-=CHAPTER THREE – OLD RIVALRIES NEVER DIE=-
The duo continued their trek back to the Resistance Base along the Eurasian Plateau. Even though it had been offered to him, Zero had declined on the offer for an Arcadian transport ship to return him all the way to the resistance base; too many people in the higher ups of the government still wanted the Resistance destroyed even if it had saved their bureaucratic asses more times then they had hairs on their collective heads. It was also the idea that he needed to see the world that he was fighting to protect. Even in this tattered day and age when technology has lost some of its reigning grip on life from when he was a Maverick Hunter, people still rarely stopped to just stare out the window and look at the world around them.
Are you OK Zero? You still haven't said much since we collected the bounty on Snapgraw and left NACO. The blonde haired fighter looked to his floating companion. She was right, even after leaving the Neo Arcadian Central Office after returning from a job well done in securing the depot and collecting a severance fee on defeating Snapgraw Wolf, he had remained quiet and thoughtful the entire ride back to the outskirts of the plateau. When Ciel had created Navi to act as his assistant and helper, she had put some of her own brainwave algorithms into her neural processing subroutines, so it wasn't that uncommon for the little blue and white pixie to worry about her owner and partner. Stopping for a second to look off and survey the plateau, his unrestrained hair billowing in the warm winds of the plain, Zero let a small sigh escape his lips.
"It's nothing to worry about Navi. I was just remembering something a friend once told me from long ago. Come on. It's only a little farther until we're back at the base and can take a well deserved rest." Navi just floated there for a few seconds as Zero resumed his pace again. She'd quickly come to learn that whenever the red vested hero said "from long ago", he was talking about the time before the ELF Wars and before he had been found and revived by Ciel. Many at the Resistance Base had respect for Zero and knew not to pressure him about what it was like before he had died or to even bring up the subject at all. You don't question the world's greatest fighter about what it was like to die and then come back in a world shattered from the one you once knew.
"Looks like we're almost there..." Off in the distance Zero could make out the heart of the Eurasia Plateau; the famous crash site where over a hundred and fifty years ago an orbital space colony had been dropped onto the planet by the insane reploid tyrant Sigma and his Maverick Forces. The bulk of the frame from the colony had remained intact even to this day despite all the wear and tear it had on it. According to Ciel, when the charter for the new Reploid Resistance Base had been drawn up in Zero's year long absence, over half of the chosen comity had selected this spot as a perfect place to build their new home. The plateau offered plenty of building space and was easily defendable as the ability for a surprise attack was almost non-existent.
Also it was here that Ciel said she had first found Zero's body; torn and battered beyond recognition. She never said how she knew to look for him here of all places, or even why he would be here; only Zero himself would be able to answer that question, and even he didn't know the truth.
"Gah..." Zero rubbed the center of his chest right above his heart. Whenever he saw the crash site from this vantage point, it always made an old pain resurface in his mind; even though now there wasn't anything there to cause him discomfort. It was as though while he desperately tried to remember his past, another part of him didn't want to for the memories were either too painful or extreme. Turning his head he looked at the floating pixie, who of course had that same look of concern and worry on her face as before. "I told you Navi I'm fine, its nothing, just bad memories." The hero closed his eyes and smiled for the floating little cyber ELF.
Something's wrong!
The look of placidness and ease vanished from his face. With a look of anticipation and fear in his eyes, Zero drew the Heaven and Hell from their holsters on his legs. Calling his helmet out of its virtual storage, the tensed red titan ignited both of the weapons, holding the two cyan colored energen blades out in front of him. As the Devil-Horned Helmet materialized on his head and its jeweled visor across his brow, the black suited fighter let nothing escape his glare.
Zero?! What is it!? What's wrong??? He wouldn't say anything, his eyes quickly scanning over the desert aridness of the plateau. Navi could tell something was wrong, his body was poised to move at the slightest provocation. It was just like back in the weapons depot with Snapgraw, but even now it seemed worse, as though he was facing a far worse enemy then that mammoth wolf.
"Quick! Scan the area! Anything; tell me if anything is out there!" Nodding in acknowledgment, Navi's body became encased in a swirling cage of screens and see-through panels, each one an extension of her abilities and skills. Closing her eyes, she searched the vastness of the desert sands, trying to find this thing that had spooked Zero so terribly.
I'm not getting anything Zero... DUCK! Listening without thinking, Zero tumbled to his side just as a screaming bolt of condensed ionized energy went whizzing past where his head would have been. As he rolled, the skilled fighter let the Hell slip from his hand and back into its magnetized holster. Sorting through his internal Virtual Weapon Matrix, Zero summoned his Zet-Buster Megatron out of storage and into his waiting hand. Feeling the weight of the modified hand blaster in his palm, he took only a second to aim before letting loose a barrage of yellow hued plasma shells back to where the shot had come from. Colliding against an unseen mirage of energy and bent light, the Reploid attacker let out a curse and yelp as his stealth field collapsed making him visible to the naked eye.
"Got you..." Seeing the distance to be too far for the energen chain abilities of the Heaven to reach, Zero let it also go back into his holster and bawled up his fist at his side. Along the outer edge of his forearm, the Defense Shield Freedom came online with its calm cyan hue offering a protective glow. Tightening his fist further, the shield's smooth edges retracted into its secondary attack Plasma Disc form, the Conformer, and began its whirling death spin. Zero's assailant, seeing that he had but moments left to live, decided that rather than try to run or plead for his life he would rather go down in a blaze of glory. Tossing his high powered sniper rifle to the wayside, the mercenary brought up a pair of old .45 caliber Buster pistols and began a running death march at the steele-eyed warrior.
With no more then a scoff at his assailant, Zero whipped the ferociously spinning Conformer outward at his attacker. As the barrage of plasma aimed for Zero collided with the spinning disc, its energy reflective field ricocheted the shots harmlessly away from their target. Hearing nothing more then the death toll of the spinning blade through the unending flurry of plasma bullets, the mercenary's upper chest was neatly cleaved in two on the razor tuned edges of the weapon. Flipping over itself in the air, the disc quickly flew back and returned to the outstretched arm of its user. As the chaotic blade ceased its spin and returned to the "docile" form of the Freedom, Zero noticed the emblazoned red and white X on the helmet and chest of the mercenary just before their internal fusion reactor went critical and vaporized its body in a flash of wild plasma and fire.
The crest for the Cult of Master X... Foolish imbeciles who believe that he was the true savior of humanity and reploid kind... That copy is a disgrace to the honor and prestige of X's real name and legacy.
Zero wait... something's not right... The warrior's sense of comfort vanished again.
"What is it Navi? What's out there?" The little pixie's screens whirled around her with tremendous speed as she feverishly tried to hone in on the target she could feel but not see.
Something... or someone, I can't tell! It's like they're there and not there at the same time. Zero be careful! Closing his eyes, Zero activated his FORM subroutines.
Functional Operations Relayed Mobility; it was an ability upgrade given to Zero by Ceraveau a year ago when he was trying to stop Elpizo from unleashing the Dark ELF. By sacrificing certain latent skills, like constitution or techniques, it allowed Zero to improve on others, such as speed or strength, in essence a very versatile weapon for aiding him in the heat of battle. A slight wave of energy overtook Zero, changing his normal crimson red armor and helmet to that of an orange and bronze.
Feeling the effects of his ACTIVE FORM starting to come online, Zero sent the Megatron Zet-Buster back into its virtual storage space and whipped the Hell Zet-Saber out of its holster. Twisting the silver hilt in his hand, the gripped shaft of the weapon doubled in length and the normal triangular shaped energen focuser at the end split into a trident shaped tip. Wrapping both hands around the new shape of the weapon, an emerald hued buster sword shot forth from the pronged tip; changing the normally thin and razor tipped point of the Fury Saber into the new Climhazzard Broadsword. Another new enhancement given to him by Ceraveau, it gave Zero a much greater striking zone and raw power then the Fury could, but sacrificed itself in speed; hence the shift to the faster and more nimble active form.
The Orange hued hero felt a slight drip of clear coolant fluid slide down his face. Why am I so tense all of a sudden? I just eliminated an assassin sent by Copy X's fanatics without any problem what so ever; so why am I like this? Bringing the broadsword out in front of him in an acceptive and ready stance, Zero let his eyes scan over the plain once more. This is nonsense, there is no reason for me to be this uptight over one villain! Zero gritted his teeth in anger at the notion of how involved he was letting this supposed fight get to him. In his mind, a warrior must never let themselves feel remorse or joy in what they do, only the mission and the objectives of it are important.
I can't see it Zero! If we go now we can get to the base and use its higher class weaponry and scanners to defeat whatever's out here!
"Sorry Navi, I can't do that. If I can't defeat this foe, then it could endanger the lives of the entire base. You go back to the base, I'll cover you and keep it at bay. Tell Ciel to set the EM Field disruptors to max and in a wide spread pattern." Navi hovered there for a second unsure of what to do. Zero turned his head, the look of anger and annoyance in his eyes. "GO!" A bit scared by the volume of his voice, Navi took off heading straight for the base as fast as her little wings could take her. Good girl... Now I can fight without hesitation...
"Letting the little ones go so you can be the big brave hero and save the day. How revoltingly touching!" Zero's eyes widened in shock to the unseen voice in the air; then subconsciously gritted his teeth in further anger and rage.
"Hydra..." The name rolled off his tongue as though it were acid and venom as a cruel laugh filled the dry desert air.
"I'm so touched you remembered my name after our year apart... come, come now Zero did you ever really think you could kill me? I'm three times more powerful than as X ever was and five times greater then you ever will be. I have touched the powers of the Dark ELF you fool! I have transcended the limits of a mere reploid and gone further... further then X... and now further then you!"
Body still tensed, Zero notices out of the corner of his eye a vibration in the air. A stealth barrier! Turning the blade over in his hands, the orange vested fighter roars forward on the speed of his DASH boots. Without time to move or evade, Zero plunges the shimmering emerald blade deep into the vibrating mirage, a sick metallic scraping and loud scream of pain fill the air. As the elusive stealth field drops, annoyance fills Zero's mind as before him attached to his blade is nothing more then another assassin sent by the cultists to kill him.
Rotating his hand, the emerald blade neatly cuts upward through the sternum of the foe, damaging their reactor core and exploding in fire and flame. Amidst the flurry of heat and debris, a jet black hands shoots through the cumulus fire and grabs the orange fighter by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Extinguishing the flames with a wisp of his billowing cloak, Hydra tightened his grip around Zero's throat; those pair of glowing ruby red eyes staring maliciously back into Zero's own subconsciously tearing sapphire ones. With one hand clutching Hydra's arm for balance, Zero altered the Climhazzard back into the Fury saber and swung it viciously at the smiling fiend's head, only to have it suddenly blocked by a shimmering translucent shield of violet energen.
"I see you survived the space station's reactor explosion," Zero choked out through his tired lungs. "Guess next time I'll have to make sure I finish the job myself then leave it up to a mere nuclear cataclysm..."
"Yes... never leave to the forces of order and nature to accomplish what should be done with your own bare hands!" the smile dissapeared from his face and his continued tightening his stranglehold on the helpless warrior. Only a few more seconds and it will all be over my dear dear friend....
A small grin crossed the dangling fighter's lips as his eyes tried to roll back in his head from lack of oxygen. Closing his eyes once more, Zero adjusted the settings for his FORM function: changing from a light orange to that of a darkened midnight blue.
"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Placing both of his feet onto Hydra's chest, Zero fired his DASH Boosters. Instead of a simple small burst of propulsion as they normally would produce, in this new DASH FORM Zero's boots exploded with tremendous force and concussion against Hydra's dense armor; ripping the two rivals off of each other.
Spinning through the air, the dark azure colored warrior drove the Fury into the earth, bringing him to a grinding halt against the broken ground. Not wasting any time, the hurt fighter pulled the Heaven out of its holster and activated its energen chain function, Rapture. Whipping the hilt of the Zet-Saber forward toward the staggering Hydra, the shimmering sky blue links of the Rapture encircled around the dazed titan's neck. Caught off guard by the suddenness of the attack, Hydra only had a second to look into Zero's glinting eyes and see the smirk across his face.
"My turn!" With a sharp jerk, Zero activated the Thunder Chip inside his gauntlet; sending an arcing volley of deadly electricity straight into the stunend tyrant's body.
You can't beat him Hydra; I still haven't been able to fully restore you! Retreat for now and we'll come back and finish the job!
"Damn that wench..." Screaming in anger and pain, the dark crimson and blue armored tyrant pulled out his own energen blade and cut through the life stealing cable wrapped around his neck.
"Don't think this is over... Not by a long shot!" Turning his head toward the Resistance Base in the distance, Hydra X let a small laugh escape his lips as a crushing volley of Plasma Cannon fire enveloped the area he was in. Still crouched there on the dry and broken ground of the desert, Zero brushed his mouth with his hand. Wincing from the pain, he removed his hand and noticed a small trickle of recirculating "blood" had been running down the side of his mouth. Looking back to the smoldering crater only a few meters from him, there was no trace of Hydra or his armor on the ground.
"I never thought it was..."
