Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman ZX (but I do own Neo and Maria)

Chapter 13

/Prometheus's P.O.V.

Prometheus watched from a distance, eyes narrowed in anger. So that was him. Neo Light. His sister's killer. Hatred for that boy ran deep inside him. Sure, he was a sadist who fought for Cyrus and Model W, but that was because he had no choice. He might seem to be devoid of positive emotions, but he cared deeply for his sister. Prometheus hated Neo with a deep, fiery passion. He wanted revenge. He wanted Neo to know the pain he had inflicted on Pandora and himself.

The grim reaper glanced over at Grey. "Hey! Grey!"

The boy jumped. "What is it, Prometheus?" Never bro, Prometheus insisted on not being called that. He didn't want to get close to Grey. It would just put him on the track for another heartbreak. He didn't want to suffer like that again.

"I need you to assemble a small fleet and send them to attack a Legion database. Download whatever's there, to give the mission a higher priority. Then they'll send Megaman Model O to stop you. Lead him to me."

"But that's so dangerous!" Grey protested. "You've seen what Neo can do! Fighting them is just so dangerous, it's like playing with a nuclear reactor!"

"I know." Prometheus said, his voice flat. "I'm still going to do this. You can help me or not."

Grey's eyes shimmered with restrained tears. What's up with that? Albert wouldn't create a reploid with emotions like that! "Okay. I'll help. But…please promise me one thing…"

Prometheus almost said no, but the expression on Grey's face…well…if being a megaman didn't work out, he always had acting as a fallback… "What is it…?"

"Please, if it gets too dangerous…if Neo starts to lose it…promise me you're run away…I don't want to lose you…no one else here understands me like you…you're like a brother to me…"

Prometheus squeezed his eyes tightly shut. Brother. "Fine. I promise" God, this boy is making me soft like hell…

/Maria's P.O.V.

Maria put her arms around Neo's shoulders. Her brother was sitting in silence at the riverside, staring blankly at the rushing water. It was one of those moments. He didn't speak or move or anything. In the worst cases, he would scream. The other hunters in camp were sympathetic, acknowledging he had suffered great mental trauma, but it would take a while to adjust to hearing his unearthly cries at random intervals, which would hopefully get less frequent when he started to recover. Maria stayed with him all the time, and he seemed to enjoy her company.

"Maria! I need to borrow you for a second!" Maria glanced over her shoulder. Ashe was signaling for her to come over. She paused and glanced at her brother.

"I'll be right back." Neo muttered an agreement and didn't look up. Maria let go and ran over to join Ashe.

"What is it?"

"Maverick attack. Someone's hacking into Legion's database. Their target is data on Model W."

"Is Neo coming with us?"

"Absolutely not. Prometheus is with them. How do you think Neo will react to meeting the brother of the maverick who put his friend in such great danger?" Maria didn't answer, so Ashe went on. "No, we better go without him."

"I can't leave Neo here by himself." Maria protested. "He can't interact with anyone else, and what if he wanders off?"

"Maria-"

"It's okay." A new voice interrupted. Maria turned around. Vent glanced over at Neo and then back at her and Ashe. "You stay here, Maria. I'll go."

Maria let out her breath. "Thanks Vent." She hugged him. "Be careful, okay?"

"Of course." Ashe and Vent vanished into the transerver, and Neo looked up at Maria. The pupils were back in his eyes.

"Who's…who's Prometheus, Maria?" Maria considered finding a way to avoid the question, but Neo's eyes probed her and she knew that he wanted an answer, and he intended to get it, however possible. Even if she didn't tell him outright, he'd hunt the information down in whatever database he could get into. So she decided to simply pick her words carefully.

"Well…do you remember the witch maverick from before?" Neo's eyes hardened.

"I'll never forget…"

"Well…Prometheus is her brother." Maria said slowly. Neo jumped.

"Wait…her brother…" Neo's eyes flickered red to blue to red, and then back to blue and stayed there. He was more worried than angry, and Maria found that confusing. What would he be worried about?

/Neo's P.O.V.

It's a diversion. It's gotta be. Prometheus must have known they'd send sis for a mission where he was involved with the attack because she's so powerful. He must have figured that she'd bring me with her! Neo thought, his mind whirling furiously. It's for me. And if Ashe and Vent went to stop the attack, they're walking straight into a trap!

"Maria, I've got to go after them."

"Why?" Neo didn't answer, he just transformed and headed for the transerver. Maria stood up, shaking her head.

"I don't like the vibes I'm getting from him…MEGAMERGE!" She chased after her twin.

Great. She's following me… Neo cursed silently. He didn't want her to come with him. He didn't want to see her get hurt, cut open like Kari. I'm not going to put her in danger…I just lose her in the Legion building. Yeah. That's what I'll do…then she'll be safe, for now…I won't let what happened to Kari happen to her…

Inside the Legion building, Maria headed for the main vein of mavericks, but Neo scanned the forces, picking out a boy with grey hair and a biometal in one hand. Neo swerved and confronted him.

"Neo Light?" The boy's voice was quiet, and he searched Neo's eyes for any trance of crimson light. They were natural blue, for now anyway. But what if…Grey closed his eyes tightly. No, he wasn't going to think about Neo going berserk. He wouldn't let that happen. He'd find some way to keep him calm.

"Where's Prometheus?"

"Are you going to kill him?" Neo blinked at the blunt question. The boy's eyes hardened. "If you intend to, I will fight you until my body cannot move another step."

For several long moments, there was silence. Suddenly Neo broke it. "I won't kill either of you. I won't."

Grey blinked in confusion, and opened his mouth, but Neo rounded on him, eyes flashing red. "I am not like you and that grim reaper. I don't kill unless I have to. I AM NOT A MAVERICK!" The last sentence was screamed, almost like he was trying to convince himself as well as Grey. There was a heavy silence. Then Neo roughly pushed past the silent megaman and ran up the stairs behind him.

I AM NOT A MAVERICK! Neo's words rang in Grey's ears. And I am? A killer? A maverick? Grey shut his eyes, a fresh set of tears rolling down them. No, no, no, I don't want it… I don't want to be a killer, Neo…I don't want to be a maverick either…Neo…you'll believe me, right? The grey-haired boy stood in silence, trying not to cry out loud.

Neo could only hear his own footsteps and Grey's voice. Pity. Damn him for making me feel like this. Neo thought through angry tears. Why? Why? Why did he have to make me feel this way? WHY? I don't want to be weak again…damn you Grey. But there was little bite in that thought. Why did he feel that twinge he had only felt around Maria when he had looked that boy in the eye? Why? What was it about him that made him decide not to fight Prometheus until the end? What was it that made him decide to fight this fight as himself, rather than simply giving control to Omega Zero? Why? Neo burst through the door leading to the roof. There were two figures on the roof. One of them was one of his sister's friends, was it Vent? Neo couldn't remember. He lay unmoving. Neo approached him and checked his pulse. It was steady, so Neo deemed he was unconscious. The other one was Prometheus.

"I've been expecting you."

/Maria's P.O.V.

"There were fewer of these guys than I thought there'd be." Maria remarked, straightening up. The attack had less force than the other ones she had fought in, which was odd, considering the priority level of the mission.

"Where's Vent?" Maria asked Ashe, turning around.

"He went to the roof. Prometheus was up there."

"Prometheus…shouldn't he be back by now? What's going on up there?"

"I don't know. I'm not getting through to him." Ashe looked around. "By the way, where's Neo? Didn't he come with you?"

Maria looked around, alarmed. Sure enough, Neo was no where to be seen. "We need to get to the roof. Now."

/Neo's P.O.V.

"You asked for me?" Neo said, stepping away from Vent and towards Prometheus. "What do you want?"

"Annihilation." Prometheus replied calmly and coldly. "The death of my sister's killer."

"Didn't Cyrus say he could resurrect her? She isn't really dead." Neo countered. "I don't kill unless I must."

"Right, like I'm going to believe that." Prometheus snorted.

"…" Neo didn't reply. He just looked at Prometheus with an emotionless expression on his face.

"Whether Cyrus can save her or not is not the point." The grim reaper went on. "It's the pain you inflicted."

"Pain." Neo repeated. He lifted his head, while his expression remained emotionless. "Then you get it."

"Get what?" Prometheus demanded, glaring at him.

"Then you knew from the start how raid survivors like me felt about you and you sister. You're covered in the blood of innocent people. If you hurt people, they'll hurt you back. It's no big mystery." Neo's face was still calm and blank.

If you hurt people, they'll hurt you back. Prometheus shut his eyes.

"You love your sister," Neo went on, "so you can't be that different from me. You'd give everything to protect your sister, and I'd do the same thing for Maria and Kari. Vent too." He nodded to the unconscious megaman, "has people he'd die to protect. So my question is this." He looked back at Prometheus. "Why were you fighting for Model W in the first place?"

Prometheus gritted his teeth. Great. How am I going to talk my way out of this?

/Author's note: ….Okay, so maybe Prometheus isn't as heartless as we were lead to believe. REVIEW! I NEED REVIEWS TO CONTIUE! IF I DO NOT GET AT LEAST TWO REVIEWS I CANNOT CONTIUE!