me more than you do Bass, so it would have been harder to hear it from me."

"That's so complex..." X said. "But it sounds true."

"Human emotions are very complex. Your design enables you to feel them more clearly." Dr. Light turned his head, saddening. "But it also enables you to feel the true harshness of these wars more deeply. Everything has hurt you to the point where you can't see as much good in life as your brother could. You're not his replacement, X, but you too have to remember all of the good things you fight for."

"I think I can do that now." X felt his smile returning, and it took only a little effort to maintain. "Now that you and Roll are here. Ha, I think I'm ruined for being a Hunter now. Going away for all this time will be really hard. I don't know how I'm going to manage leaving family behind."

"You might find another of my capsules." Dr. Light happily replied. "I had better shut down now, before I strain my machinery too much. Good luck, X."

"See you the next chance I get...Father."

-t-

It was hours later and in fact the darkest hours of the night. The gymnasium was near total black, and the lightless environment belied the violence within. Metal smacked against metal with sharp rings and thuds, and crashes into the floor or wall were not uncommon. Once eyes could become adjusted to darkness, a maddeningly fast pace fight was revealed, showing two dark combatants battling one another for superiority in hand to hand combat. Quicker than the eye could see a punch would strike and a block would defend, and before one could realize what was going on, two more strikes had passed. Masterfully the fighters battled it out not relenting for as much as a millisecond as they attempted to pound the other into submission.

"You're too slow, old man!"

"Call me that again and see what happens!"

Axl swung again, nailing Bass straight in the side of the face. Bass responded with a nasty kick, adding to that two more blows. Axl escaped by jumping and hovering overhead. Bass wasn't going to let him off easy. As soon as the youngster landed, Bass dashed at him, ready to strike. Axl turned and blocked just in time to save his neck, then avenged himself with two punches to the gut.

That wasn't enough to stop Forte. His flying fists gained speed, and he slowly but surely forced Axl to the wall. With a mighty punch, he landed his fist a mere two inches away from Axl's head. Giant cracks spread out from his hand where it impacted, leaving one only to wonder what such a blow would have done if it had actually hit Axl.

"You're pretty good, kid." Bass said, gleefully enjoying his victory. "Definitely getting better. You don't suck too bad without your guns."

Axl's hands flew out with a sharp one-two, and with one hit to the chest Axl had Bass sprawled out on the floor. He grinned, lifting a fist with a clear boast.

"You talk too much, Maverick!"

"Ha!" Bass sat up, not at all upset as he brushed himself off. "Dang, you got me there."

Axl reached out one of his hands to pull Bass back up to his feet, nowhere near done teasing him. "Need some help, Mr. Forte, sir? I think you're getting a little weak in your old age."

"Hell I am." Bass snorted, promptly grabbing Axl at the wrist and tugging him downwards. "Get down here."

He kicked at Axl's feet. The younger robot managed to dodge it somewhat, but with the grip on his hand he still was forced to sit down on the wooden floor. Axl pulled his hand away, swatting merrily at his opponent. Settling, he casually put his arms on his knees.

"So when's this ranking test of yours?" Bass asked.

"Right before I leave for my tour to do those manufacturers' inspections. First I get to do the test to see if I can make it to S rank, then I go through Japan for the next two months. Only then do I actually get to find out my grade."

"Heh, some pressure. I'll probably find out before you get back. Want me to call and tell you how you did?"

"No, I'll wait." Axl shrugged. "X says I need to focus better on my job."

"Screw X. Heh, don't worry about a thing. With my help you'll get S rank easy."

"Who says I need your help?" Axl teased. "I'm a great Hunter all on my own! I don't need training from a lab tech!"

"Don't get cocky, kid." Bass grinned, showing a bit of fang. "I can still kick your tail if I have to."

"Whatever!" Axl hugged his knees a little tighter. "I kinda wish I was going with X and Zero on their tour tomorrow. They're going on all the biggest inspections. I've got some interesting ones on my tour, but they're bound to find illegal copy chip production. I'll get bored if there's no Mavericks to fight!"

"Maybe X was right with all that focusing crap. Life is not about fighting Mavericks. Oh, who am I kidding? Yes it is." The thought of the destruction of idiots was a tantalizing one for Bass, and he inspected his arms with disdain. "Heh, if only my stupid busters worked worth crap."

Axl checked his internal chronometer. "Huh, it's almost time before X and Zero have to get ready and leave. I can't believe they won't be back until November, and I won't see them until a month after that because that's when I come back. I better go say goodbye soon while I have a chance."

"Eh, have fun with that." Bass' tone was bored. "If I'm not here when you get back, I'm in the lab."

That gave Axl pause, and he turned down the sides of his mouth. "Aren't you going to go?"

"No. They aren't my friends."

Bass' bluntness stunned the young Hunter. Axl was always friendly, and it was strange to him that the robot he was based on could be so diffident about the two heroes. He didn't want things to be like that.

"Hey Bass, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Axl said. "I mean, for all intents and purposes Zero's your brother-"

The dark robot growled slightly. "How many times do I have to tell you? Robots-"

"Yeah, yeah, robots don't have family. I got it already." Axl crossed his legs so that they weren't in his way as he spoke. "But that's all just theory isn't it? I mean, you guys have a lot in common. Same creator, pretty much the same original purposes, you're fighters...heck, you probably could understand Zero better than X could. I bet he can understand you just as well. You just never talk to him unless you have to. I just don't see why you guys can't be friends! You almost seemed like it back when you were searching for his deleted memories."

Bass stared at Axl with dull, glaring eyes. "And here for a second I thought that you were smart."

"Come on, how long are you going to be mad at him for that? You already know he didn't do anything on purpose, and he's doing all he can to make up for the virus. What more do you expect from him?"

"Nothing. He minds his business and I mind mine. Everything works out."

"No, not really." Axl said, wondering how in the world he was going to make his point. "I mean, Zero is really cool. You just never really let yourself get to know him better. When I was first trying to become a Hunter, he was the only one that really gave me a chance."

"You were leaving a renegade faction that set loose a huge mechaniloid just to get you back." Bass scoffed. "Did you really expect any of them to be that happy with you? Makes sense that the guy that caused a lot of damage himself would be more accepting."

"You're mean." Axl chose to be amused at the dark robot's contempt. "I give up."

"I'm too old for a little kid like you to boss me around."

"Yeah, you're not so old you know everything." Axl retorted. "And stop calling me kid. If you don't, I'll call you Dad again."

Bass groaned, laughing as he stood up. "You got enough time for one more round? I want another chance to beat your face in for that."

"Any time, Maverick!"

Axl got back on his feet, only to find that Bass was staring at him strangely, as if suspicious of something. He grabbed the side of Axl's head, forcing it a little downwards as he inspected the Hunter.

Bass swore, snarling. "I hate your creator...they really do look like cat ears."

-t-

The mass-mission navigation room was all aflutter with busy excitement. Several Hunters were going out that day on the inspection tours. Three tours had been planned. two of them long term and one of them shorter, only a couple of months. It was the beginning of May, and the longer tours weren't going to be completed until November, meaning that things were going to be a little understaffed until the next batch of recruits were ready for local missionwork. Maverick Hunters, however, was a very organized police association. No one was worried.

X looked around the room, noticing that a lot of the newer Hunters had been grouped in with the more seasoned veterans. These inspections didn't seem dangerous on the surface, but X knew that at any point the presense of Mavericks could change that quickly. It was a good way to train the C class Hunters. X went over his own group in his mind, searching for each one as they scrambled around the room to gather their armors and mission assignments. His group had the least newcomers, as he and Zero were taking the biggest and potentially the most dangerous robot manufacturing companies, if Mavericks were present. They had to be ready for anything.

Signas strode very confidently through the room as he handed data to the navigators in the room. Despite all the mayhem and haste of the reploids around him, his pace was constantly steady as he calmly traversed the busy chaos. Zero, on the other hand, felt he had to constantly dodge other Hunters on his way to X at Alia's station. He could hardly wait to get there; tripping over armors and the mechaniloids carrying them was not his idea of fun. Part of him began to wish that teleportation was allowed within HQ.

"Thanks, Zero." X said as his friend approached with the appropriate data clipboards. "Just a little more checking and we'll be leaving. Signas expects us to be ready in half an hour."

"Good. It's about time we got this over with." Zero handed the data boards to Alia. "Where's Layer?"

"I'm right here!"

The purple-haired girl-bot approached, carrying Zero's black armor. A little mechaniloid, little more than a basket on wheels, followed her as she approached the others. It bore X's falcon armor, all shiny and cleaned up from its last operation. Alia directed the mechaniloid to her station, then took the armor and hauled it to one of the many little rooms that lined the side walls of the room. These rooms were the armor installation areas, were a Hunter would go to have the prep mechaniloids install their armor. Layer brought her Hunter's armor to the room next to X's, then came out to push the instruction codes in on Alia's console.

"I hope you can handle both of these guys while you're gone, Layer." Alia said as she rejoined the group. "I sort of wish I could go, except I don't know how Signas would run this place without me!"

"It won't be a problem. I'm actually glad to go out with the boys for once." Layer smiled, eyeing Zero in particular. "This mission is going to be fun."

"I'm sure it will." Alia tried her hardest not to smirk and let out Layer's secret. "Come on you guys, get those armors on! You don't have a lot of time!"

"Yes, ma'am." X replied with a little jest, distracted from trying to keep up with his group. "I just need to find Beta. I don't see him out here."

Alia pushed a few buttons on her console. "He's here, just in one of the prep rooms getting his armor on. Come on, let's get going, both of you!"

"Alright, I'm going." X took another glance around the room. "Hey, where's Lambda? I thought I saw him-"

"Let's go, X!" Alia pushed the distracted Hunter along. "We'll assemble before we leave. Stop worrying so much."

Layer glanced at Zero, a little too shy to go that far. "Well?"

"No need to push." Zero said, lifting his hands in surrender. "I'm going."

With the boys finally getting their armors on, Alia was able to instruct Layer better about navigating for X and other Hunters she didn't normally have to prepare the logistical details for. Of course, the teasing Pallette just had to come and distract them.

"Hey Layer," Axl's navigator leaned over the partition into Alia's station. "Which do you think is cuter? Red Zero or black Zero?"

Layer blushed deeply, a little too startled to answer right away. However, the surprising arrival of more robots caught her attention. She frowned once she noticed that one of them was Bass.

"Red Zero, definitely." she answered. "He looks less arrogant that way."

Pallette snickered. One glance backward and she knew that Layer meant "less like Forte". "Aw, they don't look that similar, besides in color. You don't have a thing to worry about. Hey, Axl, you're not supposed to be in here right now. Signas doesn't want anyone uninvolved in today's mission to be in here."

One of the newcomers was indeed Axl, followed along by Roll and a very reluctant Bass.

"Oh, cut it out, Pallette." Axl complained. "I just wanted to say goodbye before they left. And Roll too! You can't say no to Roll."

"I can't, can't I?" Pallette turned to Roll. "Hey, sweetie?"

"Yeah?"

Pallette winked. "No."

Ignoring Pallette's joke, the three quickly gathered into Alia's workstation to avoid traffic. By this time, X and Zero were ready to emerge. They came out in their new armors, looking rather noble as they reached the others.

"Roll!" X said gladly as he approached her. "I was hoping you'd be here."

He knelt down so that Roll could reach down and hug his neck one last time before the end of the year. She squeezed him as tightly as she could despite the awkwardness of doing that in the wonky design of his armor.

"Wow, um," Roll said as she let go. "That's some...unique armor there, X."

Her brother was stunned, knowing exactly her problem with it. "But Dr. Light designed this armor."

"Yeah," Roll blushed. "He never was that good with artistic things."

"I'll really miss having you around, Zero." Axl said, reaching out to shake Zero's hand. "It's so wrong that they put me on a different tour!"

Zero firmly shook Axl's hand. "There are other companies that need your expertise more. Besides, someone's got to watch out for Headquarters until we get back."

"I'll do my best!" Axl promised. "Hey X, don't get yourself into too much trouble, alright?"

"Said the pot to the kettle." X laughed. "Make sure that you ace that test. I don't want to come home and find out that you're still only an A rank Hunter."

"Isn't anyone going to miss me?" Layer teasingly pouted. "You won't see me for a long time either."

"Of course we'll miss you!" Roll said. "It'll be so weird for all of us girls to not be together!"

"It'll be good, you mean." Axl piped up. "I don't want to wake up and find that my hair is a bouquet of flowers again."

The other continued to laugh and chatter amongst themselves as Bass let himself lean dully against the partition between Pallette's and Alia's stations. He didn't care that much for the goings on, and yet somehow he felt obligated to make an appearance. He guessed that Roll would give him trouble if he didn't. Now that it was time for the final goodbyes, he found himself regretting showing up. These were friends saying goodbye. X irritated Bass, Layer despised him (he couldn't guess why), and Zero...well, was Zero. Forte didn't know any of the other departing Hunters, not well enough to care, anyway.

But something in Axl's words had made an impact. A dull obligation to say something to his "brother" made itself known, and he knew that if he didn't act on it, the little voice in his head would never let him off for it. Zero stood at the edge of the others, not really participating that much in the conversation. He was too business-minded, and Bass could tell that he was eager to be on his way. Grudgingly, Bass lifted himself off the wall and slowly headed for black Zero.

"Hey." Bass said, sort of awkwardly.

Zero turned to him "Yes?"

Now that Bass had started to speak, he realized that he had nothing to say to Zero. If they weren't talking about a mission or the Maverick virus, they would never speak to each other at all. He had to be quick if this wasn't going to be weird.

"Um, I just wanted to say thanks for saving Axl the other day."

It took Zero a second to remember. "Oh. We've saved each other so many times in the past years that I've lost count. It's no big deal."

Zero too found all this strange. Why was Bass talking to him? He had as little to say to Bass as Bass to him. He never expected to have any friendship with Bass. They were only marginally siblings, and it was difficult for Zero to actually sympathize with the dark robot, not when one of his original directives was to destroy him. He didn't exactly like that Bass had spent a long time trying to kill him in the past, either.

The silence was too much, and Bass broke it with the comment, "Eh, you look a little less tacky with your armor like that."

Zero let himself have a grin. "Bass, the fashion director."

It was the wrong comment to make, and Bass wrinkled at it. He sighed.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, don't, um, die or whatever out there." Bass managed to say. "You're sort of tolerable...you whine a lot less than X."

"Thanks." Zero replied. "You're not the worst robot I've ever met. Barely."

Bass snorted. "You bastard. Get the hell out of here."

Zero guessed that was some sort of joke, but before he could say anything else, Alia was speaking into the comm system, alerting everyone to the imminent departure of group 1. Zero and X were a part of group two, and as soon as the first had gathered and gone, it would be their turn.

"I guess I'll be doing that soon." Zero glanced up at the teleporter platform before returning to Bass. "See you later, you hateful piss-ant."

"If you make it back here alive, Fruitcake."

X beckoned to the nearest members of his group, ending all conversation. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time. Let's not wait on group one to leave before we get group two together."

"That means us." Layer said to Zero. "Want to gather up everyone waiting in the back?"

Zero nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

"Zero, wait!"

It was Roll. Disobeying her brother's urge to get things ready, she realized that she hadn't said goodbye to Zero yet. She ran up to him, waving him downwards. Assuming she had something to say, Zero knelt to get a better listen. Once she had the chance, Roll threw her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. Surprised, it took him a moment to return the hug, though he did in the end.

"Take good care of X!" Roll said, letting go.

"I always do." Zero stood back up, a little stunned but nonetheless happy. "See you later, Roll."

That done, Layer and her crush went to round up the stray members of group two. X had been intending to do the same thing, but he had found Signas, and the two were discussing something that Roll couldn't hear. She desperately wanted him to stay safe; X had assured her that this was simply a series of factory inspections, but she had heard from others about the high likeliness of his running into Mavericks. Roll wanted to trust that he would be safe, but she found that she couldn't. Rock hadn't been safe. No matter how many victories Mega Man had won, they weren't a guarantee that he would survive. It was the same for X.

Quietly distressed, Roll wrung her hands, tightly clasping them as she stared at the floor with trembling. She heard footsteps behind her, distinct from all the noise of the mass-mission room.

"Roll." Bass said quietly. "You alright?"

"Yeah." she sniffed, rubbing an eye.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Not yet. I want to see when they leave."

Roll guessed that Bass understood. In any case, he stood beside her silently, and Roll knew he was trying to be supportive. A century ago she never would have guessed that having Bass around would make so much of a difference, but it did. Roll was able to stay with Bass and Axl as group one left and group two was called onto the teleporter pad. A quick check was done for attendance, and of course all of the collection of inspectors were there, ready to get the job done. Alia and the other navigators began to initiate the transport, and the teleporter started going to work. From the platform, X looked over at Roll and waved one last time. One instant later, he was gone.

Roll turned her gaze upwards. A dull pain stuck in her heart, and she desperately wished that she could see more than the beams supporting the roof. But she had to believe. There wasn't any choice. Thus, she did what she hadn't done in a long time. She prayed.

"Please," she whispered. "Bring them home safe!"

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Notedly, reploids don't need much sleep. They do need it from time to time to recharge their power cores, but they can go as much as a month without problems before they need to rest. During sleep mode the Maverick Hunters go through extensive anti-virus checks and software updates. It's really quite efficient as a means of maintenance and getting reploids to be more accepted around humans.

- I've always imagined Zero as an analytical thinker who's all about details and plain science, and X is the one who thinks about complex emotions. Zero ignores his own emotions too much to really understand them. Also, Zero never notices that Layer likes him. Part of it is his subconscious and yet deliberate ignoring of anything romantic, something his mind picked up as a habit when Iris died. A lot of people like to write Zero as someone who takes really good care of his hair, but it seems to me that Zero is always too busy for that. He pays it decent attention, but in the end he cares more about doing his work than messing with it. At quiet moments he brushes it while he's thinking.

So, which do you like better? Red Zero or black Zero?

Wow, I need more reviewers. I'm down to my last three Mavericks. Alright, here we go!

Sony Ninja

=====Wintry Oniwaban

"I'm waiting for you."

Wintry is an ice Maverick who particularly loves destroying beautiful things, like flowers or art. He is a ninja Maverick clothed in white with pale purple trim, and he hates warm weather with a passion. His attacks include a shot of ice that causes the player huge knockback, and he can also summon icicles from the ceiling. The player that beats him gets Winter Shot, a freezing blast that solidifies enemies.

I looked up "stony" and "ninja" to get this name. Oniwaban means "one in the garden", a Japanese reference to ninjas.

GTOProject

=====Schemer Torino

"Witness my new line of automobiles!"

Schemer is a car Maverick, one who used to work in a car factory. He loves making creative and overly decorative cars. He's a very large Maverick, and by stomping a foot he produces a car that runs out to attack the player. He also has a spark gun. The player that beats him gets Torino Ride, a small car platform that enables the player to get across areas, especially spikes, very quickly. The player can control which direction it goes. It can shoot out sparks from the front of the platform, but these are sort of short range.

A synonym of project is scheme, and GTO made me think of Gran Torinos.

Lady Midnight Sage

=====Raven Vanguard

"You cannot pass me."

Raven is a dark Maverick whose expertise is guarding Maverick resources. She's not very talkative, but she is a good fighter. She wears a cloak of black and dark green, and her hair is purple. Her weapon is a short sceptor that she uses to create glowing sparks that fly at you, or beams of light that hurt like crap. The player that beats her gets Vanguard Orb. Press the button once to hold it up and light dark areas then press it again to throw the orb at enemies.

Raven is a synonym for black, in turn a synonym for midnight. Sage means both green and wise person, and somehow vanguard came up from that. I like it.