Disclaimer: Hey! Chapter Two! I don't own Megaman X, but I do own my original characters. Have at it! I would like to thankWarp Ligia Obscura for being the first to review my story! All reviews are welcome, member or not, so feel free to let me know how I'm doin'!

Chapter 2: Experiments and Prep

Bar
Time:
-22:01-

As Zero and Leyna walked in the door to the bar, they were greeted by the members of the 17th Division. Locke, who was clad in melancholy gray armor, Stryke, clad in dull black armor, and Kicker, who was clad in white armor with a blue medical cross across his chest. They already had ordered Leyna's drink, but left Zero to get his own, because his drink preference changes hourly.

"Hey Zero, sorry we didn't get your drink, but-"Stryke started but was cut off.

"I know, I know. It's fine!! Now, gimme that menu!" Zero really only has two loves. Booze, and his state of the art, high maintenance, flowing hair. The latter being the most important. "Hmm... You guys go ahead and order your stuff, it might take me awhile." Zero said to the group.

"Ok, I'll have a shaken martini, please." Locke ordered.

Stryke ordered a glass of water. Zero chuckled while his face was still in the menu.

Kicker ordered. "I'll have a margarita."

Stryke's comm phone rung.

"Hello? Hey! Uh-huh. Yep. Pink. Bet you. Cya."

"Pink?" Zero perked up from the wonderful world of liquor to look at Stryke.

"Yeah, that's the color of the next Reploid Captain."

"Oh. Ok! Awright!!!! Here's my order:"

"One Martini, stirred not shaken."

"One Martini, shaken not stirred."

"Three Strawberry Daquaris."

"Um, how big are your hugest glasses?"

"24oz."

"Excellent. I'll have 6 glasses, full to the brim, of Rum and Coke. And a large, empty bowl. That'll be all."

"THAT'S ALL?!" The group said in unison.

Zero looked innocently at them and said, "What?"

Stryke laughed out loud. "Oh man! He is not gonna be able to avoid this!!!" Stryke thought.

Everyone knew why he was laughing. Except for Zero. Everybody's drinks came, and Zero's massive alcohol pool was coming as well.

Leyna looked across their table, at a lone figure standing against a wall. The reploid had a long blue, stylish coat, with tails that fell down to his knees. His face was obscured by shadows. But one feature of this mystery man that gave Leyna a chill down her spine, was a silver gem somewhere on his face. It looked like some sort of large diamond.

"Leyna? You ok?" Locke asked her friend.

"Huh? Yea, I'm ok. I'm just a bit tired."

By this time, Zero had gotten his booze and was giddy like a little kid during Christmas. Without a second thought, he poured all of the liquor into the bowl, and stirred it up with a few spoons. Everyone in the bar watched in awe.

Leyna looked toward where the figure was standing. No sign of him. Good. Zero was chugging his "Mega Elixir" and the crowd around him cheered him on. Three more gulps. Stryke was thinking about how high this guy's tolerance is. Kicker was thinking about how long he'll be drunk. Two more gulps. A normal reploid could only stomach in one week what Zero managed to do in an hour. One gulp. Zero felt like he accomplished something great. Leave it to him to take life to the extreme. Finished. The crowd cheered as they walked out of the bar.

"Shit, Zero! How do you manage to keep it all down? Without feeling the least bit tipsy?" Leyna asked her co-worker as they walked through the parking lot.

"Hehe. Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough!" Zero said unexpectantly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Locke questioned the ultimate red wonder.

"Weelll.... I'm doing an experiment. To see how -hiccup- how.... looonnggg I can stay
-burp- noooottttt druuuuunk." He fell backwards, passed out. Stryke caught him and staggered back a little from the dead weight. They all looked at each other and said, "Pass out number 37."

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Maverick Hunters Headquarters (MHHQ)
Time:
-22:43-

X walked out of Zero's quarters with a satisfied grin on his face. He was now dressed in his evening outfit. A shirt that was about the same color as his standard armor. Baggy pants, gray in color. Comfortable clothes. Now, he was feeling hungry, so he went to the mess hall to grab a snack. When he got there, he noticed some of Zero's Unit sitting on the far side. They were conversing about how drunk Zero had gotten in the past 30 minutes. He went through the line, looking for a salad bowl. All out. He took a veggie soup instead. X sat down in a seat that was somewhat secluded, along a wall. He sighed as he sat down and winced as his body was sore from his trek up and down the armory stairs. Turns out that our crimson friend caused the elevator to crash. A 2,000 lb. ride armor shouldn't really fit in an elevator with a weight limit of 1,000 lbs. But, he had to pee, really, really badly. That's reason enough, right? X began eating. The soup was lukewarm, and had an awful after-taste. But he couldn't care less, hunger conquers taste right now.

"Hey X."

Nearly choking on his spoon, X managed to say, "Hi-coughgagcough-.... Alia..."

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you choke!"

"That's ok. I would have probably choked anyway."

"So, how was your day?" Alia asked curiously.

"Well, let's see, after the combat training, I had to walk down five flights of stairs to my armor locker, opened it only to find tons of water to crash out of it onto me, that was a present from Zero by the way, and now I'm telling you how my day was while eating crap soup. All in all, it was okay."

"Aww. Poor you. Are you gonna get him back?"

"Hehe. Oh yeah..."

Alia grinned and asked X to tell him what he had planned. He looked over at the Zero posse and saw that they had mostly dispersed. He whispered in her ear and she grinned even wider.

"Think it'll work, X?"

"If this doesn't, then nothing else will."

"All right, bout time! I still need to get him back for the time when I first joined up and asked him to show me where the dorms were and he led me into the men's locker room."

X held back a smirk as he tried to keep a straight face, because he had a part in that little joke.

"Yeah so, anyway I think I'm gonna go get some rest now. See ya later, X!"

"Goodnight!"

She flashed him a smile. As she walked out of the mess hall, X just stared at her. She was wearing a light green shirt, and matching pants. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, slim bangs in the front. He found himself staring at her more and more. Almost in a trance like state. Then the smell of trash soup reached his nose, and broke him out of his trance.

"Hmm. Maybe I should get some sleep as well." And with that, X was off to his own room.

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Cliffs
Time:
-05:39-

While the rookies of Scar's unit slept, Scar, Echo, and Blue, a mercenary who found them last night, stood watch. Blue was adjusting his weapons: a dual action pistol, plasma daggers, and a compact sniper rifle (SR-U001), which was a prototype weapon. He also had an eyepatch over his left eye. It glowed an eerie silver. Echo was busy punching the air, drawing her bladed tonfas every once in a while. Scar just sat in one spot, thinking about the mission. The sun was peeking over the horizon, as if it was sneaking a peek at the being in the forested cliffs.

"Scar........ Scar........"

"What do you want from me now?"

"Nothing, just to remind you, don't try anything you might regret later."

"Whatever."

"So. Scar, tell me, what's it like to have betrayed those who took you in..."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"

"Hehe. Just remember, I'm always watching you..."

"Hey, Scar, you ok? Not spazzin' out now, are ya?" Echo asked her Commander.

"............"

Echo had a sad expression on her face.

"...I'm fine, Echo..."

"Kay, just checkin'!"

"So, Echo, who are our targets?" Blue questioned in a firm, but casual tone.

She re-sheathed her blades, looked over towards the massive base. Turned her head and gave him a smirk...

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Hehe! Another chapter down! I'll have the next chapter up soon (more action in the upcoming chapters, I promise!) Cya!