It LIVES!!!!! Finally, after a somewhat long delay the 4th chapter is up and running. Sorry for the wait, some people wondered why this fic is rated R instead of PG-13. Well after what Zero has to say in this chapter its safe to say the rating stays. I guess I could water down the tone, but seriously this is Zero. ^^'' This is more or less a filler chapter, and quite frankly a real pain in the ass to write. Maybe now things will get easier. -_-
Disclaimer: I do not own MMX, I do however own this Beer. Holds up Beer And heaven help the SOB who tries to claim it.
Maverick HQ: Central Command HUB: The following day…
" Maverick activity confirmed! Unites X and Zero are moving in to intercept, ETA 3…no 2 minuets…wait…scratch that. Unconfirmed, hold up…. no dammit what the hell are you two doing out there!?"
Several spotters nearby flinched involuntarily as Alia slammed her palm on the consol. Despite the blond reploids usually calm and professional exterior, their where times when even professionals loose their cool. Of course watching a loved one tear ass across the desert like a reckless teenager while getting shot at will do that to even the most seasoned of veterans.
Signas stood nearby watching the events take fold, on the overhead projection X and Zero could be seen zigzagging on their hover bikes wildly, both where obviously enjoying themselves immensely. The commander calmly sighed, " There go the bikes…"
On cue each Hover bike exploded sending both Hunters flying.
" There go the Hunters…"
A screen to his right showed X's Falcon Armor activate. A few moments later the Abandoned Replaforce base power readings shot up, followed by several small explosions.
" And there goes the whole operation."
Once again as if on cue the entire base exploded.
Alia was now frantically yelling in her comm. for X to respond. Signas waited for Alia to finish reprimanding the two hunters before interrupting. " Alia, once those two return escort them to my office for a debriefing." With that he turned and made his way towards the exit.
Alia watched the commander turn to leave and shot up, " Um, sir? Where are you going?"
The commander lowered the brow on his hat, " To the armory, I owe Douglass a twenty."
~~~~++++~~~~
5 Hours Prior:::
X stifled a yawn as he made his way towards the armory; last night had been utter hell for the Blue hunter. As soon as he made his way to his quarters X had spent the better part of the night cleaning off his armor, leaving little time to rest & recharge. Getting up proved to be difficult, let alone walk. But walk he did, slowly lurching like a Zombie down the halls with a scowl on his face that would put the likes of Batman to shame.
After resisting the many cheerful morning greetings by passerby's X found himself standing in front of a set of heavy industrial doors. X made his way towards the panel display to the right where the Hunter logo screensaver vibrated. Upon detecting X the screen activated as a female voice politely began speaking. [Good Morning, Please state name]
Rubbing his eyes the Blue hunter responded, " Megaman X."
[Confirmed Unit Megaman X. Access Granted, One moment please.]
The large doors slowly began to open revealing the large labyrinth of machinery. [Proceed…and have a nice day sweetie]
The last comment caused X to stop mid step and stare at the consol blankly. Shaking his head the hunter groaned, " Its too early for this…" and continued his trek.
The Armory itself was nothing short of staggering. The multileveled complex housed every form of high tech gadget Hunter HQ had to offer. Each level was designed for a specific purpose. The first four levels comprised mostly of inventory. The final three are classified for development.
Level 1 was basically the reception area; from here you could pick up or place an order for whatever equipment was needed for a specific mission. Zero often described it as the Quickie mart. Level 2 is strictly used for the housing of Blasters, Sabers, and any other firearms be it light weight or heavy infantry. Level 3 was the hangar. Here HQ housed the Hunters vehicle and Mecha inventory. Level 4 is set up as a repair and maintenance area for heavily damaged equipment.
Most Hunters only have access to levels 1-4. Levels 5-7 where only granted to high ranking and special classifications. Level 5 is set up as a large testing range for various prototypes. Level 6 is where X's extra armors are housed. And Level 7 is Research & Development.
X bypassed the receiving area of L1 and went straight to one of the turbo lifts and sighed; thankfully today he was only required to head over to Level 3 for briefing. Which was fine in his eyes, everything past level 4 was riddled with ether security protocol or some upstart technician wanting to poke around his hide trying to make a name for themselves. Both Zero and himself agreed R&D was an eccentric pain in the ass.
The door closed softly with a slight whoosh and hummed as it descended. The early morning hours along with the slow maverick activity left little traffic. Combining that with the dull tangent of elevator music left X dozing off. Eventually the lift came to its destination and gradually opened its doors, however X literally stood dead to the world. The elevator remained open, unable to move until its occupant left. However X was fast asleep, and would have remained until fate intervened.
KAAA-BOOM!
X immediately jumped awake while crouching to the ground with his buster arm extended. " Jeeze what was that!?"
Across the bay smoke emitted from one of the troop transports carriers. X carefully walked towards the vehicle, his right arm still poised to fire. Threw the smoke X spotted a figure emerge, and upon recognizing the familiar green armor nearly yelped in surprise.
" Douglas? Great Scott man you look like crap!"
Indeed, Douglass currently looked like someone had tried to Barbeque his metallic hide. Not a part on him had escaped the explosion, several irregular color marks where apparent where the heat had slightly warped the armor. Of course this didn't faze the genius hunter technician at all. Douglass just calmly tried to wipe whatever gunk was currently on him while eying X cheerfully. " Nothing a good bath and buffing wont solve. And I don't think your one to talk Mr. Sunshine, you look like Zero after a drinking binge."
" I heard that."
Both X and Douglas turned to spot Zero sprawled out on top of an armored transport legs crossed and arms folded neatly behind his head. Opening one eye Zero casually glared at the two as he absently yawned. " You know you two really need to keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep."
Douglas was about to retort when X waved his hand motioning that he'd handle it. " Zero, exactly how long have you been here?"
Eyes still closed the red hunter casually stretched, "Around three this morning, I figured why go back to my quarters when I had to show up her at six. Besides, this is a closer walk from the Bar."
Silently X eyed his companion in smite, it was half-assed logic like this that pissed him off. It was so uniquely Zero's and unfortunately utterly brilliant, he wished he had thought of it earlier. Still it wasn't perfect, " Question, did you even bother to clean up?"
" Sort of, by the way, you might want to inform janitorial that they need a new flag out front. The other one got a little dirty." A large smirk now resided the crimson hunters face as he continued to doze.
Douglass was nothing short of flabbergasted and shown it openly by his hanging jaw line, " You defiled the MH logo by wiping your ass with it!?"
Not missing a beat Zero responded coolly, " Essentially yes."
Douglas was in shock; he knew Zero generally didn't care about the finer details in life. But still to use a flag, something that history had a represented peoples hope, beliefs and values…as a towel. It was an atrocity! Douglas took a step forward to strangle Zero, however stopped when a firm hand held him back. Glancing over his shoulder he spotted X, only the look that X was giving sent the mechanic chills.
Grinning maliciously, X calmly walked over to a computer and began typing. Curious as to what X was planning Douglass ventured over and peeked over his shoulders, " Uh…X, your not doing what I think your doing are you?"
X nodded as he continued to type.
Douglas rubbed the back of his head nervously, " I seriously think you need to get psychiatric help, even Zero wouldn't pull a stunt like that."
" What can I say Douglas, I learned from the best." With one final flourish X hit the finishing sequence. On the monitor the words 'running program' flashed silently. The hangar hummed to life as the revolving floor plate where the armor transports where housed began to move.
" Eh? What the hell?" Zero opened his eyes as the transport jerked. He looked over where X was and took note of his friend's malicious grin, inwardly Zero shuddered, " Dammit he finally snapped, time for this pretty boy to flee."
Zero flung himself to his feat, however as soon as they touched the transports hull the magnetic restraints kicked in, resulting in the crimson hunter to yelp in surprise, " What the Fuck?!" Quickly he turned his attention to X, who at the moment was doing his best impression of Sigma's laugh, only at a higher octave. " Ok jokes over X, shut this damn thing off before I get pissed."
X who was still sporting a grin held up his finger and waved it disapprovingly, " Now, now Zero. You're sporting quite a dirty mouth as of late, I think we need to wash it out a bit along with the rest of your armor."
Zero's was now livid as his eye began to twitch, " Wash it out!? And what the hell does that imply you deranged psychopathic jackass!!" As if to answer his question the flooring housing the transport shifted, a ping was sounded as an automated voice filled the area. {Automated washing cycle commencing, all personal vacate transport area.}
" Shit, not again…"
Zero's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe his friends ruthlessness. The joke was brutal, it was deranged, and he'd be laughing his ass off at the genius of the prank if it weren't happening to him. " Hokay, ha ha, Funny stuff…X Knock it off." Sweat began to trickle down the crimson hunters neck as his blue friend only snickered in response.
" Douglas! Talk some sense into him! Shut this damn thing off!"
The green mechanic, who had taken a nearby seat only scoffed as he poured himself some coffee, " Don't look at me, no way in hell I'm getting involved. Your on your own Zero."
Zero gave Douglas a nasty glare while grumbling, " Bastard…your on my list." The final preparation was set as the vehicle started its descend to the lower decks.
Zero knew he was licked and shouted out in frustration, " Dammit X you bony blue assed mother fu-!" His voice was cut out as the whine of water turbines began to ignite, effectively silencing the red reploids curses.
X meanwhile was smiling like god himself had complemented the antic. With a light-hearted sigh, the blue hunter turned towards Douglas, " Well then, while that situation is being settled how about some coffee please?"
Douglas eyed X suspiciously, " Sure…just let me find the decaf."
~~~~++++~~~~
At 06:15 hundred hours Signas entered the hanger bay in a gruff. Silently he grumbled about his tardiness, unfortunately once he started to read a report concepts of time start to falter. The result being Signas cursing as he shot out of his office taking long strides while trying to look dignified.
He spotted X and Douglass idly chatting by the rec. area while sipping on something hot. In the distance Signas's audio receptors picked up the hum of the wash cycle running and what he thought was yelling. However he knew no one was suppose to be in the area of the wash conduit when it's in use, but still. Ah, calm down Signas. You're hearing things.
The two hunters spotted the commander near and stood up to greet their commander. Signas waved there salute aside as the faint aroma of coffee entered his system, " Tell me you have another cup handy."
Douglas smiled, " Over to your far right Commander. Be careful though, the one along the wall is decaf."
Signas nodded as he made himself a cup. " Has Zero shown up yet?"
Douglas spat out the contents of his drink causing his commander to eye him suspiciously, " Ah…that is to say commander…Zero is currently being detained."
" How so?" To his right he heard the sound of footsteps nearing his position. Turning to see Signas almost dropped the pot he was holding, there in front of him was Zero. His armor shown brightly as it reflected the ceiling lights, however his hair appeared slightly stiff. Signas also noted the puddle of water that was forming beneath his feet.
Zero walked deadpan towards X who was sitting in a chair. X idly looked up as the crimson hunter stopped and threw half open eyelids started to speak, however all that came out was a loose trickle of water that spattered on the table, " Was the hot wax really necessary?"
X merely shrugged his shoulders, " You always said if your going to pull a stunt, might as well do it with class, not half hearted. Rule number one in your book."
Zero eyed his lifelong friend, "It's half assed, not hearted. And don't forget rule number two."
" What's that?" A now confused X blinked.
Thinking about last night's conversation Zero smirked, " Paybacks a Bitch."
Before X could respond, the muffled sound of Signas clearing his throat made both Hunters forget the issue. " I can see now the situation has already escalated to an unhealthy level. Lets start the mission briefing, Douglas?"
" Right! Follow me folks." With that X, Zero, and Signas followed Douglas over to where the equipment transporter was located. Already positioned on the launch pad where two hover bikes, one red sporting X-17 while the other was black with the logo Z-00.
Zero eyed the bikes and let out a whistle, " Custom paint job? Awe Douglas your too good to us."
Douglas snorted, " Hardly, with you two goofballs past reputation of turning equipment into scrap we personally refit these two bikes with you two in mind. We tripled the armor and in vital spots even placed nothing short of diamond alloy carbonate. Of course we had to beef up the engine so it'll actually get off the ground, but all in all it's worth it. I'd like to see you try and scrap it."
By now Douglas was beaming with pride. X smiled at the mechanics determination, " Don't worry Douglas, we'll take good care of them."
" Yeah!" Chirped in Zero, " We'll handle em' like they where new born human infants!"
Douglas only glared at the red reploid, " That's what I'm afraid of."
The remark sent Zero mock-feigning towards X, and effectively clasping him on the shoulder. If it had been anyone else they would have had Zero committed on the spot. However X, who had survived six maverick outbreaks with his comrade learned a long time ago to take it in stride. Sighing the blue hunter merely rubbed his templates, a human habit he had picked up fairly recently.
" I swear to god one of these days I'm having a long talk with Roy and your alcohol intake."
Zero merely sniffled in a mock pout, leaving X to wonder if somehow he had inadvertently pissed some heavenly deity off and was being punished. " Lets cut to the chase, what's the mission parameters."
Signas noted silently that all the humor had vanished from X's face, leaving a cold stoic expression. The sight itself sent shivers down his chasse. The fact that his disposition changed so rapidly gave the commander flashbacks of the office skirmish the prior. If it the fact remained that X had a full scan done to him by Lifesavor a few weeks ago, Signas would have been positive it was some type of alternate psychological program.
Even weirder was that Zero, who up until a moment ago was acting like a lunatic, had erected himself to his full height and now wore the same serious expression. It was uncanny, save that Zero's features had a slightly sinister appearance. Inwardly Signas briefly wondered if the eventual discovery of X and Zero's origin and primary functions was a good idea.
Nodding slowly Signas regarded each hunter coolly, " This mission is unique. You will patrol area GA-062, focusing primarily on the abandoned Replaforce base. From there continue in a grid like pattern. This is neither a recon nor is it a search and destroy, however you will need to do both if the need arises."
Zero smirked, X only nodded with a vague hint of a smile. Turning both mounted their respective hover bikes, shortly after the transporter hummed to life as the two beamed out, leaving the hangar quiet.
Douglas stood by the transporter consol after X and Zero's departure slightly shaken from both Hunters inhuman reactions. After a moment of silence he finally found his voice.
" Well…that was creepy."
Signas only nodded, " Indeed it was." The awkwardness still hung in the air as the commander turned his attention towards Douglas, " How well do you think the modifications will last?"
" Given the fact they haven't caused collateral damage in over a month, I give them less than three minuets after contact."
This comment caused the commander to arch an eyebrow, " Only three minuets? I'll wager a twenty the new bikes last at least past ten."
Douglas snorted, " You may be a genius tactician, but you have no idea the amount of sheer hell those boys put on my equipment. You're on Commander."
With that both reploid shook hands, sealing the bet. Then each turned to their regular duties.
~~~~++++~~~~
AN: I know what you're thinking, " That's it? You skimmed out on the good stuff you ass! I want the gory battle details!!"
Next chapter I swear, and I promise it wont take as long as this one. R&R folks, authors feed off praise, its like candy only without the cavities.
