ZERO

Chapter 5

Fan Fiction by Senya

twilight_rhapsody@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: All characters copyright by CAPCOM, I did not create them, nor do I own them. The exception is May, whom I did create.

Now the two dreams were one. It began with the shadowed scientist and awakening in the capsule. Only he was still inside of the dream. The scientist, Wily, he killed him, his hands were covered in human blood, he was dizzy and angry. He stumbled through the wreckage of the lab, fell through a doorway, struggling rose to his feet. There was another room outside of the laboratory, upstairs. It was different, there were white walls and sunlight pouring through open windows. There was a human woman there with long brown hair. She looked at him sadly:

"Oh Nathan . . . was it asking to much, to want to bring you back?" She asked softly, already realizing whose blood it was dripping from his hands, already realizing her own fate . . .

"NO!" Zero screamed, he woke himself out of deactivation, a first in the history of Reploids, and shuddered. The dream had been different that time, it was both dreams together. Dr. Wily and May Mistweaver. The two people responsible for his creation. Only one was evil and the other was . . . he didn't know. The hunter staggered from his resting capsule and ran a hand through his golden bangs. He felt agitated still by the dream, even after waking. "How strange . . ."

He could still here the old man's voice echoing in the back of his mind . . . "Even if you kill me you will never be free of your creator, Zero!! Not ever!"

Why . . . ?

He left his quarters and entered the hallway, enormous windows revealed the clear and sunny day outside, but it failed to lift his spirits. X approached him, "Hi Zero, today we have that meeting, remember? Signas is going to discuss out over all statistics against the Mavericks and . . . . . .are you feeling okay, Zero?"

"Y-Yeah, of course." Zero assured him, "It's nothing." But he'd suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. Reploids didn't get sick, but he chose to ignore.

*It's nothing, I'll have to wait until after the meeting anyways, then I can have Lifesaver take a look at it . . .*

But as the two Hunters entered the counsel room the pain increased until it was almost blinding, he had just opened his mouth to tell X when the world dipped and sunk into a very different, very hazy, perception . . .

X glanced over at his friend, Zero's eyes seemed strange, unfocused, but he entered the room and sat down like nothing was wrong, so the blue hunter had no choice but to sit beside him and hope it was all his imagination . . .

* * * * *

The meeting was droning on for so long, it had already been forty-five minutes already. X glanced nervously at Zero, the red Hunter was obviously bored out of his mind, he was sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes half shut. "How much longer is this idiot going to go on for?" He asked X under his breath.

"W--what?!" X asked, he'd never heard Zero say such a thing before about their leader, Signas.

Luckily, Signas didn't appear to have heard, he was turning to several maps and charts. Zero groaned audibly. A few of the Hunters sitting close to them glanced quickly in their direction.

"It isn't THAT bad, Zero." X said in a whisper. "Besides it's important."

"Unimportant, you mean." Zero replied, "We should be out there busting Mavericks not stuck in here listening to this dumb ass drone on about pointless facts and waste our time." Now the other reploids had turned to hear Zero, even Signas had stopped his presentation, Zero didn't seem to care. "I mean, face it X, Signas is the most worthless of all the Hunters even wimps like Alia and Douglas who never get off their fat asses to do anything of much use are better than this blabbering retard."

All of the reploids around the table were staring at Zero with dumbfounded expressions, several of their mouths hung open, and all eyes were large. Signas was staring at Zero with his mouth hanging open, his speech long since forgotten. "W--what is the meaning of this, Zero?" He asked, regaining his composure.

"I'm just stating the obvious, when was the last time you risked your neck saving the world? All you do is sit around on your butt all day and then take the credit for my (and X's) hard work!" Zero flipped his hair back and stood up. "You'd probably be worse of in battle than Douglas!"

"Hey!" The large green mechanic whined, but no one seemed to hear him.

Signas' face was twitching angrily. "Do you want a pay cut, Zero?!"

"Ooh a pay cut I'm shaking!!" Zero said sarcastically. He leaned over the table and smirked at the ruffled Signas. "Why don't you just go ahead and FIRE me, eh, Signas? I'll tell you why--because without me your measly excuse of a team would be wiped off the map by Mavericks. I am the best Hunter you've got and hell, I'm the ONLY hunter you've got that's worth anything at all!"

"Z--Zero--" X said nervously. "What's wrong with you?"

Zero didn't appear to hear him, Signas' hands were clenched tightly with rage.

"I TOLD you this would happen!" Lifesaver said suddenly, leaping to his feet. "He's gone Maverick! I told you we should have had him taken care of!"

Zero turned to face Lifesaver and smirked. "Oh, shut up." He pulled out his buster.

"Zero NO!" X cried, but it was to late, Zero fired and Lifesaver was flung across the room, he crashed into the back wall and lay still.

"Oh my goodness . . ." Alia murmured, "He HAS gone Maverick!"

"No, no that isn't possible!" X cried desperately. "Zero, Zero, say it isn't so--"

Zero turned to his blue friend, his green eyes flickering with madness. "What's the matter, X, don't you agree with me? Why should these pitiful excuses for Reploids get all the credit after we do all the work?"

"What are you talking about, Zero?!" X said. "These are our friends! We're a team, we beat the Mavericks together!"

Zero threw back his head an laughed, a cold, heartless laugh. "Is that so? Well, would I do this to a 'friend'?" Zero pointed his buster at Alia, but X jumped at him, and pushed him out of the way.

"Stop it, Zero!!"

Just then an alarm sounded throughout the room.

"Would all Maverick Hunters please report to your battle stations immediately, this is not a drill. Repeat . . ." Said a voice over the intercom.

"The city must be under attack!" Signas exclaimed.

Zero laughed, "Well, let's go down there X, it is our job, right?"

"H--huh? O--okay, Zero." X said with an even more confused expression. He shrugged helplessly to Signas as the two left the room.

On the streets of the city far below the Maverick Hunter's H.Q. people and reploids screamed as a group of Mavericks swept over them. X and Zero leapt into the fray, Zero pulled out his saber, X his Buster. X went after a large yellow and gold Maverick with claws, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Zero. His friend was taking on dozens of the enemies at once, he had leapt into the battle as though totally uncaring for his own safety, he was slashing and tearing away at the Mavericks insanely. X blasted his own Maverick through the skull, and stunned, watched Zero destroy the rest single-handedly in a wave of fury.

Then, when all of the Mavericks had fallen without pause or mercy Zero began killing the humans and reploids as well! "NO!" X screamed, horrified at the sight. "NO, Zero, STOP IT!!" He ran to the Hunter's side, and tried to grab his arms, but Zero flung him away effortlessly. It was in that split second that X saw it--the hideous 'W' glowing on Zero's helmet. "No . . . please, no. . ." X pleaded as he felt his body collide with a building. Dazed, the blue Hunter rose to his feet to see Signas confronting Zero.

"Zero you have clearly gone Maverick so therefore I have no choice . . ." He closed his eyes and pulled out his own Buster.

Zero, with lightening fast speed dodged out the shot's way and before Signas realized what was happening Zero had his arm tight in his grasp. Zero smiled evilly, and his eyes seemed to glow with a strange, malicious, look. He tore the General's arm out of it's socket and flung it away.

Signas gasped in pain, and instinctively clutched the gaping hole of circuits and sparking wires were his arm had been. "Damn you, Zero . . ." He coughed, flung a punch at the renegade Hunter. It struck him, and Signas' strength, even in his weakened state caused Zero to stagger backwards a few feet, but the reploid easily caught his balance, and with a despicable smirk leapt up over the surrounding buildings and vanished from sight. . .