"After him"

"Wha?"

"Destroy him. 'He' is my nemesis. Zero… My greatest creation. Destroy him and all who oppose you!"

"Wha… Who are you!?"

Bass grinned madly at Zero. "I'll christen you Zero! Kill everything! No Survivors!"

"Wake up, Zero."

…Destroy…

Reploid: Zero II

By:

Satashi

Leviathan jumped backwards as Zero threw a punch, parried a second, and ducked a third. Sending a sweep kick, she intended to throw him off balance. Zero, however, seemed to read this move perfectly and was already in a one handed cartwheel. His other hand grabbed her approaching ankle and, with amazing balance and power, spun around and sent her flying into a wall.

"Zero!" She cried as she bounced off of it and fell to her feet. "What's wrong with you!?"

Zero only smiled sickingly at her.

"This isn't you! There is no honour in this battle! You are not the Zero I want to defeat!"

Zero lunged forward, rearing back his hand and sending a powerful punch that just barely missed his opponent. Leviathan leaned forward and used her superior agility to land a punch on his stomach. Her hand, however, met his. He had already blocked her attack seemingly before she used it.

Once again, she found herself being thrown in the air. This time, however, she landed neatly, able to regain her balance in mid toss. She didn't have time to rest, as Zero was once again dashing toward her, pupils so small in his optics that he looked as if he was possessed. Light reflected off his armor as Leviathan was stunned at the speed he was showing. It danced over his crimson vest and gloves, sparkling off the blue gem on his forehead that proudly displayed a "W".

Leviathan jumped out of harms way just as she realized the change. His helmet was different from what it used to be. No longer did he have two white wing attachments to his ears, but was now a light crimson and bleach white colour, shining as though it had never seen battle.

'That must be his weak point!' Leviathan's mind screamed as she took out her lance. Landing, she called out to him. "Zero! I'll restore you to yourself before this fight ends!"

Zero didn't seem to care. Once again he dashed to her, leaving blurred images behind himself as his EAS (Emergency Acceleration System) kicked into effect. Leviathan dodged to the side and whacked him on the back of his head with her staff. The ancient reploid spun kicked in return, which she danced to the side of. A flurry of blows were exchanged next, each landing several hits to the other. After many minuets of close ranged combat, Leviathan managed to toss him away, accidentally grabbing his light saber in the process.

Zero flipped twice in the air, and landed soundly. Leviathan panted hard, trying desperately to circulate air through her system. 'this isn't good.' She thought, watching him as he studied her. 'My systems are over heating. I use too much power to move so fast. I need water…' Her eyes spied several pipes above Zero's head. Some of them were wet on the bottom. 'Condensation?' She asked herself desperately. 'Please be right!'

The blue haired reploid ignited Zero's saber and reared back, aiming for the pipes. Zero, however, made no move to stop her. Instead, he watched the pulsating glow of the blade as it was hurled through the air and sliced the pipes above him with no effort at all.

Water poured onto him as the pipe spilled out. It wasn't enough to fill the room, or anything that would give Leviathan a distinct advantage, but it was enough to wet her boots a few inches.

"Prepare yourself!" She screamed, making the water spurt from the ground and freeze solid, forming several ice balls in the air. Zero turned his attention from his light saber just in time to catch a flurry of ice in the face.

Zero's eyes dilated as his helmet was knocked off of him. He sank to is knees slowly, as if trying to understand what was going on. Seeing her chance, Leviathan dashed to his helmet and  froze it before trusting her trident into it. The ice shattered and the blue gem front and center of the protective headgear shattered. The 'W' faded lightly and then disappeared all together.

"Wha…What's going on…?" Zero asked, dazed.

"Zero?" She asked, still ready for an attack. "Is that you?"

Zero shook his head slowly. "I…I'm not sure…" He closed his eyes lightly. "I heard a command… a desire to do nothing but destroy… but it's gone now…"

Leviathan lowered her staff and flopped into the water, letting it circulate through her by her boots. "That damn capsule made you go berserk."

"No… No, it wasn't the capsule. I just… got my memory back. My first memories… I didn't…I couldn't tell them apart from my present memories… I was lost in my own mind…"

"So you're not going to try and rip my apart now?" She asked, although she knew the answer.

"I'm sorry." He spoke, shifting into a sitting position. "I'm fine now, I know what is what. But…"

"But?" She prompted him.

"But… why was I created to destroy? I know the past was purged from me, but…what happened after that?"

Leviathan sighed. "I think you're going to have to start from the beginning, Zero."

And so he did. Zero recalled everything he saw to her, not bothering with the fact she was an enemy to him. She, in turn, didn't act like one. Her mission was over, she had no reason to do anything now. She listened with open ears and pondered at the end of it.

"You must have became a hunter after that," she offered him. "That must have been when you met X and became a legend."

"So they deleted my past to keep me on their side…" He snorted. "If I knew back then what they did  I would have…" he sighed. "I don't want to think about that… I need the rest of my past…Why am I the way I am? Why am I a legendary hero? Why do I fight like I do? Why… WHY!?" He angrily punched the ground, sending water flying. "Why is everything so complicated now!? I woke up, just this morning, bored! I wanted to get out of the base, just do something! Now… Now I'm utterly confused!" He put his head into his hand and breathed heavily.

Leviathan  stood and walked over to him before sitting again, somewhat next to him. "It must be hard, huh? Not knowing anything, and then finding out only a part that only leads to confusion…"

"You have no idea."

"You never know." She breathed, leaning back and watching the water slowly fill the room, cutting off some of the equipment. "I know what it's like to be confused."

"Oh?" Zero relaxed and welcomed the shift of attention from him.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "When I was made, I was made fun of a lot. I'm an amphibious model. I am made to be in the ocean, to swim and study marine life… to protect under sea labs and bases. Imagine what I went through when my home was destroyed and I was forced to live on land. I overheat easily. Breathing is your main coolant. Water is mine. Because of this, no one wanted to accept me into any type of organization. I was faster and more agile than everyone, but I had to rest constantly. I didn't find a true home until X took me in."

"The copy X only wanted to use you as a tool."

She sighed. "I know…I knew back then. But… but it was the first time I was needed again! He looked past my handicap on land and saw the ability I truly had! He built me an entire aquarium to swim in! he gave me a purpose! A reason to live!"

"By taking other's lives?" He asked softly, watching the water rise to his waist now.

Leviathan closed her mouth. "We might have been friends, Zero…"

"Yeah… I don't like fighting you, or anyone for that matter…not when we have the same goals. Both sides don't want death, but we give it freely. If only Ciel can make that energy substitute!"

"Why don't you join with master X!?" She asked suddenly. "If you join him, maybe there will be a truce! You can talk to Ciel and the war will end!"

Zero scoffed. "Lev, you're living in a dream world. He wants every reploid dead. Every reploid. When the resistance is gone, he will kill you and everyone else. Then, he will self destruct."

"He would never-"

"Wouldn't he!?" Zero snapped. Leviathan closed her mouth. "You know it as well as I do. His justice is absolute. To protect the humans he loves he will destroy anything that poses even a potential threat. Even you."

She took off her helmet and placed it beside her, sighing. "I know it… but I don't want to…I don't want to have to…"

"Accept it?" He finished her speaking for her. "I don't recall much from my friend X, but I know he wasn't like that. He would rush head first into battle knowing he couldn't win before he let anyone else get hurt."

"…Sounds like a great guy."

"I know he was."

There was a silence between them for a moment. Finally Leviathan stood and walked through the stomach deep water to where she threw his light saber. Reaching down, she picked it up and walked back to him, handing it over. "I'm going back to the base." She told him. The girl picked up her helmet and walked back to the capsule. Inside it was Zero's old helmet.  "May I?" She asked, picking it up.

Zero retrieved his new (old?) model helmet and took the rest of the crystal out of it. "Go ahead."

The female broke off a wing of Zero's helmet and tossed the rest into the water as Zero put on his new one. She would take back the piece as proof of fighting Zero.

 "I'll see you around, Lev."

"Goodbye Zero…I hope next time we meet, we won't have to fight again."

Zero gave her the smirk he learned to use that day. "When that happens, I'll buy you a beer."

Leviathan smiled at him for the first time. "I'll hold you to that." And with those words, she transited away.

"Friends, huh?" Zero asked, placing his saber onto the holder on his back. "Who knows?" He almost contacted Ciel to ask to transit him back, but some old instinct inside him made him tap a button on his helmet. A beam seemed to shoot from the ceiling and engulf his, teleporting him back to his base.

                                                                                                ~**~

Zero appeared in his room moments later and realized just then that he had teleported. Although to him it was as natural as day and night, he knew that that technology had been lost for a long time. Trans servers were used to warp in this era.

Taking off his helmet, he studied it. He knew it was his, and in the back of his mind, he didn't find it interesting at all. He had worn it almost every single day in his past life. Tossing it to the side, he unclasped the armor he wore and placed it to the side, followed closely by his boots. He then walked to his shower as his black body suit was removed.

He turned the water on high pressure and set the temperature by the digital read out. Stepping in, he let the water wash over him and rid the feeling of stress that had been with him lately.

                                                                                    ~**~

"Has Zero came back?" Ciel asked again. She had fallen asleep on her desk last night waiting for a call from Zero to transit him back.

"There has been no use of the trans sever since Zero has departed." One of the operators said sadly. "I'll run a scan."

"Please do." Ciel asked.

"Found him!" She said, surprised. "He's in his quarters!"

Ciel exited the room as quickly as she could without making it look like she was running. When the door closed behind her, however, she took off as fast as her human legs could carry her.

She reached his room a while later and barged in without knocking. "Zero!?"

Zero sprang from his bed and his right hand shook with a vibration that brought a gun nozzle from his palm. It flipped up and over and his fingers moved down so it looked like he was holding a gun that had hot plasma charging in the hilt. Ciel almost screamed.

Zero's vision blurred lightly as sleep hazed his mind. Seeing that it was Ciel who barged in, though, made him lose his charge and revert his hand back to normal. "Ciel, don't come in without knocking please." He fell back into his bed and sighed. "It's too early."

Ciel placed a hand to her chest and breathed heavily. "you scared me out of a year's growth, so we're even." She then went into her motherly role and scolded him. "And just where were you last night!? Didn't communicate your location, didn't call me back, didn't even use the trans server!? How did you get back!?" She then noticed his apparel. "Zero, you're armor is gone!"

Zero gave up all intentions of sleeping and sat up in bed, looking at her in a weird way. "My armor is over there." He pointed to the chair where his armor was laying by. "I never sleep in it. Why do you think I wanted a bed in my room instead of a capsule?"

Ciel seemed awe by this. "All reploids are made with armor, but you're is an attachment?" She looked at him, amazed at how he looked almost exactly like a human male.

"I take my armor on and off just like cloths." He informed. "I noticed everyone here had the same type of armor on. I thought it was just standard issue."

"No, they are made like that." Ciel explained absently before realizing why she ran in on him. "How did you get back?"

"I teleported in." He explained. Seeing her look of bewilderment, he sighed. "I got my old helmet back and it has my teleportation function in it. I just set the…" Zero cut off his explanation when seeing her eyes shine down at him. "Oh god, you're going to examine me all day, aren't you?"

Ciel only nodded at him, excited like a little child on Christmas day.

                                                                                    ~**~

Zero beamed himself to his marker the next day and appeared at the garage at the old Hunter Headquarters. Kneeling down, he set a portable trans server bit onto the hover bike and piled the parts beside it on the missing seat area. Smiling, he hit the button and watched it phase out. Seeing that he had everything he needed, he blipped out of existence and re appeared a moment later at the almost barren dispatch bay at the Resistance base.

Zero looked over his bike as he though about what he should do to it. He would be base-bound for the next few days while Ciel studied his armor and tried to find any readings linked to his helmet. This way she could pinpoint any more capsules that he may be able to reach. This was fine with the Resistance fighter. It gave him time to recall his past in his own special way.

Zero realized he didn't really know anything about mechanics, but his hands somehow found themselves moving on their own, pulling wires out in whole in some places and removing chunks of the bike at a time. He somehow just knew that the plasma generator thrust charger was mal functioning just by seeing it. He just knew that he needed a new transistor mod for better balance. He just… knew.

Taking a tally of everything he had and checking through the piles of parts he brought, Zero sat down Indian style with a notebook and began writing down what he needed to fix or buy new of. When he was done , a sigh escaped his lips. It would be fairly expensive.

Getting up and dusting off his jeans, he walked to the door while fixing his shirt. He had borrowed the clothing from another human male resistance members earlier on. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make him pass almost exactly as a human. This would allow him to walk through town without people being afraid of him. He was told by Cerveau that although not everyone outside of Neo Arcadia feared and hated reploids, it was still safer for 'ploids not to venture into densely populated cities. Ciel and the handful of human members usually did the shopping for them. Being a reploid resistance base, they had to be very careful of who they bought things from that shipped the items. So far there were only other bases and 2 stores that they trusted.

Zero wasn't going to take his chances with anyone but himself.

"Ciel?" he asked when he made it into her room, scaring her out of her mind once again. This time, however, he didn't give her time to scold him. "Can I have a thousand Zenny?"

Ciel gave him an odd look, followed by looking him over. "Why? And you look nice in those."

"I need to buy some things, and thanks."

She didn't question the reploid any further. He had risked his life for them more than sixteen times already and had never asked for anything in return other than food and a place to sleep. True, a thousand zenny was a lot to ask for all at once, but since joining with once of the more influential resistance bases on that continent, they could easily afford it.  "Sure," she finally replied. "Do you need me to get you some things with the next order?"

"No, I'll get it. It dawned on me that I have never even been into any cities other than the Neo Arcadia capital, and it wasn't really friendly."

"Okay." Ciel stood and went to her closet, taking out her purse and gave him a small piece of plastic. "Here. This is your fighter's card. Your pay is directly put into an account that you have access too." When Zero opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off. "I know, I know, you've turned down pay once before, but now that you actually need things, you need to accept it. I'll put the money on it from my computer." She forced it into his hands. "Be back before dark and don't talk to strangers."

Zero saluted her in a playful manor. "Mam, yes mam! Permission to leave base!?"

Ciel giggled. "Permission granted soldier."

He gave her a lopsided smile before walking out.

                                                                                                ~**~

Zero walked down the streets of New Kapcom with interest. Buildings were tall and flourishing. People walked all around him with cars almost packing the roads full. The sun shone down merrily onto him, as though there wasn't a war going on. As he walked, though, he came to realize that the war was between reploids and new arcadia. Those who weren't inside the arcadia probably would be effected by the war at all.

The street-clothed clad Resistance member stopped and gapped at the price of some energy crystals being sold at a fancy store. 'Then again…' His mind though as he started to walk again. 'The energy crisis is still going on. Stop the crisis, stop the destruction of reploids, stop the war… But Copy-X won't stop even if the energy problem is solved…to stop the death of reploids to gain energy, he will destroy all reploids to keep the maverick problem from ever rising again.'

"Ah, here we are." He spoke aloud as he walked into the store. A chime went off as he entered, signaling his arrival.

"Well hello there son!" A voice greeted him. "What can I do for you?"

"I need some supplies." Zero replied, holing up his sheet of paper.

The man reached him and took the offered paper. He skimmed it over once and nodded. "We can probably help you out. Why don't you just have a seat over there by that nice lady? We'll be back shortly." Zero nodded at him and began to walk while he heard the person shout out behind him. "Hey! Eddy! We got a load for this one! Get the two wheeler!"

"Hi." Zero greeted as he sat down.

"Hi." Came the reply.

Both people blinked at the voice and turned to actually look at who they were talking to.

Zero looked at Leviathan, in her street cloths

Leviathan looked at Zero, in his street cloths.

Both jumped back and reached for their respective weapons. Zero pulled his light saber handle from his baggy pants pockets and Leviathan spun a small staff, making it expand and ignite at the end, making her trident.

"Can't I go anywhere without running into you guys!?" Zero asked, shocked, amused, and bewildered at the same time. His eyes quickly darted around. "Where's Harpunia?  Is he here too!?"

Leviathan looked at him. "I'm alone, on personal business, thank you very much!" She looked pretty cheezed off at him. "What, do you think I can't go anywhere by myself!?"

Zero flushed. "Um…no…" He looked around again. Luckily there was no one else in that part of the shop. "Say, do you want to, you know, put these away before they come back?"

:Leviathan debated this a moment. "Yeah, they don't know I'm a reploid. Like I said, personal business." She clicked off her weapon and made it into the smaller size before lifting her pants leg and sliding it in a holster.

Zero was impressed. "You drew it so fast, I didn't even see where it came from."

Leviathan sat back down. "I'm just faster than you."

Zero flopped down on the stool next to her, with his back against against the table. "But I'm stronger."

"I'm smarter," she retorted smoothly. "and better looking."

Zero snorted. "Oh please, you wear make-up, I don't."

Leviathan smiled lightly. "This is weird, isn't it?"

"What?" He titled his head so he could look at her. Both his arms were on the table for balance.

"Us. I mean, you and me. Just… sitting here at the local hardware store trading insults in a friendly manour." She eyed him.

Zero looked straight in front of him. "I told you we might have been friends."

Leviathan paused to think about her next choice of words. "Hey, Zero?"

"Hmm?"

"I… don't have many friends."

Zero looked over at her again. She looked friendly enough. She was wearing tight fitting blue jeans with a tucked in red sweater. On her feet she had on name brand khaki brown shoes. Her blue hair spilled out behind her like a waterfall. Upon realizing it was her earlier, he could only assume she was built on older reploid plans, being able to change out of her armor.

"Why not?" He asked finally.

"Being a war general and guardian doesn't really help, if you know what I mean." She replied with a small sigh. "Everyone only sees me as a general, not as a person. Even the others really only see me as an acquaintance, not really a partner. Probably because the missions I take are limited to my field. I have a lot of free time lately."

He thought this over. "Well, hey, if you don't mind me trying to kill the person you are guarding, I will be your friend."

She nodded lightly. "Thanks. As long as you don't mind me trying to kill you every now and then?" She smiled lightly at the idea.

Zero spoke the next statement softly. "If you ever think that you are on the wrong side… you are always welcome at the base."

Leviathan shook her head. "I won't betray master X. Not unless something earth-shaking happens."

"Just remember the thought is open." He replied.

"Miss Levina?" A man asked. "You're order is ready."

"Levina?" Zero asked, before covering. "So that's you're name. Pretty."

Leviathan smiled. "It is Celtic for 'water goddess'." She winked at him in a silent thank you for not asking why she didn't use her real name. Now that she thought about it, he should use a fake name as well. 'zero' isn't a good name for a human.

"Your parts are all here, sir." A new man came out with several boxes. "I hope you have room in your car, they are heavy."

"Um…"

Leviathan almost slapped her forehead. Zero was an excellent fighter, yes, but in the world he could be a blundering idiot sometimes. "He's with me." She said then, with a sigh. "Load his stuff in my car please, Eddy."

Zero gave her a small smile of gratitude before handing over his pay card and watching him swipe it. "Thank you very much" the man told him. "Please sign here."

Zero took the pen and scribbled down a name. Leviathan watched with interest as the man looked at it. "Come back and see us again, Alex."

Zero nodded. "I will."

"Well then, Alex," Leviathan stated, offering him her arm. "Shall we?"

Zero looped his arm through hers "Let's shall!"

                                                                                    ~**~

Leviathan cranked her car and felt the plasma being pushed under it, making the car hover. "You," she started as she drove out of the parking lot. "Are an idiot."

Zero laughed. "Don't be so mean, I didn't think about having to carry it, I was just going to trans server it when I got out of town!"

Leviathan grinned. "Well, the least I can do is take you home then."

                                                                                    ~**~

Zero watched Leviathan drive away, making dust fly behind her. He was in the middle of the desert, half way to his base. "Very funny, Lev." He stated as she waved out her window, probably laughing like an idiot. "Very funny."

With that, he put the portable server on his boxes and warped them away. Sighing, he started to walk. ' I KNEW I should have brought an extra portable trans server, but noooooo, I can just teleport back to base! Not without your helmet that Ciel is studying you idiot! She's not expecting me back for another two hours!'

                                                                                    ~~**~~

A/N: Part two was fun to write. The actual plot starts to come into focus in part three, which should be up soon. I hope you enjoyed the firs two parts so far. The tribute to Red Draco's fic in part one? It was the "PUSH TO FEEL GOOD" button under the doorbell at the MHHQ.

This chapter is dedicated to Masaro , who left me a good review. I can't fix the spacing problems without losing the italics for some reason. Maybe this chapter will work better…