All characters belong to Capcom. Asaki Kai belongs to me. I'm not making money off of this. It's for entertainment only. Dedicated to the few who know me and are *not* disgusted with the male/male inserts. Now, have yourself a nice day. ^^

Chapter 4



He wandered around, slightly confused, slightly awed, but mostly angry. Here he was, in a place that looked so familiar, it wasn't at all. Humans were everywhere, as well as robots about a foot taller than him. Some wore armor, most didn't. Where was he?

When it got dark, he fled his hiding spot in search of.. something. Anything that would clue him in to what the heck was going on!

Down the road aways, there was movement. His instincts shoved him against the wall as he watched one of the shadowed.. things swipe at a lamp post. An explosion of sparks erupted from the cut and it fell over with a metallic clank. He narrowed his eyes and made out three giant armored things that were definitely not human or even humanoid. He strained his ears to listen to the conversation.

"Hot shot Neon just needs to make his destruction flashy, ne stripes?"

There was a hiss and an indignant 'hmph'. "Don't mock the work of a true predator, avian." He narrowed his eyes. They sounded like... animals. The 'avian', yes, the wings were clear now, spoke in a sort of high pitched rasp. The other was slightly shorter, more hunched over, with a tail that reached over his head. Seemed like a cat.

"Hey!" A large hand, bigger than his head, grabbed him by the waist roughly, activating his 'Ye shall not be caught' program and began to struggle, lashing out at something he couldn't touch. "Neon! Storm! Look at the baby I found!"

Baby?! "I am not a baby, you god damn animal!!"

The thing chuckled and turned him around, making him face to face with a monkey's ugly mug. "Puny thing. You don't smell like a reploid. What are you?"

"What's it to you, Curious George!"

A low rumble of laughter and the baboon smirked. Behind him, two pairs of foot steps came closer. This isn't good.

"Well, look what the mighty Mandrill caught.." A sniffing sound. "... Baby. He's not even a reploid. Seems not to have a neurologic pattern, just a bio-signature..."

A shrilling bird scream. "Sigma might have an interest in this one.."

"You aren't taking me anywhere!!!" He shrugged more, only to be pinned to the mandrill's chest in his strong, metallic arms. "My master will hear of this!!"

That quieted them all; he wanted to kick himself in the head for his automatic response. He's not your master, you dolt! And he never will be! Never never never!

The cat, no, tiger, peered at him closer. "And tell us, boy, who is your master. It's rare to hear of such a bonding anymore, especially when you obviously have a programming beyond simple Hear-and-Obey commands, yet lack the free will like that of our codes.."

He didn't say anything, but whispered with a stern voice. "What year is this."

The bird laughed. "I think we have someone with Techal Amnesia."

After that, another joined in, but the tiger regarded him strangly, like trying to place a face with a name.

"C'mon, baby. Time to bring you to /our/ master, Lord Sigma."

Pain shot up as the ape pressed a point on his arm.. and then there was nothing.

"Well, there goes the vacation." Zero threw his hands up and plopped down on the bed, sprawling himself out. X gave him a skeptical look. "I called the reservation. If we can get this case done with in a week, we'll still have the cabin for our payed time."

"But that's not the point! Just because your futuristic-- past-- whatever! fell out of the sky shouldn't mean we should be on call!"

Yakasa sat on the bed space above Zero's head and peered down at him, a slight furrow between his brows. "You're being ridiculous, Zero. Stop thinking about it. The fact that we were able to /get/ one was utterly amazing. Calm down," he reached over the stroke his knuckles over his lover's cheek and smirked, "or you're sleeping alone tonight."

What he got was a heart sinking frown mingled with a pout and puppy eyes. "You aren't /that/ cruel, are you?" Before X could answer, Zero grabbed a handful of his shirt close to the collar and yanked him down for a kiss. The way it ended up was their noses touched each other's chins and X found that hysterically funny. He started laughing and pulled his head away, amusement shining in his green eyes. Zero had a somewhat cross look. "I kiss you and it's funny?"

It was a moment of gathering his breath before X asked, "You ever kiss me backwards?" He was about to start another fit of giggles over the mere though of it when Zero rolled over onto his stomach, got to all fours, and lunged, pinning his boyfriend to the headboard of the bed, a feral grin slowly making itself present. "Would it be funny if I kissed you like this?"

X gave a grin of his own, but lacked the evil and held more amusement. "I dunno. How about we find out, ne aijin danji?"

Zero snorted. "I thought lover boy was my pet name for /you/?"

"Heh. Turn of the tables. Now shut up and start kissing."

Rock idly stroked Gospel's head, who was curled up beside him, whining, while Rokku stared out the window as if in a trance.

"The year is 2137, 50 years after X's capsulation. Reploids, free willed robots, out number any other mechas. They're divided, however. The Mavericks, mainly animal based reploids, are the enemy, attempting to wipe the human race out of existance. The Maverick Hunters are the ones who hunt them down. The free lancers, bounty hunters, and mercenaries can be any of the two, so trust no one. And then, there are the underground roots, groups of reploids who work in secret sociaties, or so believed. Remember, Rock. Trust nobody, except me, Yakasa, and Zero." "This world... We don't belong here, Treble. The enemy is stronger than either of us or all of us."

Again, a whine, and the wolf laid his head in Rock's lap, sighing like only a canine can.

"I promise we'll find Bass.. I promise."

Gospel lifted his head at that, and nuzzled Rock's cheek affectionately, which got him a giggle and more petting. Gospel wasn't built to represent an ordinary dog, or a wolf, rather, and wasn't in no way oblivious to his surroundings. He alone knew Forte's secrets, his feelings...

And right now, he knew that Rockman was putting his own worries aside. Of course the blue robot was concerned about Rush and his brother, but that's how he was. Putting aside his own safety, his personal emotions, all for the sake of the humans he protects.

A little naive at times, but still one of the greatest foes Wily ever had or will have. Gospel admired Rock for his efforts and determination. Forte always wondered why he failed to kill the boy. It was simple. Rock was made a good 15 years before he or Forte ever came into existance. The reason was experience.

There was a knock on the door. Treble growled lowly at it, but Rock silenced him before getting off the bed and cautiously walking towards the door. He pushed a button on the side and it opened. On the other side, Dr. Cain's face came into view, asking, "If you're not busy.. Rock, I would like to finish questioning you. ...Is that okay?"

"Um.. sure.. Come on in, Doc."

"We found him on the streets, m'lord. He said he has a master and is certainly not a reploid, yet has the foundation for the emotions we have. We thought it was wise to bring him to you."

The leader of the Mavericks, Sigma, eyed the three Mavericks, along with the 'baby' as Spark Mandrill called it, the 'bag of spare parts' by Storm Eagle. Neon Tiger was sticking up for it, like a cat protecting a toy or a curiousity.

"... Give him to Doppler and see what he can do with the runt."

"So.... update me."

"We have target number one, you have target number three, and they have targets two and five."

"Hnnnn..." A lanquid stroke on the cheek. "And where's number four?"

The man on his chest tapped his breastplate idly. "Don't worry. You'll see him soon. Can't tell you everything now, can I?"

"It would be nice. I mean, what can change?"

"Anything can change, koi. Until we send our angels back to heaven, the future is still open game. /Their/ future is still open game."

Snort. "You scare me sometimes."

"Oh shut up and stare at the sky."

And he did. They never did much together and it was always hard to decide between getting off or just lounging together, out of sight from all eyes. He sighed, depressed. Fuck the war. Why can't it just end?!

He felt his lover climb higher on his torso until the top of his head was pressing under his chin. "Ai shiteru, Dree."

"I love you too, Galen."