All things return to zero.

Weeks passed. X sat at his desk staring at nothing in particular. The rise of the Zero Nightmare was becoming an issue for everyone. It almost seemed as if there was a grocery list of things piling on one another and all the viruses did nothing to help. He thought of High Max and his accusation against Zero. A scoff left his mouth before sitting upright and pushing himself away from the desk to walk outside his room. There was nothing for him to do. The investigations against the investigators were at a halt for the moment and he was becoming on edge. Not because he wanted to search for a kill, but rather for those he had already killed. Those investigators… some wanted death much like Zero himself while others were repaying a 'debt'.

It sickened him.

Reploids being used as if they were machines or treating themselves as if they were such. The suicide and wish for death was almost unbearable. Of course it went against Asimov's Laws, and of course some of them didn't say much of anything about it in fear of being accused of 'Maverickism', but those that still spoke of it almost took out their beating heart asking others to kill them.

That's how they tricked the system. That's how they got people to pity them. Kill me! They cried. Kill me, because I want to die!

It was easy. He still pitied them because that was how Zero was. He wanted to die because of the circumstances placed upon him. X knew well how that felt, even if he didn't want to die he saw how the pressure of the world could fall against someone to make them wish it. But those investigators he wondered what hell that they had to endure besides the obvious of resurrection.

Sometimes he could still hear them scream.

X pressed his hand against his forehead as he walked down the hallway thinking about the circle of hell that they Reploids had to endure over and over again. He groaned as he walked to nowhere. The phantom of Asard was against his body as he thought of the emotional turmoil that Reploids had to endure yet Humans used them. But this wasn't Maverick talk! He was no Maverick! He only wanted Humans and Machines to be happy, only wanted them to live together in harmony and no longer did Reploids have to suffer the fate of being forced to kill one another.

He still felt Asard's body against his as he cried. It was only weeks ago but he still could feel it being so real. X shook his head as he continued down the hallway. The madness was getting to him, and he only wanted an end to this endless war.

"Maverick Hunter X. Please report to the combat center."

He looked up at nothing. Do they want him to kill again?

I don't want to.

"Maverick Hunter X. Please report to the combat center."

He didn't want to go. To endure more bloodshed. But he knew that he must.

I guess I must.

So with a frown on his face he turned on his heel to head towards the combat center. Dread dripped into his soul, bit by bit. The glass within him already full began to overflow and he didn't know what to do with it, only to endure.

I feel sick.

"You're alive."

Zero opened his eyes to stare at nothing. His body had been seared by the sun but it helped that his intestines weren't sprawled out to be cooked. It had to be purgatory, all of this, but he couldn't tell anymore. All he wanted was to see X and be done with his life. So he closed his eyes once more to try to think of something else, to try to envision his face, but all he could see was some girl's face. Who was that?

"Get up."

He exhaled and felt dust leave his mouth. He never once understood how humans could feel so parched, but now that he laid here in the sun he could taste the dryness on his mouth and how disgusting and almost sticky it felt. It was illogical that he could even feel the need to feel this, but yet he did, as if it motivated him to keep living. "Mhm…" He tried to say 'what?' but nothing came from his mouth. He tried to chew on his metal cheeks as he opened his eyes not to see the beautiful sun but instead himself looking back at him. It might have been a dream had he the ability to speak, but instead he couldn't say a word and was speechless—mute. So he closed his eyes again and opened them up to still see himself, healthy but purple, looking back at him.

The other Zero pressed his hand against the real Zero's cheek with a smile and rubbed dirt off his cheek. "He said you were dead," the other spoke. Zero tried to turn his face away but was pulled back to stare. "Liar. He ruined his plans." At that Zero nearly puked. Just the mere connotation of Dr. Gate's name made Zero want to run far away from this cruel world. But he didn't move as the other one moved away from him. It was stupid to think that the false one was done with his body. There was a kick to the side as he smiled. "Get up." When Zero didn't move there was another kick as the other dropped something on his chest. "Don't you want to see him?"

Zero coughed again as he turned on his side and onto his stomach taking the object that was dropped onto his chest. It was strange and cylinder. "W…Wh…" he looked up at the other.

"My master won't know," he grabbed Zero's hair and brought him up to stand on his feet. The machine did nothing but cringe. "I'm testing my own experiment." The other brought up his hand that held a few vials of something unfamiliar. A moment later he smashed the vial against Zero's face. In return he shook his head from side to side and coughed once or twice spitting out the awful taste that entered his mouth. Zero shoved the other away but the false one walked towards him. "You don't have anything." He took out a saber from his back and activated it. "Walk." Zero turned to look at the other with his hand to his mouth as it dripped a sickly purple slime. "You'll die with the rest no matter the outcome."

That, I hope.

Zero sneered at the other. Should he die, he wanted to die with a fight. He turned and dropped the metal thing that the other gave him and lunged at the other. He went for the neck in attempt to dig his claws into him and break it off with a clean crack. But he was a slow and stupid machine whose hand was grabbed and wrist became broken in a blink and thrown to the ground. He looked up at the other before getting up and rushing him again but was easily kicked to the side as if it was dead meat. "Stupid machine," the other smiled. Zero dug his hand into the sand. "Just like Asard."

At the name Asard a rage nearly destroyed his body. He turned to grab the other's head again. This time he succeeded and began to crush his face in with the might of his powers that he was born with. The purple helmet broke and a scream came from the other. All the rage in the world bottled into his hand and Zero did more than enough to feed that bitter rage into his one hand in hopes to destroy him.

But it wasn't enough; for the other knew Zero almost as well as Zero himself. The other grabbed onto Zero's only arm and began to squeeze himself. He squeezed hard enough that eventually that arm broke and all that was left was his legs and teeth. But it would never stop the rage from growing larger. That rage only stopped when the other shoved Zero away and put the saber straight into Zero's face. Only then Zero stopped. His body urging to walk forward into death but his mind broken to never be repaired. Words wanted to come forth but never could he speak ever again.

"Given up?" There was no reply. The other bent down and picked up the thing that Zero discarded. He walked around and put it on Zero's back. "Go." He pointed somewhere in the distant desert. "Don't turn back."

And so he began to walk into a hellish nightmare.

"Are you sure?" X blinked up at Signas.

"Without a doubt," Stephen murmured. Stephen had her hands crossed over her chest as she stared at the ground. "It has to be him." She closed her eyes. She knew but acted as if she wanted not to know and be a stupid Reploid that the humans wanted them to be. It hurt too much for her to go on. Her will was beginning to fade.

I want to die.

Yes, X knew those words that would eventually come from her mouth. But they didn't really want to die, because of the Third Law.

"Then—Then that's great news!" X smiled. The mere thought of his friend existing or even parts of his body being found left X with glee. But even X knew there had to be something more to those words because why else would everyone be so sad? He still hoped, even if he should know better. "If its him then we can go get him back. We can save him—we could…!" he stared down at his hands with a smile but everyone looked on with pity. Somehow X felt different from everyone else by the mere connection that he had with Zero. "What's… wrong?"

Alia cleared her throat. "The readings are the same as Zero. Just off by a smidge. I checked and rechecked but… that's him." His glee and happiness were beginning to disappear. It felt as if his stomach began to sink into the floor even if he didn't have a stomach. His body was beginning to feel numb like all those times before. "If it is him. Then everything that High Max said was true. That Zero killed Asard. Our Zero… killed Asard." Stephen grabbed her arms tighter and it almost looked as if she was going to shred her body apart.

"You believe it?" Signas thinned his lips.

Alia shook her head, "I don't know. I didn't see anything but his readings are so unique that its almost impossible to replicate, at least not to that detail."

But X didn't want to believe those words, he wanted to believe the words that his friend was alive and well and not dead. "Zero would never do that," X shook his head. He knew his friend better than anyone—that's what he wanted to believe at least. "He'd never kill Asard like that, I know him better than anyone else."

Stephen sighed since she even knew the wishes that X tried to convince himself was real was only a wish. It was a birth of a wish, a birth of a wish everyone wanted to be real. "I don't know Zero as well as you, but I wouldn't put it past him considering Asard's past." X opened his mouth to attempt at a rebuttal, but nothing left his lips as he closed his lips. "Asard was important to all of us, but we always knew that something like this was going to happen."

X couldn't blame her. Considering where Asard had come from no one would put it past Zero to have slaughtered Asard. But just the way that Zero had killed Asard was so feral and beast like X could not bring himself to admit it was Zero. X thinned his lips and averted his eyes someplace else. "Even if that's the case, I can't believe that Reploid was Zero." How could he when he did not feel the same memories that always occurred when he looked at Zero? He looked at Signas, "I still want to go check it out. Even if it might be a trap I want to see if Zero is alright."

Signas looked at X carefully. He pressed his hands to his back staring away from X for a moment off to the distance to mull over the possible outcomes the mission might have. "I'll allow it." And in that moment a sense of glee rushed X. "But it'll be a solo mission with limited communication, understood?"

X nodded his head. "I understand."

Signas was still as he stared at X. There was almost pity in his eyes as he looked at the hopeful vision that X created for himself. Only a second's pause had passed as Signas swallowed bitterly. The bitterness of death had not fully digested in X's stomach and the young reploid was already willing to throw it all up from his nonexistent stomach. It was this mission that would either crush X's dreams of Zero's revival or rebirth them anew. "We'll discuss missing briefing later. Return to your room to prep."

"Yes sir!"

And as X walked away Signas mulled over what he had done.

Zero pressed his back against a rock. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep forever. But the other that lingered over his body would always laugh at him and press him to go forward onward into the unknown. But he felt so tired, and he wanted to sleep or to perish forever. There came a sigh as he let his head rest on the large rock. Honestly had been less proud he would have begun to crawl on his hands and legs. But still he persevered.

The other walked over to him, pressing his hand against the wall and lowered his head to stare at Zero with a smile. "Tired already?"

Zero stared with anger.

"You can die here then." The other took Zero's face and shoved him to the side. It was a force strong enough for him to be caught off balance and fall to the side and lay there. There was little that Zero could do with both his arms broken and will nearly destroyed. A moment he rubbed his head into the dirt before picking himself up to sit on the ground comfortably. He looked this way and that way only to blink strangely at the semi-emptiness before him.

What a strange place to make the coffin in.

But still he crawled elsewhere.

The desert was a hellish nightmare that X tried to stay away from. Ever since that fateful day that Stephen spoke of and since Brother's departure he had tried to avoid that horrible place. Green had begun to grow back several years after the destruction of Eurasia hit the planet. But it was barely any greenery as it was overwhelmed by the metal that still protruded from the ground and the dust that blew across the forsaken lands. X wanted to go back to the base and forget all about this place, but all he could do was stand there staring into the wilderness scanning the horizon.

This was the place. The very place that Alia had gotten those readings. She told him that it had traveled south since he arrived, but otherwise he was on his own only to conserve the already sparse resources the Hunter Base had.

He shivered in fear. X didn't even know if he wanted to see Zero dead or alive but he knew deep in his heart that whatever the outcome it wouldn't be all that X hoped it would be. So with a slightly heavy heart he walked towards the rubble deep into the cavern of metal and dust. He was careful when he entered. The metal spiraled up and around him letting sunlight shimmer through the gaping holes. The silence was overwhelming even for X that loved the solitude of it. Carefully he looked around the place but saw or heard not a sound.

But then there was a sound. Something fell and clattered and he looked the other way with his buster out. His fingers twitched on blue metal and he stared wide eyed at the metal chaos. There was another sound and he looked the other way, then another, then before he knew it his face was against the floor and his mouth was full of dust.

"Z-Zero?" was what he managed to spit out.

The thing above him laughed. X was still for a moment as he felt his stomach in his through before he squirmed on the floor like a cat to swipe at the other. When his eyes gleamed the other figure X opened his mouth wide with confusion. The other smiled as if he had not attacked the other prior. "X… I guess it is you. I didn't recognize you at first."

X squinted at the other's pale purple armor and so much paler skin. It was the same person that had killed Asard. "Zero? That can't really be you…"

Zero laughed. Where the original Zero's laughter felt like butterflies on flowers this one felt like salt in a wound. "You don't remember me?"

The glee that X had initially felt was subsiding into rage. "Why? Why did you kill Asard?"

Zero shook his head and walked forward. "Idiot, did you go Maverick just looking for me? Asard was a Maverick, remember? I was doing a favor."

X frowned. "Zero would never say that."

The other then frowned with teeth bare. "The real Zero wouldn't take out his fellow Maverick comrade?" X was silent as he bit his lip.

"He would, but not like you!"

The other laughed, "Is that what you think? Then I guess I have to remind you I'm not as fake as you think."

X shook his head and took a confident step forward as the false Zero slowly stopped walking. "What did you do to Zero? The real one?"

There came a huff of a laugh. "That obsolete junk?" he shook his head with his eyes closed. "You don't have to worry about him anymore." From his hand he pulled out his saber colored in a sick purple. "He's back to living in a nightmare. I'm the real Zero now!" He walked closer to X who then put up his arm and aimed his buster at Zero. The fake one paused. "Come on X. See, I'm real. I'm alive! Wouldn't you want someone who can love you who isn't half dead?"

"Stop it!" X shook slightly. "You killed Asard and you took Zero away! I don't care who you are, but you're not him!" He could still see Asard's face of agony.

"Zero would have done the same thing."

"He wouldn't have!" X sent out a shot from his buster. It connected with the other but it didn't seem to have done any damage to him besides the superficial on his armor. He needed to calm down before fighting the other, otherwise X was as good as dead—or worst. He charged his buster and released it letting the heat dissipate from his body. It hit again, but it was only superficial. The armor was more than slightly penetrative and X didn't bring any additional guns that could penetrate it.

The other seemed to only stoke the fire of panic, "Figure it out by now? It won't work." With a smile the other ran up to X slicing the air that would have hit the Maverick Hunter. X slid out of the way only to be held by the fake Zero, his claws digging into his throat, and his mouth so close to X's face. The grin was so wide and X only squirmed under his power and might. It was only through the panic of his defense systems that he made a wild grab for Zero's old saber that he brought with him to activate and shove through the side of the other's hip.

But there wasn't a howl, there wasn't a wince. The other only dropped him with mild annoyance and looked down at the now sizzling hole that X had made. If X didn't know better, he was made almost under the same specifications as Zero only more on the painless side. The sheer amount of machine that this Reploid had was almost startling.

The other Zero kicked X that sent him back a few feet and X couldn't help but wince at the amount of pain. X managed to pick himself off from the ground and stood up staring at the other. He barely flinched as he raised his purple sword up high ready to strike down X. Oil spilled from his side.

It was a duel. A final strike where one would walk free of agony but not without wounds. So X carefully held his sword up though not as skillfully as the other. He barely trained with the saber and it was only his will that made him only pretend that he was. If he had been human X would have sweated so much the saber handle would have fell through his fingers.

His grip tightened as he was still.

A moment later they both charged and the next X had a saber through his gut so that it came out the other end.

The other twisted it in there. "Idiot." With his other hand he rummaged for something in his back and took out a vial. It was the same shattered glass and contents that Signas had shown X previously weeks ago. "If you really want to see Zero again so badly…" he raised his hand up as if to smash it into X's face. "Be my guest." But before he could slam it down onto X's face X had maneuvered himself to slice off the other's arm holding that vial. It shattered onto the ground and its contents seeped into the ground without so much as a sputter or crack.

"I rather…" X coughed. "… see him for real." With the other stunned X took the saber and cut through his body where his cores would be and he fell down without a word. The purple saber deactivated and fell to the floor with a hush and the desert returned to its chaotic and silent mess as it used was before.

And X felt just as empty as he was before. So with a huff, with a sigh, and with a tear in his eye, X slid down to the ground and coughed again while holding his chest.

I really screwed up this time. Still no sign of Zero and a wound.

He looked at the body that twitched.

But at least I know it isn't him.

He looked down at his hand that was stained with black oil. There was nothing left to do but to radio in and return home. He sat there for a few minutes before finally gathering himself up and pressing his hand to his helmet. "Alia… No signs of-." The words caught in his throat as he saw something red and covered in green crawl in the sand.

Could it be? Could that be him?

"X?"

"Hold on… I think I found something." So carefully he got up from the ground and walked toward what he hoped to be his long lost friend.

"Zero, is that you?"

The old Reploid looked up. He wanted to hide his beaten body away from X. How could he join his beloved companion looking hideous like this? "X?" Zero barely managed to speak those words as he looked up from the ground. He could not hide his scars, his blood, his everything as his body poured out from his arms. It must have been a hallucination, there was no other way that this was real considering all that the poor machine had endured up to this moment. He considered it unlucky to meet X in these circumstances.

The embrace that Zero felt upon him was unreal and for a moment his body rejected it. The feelings and emotions that bubbled up in him would have made him cry had he the tears for it, but X did well to cry for him. "Zero… where have you been? I thought you… I thought…"

Shakily Zero pressed his body against X's arms. The warmth from another was overwhelming and part of him wanted to run away. "X…" was all he could say. With his voice barely functioning he was surprised that the single name was able to be spoken. He bit his lip and an ugly noise came from his mouth as he finally cried an awful sound. The nightmare that he had been forced upon was finally coming to an end and he could awaken from this cruel joke. He slowly closed his eyes.

"Alia? I—I have Zero." X wrapped his arms around Zero to hold him up as he began to slip onto the floor. "I need to transport now!" Zero was slipping from X's arms, and he didn't know how much longer he could stay awake. His poor soul had gone through too much to handle even more emotions. He began to shake as X held onto him tightly as if his friend would go away forever and ever.

Finally, it's over.

He sighed with relief as he felt his body dematerialize.

I can sleep soundly with no nightmares.