MegaMan X: Title Pending

Chapter 1: Retribution

Disclaimer - It's mine. All of it! Hahaha! ....seriously, Capcom doesn't belong to me.

Now, to my reviewers:

PRIVATE - Glad ya' liked it. Yeah... my version of Zero is rather vain about his hair...

JesteretseJ - Thanks for a positive review... obviously, I have decided to write more.

Wedge McCloud - Thanks to you too. I dropped your story a review. Heh, let me tell you that Axl's vent escapades in both of our stories are a complete coincidence...

Why delay any longer? Here I go. This one'll be longer, but not by much. I'll make the next one longer, I promise. I honestly tried to get this chapter out sooner, but that annoying 'life' thing got in the way.

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Axl shifted uncomfortably in his decidedly vent-like prison. It's probably so vent-like because it is a vent, he decided. He was sure that the outside of the vent absolutely had to have a decidedly Axl-shaped indentation on the outside. The trouble was, when Axl first jumped into the vent, it was headfirst. He'd reached back to drag the vent's grate back into position to better conceal him, but now that he'd done that, he couldn't get the vent grating off, because the grate fit into its mooring hook-like; he could pull the grate into the lock, but from his position, couldn't manage the leverage to push it out.

"Augh, Sparrow, I'm so gonna kill you for this..." muttered Axl, directing thoughts of general harm towards his teammate. He thought back to the night before...

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The Hunter HQ actually had two lounges; where the main one was dark and gloomy, the other was bright, and probably the happiest place on base. The amount of alcohol served there probably had a lot to do with it. Regardless, Axl, who was notorious for almost never consuming alcohol, found himself there quite often. It was the spot where the rest of his unit idled away their time while not on duty, and Axl had nothing better to do, so what the Hell. He rested his head against the wall he was leaning on, closing his eyes. This place was also one of the few places he could actually relax here; he was still the 'new guy' in his unit, and everyone else seemed so natural around themselves, had a familiarity with everyone that Axl simply didn't have. The whole base held a certain alienness to him, being so different from the Red Alert Syndicate's HQ. All of it but this room, for some reason that he could place--

Axl's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when someone backed right into him. They both gave a yelp of surprise, and the reploid in a green shirt that he recognized as Relanz dropped the glass he was carrying. Axl's eyes traced the alcoholic beverage's flight - tracked it right into his shirt. It hit the lower hem of his white t-shirt, spilling the contents of joy on his lower front and over a good portion of his pants. The glass bounced back off him, only to hit the floor and shatter into a million peices. Relanz turned to him, apologizing profusely.

"Axl! I'm really sorry... I didn't see you there! Honest-" Axl cut him off.

"Don't worry about it," he said, pushing himself against the wall. "Nothing a change of clothes won't fix. I was gonna head back to my quarters soon anyways." He turned towards the door and left. Axl grinned as he walked down the hallway, wondering what people must think of him; his front soaked, absolutely reeking of alcohol, and grinning like an idiot. He sighed, putting his hands behind his head, and his elbows in the air, as if his bottom half was walking, and his top half resting. And probably even worse, he mused, 'cause I've never been drunk before and everyone knows it. He finally reached the doorway of his quarters, opened the door, and stepped inside, locking the door behind him. He reached in a drawer, pulled out a pair of black jeans and a red shirt, his two favorite colors, and tossed them on the bed; his alcohol-embued clothing got thrown in the trash. He then showered, taking meticulous care to make sure that absolutely none of him smelled of alcohol. He finished, threw on his clothes, ran a comb through his hair, tying the base into a short ponytail, and left, only to be greeted with an empty hallway.

"Damn... I must have spent way too much time in the shower..." he muttered to himself; it was probably past 10 PM, and by then, most reploids were either in the longue, or in their quarters. Head back to the longue would be pointless now, but the alternative of going back to his room wasn't very appealing either. No reason not to take a walk, I suppose, he mused.

"Hey, Axl." called a voice. Axl turned and a look of recognition came to his face.

"Sparrow, hey." Axl answered. He was in Axl's unit. At 5'2", Sparrow wasn't a very tall reploid. He was completely humanoid; the name was a misnomer. He had long, dark brown hair, which was tied in a braided ponytail which went down to his ankles, much like Zero's, but braided rather than loose. He had extremely pale skin, almost to the point of being white, while his eyes, a stark contrast to his skin, were a deep, dark red color. He wore a blue t-shirt and black jeans, which is practically what he always wore; however, reploids don't sweat, so they can get away with wearing the same shirt several days in a row.

"Takin' a walk? Yeah. Same here," Sparrow said, looking rather bored. "Ever been kept awake by Cain-knows-what? I mean... I just can't sleep. I know it's silly..." he frowned, grasping for the right words. Reploids weren't known to have trouble sleeping.

"Not really," Axl shrugged. "Just bored."

"Mm..." Sparrow nodded, then grinned. "So, are the rumors true?" Axl blinked.

"Rumors? What're you talking about?" Axl scratched his head with his left hand.

"You know. You and..." his grin widened. "You know..." Axl flinched as realization dawned on him.

"I - you - she - ah - no!" he almost shouted, his words fumbling over themselves in his mouth.

"Ah, c'mon. You think I don't see you looking at her when she's not looking? I know you like her." his infuriating grin widened even more. Of course, Axl denied this.

"I... I do not!" he stammered, his cheeks reddening slightly - reploids were meant to emulate humans in every possible way. He groaned. "How many people have you told, Sparrow? Does the whole base know now?" he said, somewhat in dispair.

"No one but me," he said, "but I hardly think you want to see how fast I can change that." If at all possible, he grinned even wider.

"No... I don't think I do..." he sighed. "So, what do you want, you blackmailer?"

"Blackmail? The thought never occoured to me. But now that you mention it..." he grinned, and paused, thinking. "Heh, if you don't want this rumor circulating faster than a coin in a gravity well, you'll do one simply thing..." Axl groaned.

"Ugh, what do you want?"
"You'll cut Zero's hair." Axl's eyes widened.

"I'll what!? You're crazy! He'll kill me!" he said in not-very-hushed tones. Sparrow held up his hands.

"Nono. Not ALL of it. Just a... tiny peice of it. He won't even notice."

"But..." Axl then stopped talking, thinking of the alternative. "Fine... but if I die, you're getting nothing from my will."

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Axl gunted, bringing up his knee, and knocking a huge dent into the inside of the vent in the process. He kicked the grating as well as he could, the grate warping and bending out of shape. Finally, it pried loose, and he dropped free. He flopped on his back, panting.

"Free! Free at last!" he said, grinning, his eyes closed. He slowly opened them, only to see a river of blonde hair. Attached to a neck. Attached to a head. Which was attached to a very surprised Zero. Axl waved weakly. "Ah... hi, Zero."

Zero's confused expression suddenly erased itself in favor of an amused one, which was slowly covered by a horrible grin. He cracked the knuckles of his left hand with his right in front of his chest, and grinned wider.

Axl gulped.

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At first I was thinking of pairing Axl with Layer, but I've decided on something different. You don't get to know yet. So there. I so love reviews. (hint)