Nope, never played X4; I started playing with X7, and I never beat that one. smirk

For all of you (three or four) people that are actually finding my story interesting, I present to you a slightly odd semi-pointless battle scene! The first in the whole story! Everybody say woot!

Cricket chirp

Um...yeah... Well then, on with the show! And yeah, because this is a fight scene, there will be plenty blood, but it's not too heavy on the gore part, so it kinda balances itself out... Kinda.

Salvation

Chapter 3: Ultima

Considering the fact that Maverick base was stationed on the outermost reaches of an inhospitable desert, it was amazing what beauty could be found on the northernmost tip of base property. Where the metal ended and nature began there seemed to be a lull in time. In this lull was a small stream of crystal clear drinking water surrounded by what looked to be ten foot thick fields of flowers.

Zero simply watched Allure play, his breath taken by the beauty of the place. Activating his free thought and emotions had come at a price – namely the nightmares that haunted him from time to time – but the cost seemed well worth it to simply sit here and be able to understand why humans loved the small specs of white called flowers.

Zero's eyes narrowed as a cloud began to form on the horizon. He focused as close to the storm's front edge as possible. And his results left him no other choice than to curse, hard.

"Allure, back inside, now." Zero ordered. Allure stopped for a second. She'd seen Zero shift through many a mood swing over the past three weeks; however, suddenly taking on Forte's role was one she had not expected.

"How come?"

A plasma blast exploded near her left.

"Because of that," Zero answered deadpan. Allure's eyes looked down into the gaping hole, and did the only thing which came to mind. She gulped. Looking back up at her crimson protector, she smiled lightly.

"I guess somebody forgot to feed his pets."

Zero's eyes were locked too deep within the coming sea of battle Reploids to catch the smile accompanying the war-born joke.

"Come on." he ordered. Allure quickly took his hand, and before long, she was being carried in his still handcuffed arms, plasma blasts littering the field around her. Once inside, she was dropped to the ground in a somewhat dainty-less manner.

"And that was the last garden too..." Allure pouted.

"Hey, Zero!"

Zero's eyes snapped up to find one of the younger Reploids that seemed to have grown fond of his strength of character and legendary fighting skills racing towards him. The boy tossed him a single silver-wrapped, four prong electric key.

"Signas' orders! He wants the base evacuated, and he wants it done ten minutes ago. Me, you, and ah couple other choice members from other units are going to be going out as decoys. We're to hold them off till the humans and medical staff is underway, then warp to the secondary location."

"Lucky you, probation came earl-y!" Allure did not have time to finish her sentence as Forte suddenly appeared out of no where. He hoisted her up in his arms, a feat that Allure was far too used to by now.

"Good luck," Was all he had time to say before the walls blockading the desert from the base exploded into shrapnel. Zero put his hands up in a defensive move, blocking his face and torso from receiving a deadly impalement. Forte simply vanished in a burst of speed, leaving the familiar, echoing question in the back of Zero's mind. Exactly how fast, and more importantly, how strong was Forte, really?

The Reploid youth that had stood besides Zero seemed to be just as lucky, though under different circumstances, for he had had the body of a former ally, headless and unrecognizable, to block the blows. The youth's face notably turned a shade greener.

"First live fight?" Zero questioned. He, having been the cause of many such fatalities, was used to the sight. Absentmindedly, he thanked whatever divine power watching over Allure for sparing her the sight of the already bloody battle. His thoughts were interrupted by the young Reploid turning over and barfing out what little bit of fluid he had in his artificial stomach.

"Y-Yeah..." the boy whispered, whipping his mouth clean with the back of his hand.

Zero took a few moments to acquaint himself with his new battle ally. He was young, perhaps around twelve years of activation time at the very most. He only had what appeared to be half a helmet that covered only his forehead with its centerpiece being a large blue glass gem. His red-orange hair was done in a combination rat nest/spiked style, giving Zero the impression that he was normally a laid-back type of boy. The boy's primary deep royal blue, almost black armor was indistinguishable from his light silver body suit, making it look as if he wore one single suit of armor. He did have some alternative colorings, though, in the form of a crimson red vertical stripe that started at his shoulders and continued down to his boots and white gloves over his hands.

The boy's now frightened bright green eyes looked up at Zero.

"I...I think I know him... Or, uh, knew him..."

Zero tossed the handcuffs aside. A single mental thought later and his saber was in his hands, its ire green glow adding another layer of sickly color to the boy's face.

"Are... Are you really the demon? The one that slew a thousand Mavericks in one strike, and took down the best Maverick of them all, Sigma?"

"Sigma was a fool trying to overcompensate for something I'd rather not go in to now. How old are you?" Zero's question made he boy sit back in shock.

"Uh...um... Five years fully active. Uh, I mean..."

"Just call me Zero." Zero ordered the boy. So this kid was just a year older than Allure? Something about that seemed wrong to Zero -- he'd have to have a talk with one of Allure's uncles as soon as he got to standby base one.

"Get up, stop staring, and stay close."

The boy got to his feet slowly, Zero's words not yet having time to take effect.

"Stay close?!" the boy echoed.

Another explosion echoed out before them. A piece of stone as large as a semi flew towards the two. Zero cleaved it into quarters in what looked like one slice, easily disarming the threat. The boy's eyes were wide on Zero as he turned back to face him.

"Stay. Close." He repeated, this time with a firm commanding tone hidden deep within his voice. "And," he stopped again, turning back to face the shaky boy, "What's your name?"

"A-Axl, sir... I...I'm assigned to Maverick Unit Three..." Axl was too scared to wonder why he stated which unit he belonged in, he just did.

"Weapons?" Zero said this as he cleaved an attacking battle Reploid in half, cutting it neatly down the middle and forming two perfect 'V's from its once solid 'W' shaped control matrix. Axl was snapped back to reality when Zero snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"L-Low caliber mark two... m-mega buster..." and as proof, he shakily summoned the weapon to his hand. Zero released a sigh at the boy's crowdedness.

"Why are you on the defense team and not with the evacuees?" His demand seemed to strike a nerve within the young boy.

"I am not going to allow those bastards," he paused so as to seemingly blindly fire his weapon into several advancing enemies' head units, sufficiently killing them all with one shot per 'bot, "To live with what they've done to this world! It used to be just like that little garden, the whole globe filled with flowers and beauty, and then these jackasses had to come in and ruin it!"

Zero arched an eyebrow at the boy for, combined with his own natural combat skills, the duo had slain at least twenty of the attackers.

"So that's why he sent you to the front line." Zero whistled.

"Huh?" Axl, notably lost, blinked.

"You just killed about ten," as he spoke Axl let off another panicked shout and shot down yet another enemy, "Make that eleven Wilybots during our little chat."

And during this same chat, the duo had progressed so that they were standing in the ruins of what had been the garden Allure had occupied only a few short moments ago. The place was no longer a model of heaven; it was more like a model of hell complete with fireballs and a pitchfork wielding sadist. And if you were to count Zero, the count would then be two weapon holding sadists and one innocent five year old boy in a twelve year old boy's body.

The sadist in question was a towering powerhouse of fire and brimstone. Full body armor the color of fresh-spilled blood, the skull of a giant ram serving as his helmet, and what looked like the pelt of the giant ram with the flesh sill attached to the fur draping off his shoulders, mixing with the blood of the dead and dying that flowed in place of the pristine river. His weapon of choice was a simple pitchfork. It was only upon closer inspection that the pitchfork was reviled to truly be a 'W' shaped branding iron glowing so hot, a volcano looked cooler. At full height, the being towered above even Signas, and his branding iron was at least two feet taller than he was. The sadist's width was almost equal to his height.

Axl gulped, backing up slightly in an effort to escape the shadow of the monster. Zero held his ground. He knew this opponent, seeing as he had once fought alongside him for a grand total of twenty years.

"Hold your ground, kid." Zero whispered back.

"A-A-Are you k-k-kidding?!" Axl gulped. Zero didn't blame the boy for being scared. This was, after all, his first battle. The sadist released a booming laugh that muted the cries of the dying around him.

"Zero, old fool! You managed to escape I see! Sorry about the delay, buddy, but we had a hell of a time tracking you."

"Shut up, Demos." Zero barked. Demos seemed taken aback.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said shut up. You are a fat old fool working for," Zero glanced back at Axl, who was currently exchanging worried looks between the giant and the demon, and decided to substitute his vocabulary of choice with, "An old mental Fart that deserves to rot like that ram skin you have a habit of bloodying up."

"Ah, Zero old pall, that hurts! Here I am, coming on Master Wily's direct orders to come and get you out of these pipsqueaks' company, and that's what you say to me?"

Demos easily reached over and flicked Axl in the head with his forefinger. The boy's helmet came flying off as if it had wings of its own, and Axl himself went skidding back at lest ten feet.

"I feel almost betrayed!"

"Then you can tell that old Fart my decision is made." Zero's eyes narrowed. He quickly moved back next to the struggling Axl, positioning himself directly in front of the addled boy.

Oh great, Axl thought to himself, I am going to die. He's gone turn-coat again, hasn't he? The demon's going to slay me like he did Sigma...

"I'm a Maverick now."

Axl's head snapped up to stare shocked holes into the back of Zero's helmet. Had the demon really just said that aloud? Apparently the goliath sadist had the same reaction as Axl.

"...You want to repeat that, buddy?"

Zero's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and for a split second they seemed to glow blood red.

"I. Am. A. Maverick."

Zero lashed into action while the echo of his words played across the field. His sword was high above his head, just waiting for a chance to drink in the blood of the former ally. His jump was poorly calculated, either that or he had been too confident in his abilities to remember Demos' weak spot, for when he was only an inch away from the monstrosity's head, a giant hand came up and backhanded him as if he was nothing more than an annoying fly. The Demon Hunter went flying through the air like a robin without wings, and landed like a rock ten feet behind Axl. And he didn't move once from the imprint-shaped hole he left in the ground.

Axl stared, wide eyed. Demos slowly stomped towards him. The giant picked his steps carefully, insuring that the bodies of both friends and foes littering the ground were crunched with the same maniacal, repetitive sound under the heel of his giant foot.

"You," Demos' voice echoed through Axl's ears.

Well, Axl, you got yourself into this mess. Now stand up and take it like a Reploid! Axl cheered himself on while meekly getting up to his feet. Another step forced him to add, Either that or take it like a mouse and run!

He couldn't, Axl realized with some great horror. His escape was blocked off by over a thousand of the remaining battle troops surrounding him and what appeared to be the corpse of Zero. Fear was the only weapon he had left.

"If you renounce the Maverick Rebellion and reveal the cause of my buddy's illness, I'll let you live." Demos echoed. He came closer to the dark blue ant with every towering step.

Axl stood for a moment. His right hand still clenched the low caliber megabuster in its shaking grip. He was without his helmet, without way to retreat, and without hope. Something within him seemed to rise, to break free of a long, drawn out five year prison of domesticity and silence, at these revelations. Hell, if the Demon Hunter had managed to stand without fear so could he!

As if the demon himself heard the boy's thoughts, Zero stirred in his self-made grave.

"No."

Demos stopped. Zero stirred again.

"What was that, little man?"

"I said no." Axl hid his eyes from the giant.

"Maybe I should refresh your memory. The last and best hope you had of leaving here alive just died in one hit! Everyone else in this pathetic base is dead! Dead, you hear me?!" Demos' furry was second only to the burning power that echoed through Axl's eyes when he revealed them. Demos seemed taken aback at the furry coming from the imp at a strength that rivaled his own.

"That's where you're right, and where you're wrong!"

"...A-Allure...?" Those familiar words caused Zero to struggle to a sitting position just in time to catch the last of Axl's short speech.

"I may not be the toughest guy in the force, but I'm still a fighter through and through! Die, jackass!!" Axl lifted his blaster up towards the brute's head, the same spot Zero had targeted, and opened relentless fire. Demos stood unfazed.

"Die, pipsqueak!"

The branding iron came down full force. It landed between Axl's eyes, embedding the tip of the upside-down 'W' in the center of his forehead. Steam poured forth as the mark was branded, arching down near the boy's eyes and burrowing itself deep within the flesh of his forehead. Axl released a shrill scream of echoing pain, the force of the attack finally shoving him off the iron. He skidded across the ground, somehow managing to stay on his feet the whole while. His hands plastered his forehead, covering the still red hot mark as if in an effort to both confirm the source of his pain and force it to cool.

All this while, within the mind of the demon, a small four year old human girl was taking the damage instead of the twelve year old looking boy. Right as Axl's scream pierced his ears, the image was replaced with reality. Reploid blood was seen trickling down Axl's arms, escaping through the crack in his fingers. He dropped his weapon as he slowly sank to the ground. Once on his knees, he sat their, motionless, pressing both hands against his face to swallow the sobs of pain that threatened to escape him.

"NO!!"

Zero was upon his feet in a matter of seconds. A blood red aura pierced his armor, dyeing it a true blood red hue. His hair turned an even lighter blond, now looking more bleach blond than true blond. And his eyes, and the fire they carried within them... Axl dared to push his fingers back just long enough to see through red tint that the demon now truly looked his namesake, blood red eyes and all.

"Demos! Your fight was with me, not with the boy!"

Demos moved back in complete and total fear.

"You should know better than all the other Generals combined that I do not die in single hit combat! Stunned for a time, yes, but I never die in single hit combat!"

"Ah shit... He's using his Ultima form..." Demos whispered. Axl watched in painful awe as the changing Zero stomped forward with the wrath and furry of the Lord of Hell himself.

"And now, Demos, you have royally pissed me off!!" Zero's saber returned to his hand. It ignited once again, this time burning through its base in a true blood red glow.

"Y-You can't get pissed off! You...You can't even access that form without...without...!" Demos stammered back in shock.

"Without a command to do so, or emotions to guide my rage, is that what you're trying to say?" Zero's face split into a truly sadist grin.

"It's about time you noticed a difference, you big fat bastard! A difference in me that goes far deeper my flesh, coming straight from the very marrow of my awakened soul. You can tell Wily that his toy puppet just cut his own strings."

Demos' fat mouth had gotten him into the most dangerous situation he had ever entered in. The Demon Zero was before him in one flash, then behind him in the next. A giant bowling ball formed from what used to be a head wearing the skull of a giant ram for a helmet was suddenly plopped at the giant's feet, and a brand new river of blood turned the soil and even redder shade of blood brown.

"I promised myself that one day I'd clean his mouth out." Zero snickered to himself. He replaced the saber back in the charging unit over his left shoulder. Then, like a lightning bolt from hell, Axl's quick but soft yip of pain as he tried to finger the extent of his first battle wound yet again caught his attention.

"Ah crap, Axl!"

How exactly Zero had managed to cover over twenty feet in less than two seconds without warping later astounded the boy. At the present moment, Axl was too busy trying to hold back further tears of pain for two major reasons. One: even though his tears had no salt, they still hurt like hell in an open wound. Two: crying was for babies, and with the demon himself standing before him, Axl was not about to look like a baby.

Zero's somehow gentle hands slowly grasped his own. Axl pushed his hands tighter against his face.

"Axl, let me see it." Axl locked his arms into place.

"N-No...It... It isn't that bad..."

Zero instantly knew that the boy was crying. With Axl being a typical young boy, crying was seen as 'girly' and an act of being a 'cry baby'. Axl obviously had yet to factor into the equation that he had been hit in the head by a branding iron glowing at full power.

"Axl, you were branded with Demos' branding iron. Not even I could take that kind of punishment without screaming my head off like a little girl. You're tougher than I am for just being able to stand up after taking that kind of a hit to the face." Zero explained calmly. His words seemed to work, and slowly Axl revealed his eyes. They were red with tears of pain, thankfully nothing more and nothing less.

"R-Really? You...You're not just saying that to get me to take my hands off? A-Are you...?" Axl whispered. Up close and personal, the changed Zero looked to Axl like a red eyed bleached blond haired angel of death. A kind, heroic angel of death, called down to the mortal plane to help instead of take away.

"No, Axl, I'm not. Now let me see that wound." Zero answered truthfully.

"O-Okay... But if it's a wimpy wound, promise you won't tell anybody I...c-cried?" Axl's hands were pulled down before he got his answer.

"Axl,"

"Yeah?"

"If anybody calls this wimpy, tell them to see me and I will personally define wimpy with my own version of kicking their arise."

"But...but that'd kill 'em... Wouldn't it?"

"Compared to how this looks, dying by loss of blood is a wimpy way to die."

Axl's face notably palled, although it was hard tell through all the blood smeared over the boy's wound. In all truth, only half of the iron had left its mark, creating a surprisingly even 'V' mark on his forehead. How he had managed to doge the remainder of the mark, Zero did not know and frankly did not care. He took his blessings where he got them, especially when it came to Demos' iron. Axl had second degree burn marks and third degree burn marks leading from the edge of his nose straight up to the point of the upside-down 'V'. The point itself seemed to be the worst. A hole had been ripped open in his forehead with the point of the iron, making it akin to something close to a zero, or worse than first, degree burn coupled with a small river of blood racing down the burns and straight towards his chin.

"We need to get you looked at. Now." Zero's voice left no room for argument.

"M-My helmet?"

Axl's request was more like a question in regards to the condition of the ill-fated item. Zero noticed it lying a few feet away. He got up, quickly retrieved it, and returned. Axl winced. The jewel in the center had been smashed to simple pieces of glass. However, there was one tiny shard of hope. He reached inside and withdrew a data crystal.

"What's that?" Zero questioned.

"A-A data recording...of..." Axl gulped.

"Of?"

"...Personal...things..." Axl explained.

"So long as it's not questionable content, I won't confiscate it." Zero sighed.

"It's not! And besides, you don't really have the authority to confiscate it." Axl countered.

"I do if I tell one of Allure's uncles." At the blank looked he added, "Commander X and Commander Blues." The reaction was a simple gulp of fear. "Right. Can you transmit a message saying we're about to warp?" Axl slowly opened a panel on his left arm. He punched a few buttons before closing the panel again.

"...O-Okay..." Axl was beginning to feel exhaustion taking its toll on him. He'd be a wimp if he passed out now. Never mind the fact he was suffering from sever burns and loss of blood.

"Hang in there, kid." Zero returned to normal just as the warp began.

"Hang in there..."

-----

Iniora: My explanation for Axl's scar.

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