I'm back, still looking for a beta reader.
The dark clouds that had been hanging ominously on the horizon began to move in towards the city. Meteorologists predicted that it would be a heavy storm of the likes not seen for many decades. But there was something else in the air. No one person could put his finger on it, but it was there. And for Maverick Hunters X and Zero, the atmosphere fit in perfectly with their mood and the report they were giving to Cain.
They stood in his office, the old commander of the hunters sat at his desk, listening intently on the events that transpired with Dan's reunion with his former fiancé. Occasionally he would ask a question about either one of the Hunters' opinions, but mostly stayed silent. When X and Zero had finished, Cain leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. X and Zero exchanged nervous glances. For a brief moment that morning, it seemed as if Dan would finally be able to overcome his seclusion and build a new life for himself. Now he would probably withdraw even more.
"This is not good." Cain said, breaking the silence, his voice uncharacteristically gruff.
"Dan's adjustment has come even sooner than I anticipated, most likely onset by the emotional trauma he went through." The old man grunted slightly as he stood up, leaning on his cane for support. He walked over to Sigma II's bowl and sprinkled a little bit of food for the goldfish in it.
"And this comes at the most inopportune time."
X looked at Dr. Cain questionably.
"How is that?" Cain sighed and looked at the two hunters with a grave appearance on his face.
"The press has been hounding me for a week now, trying their damnest to get an interview with 'the newly discovered protoreploid'. I've been holding them back, saying that I was still running tests, but no longer. If I don't show them Dan, they're going to raise hell in the courts."
X and Zero moaned in unison at the news.
"This is nuts." Zero shook his head back and forth. "If we throw Dan to the wolves now, they will tear him into pieces. Not to mention that extremist religious assholes will be up-in-arms about him as well." X nodded in agreement.
"And that's not even the worst of it," Cain began, "Emilius Cristoph of the GDC is demanding that I send him a profile of Dan as well. And we all know how much of a racist bigot he is." X and Zero nodded grimly.
Zero folded his arms across his chest and looked at the floor.
"So what do we do?" He asked without even looking up. Cain took a deep breath.
"At any rate we have to find Dan. I can hold off on Cristoph's demand for a while longer, so thank God for small favors."
"Do you have any idea where to find him," X asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Cain replied, walking over to the big monitor at the back of his office.
"I ran a check on Dan's last known address before whatever happened that made him a reploid." He explained as he called up a stored file.
"Is that legal," X queried. Cain shook his head.
"Not really but there was no other way for me to find out. After Mount St. Helens erupted, all other documentation was destroyed." The screen changed, showing an old map of the city before the eruption. A section in a condominium complex was highlighted.
"Now this," Cain began, "is where Dan's last place of residence was at. If we compare this with a current map of the city, we should get at least an idea of where he might have warped to." He punched in a few more entries and a ghost image of the current city appeared.
"Oh this is great," Zero said sarcastically. "He's in an abandoned apartment complex."
X suddenly snapped at his friend. "Zero would you knock it off?! We need to find him and find him soon." Zero and Cain stared in surprise at X's outburst. The Blue Bomber huffed once before turning around and heading towards the door. As it opened up, he stopped and looked at the floor.
"I know Dan doesn't think so, but as far as I'm concerned, he's my brother and the only family I've got." X turned and faced Cain and Zero who were just beginning to understand exactly how much this whole event was affecting him.
"Even if he doesn't want me too, I'm going to be there for him." And with that, X walked out the door.
Zero and Cain stood there in an uncomfortable silence for several moments. Zero then sighed and shook his head before turning towards Cain. "I'd better go with him." Cain nodded.
"I agree. Both Dan and X need emotional support although I fear that there'll be none for Dan." Zero nodded glumly before catching up with X.
The aged creator of the reploid race watched Zero exit his office. Sighing, he leaned on his walking cane and put a hand up to his throbbing forehead. 'I need a stiff drink.'
Zero looked around the hall outside of Cain's office. X couldn't have gone that far in this short a time. In fact, he spotted the Blue Bomber standing not far down the hall with his head resting against the wall. Zero walked over and stood by his friend in an uneasy silence. A silence that was only broken several moments later by X.
"Zero… I'm sorry about before. About snapping at you and Cain like that."
"Hey, it's alright pal," Zero replied with a shrug. "Everyone loses their cool now and then. Except when I do, heads usually roll; literally."
X smiled, ever so slightly.
"Yeah, I've seen that plenty of times." They both shared a short, tense laugh before returning to the matter on hand.
"We should get going soon, before the storm hits," Zero said, leaning on the wall next to X.
"I know. But the storm is what I'm concerned about now."
Zero nodded once, knowing that X was referring to the publicity that Dan would be forced to face.
X took a deep breath and stood up straight again. "We should change out of our armor and into something more casual. Anyone still living in that area of the city probably wouldn't react well to the sight of two fully armed Hunters."
"Good idea," Zero replied as he activated his warp generator. In seconds, he was changed into a pair of jeans, a white shirt, a bright red sweat jacket and large boots. X wore something similar except he had a plain grey jacket on and a blue baseball cap with the New York Yankees symbol on it.
Zero raised an eyebrow at the sight of the hat. "I thought you liked the Seattle Mariners," he asked. X shrugged his shoulders.
"I changed my mind. Now let's get going." And in a flash of red and grey light, X and Zero were gone.
The two Hunters rematerialized just outside of the building where Dan might've warped to. The building itself was gray, just like the surrounding neighborhood, its glass doors shattered long ago with the remaining pieces strewn about the surrounding ground. Several shops reminiscent of late twentieth-century cities stood silent and a cold wind blew through the empty streets. X and Zero reflexively pulled their jackets closer around their bodies.
"Let's get inside." X said with a hint of urgency in his voice that Zero didn't quite understand why was there.
"Be careful as we look Zero. Dan might've flipped completely and attack us."
"Last night I wouldn't have worried so much about that. But after seeing him punch through that duricrete wall a little while ago…" Zero let himself trail off as the implications were clear.
X was the first inside the abandoned complex. The check-in desk had a think layer of dust on it as did the mail slots and video monitors behind it. The place was in shambles, but still had the feeling of use for some reason. X guessed that some of the poorer residents of the city made their home here.
Zero's footsteps crunched the glass into even smaller pieces as he entered right behind X. They stood there in silence for a moment before Zero spoke up.
"How are we going to do this?"
"Floor by floor, I'll look in the right wing and you look in the left. We'll meet back here when we finish, alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
X could hear Zero opening each of the doors in his section. X in the meantime was just wandering around his area in a kind of zombie-like daze.
More out of an autonomic action, X opened the large double doors leading into the assembly room that residents once might've gathered and talked about the day's events over a cup of coffee. Now it was like the rest of the building; dark, dismal and dust covered, void of any furniture.
"Where are you Dan," X quietly asked himself. Turning around he went to look in the other areas. Each room was the same. The only things that could be found were scraps of newspapers from long ago, mice, roaches and other pests like that, and the occasional cardboard box left behind by the former occupant. And with each empty room, X began to get more and more desperate.
'Dammit Dan, don't do this. If you leave right now, the world will tear you into pieces before you far. You need our help.'
Zero popped his head past another door and looked around.
'Jeez is this place empty. And it's only the first floor. How many were there? Seven? Eight? Maybe I should go back outside and count.' He shook his head and left to look in another room.
"Dan why couldn't you have picked a better place to warp to…," Zero said to himself as he continued his search. He knew that Dan probably didn't realize what he did. Hell, before last night he didn't even know that he could take his helmet off.
Zero shook his head to clear it of his stray thoughts. 'Come on Zero, concentrate. Dan is X's friend. You have to find him, not get lost in your thoughts.'
X and Zero reconvened at the lobby. X was the first to speak up.
"Did you find him?"
"Nope. If he's here, he's on one of the upper floors."
X nodded his head. "Alright, we'll start checking them. The stairs are over this way." He said, motioning with his head in the stairs general direction.
"Let's get going then. I want to find Dan and get out of here as soon as possible."
X roughly stopped Zero with his hand. Zero stumbled back a step before looking at X in confusion.
"What the hell's wrong with you," X shouted with anger in his voice. "Dan needs our help. If we just leave him be then he won't survive this. I don't want to lose him Zero; he's my brother. And all you care about is getting back home."
Zero didn't have anything to say. There was nothing he could say to prove X wrong. He looked down at the floor.
"Yeah, you're right X. I didn't mean for it to sound like that but it's true." Then he looked up into his X's eyes. "But I do want to find him. He's a good person and I'd like to have him as friend." Then he gave X a slim smirk. "And after he gets used to his body, I'd like to run him through a few training sims." X sighed. "Knowing you, you'd put him through the level three beam saber course on his first time." Zero gave X a full blown grin.
"Now that you mention it, that wouldn't be a bad idea." The Blue Bomber shook his head.
"Let's save it for until AFTER we find him. Then we let him decide. He may not even want to be a Hunter."
The next hour was spent looking through an additional six floors. X was starting to think that Dan really had wandered off after he got there. He wasn't even sure if his mind could take it. No human could be warped because the reconstruction would scramble their brains and the person would become psychotic. It could only work on machines.
Zero opened the door to yet another identical room.
'Jesus Christ, are we ever going to find him?' He started closing the door and then he spotted something. The dust on the floor had recently been disturbed. Large reploid sized footprints lead into a back room just out of view.
"Holy cow… X! I think I found him!" X's footsteps came sounding through the hallway and he stopped just short of Zero.
"Where is he," X eagerly asked.
"In here," Zero replied, pointing at the footsteps.
X pushed Zero aside and slowly walked into the room. The footprints lead into an adjoining bedroom.
"Dan? Are you there?" X's voice was laden with worry; worry that was soon washed away by relief.
Dan was sitting in the corner of the room with his legs drawn up to his chest, slightly rocking back and forth. Occasionally what sounded like whistle emerged from his lips. X leaned back and motioned for Zero to come inside. Zero walked in and stood in the doorway while X kneeled beside Dan.
"Dan, are you okay?" X got no response.
"Come on Dan, let's get out of here and back to MHHQ. Cain's worried about you as well."
And then Dan stopped whistling and slowly turned his head to look at X. X's heart sunk to his feet when he looked into Dan's eyes.
Not even the slightest bit of light reflected in them. They were dead, even worse then the previous night.
"It's all my fault X… it's all my fault," Dan whispered just loud enough for X and Zero to hear.
"What're you talking about Dan? Nothing's your fault." X said with a small smile on his face hoping to make Dan feel better.
"Kate's dead… and it's all my fault. If I had just left her alone… then she wouldn't have died. It's all my fault…" He began to trail off and whistle again.
"Dan, listen me." X said, grabbing him roughly.
"It wasn't your fault. Yes, she was old. Yes, she might've had a heart condition. But it was not your fault. Kate was happy when she saw you. You knew that."
"It doesn't matter. Seeing me caused her death. It's all my fault."
X didn't know what to say. He couldn't think of anything to say that would snap Dan out of his trance.
"Dan I know exactly what you're feeling."
X looked back at Zero, leaning against the doorframe and looking down.
"Really? I fail to see how." Dan replied with bitterness starting to seep into his voice.
"During… the fourth Maverick Uprising a few months ago, I lost someone precious to me. Her name's Iris." Zero's eyes began to slightly mist.
"For weeks I was inconsolable, I spent all my time and money drowning my sorrow in cheap booze. You see Dan, I was forced to kill Iris. I didn't want to but if I didn't, she would kill me.
"Eventually with X's help, I began to realize I couldn't stay like that forever. I still had reasons to live. That's how I know what you're going through."
For a few moments, the room was silent.
"Okay, so maybe I was wrong," Dan said, his voice gaining some strength.
"And we're here to help you get through this Dan," X replied while he inwardly breathed in relief. "Come on, let's get out of here and back to MHHQ. It's safer there than it is out here."
X helped Dan off the floor. The man sighed and looked down.
"I don't even know how I got here, let alone how to get back."
"You got here by warping. Dr. Light gave you a warp generator as well."
"How did I use it?"
"Well… I don't know. What was the last thing you were thinking before you ended up here?"
"I was… wishing that I was home."
"Then why don't you try wishing yourself back in your room?" Zero suggested. Dan simply shrugged.
"Guess it's worth a shot."
Dan closed his eyes and concentrated hard. He pictured his room back at MHHQ. It wasn't working so he thought of specific details, a context. He thought about his bed, his nightstand, the clock, and the two weeks he spent there just staring into space… and in a feeling akin to pins and needles all over his body, he vanished in red light.
X and Zero both sighed heavily in relief.
"Well all things considered, that went rather smoothly, don't you think so X?" The Blue Bomber just nodded once.
"Yeah, all things considered. But we didn't tell Dan what he's facing when he gets back."
"If we did that, we wouldn't have been able to pry him loose. He's going to have one hell of a surprise."
"Then we should go and help him get prepared." Zero nodded in agreement.
After lingering around for a moment longer, the two hunters warped back as well, rematerializing just outside of Dan's room. X made the first move by opening the door. Inside, Dan was sitting on his bed again in the same exact way he spent the previous weeks. X felt his heart plummet again.
'Dammit Dan, don't do this again.' Glancing over at Zero, X knew that he was thinking along the same lines. Only he took a more direct approach to solving the problem. Taking only two steps forward, Zero grabbed Dan by the right shoulder, getting his attention.
"Come on, Cain wants to see you. It's important."
At first, Dan didn't react. He just sat there staring at Zero. Then he slowly got up and walked aimlessly out the door. Zero and X followed, guiding him down the hallways and to Cain's office. The good doctor had just finished downing a shot of Scotch when the trio entered the room. The door slid shut behind them and they walked up to his desk.
"You found him… good." Cain said with a very relieved voice. He looked at X and Zero.
"Did you tell him?" The two reploids shook their heads.
"Tell me what?" Dan interjected, sounding somewhat annoyed.
"I've been holding it off ever since I found your capsule Dan, but I can't any longer; the press wants an interview with you."
Suddenly Dan's face contorted with anger. "Fucking bastards!" Whirling around almost too fast for anyone to follow, Dan reared back his right fist and clocked Zero right across his chin. The Crimson Hunter was sent flying backwards, impacting the door. People walking outside jumped in surprise as Zero's body dented the entrance while inside he slumped to the floor unconscious.
Dan was about to do the same thing to X, but the reploid was prepared and with his combat experience and hand-to-hand training, easily blocked all the blows. But Dan still kept striking out at him.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU DAN!?!" X shouted out.
"YOU ASSHOLES LIED TO ME! PRETENDING TO SYMPATHIZE JUST SO YOU CAN GET ME BACK HERE!!" Tears started to well once more in Dan's eyes but his attack just got stronger. "YOU SAID ALL THAT BULLSHIT TO ME ABOUT KATE'S DEATH NOT BEING MY FAULT!"
"WE WEREN'T LYING! IT STILL ISN'T YOUR FAULT!"
"BUT YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME! YOU DON'T CARE…"
Dan slowly stopped punching as he broke out in heavy sobs. "You don't care… you don't…" He finally stopped throwing his fists and fell onto his knees, burying his face in his hands. X shut his eyes and turned away. He hated seeing Dan like this.
"Dammit… God dammit!" X punched the wall once. 'This isn't fair! Dan should be back with his ex-fiancée, not here at MHHQ!'
Dr. Cain sighed heavily and put a hand up to his forehead once again.