Authors note: Well here is chapter seven. I must admit that for a while I lost touch with the general plot. But after a shot of scotch it pretty much all came back to me. LOL
On a side note this will hopefully be the last chapter that X uses profanity. I know it's not in his general character to swear, and at one point in this chapter I felt that one phrase probably crossed the line. But after deliberation I decided to keep it, but from now on no swearing for X. Zero on the other hand.... well lets not go into that.
Chapter Seven; Recess Games: The Next Generation
The MMHQ's main lobby was generally a focal point of hustle and bustle for daily activities. If one were to sit in a corner and observe the busy people that passed by, you would recognize faces and patterns that occurred on a daily basis. The area would eventually become boring and mundane, as it did with many people. Fortunately Zero was anything but mundane.
The moment both hunters had exited Signas's office, Zero did a mad dash down the corridor with X trailing close behind. There chase was taken down thirteen flights of stairs, three conference rooms, the cafeteria where a brief skirmish of mystery trays where exchanged. Eventually they had made there way towards the main lobby, leaving yet another mess for the maintenance bots to clean up.
"Look out coming threw! I said move it grandma!!" The Crimson Hunter ran threw the lobby hastily dodging couriers and old people alike. Occasionally he'd grab one of the said people and lung them behind his previous path in the hopes of deterring the insane reploid yelling a few feet behind. Indeed, it was quite a comical disturbance, but then again when did X and Zero ever do things with finesse?
"Get back here Zero!" Following closely behind was X. Quickly the blue hunter dodged another person that was unfortunate to get in Zero's path. " Dammit Zero quit knocking over the Humans! You KNOW they can't handle that kind of abuse!!"
Zero of course, had no intention of stopping any time soon. The fact that X had cursed was proof enough that Zero would get severely throttled if he did. "No can do little buddy! I'm damaged goods enough as is, and I don't intend on dying again anytime soon!"
X gritted his teeth as he yelled at the top of his voice, "Come here Asshole!"
Zero's eyes widened as he gulped, "Shit, he's really pissed this time..." Immediately Zero dashed threw the main exit as he zoomed threw the outside lobby. Outside the skies where blue as humans and reploid alike walked with calmness. Quickly scanning the area Zero spotted a human girl standing near a tree holding a balloon. Immediately an idea presented itself, however Zero frowned as a internal debate started, "Am I really that much of a louse?"
The sound of X on the war path immediately brought the red hunter out of his trance, Looking behind him Zero spotted X closing the gap. Squinting his eyes Zero also spotted a pair of sharp pointy objects in X's hand and immediately yelped, "Screw morals, that crazy bastard found a pair of scissors!"
Not wasting a moment Zero ran towards the child and scooped her up in his arms. "Hey kiddo, mind if I borrow you for a sec?"
--
X burst threw the double doors that lead to the outside lobby of MMHQ, his optics scanning the surrounding area for any indication of his former best friend. Instantly he spotted the red menace near holding a young girl in hand. Not deterred X continued forward never taking his view off his intended target.
"I'd stop there if I where you X, if you know what's good for her that is."
The blue hunter stopped, momentarily confused at Zero's statement. Then he noticed that the blond reploid was holding the girl between the two and it hit him; Zero was using the girl as a hostage. X was shocked, not to mention a slew of other emotions.
X took a step forward, "You wouldn't dare." His eyes where now glaring menacingly, if Zero harmed one hair on that childe...
Zero smirked, "Try me X." Kneeling next to the girl, he gently picked her up in his arms, hefting the child to where she was sitting on his shoulder. Then looking back towards X he grinned wickedly, "Now put down the scissors...or the balloon gets it!"
X's look of horror and rage was quickly met with stupid as he immediately face vaulted on to the pavement.
Cackling like mad Zero put down the child and patted her on the head, "See Molly, I told you the blue one was funny."
The girl giggled as X sat up in a daze. Molly then ran over and hugged the blue reploid and gave him a quick kiss on the cheeks, this of coursed gave X a slight blush, not to mention a hearty snicker from Zero.
"Molly? Molly! How many time have I told you not to talk to strangers!"
Both X and Zero looked over to see a young woman wearing a Maverick Hunter uniform making her way towards the girl. Picking up the child she then bowed, "I'm sorry about that. But Molly is extremely friendly with people. Especially Reploids, she has her father's curiosity. And here at HQ she generally gets spoiled."
Waving a hand in dismissal Zero spoke, "Nah, don't worry about it. X and me here recognized Molly because you bring her in so often. In fact Alia usually comments on her antics Joyce, so the least we could do is watch out for Molly till you could pick her up."
The Human technician smiled, "I thought you two looked familiar. I really wish I didn't have to bring her here, but with the reconstruction going on she doesn't really have any place to safely go."
X, who was now standing smiled at the little girl, "Well although this place really wasn't designed to accommodate children. Having them around defiantly brightens the day. I'll have to talk to the commander about a day-care, if where going to have little ones running around, we might as well have a safe place for them right?"
"Oh would you? Thank you so much Mr. X!" The mother Joyce was now smiling even greater. "I cant thank you enough for this."
"Well Its not official yet," replied X, "But I'll see what I can do."
"Believe me, your word is good enough for me." Turning to her daughter Joyce spoke, " Now be sure to thank X and Zero."
Molly bowed, "Thank you Mr. X and Zero!"
X laughed lightly while rubbing the back of his helmet while Zero grinned giving the thumbs up sign as both mother and left the vicinity.
X now in a better mood turned his attention towards his friend, "I didn't know you knew Joyce and her daughter."
Still smiling and waving at the two Zero spoke, "Actually X, I was lying my ass off. Never met the woman before in my life"
"What!?" yelled X, "But how?"
Sighing Zero placed his hand on X's shoulder, "Threw my keen observation, and deduction dear friend. It was quite obvious once you think about it."
X regarded the crimson hunter, "You read her name patch and prayed to god that her tech unit was under Alia didn't you?" he deadpanned.
Zero laughed, "And how! Man I'm good!"
Rolling his eyes X diverted his attention towards the ground. Noticing the blue hunters search Zero cleared his throat. "Looking for this?"
X glanced up to spot Zero idly holding the pair of scissors that he had earlier. Zero then crushed them in his hands similar to a paper wad and chunked them into a nearby recycling station with a resounding 'ker-thunk'.
"Now then, if your threw with the hysterics I'll explain my actions."
The blue hunter crossed his arms in annoyance, "I was under the impression you didn't need a reason to inflict trauma amongst the general populous."
Zero smiled as he latched an arm around X's shoulders and lead him to a nearby bench. Idly the red reploid held up a finger and tisked in reply, "Now, now. Don't confuse me with Mavericks, there is always a method to my madness."
"Method my shiny blue plated butt." X grumbled under his breath.
Weather or not Zero heard the comment was uncertain. If he did, clearly the crimson hunter ignored it as X and himself sat down on the park bench. Once seated Zero absently stretched his limbs as he let out a yawn, another habit picked up by humans.
"Now then its like this." Mused Zero as he rested his arms behind the backside of the bench, thereby stretching out even further. "You and Alia are very reserved individuals. Now this is a good thing normally, I mean if the world was comprised with more guys like me...well lets not go into that. Lets just say Woodstock would be in a revival trend."
X just stared blankly, "What's a Woodstock?"
"Its like a concert." Answered Zero, "Only it lasts for about a week, and all you do is get drunk, have sex, listen to loud blaring Rock, then wake up in a field in Nebraska with a hangover and genital herpes."
Immediately X's eyes shot wide open, "Genital what!?"
Zero sighed in mild annoyance, "Hey that's just what the data disk said alright? Now stop interrupting." Of course Zero knew when certain topics popped up X's naïveté would kick in. Inwardly the crimson hunter smiled, Just have to fix that wont we?
"Back to the subject at hand. Being reserved is fine and dandy, except when it comes to matters of the heart, and don't you spout crap about reploids and hearts. You know what I mean." Said Zero as he eyed X's unspoken comment.
X's eyes narrowed, " Personality test aside Zero, what exactly does this have to do with you forcing me to cop a feel?"
"I'm getting to that cool your boosters," hissed Zero, "You two constantly put others ahead of yourself, because of that self trait both of you are too shy to make a move."
"The point?" Growled X.
"The point dear X is where I come in." Stated Zero, "By the time you two actually get a clue, let alone go on a date, you, me, and Sigma will be long gone and scrap used as cockroach housing. So I'm going to push you two along in the right direction, kicking and screaming until stated otherwise."
"Hey now!" Shouted X in protest, "Where not that bad!"
"Please," snorted Zero. "Why do you think I forced you to cop a feel X? I had to gauge both of your reactions and see what I had to work with. Quite frankly I'm disappointed, you two are still in the preschool stage. I was at least hoping for teen awkwardness."
X sat a moment in silence as he processed everything Zero had said. His face was expressionless, until abruptly he started laughing. Zero continue to stare at X as his malicious giggle fit continued to the point of him erupting tears. For once Zero was not laughing.
"You know you almost had me going there for a minute." Said X as he calmed down.
"I'm dead serous this time X." Zero stated tonelessly.
The blue hunter regarded his longtime friend and noticed the grim determination in his eyes. "Crap...you are being serious." Moaned X.
Zero's somber tone was replaces with an easy going smile that, unfortunately had the opposite affect on his friend. "Relax, it's not as bad as your making it out. Trust me on this."
"And if I refuse?" X asked as he arched an eyebrow.
Zero's smile quickly turned sinister, "Then I render you offline, strip you naked, and place you two in a room and reactivate you both. But before that however I'm going to place a background program into each of you, so when you both wake up you'll be inclined to make out like rabbits."
X glared at Zero long and hard contemplating weather or not the threat was valid. Seeing how earlier that very morning X himself had run Zero threw an automated washer. X frowned, no the threat was real all right. The question now was if the red menace could actually pull it off. X mused that the ghost hacking involved was not Zero's forte, that alone would drop the success rate to 38. No doubt though he'll have a way around that hurdle though. So the question now was picking the lesser of two evils.
"All right Zero, I'll play along with this." Sighed X. In reality he didn't have a choice. Ether option was going to get X public humiliation and/or mauled, might as well be of his own free will.
If it was possible Zero's grin broadened. "Trust me X your going to thank me for this."
And the extra cash after winning the bet is a great way of saying thank you X.
"One Question though-"
"Shoot." Said Zero.
"Why the sudden interest in my love life?" Asked X.
Ack!"Well X, you said I needed a hobby..." Answered Zero "...and I figured using my talents over the opposite sex for the forces of good instead of evil could count as a good karma booster for me!" Lame!
Much to Zero's surprise X took the excuse for face value as the blue hunter rolled his eyes in defeat. "Well Mr. Hot shot ladies man, sense you got me in hot water with Alia, you can get me out."
"It wasn't my hand that slapped her butt!" chuckled Zero.
X's responded by glaring daggers at the crimson hunter.
Zero waved his hands submissively, "I was only joking X calm down!"
Once X's glare had subsided Zero sat up fully on the park bench and faced his longtime friend. "Ok X its like this, slapping a woman's assets is in general a big no, no."
"Oh really?" quipped X sarcastically, "What was your first clue, the fist that connected to my face?"
"Well theirs that also, but don't get ahead of me."
"Zero, hitting women on the butt is degrading to them. In fact its sexual harassment." Stated X matter-o-faculty.
"Would you shut up for a sec and let me finish?" hissed Zero, "Now then, yes it is technically considered sexual harassment, unless they want it."
X's expression remained skeptical at best, however he remained quiet as Zero continued.
"You see, women are mysterious creatures X, it doesn't matter if there Human or Reploid. Women are completely different than men. They're subtle at everything they do, and I mean everything. If you or myself blink, it's no pig deal. We do it out of necessity, but then they blink there communicating."
X raised his eyebrow, "Communicating?"
"Yes exactly!" Zero said excitedly, "They use their body to throw off little hints here and there that can indicate anything. Let me ask you something X, How close does Alia get to you?"
"Uh..." A slight blush emitted from X's cheeks as he recalled the elevator incident the prior day, "That's not something I really keep track of."
Zero smirked at seeing his friend's discomfort, "Sure you don't. Just like no one sees it when she grabs hold of your arm and leads you like a puppy."
"She's just being assertive!" Cried X rather desperately.
Zero laughed, "Oh she's being assertive alright. Alia may not now it but subconsciously she telling every other female reploid in the vicinity that you're her property."
"Oh that's a load of malarkey and you know it." It was becoming apparent that Zero's man to man chat was unnerving the blue hunter. X himself didn't know what was scarier, being claimed as property or the fact that Zero might be right.
Zero noted his friend's disheveled look and decided to calm him a bit, "X its nothing to be worried about. Its perfectly natural, in fact we do the same thing."
Like a timid boy being coaxed by his parents X's eyes gleamed, "Really?"
"Yes really." Smiled Zero, "We get aggressive towards others guys who get to close as a warning, but women tend to do it subtly by 'clinging'."
"I think I get it...sorta, wow this is complicated." Mumbled X.
"Trust me on this X." Zero stated firmly, "Women are far from simple. But hey want me to prove it? After you get Alia back on your good side, go and talk to another female with her around and watch her reactions. In fact pay close attention to her when you're making up."
"Speaking of making up, exactly how am I going to accomplish that? Last time I checked I'm next to Sigma on her poplar list." Stated X rather dejectedly.
Zero waved his hand dismissively, "That's easy, just smile and make yourself look like an idiot."
The blue hunter raised his eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"
"When apologizing, stay friendly with a smile. Also chicks like it when we make complete fools of ourselves, especially when where sincere." Stated Zero matter-o-faculty.
"I take it you've had experience with this." Smirked X. crossing his arms in amusement.
"You'd be surprised how many times I had to with Iris."
The mere mention of his past lovers name brought up a jumble of memories flashing across Zero's field of vision. Most involved the rockier times of there relationship. Zero frowned slightly. Now that was unexpected
Command line Diagnostics. Diagnostics Loading... Complete:
Head Unit: 96 Internal Partial fragmentation of Nodes 86C gamma threw 45delta.
ETR: 36 min.
Condition: Moderate
Left Arm: 50 Z-Buster: Power Coils 12-37 Overload
Z-Buster: Offline
ETR: 3hrs: 21min
Condition: Impaired
Right Arm: 98 Connector A-10 offline.
ETR: 1hr
Condition: Good
Left Leg: 90 Hydraulic Line C-1 Primary Offline.
ETR: 1hr
Condition: Good
Right Leg: 100
Condition: Good
Main Body: 99 Internal Repairs Complete
Condition Good
Armor: 73 Structural Integrity Moderate
"Recompile my ass." Grumbled Zero. The memory flash of Iris shook the hunter slightly. Glancing at his armor the crimson hunter only now realized how parts where warped from heat. His left arm in particular he noticed the tell tail sign of burnout where his hand and forearm connected.
"Something wrong Zero?"
The crimson hunter glanced back at X who was looking at him strangely. "Nothing serious, I just had a memory flash. So I ran a quick diagnostic to see what was up, Just a defrag, nothing to worry about."
"Want to talk about it?" X knew firsthand that memory recompilation could be a pain. Usually by showing a memory in relation to whatever the reploid is thinking about currently. It was distracting at the least, but for Zero more often than not it lead to old skeletons in the closet.
"Nah, I'm fine X, although I need to go see Lifesavor for some of the other damage." With that Zero stood up placing his arms behind his head as he glanced at the skyline.
"Lets finish this conversation later, ok X?"
X nodded and watched as Zero turned and made his way back inside HQ. About halfway there X suddenly remembered he had one question left. "Hey Zero!"
Said Reploid turned around, arms still resting above his head, "Yeah?"
X smiled sheepishly, " Uh how can you tell when its ok to...you know, place you hand there."
Zero grinned, " You'll know when, trust me." With that the crimson hunter turned and walked threw the main lobby doors.
X remained stationary at the bench a bit longer mulling over the earlier conversation. Mainly he concentrated on filtering out Zero's usual BS with information that was actually insightful. X knew he had to apologize to Alia and make things right. Even if it was primarily Zero's fault. In the end X had allowed the incident to occur. X now stood up to his full height. He had the knowledge, he had the commitment, and he was going to go and make things right.
X smiled; with a little luck Alia wouldn't be too harsh with him. After all what's the worst she could do that she hasn't done already? With new determination X took his first step on the road towards love and conquest.
Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell him that the road to love was filled with potholes, and generally hurt like hell.
AN: Next up date ,uh don't ask. I really need to start jotting down notes...lol
