Zypher: Thank you everyone for your reviews. Please enjoy this chapter.
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Midnight Visitor
Chapter 6
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Axl looked up when he heard Zero came back and smiled softly. He smiled as well and walked over to the bed and held out the cup of hot chocolate. "Here." Zero said and Axl took the cup and drank it slowly. "Thanks Zero. I'm glad you're always here for me." Axl said.
"There is a reason why I'm always here for you." Zero said. Axl looked to him curiously. "Why?" Axl questioned. 'Just tell him. Diamond said that he loves me just as well so why does it seem so hard?' Zero thought before he looked to him.
"I love you, Axl. Ever since you became part of our team, you have changed me for the better. But I have feared that you may not like me that way so I never revealed my feelings to you. And now, you are in danger and I will protect you cause if you die or if I die, I would never have another chance like this." Zero confessed.
Axl smiled and placed the cup down before getting out of bed and ran over to him, hugging him. "Oh, Zero! You don't know how long I waited for this. I was afraid that you wouldn't like me either but now that I know I can tell you that I love you as well." Axl said. Zero smiled and hugged him back before he made a move to pick him up and walked over to the bed and sat down, Axl sitting in his lap.
"I am glad that you return my feelings, Axl. I don't know what I would do if you didn't." Zero murmured and Axl cuddled up closer to him. "I don't know what I would do either if you didn't like me back either Zero." Axl whispered softly. Zero smiled and continued to hold him. Soon enough they both fell asleep in each other's arms and Diamond came in to check on them later on.
She smiled softly. 'I knew it would work out in the end. I glad you're both are happy.' Diamond thought before she left to head to her room. But too soon, a glaring figure sat outside their window. 'You will pay for this, Zero. Axl is mine.'
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The next day, Axl woke up and smiled as he was wrapped in Zero's arms. He slipped out quietly and went to look outside for a bit. Zero woke up a few minute later and found out Axl wasn't in bed with him and he got up, seeing him by the window. He got up from the bed as well and walked over to him silently before he wrapped his arms around him.
"How was your night, Axl?" Zero asked. "It was great since I was sleeping next to my lover." Axl said happily. Zero smiled and leaned down to kiss him softly. Axl returned the kiss whole-heartedly, wrapping his arms around Zero's neck. They shared the rest of the morning together before they thought it was time to head down to the café to get some breakfast.
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Diamond sat in the conference room with X, Spider, Massimo, Marino and Cinnamon. "Let me get this straight. A chimera reploid is out to take over Hunter Base and kill Absolute Zero along with the rest of us and keep Axl for themselves?" X said as he looked to her.
"That's basically it. I don't know where he came from or why he wants to do all this but it might be because we defeated Epsilon." Diamond said. "But how? We didn't see any trace of him when we went back to the Lagrano Ruins for a routine check." Massimo pointed out.
"Well, my guess is that he has been hiding somewhere that you guys haven't explored yet and was automatically released to do what he had planned and not follow Epsilon. He could have planned to take care of Epsilon himself I bet." she spoke.
"So, we need to keep a closer eye on Axl now?" Cinnamon asked. "Yes. I know him and he doesn't want to be used in a way that may hurt his friends. Especially Zero since he confessed his feelings to him last night." she said which shocked everyone. "He finally did!? That's great! You don't know how long I have to hear Zero whine about Axl rejecting his feelings and he normally doesn't whine about anything." Marino said.
"Well, it wouldn't matter now. The only thing we might have to worry about is hearing Axl scream his lungs out at night." Diamond said and they laughed. Once they stopped laughing, Spider turned to X. "Now that everything's settled, what are we going to do about this chimera?" Spider asked.
"Well, he only tries to make a break in at night which is when Absolute Zero will watch over Axl. I know that much. So I suggest that we have someone guard outside and if they see anyone flying overhead that look unidentified, alert the other and Z." X said.
"I'll take tonight's shift. I want to make sure that Axl is hurt no more. I know he has already lost a friend to the maverick virus." Massimo murmured. Diamond looked down, remembering what happen a few years back, before this mess with Epsilon and when she met with Axl and his friend Maturi who was like him in a way. Gentle but a sharp shooter which happened to be his nickname.
-Flashback-
Axl and Maturi sat in the rain outside of Red Alert headquarters. They escaped before Red got to them. He became a maverick and almost killed him if it wasn't for Maturi blocking the blow that was to kill him. He was lucky to still be alive but Axl was worried that the virus could have affected him.
"Maturi, we need to find somewhere else to go. I can't stand to be out here any longer or my systems might fry because of the rain." Axl said as he looked to the blue and red sphinx reploid beside. "I know but where can we go? We can't go back into Red Alert without getting ourselves killed and there is not another headquarters for a few miles." Maturi said, getting up.
Axl did as well, starting to feel cold from standing in the rain so long. "Well, we have to do our best. At least we can find a shelter somewhere around here." Axl said, climbing onto his back. "Come on, let's get moving." Axl said and he nodded as he walked away from their old home.
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Diamond sat outside, watching Zero and Flazer train. "Zero, Flazer, it's pouring out here, we should head back inside." she called. "We can't. We have to be prepared for anything that could happen to us. Especially another maverick attack." Zero said as he stopped his sparring with Flazer to look at her. She sighed, remembering the last attack. X had gotten severely injured and was in the med lab now.
"Well, I'm going to head inside…" she stopped as she saw something over the horizon. It looked like two people walking this way. "Hey, whose that?" she asked as they turned to look in her direction.
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Maturi was getting fatigued. He didn't know how long he walked but Axl was either asleep on his back or knocked out from the cold. He couldn't hold him up longer since the wound he gotten wasn't treated yet and he was getting weaker by the second. He saw a building up ahead but he fell unconscious before he could reach the gates.
They saw them collapse and she gasped. "Oh no! We should go help them, Zero!" she cried. "Why should we? They could be mavericks for all I know." Zero murmured. "Gods, why do you have to be so cold to everyone?" she growled as she ran inside and soon came back out on one of the Barius ride chasers and left through the opened gate.
Zero and Flazer watched her before he sighed. "Come on, Flazer, we better go help her before she gets herself killed." Zero muttered as he went inside as well, the red sphinx reploid following behind him. Soon, they left out on another two Barius ride chasers.
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She stopped beside the fallen Maturi and got off the Barius, looking down to him and Axl. "You poor things. I need to get you two back to MHHQ." she whispered as she lifted up Axl and placed him on the back of her ride chaser and looked up to see Zero and Flazer stopping beside her. Flazer looked down to Maturi and picked him up, placing him on the back of his Barius and climbed on.
"Come on, we better get these two back to headquarters and into the med lab." Flazer said and Diamond nodded as they headed back and took Axl and Maturi to the med lab.
"Well, this is something I never seen before. They both seemed to be a new type of reploid. Their circuits and armor are completely different. I might still be able to fix them though." Gaudile said as he looked over Axl and Maturi. "They have been out in the rain for a long time so you should check in within a few days if not a week." He finished as he looked over to Diamond, Zero and Flazer.
"Ok, I'll come back tomorrow to see how they're doing since I know someone might not do so." she said as she looked to Zero and Flazer. But she didn't know that she was wrong for once about the two.
Later that night, Flazer and Zero were having an argument with the alter egos; Flared Agony and Absolute Zero. /Come on, Zero, it won't hurt to at least know the kid./ Z countered back. -Yeah, I think the two of them deserve a friend.- Flared added.
"So, I can care less about the kid. He just going to be here until they're healed and then they can go find somewhere else to go. X isn't going to approve of this and neither are we." Zero murmured.
/So? I am a part of you, Zero, and I know you like the boy./ Z said. Zero shook his head as he laid down on his bed. "Let's just forget about it. The kid will not mean anything to me anytime soon and you are not going to convince me otherwise." he murmured as he fell asleep, Flazer doing the same after telling Flared the same as well.
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A few weeks later, Diamond walked over to the med lab with X. He was informed about the new reploids and told Diamond to tell him about what happens with them as the days passed. Soon enough, they were awake and he went along with Diamond to see them. When they entered the med lab, Gaudile looked up. "Ah, Diamond, X. Glad you have come." Gaudile said.
"How are they?" Diamond asked. "The boy's fine but I'm worried about the other. It seems he has gotten an unidentified virus that I can't get rid of and it slowly turning him into a maverick but there is no sign that he is becoming that." Gaudile said.
"Oh no," she whispered as she looked to the sleeping Maturi. "Well, this is bad. We can't keep them here if one happens to have the maverick virus. We have to let them go and find somewhere else to stay." X said.
"No! Please X, don't send them back out there. They seem to have no home and where are they to live if we send them out? The next city is 95 miles away and New Hope is on alert for anymore mavericks and they will be sent to jail if they get caught." she said. X sighed. "Alright, alright. They can stay. Gaudile, see if you can find a way how to get rid of the virus. Diamond, the boy shall stay with you." X said and she nodded.
In the med lab, they heard everything and Axl looked over to Maturi. "Great, we almost got kicked out. I knew something was going to happen after that hit Red gave you." Axl whispered. Maturi sighed. "I hoped this wouldn't happen to me. I wanted to save you because you should have lived your life to the fullest. We don't know where we came from and Red was like a father to both of us before he turned maverick. Now I'm turning maverick too. Hopefully Gaudile can find a cure for me." Maturi said as Diamond came into the room.
"So, what is your name?" Diamond asked, looking to Axl. "I'm Axl and my friend over there is Maturi. Do you think Gaudile will find a cure?" Axl asked. "I hope so, I don't want nothing to happen to your friend, Axl. Well, come on, you have to stay with me while Gaudile tries to find a cure for Maturi." she said and Axl nodded as he got up.
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Zero watched Axl as he stood outside, training with Diamond. She was new to his style of fighting but was able to set up targets for him to use. /See? I told you that you like the boy. Why don't you tell him?/ Z asked. "How can I tell him when I don't accept? I don't like him and even if I did, how would I know if he would even like me back, more or less like men?" Zero said in defense.
That kept Z quiet for a while and Zero was glad to not hear anything for his alter ego when he heard a loud crash in the direction of the med lab. He started running for the lab, hoping that no one was hurt and he looked around the destruction. "Gaudile! Gaudile, where are you?!" Zero called.
Gaudile came up from a pile of rubble, rubbing his head. "Zero, is that you?" the platypus reploid asked as he got out of the rubble. "Yeah. What happened here?" he asked. "I was working on the cure for the virus when the boy came out from the room and destroyed the place. I think the virus is affecting him now." Gaudile said as he shifted his goggles.
"I better warn X. I told him to not let them stay. He should have gotten rid of them after they were healed." Zero grumbled as he ran from the room and to X's office.
Diamond looked up when she heard someone burst through the doors. Axl looked up in shock. "Maturi?" Axl whispered. Maturi's gentle blue eyes were now red with fury and he has his two blasters out, ready to shoot them.
"I think the virus has affected him. We can't stop him now except if we kill him." Diamond whispered and Axl looked up to her with saddened eyes. "I don't want to kill him. He's my only friend compared to everyone else here that hates me and him." Axl murmured.
"Don't worry, Axl, I'm will be your friend but right now, we need to take care of him before he destroys headquarters." she said as she pulled out her DoubleTooth Black Saber and ran at the maverick. He growled and flung her back with a well-aimed bullet to her chest plate and she groaned in pain, glad that the bullet didn't pierce her armor.
"Please! Maturi! Don't do this!" Axl cried, trying to reason with his longtime friend. "I can't follow that order. My mission is to kill. I never had a friend and I will never have the person that I loved!" Maturi snarled as he shot at Axl who dodged the bullets. "Who? Who are you talking about?!" Axl asked as Maturi stepped closer to him. "Flazer," he whispered.
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Zypher: Sorry for the cliffhanger. Please review if you want to know the rest of the flashback.
Note: If you're wondering about Absolute Zero being an alter ego, he's only like this for this story only.