Zack Rello: Who wants to do the disclaimer?
Thunder Hawk: (playing Street Fighter 3 on PS2 with Quinn Manta) Not now, I'm winning.
Quinn Manta: Do it yourself, you lazy jerk. I need to beat this oversized turkey.
Zack Rello: Don't think I'll forget this, you'll both pay. Anyway, you probably know I don't own Mega Man X and do own all original characters and weapons in this fic, so I guess that takes care of that. You are forewarned, I am not all that confident in my abilities to write romance, so I apologise if this sucks. But please read it.
Shadows of my soul
Chapter 7: X and Alia's first date
"O.k. let me double check. Hair, check. Perfume, check. Lipstick, check. Dress, check. Looks like I'm all ready for my date with X tonight." Alia thought as checked her appearance in the mirror. Tonight was a big night, for it her and X's first date. Alia turned to Layer and asked "What do you think, too much?"
Layer examined her friend carefully. Alia was wearing a silky black dress over her armour (A/N: I've heard lots of theories about whether or not reploids have skin, so in my fic, the armour on reploids is the equivalent to skin. Now, on with the show!) which reached down to her ankles. She wasn't much of a make-up person, but had decided, on Layer's advice, to put on some lipstick to help bring out her red lips. Layer had also given her some perfume, and Alia had loved the sweet flower smell so she had decided to use some tonight. Layer finished her examination and remarked "If X doesn't find you drop dead gorgeous, there's something wrong with his eyes. I think you look great."
"Thanks a lot Layer, you're a good friend." Alia brought up the time on her optics and gasped "I didn't realise what time it was. I'm going to be late. See you later Layer." she said as she ran out the door of her room.
"Have a good time!" Layer yelled to her.
Meanwhile, X was waiting for Alia in the vehicle bay. Douglas, a mechanic with the Maverick Hunters, had owed him a favour and had let X borrow a green sports car usually reserved for Hunters on undercover missions. "Wow, I still find it hard to believe this is happening." X thought as he remembered the events that had lead to this night…
(Flashback)
ZAP! X, Zero, and Axl arrived at Hunter H.Q. and were greeted by the jubilant cheers of their fellow Hunters. Axl gave out a victorious whoop and Zero gave his cocky, let's raise some hell grin, but X was more interested in finding Alia. He scanned the room when out of nowhere she appeared beside him. "Are you O.K.?" she asked.
X smiled and replied "Better, now that you're here."
"Good." Alia replied, as she hugged the blue hunter and kissed him. X quickly copied the gesture.
The command center fell to dead silence as the couple kissed, but X and Alia didn't even notice. Many Hunters simply stared in amazement, while Axl was so surprised his mouth had fallen open. Zero took an initiative and made attention grabbing "AHEM!" The command center snapped back to reality and Zero closed Axl's mouth.
After another three minutes or so, X and Alia stopped kissing and Alia asked "So, about that date?"
X looked lovingly into her eyes and asked "How about this Friday at 7:00? Dinner and a movie sound good?"
"Sounds perfect. I'll see you there." she answered, placing one last kiss on X's cheek before heading off.
"Congratulations, you finally managed to tell her how you feel." Zero said as a surprised X turned around. "I see your both very, very happy about that, eh?" he continued.
X scratched the back of his head embarrassed as Axl chimed "Ah, the lover. One of the most interesting, and insane, members of the animal kingdom. The…" was all he managed to say before Zero shoot him a death look.
Zero turned back to X and said "I think it's nice that you finally told her and made a date with her, but you're forgetting something."
"And that would be?" the blue reploid asked.
Zero pointed at Signas and explained "There is no way in hell that Signas will let you go. After what the R.R.F. did, he'll want us on stand by for the next two weeks, and that's if we're lucky."
"I'll talk to him." X responded calmly.
"Good luck with that." Axl said. "Signas is hard as a rock and thick as a brick, he'll never listen. You'd probably get farther trying to reason with Sigma to give up being a Maverick and take up golf than you would trying to tell Signas to let you have Friday night off."
X simply shrugged his shoulders and headed toward the leader of the Maverick Hunters. As he approached, he tried to think of every reason possible to let him and Alia have Friday night off. He stood beside Signas and said "Signas, can I talk to you?"
Signas turned to the veteran Hunter and replied "Sure, something wrong?"
"No, it's just… can me and Alia have Friday night off?" X asked, mentally crossing his fingers.
"No, no, and let me think… no." Signas replied coolly. He sighed and explained "I understand that you and Alia have a thing for each other, and I'm willing to give her that night off, but you, that's a different story. You're the best Hunter we have, and the Reploid Revolution Front doesn't strike me as the type to just give up and go home."
"I agree, but come on Signas, it's just one night. The world's not going to come to an end, and if the R.R.F. starts a new assault, I'm sure Axl and Zero can handle it" X argued. "Come on Signas, please? I'm practically begging here! What do want me to do, get on my hands and knees?"
Chuckling at that mental image, the leader of the Hunters answered "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?"
Shaking his head, X replied "If I have to stand here all day to get you to change your mind, I will."
Signas just smiled "That won't be necessary. I'll let you two have Friday night off. BUT, don't think I'm doing this out the kindness of my heart, I simply realised that you've hardly ever taken any time off since you began you Hunter career. This is coming out of your vacation time, got it?"
X knew Signas was joking, and played along "Oh well, guess I won't be taking that trip to the Caribbean this summer."
(End Flashback)
X snapped back to reality when he heard foot steps approaching. He turned and faced Alia as she arrived."Wow, Alia. You look amazing." He said as she came forward.
"You look pretty good yourself." she replied. X was wearing a nice black suit over his armour and wasn't wearing his helmet. "You should do that more often." she thought out loud.
"What?" asked the now confused X.
Alia walked up to him and ran her fingers through his short brown hair "Not wear your helmet. You have nice hair." she remarked.
"Thanks." X said, as his and Alia's lips drifted closer together. The two kissed for awhile then pulled away. "So you ready to go?"
Alia nodded and X opened the passenger door for her. When she had gotten in, X got in on the drivers side and two headed off.
"Lily, status report." Flare Kitsune said over the teenaged reploid's com. link. The two assassins had been in Megaopolis for two days, and had spent those two days analysing the Maverick Hunters H.Q.: studying the structure, gathering access codes, and trying to formulate a plan that would give them an edge over the Hunters.
Lily spoke into her com. "Nothing to report. The place has been completely dead for the last hour. I seriously… hold on, something's happening. I'm going in for a closer look." With those words Lily leaped of the rooftop she was standing on and grabbed on to a wall of Hunter H.Q.
Activating a special ear piece, Lily listened on a conversation between two reploids leaving the H.Q. "So, where are we going for dinner?"
"That's a surprise. I know you'll like it though." A male voice replied. Seconds later, a green sports car zoomed out of the base.
Lily took out a pair of binoculars and got a good look at the two reploids. When she had determined the identity of the male reploid, she leaped back up to the rooftops and pursued the car. "Sensei, X just left Hunter H.Q. with some girl. I'm following them now." She reported.
"Good, keep me informed." The assassin responded as Lily Shinobi raced after the car.
"This night couldn't have gone any better." X thought to himself as he held Alia in his arms. X had taken Alia out to dinner at a nice restaurant that she liked (he asked Layer before hand) and the couple had spent the meal talking about everything under the sun. Afterwards, they had gone to see a movie, which X hardly remembered because the two had spent most of it making out. Now, they were sitting on a park bench looking out at a lake, listening to the sounds of the quiet night, and cuddling in each others arms.
Alia looked up at X and noticed how he was lost in thought. She tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to him asked "What's wrong X?"
"Nothing" he quickly said, but Alia gave him a look that told him both that she knew something was and that she was concerned. "Well," X sighed "do honestly think this will work out?"
"What?" she asked puzzled.
"This relationship. I love you so much Alia, and because I love you, I'm worried this whole thing might end badly. If my enemies found out about us, they'd stop at nothing to get at me through you."
To X's surprise, Alia smiled "You really love me?" she asked. When X nodded she continued "In that case, you shouldn't worry. I know as well as you do that being a Maverick Hunter is dangerous normally and I see why you think it could put me in danger."
"And this doesn't worry you at all?" the blue reploid asked.
Alia hugged X a little tighter and looked into his eyes "Ever hear the saying "love conquers all?"
"I hope your right." X said
"I know I am." she replied as the two exchanged a kiss.
About half an hour later, the two returned to Hunter H.Q. "Thanks a lot for the wonderful evening X." Alia said as they got out of the car.
"Don't mention it." X replied. He and Alia walked through the quite halls of the H.Q. to Alias door. They kissed one last time as X wished Alia a good night.
"Sweet dreams X." Alia replied as she went into her room.
"Only if there of you." the blue reploid whispered as she closed the door.
"This is perfect. Now we can defeat the Hunters with ease." Lily Shinobi thought as she sat on a rooftop across from Hunter H.Q. Although she wasn't fond of lowly tactics, anything that would raise the chances of her sensei's survival was good enough for her. She activated her com. link and began to set in motion a plan. "Sensei, I think I just found our leverage…"
Review Responses
Uzu-Chan: Thanks for the review. Actually, I've yet to play Command Mission yet, but I really want to. If Flare Kitsune or any of my other original characters are like people in that game, it is entirely conicidental. Will any of my original characters survive? (Spoiler) yes, one will. Which one? You'll see soon enough.
Prjct.WAR: Thanks for another positive review. Yes, the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself, but only if you have full conversations or answer your own questions. I asked my friend, and he can't remember where he found the Axl video. Anyway, please review this chapter!
Racegirl: Well, here's the date. Hope you enjoy it. About March break, here in North America, we get one week off school in March. So you're from the Netherlands, huh? What's it like there? Please read and review the chapter!
Ri2: Thanks for the feedback.Glad to see you like Flare Kitsune and Lily Shinobi. I have worked really hard on all my original characters, but Flare Kitsune is my favourite one. As for whether they will survive in my story, you'll have to wait and find out.
Erckie: Thank you! You have helped me solve the dilemma of where the Reploid Revolution Fronts base is. Thanks a lot, IOU big.
P.S. - Just curious, are you from Miami?
MyGBAcanTalk: Glad you like my story so much. Please review again.
LiLpInKaZnJaY: I hope you like the date. Thanks for the review.
A/N: Lots of feedback from last chapter. I never expected people to like my story so much. It's people like you, my reviewers, who make writing worthwhile. As for next chapter, let's just say Axl's secret ending in X8 was the main inspiration for this fic. Find out what I mean next chapter!
Next Chapter: A New Nightmare
