Welcome to chapter two! As I said in chapter one, this chapter may have a few unexpected surprises, but I can promise nothing. Wish me luck and don't forget to review when you're done!
Disclaimer::looks self over: I don't look like the kind of person that would own Megaman… So don't sue me, please… (I forgot this in the first chapter…oops)
ONWARD!
Zero finished off the rest of his ice cream with a gulp before he looked at the grinning Axl.
"Why would they say that?" he asked carefully. Axl shrugged.
"I dunno. I guess they thought that it was weird that I reacted differently to ice cream then they all did," he answered innocently as he watched a butterfly pass. Zero watched him intently. Could the ice cream somehow interact with his circuits to make a strange reactions?
"Alright then… Axl, you ready to head back?" the blond asked after a while. Axl nodded and jumped to his feet with high energy.
"Yep! Let's go!" he said as he began skipping down the road that led back to HQ. Zero followed at a slightly slower pace, wondering what Axl could have meant by 'too hyper' and worse yet, 'giddy'…
"Zero! Hurry up!" Axl called over his shoulder as he jumped in the air, clearing a little old lady, who screamed and just about had a heart attack. Zero muttered an apology for the boy as he passed the woman, who was clutching her chest and breathing hard. He walked passed her at a quick pace to try and catch up to the younger reploid, who was chasing birds halfway down the street.
"Axl! Slow down and wait for me!"
Zero sat on his couch, head back and eyes closed. He'd gotten back with Axl and just sent the boy to the training center, hoping to burn off some of his energy. He'd then gone back to his own room to mull over the reaction that Axl had to the ice cream.
The reploid was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the door open and close. He didn't realize that someone was in the same room as him until he felt someone sit on his lap.
Green eyes snapped open to look into a pair of blue ones. He let out a slight gasp as the Blue Bomber leaned against his chest.
"X?" Zero stammered out.
"Hmm?"
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking…"
Zero stared down at the floor hair that was up against his chest. He'd figured that X had felt something for him, but he had never thought he'd actually do something about his feelings.
"Thinking about what?" Zero asked quietly, his arms at his sides. He was trying to fight the urge to push X away while fighting the urge to wrap his arms around the Blue Bomber.
"Axl…" was the reply.
"Axl?" Zero questioned, interest perked. "Why Axl?" X didn't answer for a few moments.
"He's been acting strange ever since you two got back from your outing. Where did you go anyway?" the reploid asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Zero could have sworn he detected a bit of jealousy as well.
"We went out for ice cream. That's all. I'm suppose to buy him ice cream every day for a month," Zero said simply as X nuzzled farther into his chest. The flaxen haired reploid didn't respond.
"Ice cream? Why do you owe him ice cream…?"
"How has he been acting strange?" Zero asked, ignoring X's question.
"He was giggling all night… It kind of scared me," X said. Zero blinked. So maybe Axl had been affected by the ice cream… a little bit at least.
"Giggling huh? Anything else?" Zero pressed. X thought for a minute, savoring his time with his best friend.
"Not really… He kept talking about how you took him out," X said quietly, a slight growl in his voice. Zero would have chuckled at X's anger, if he wasn't pressed against his lap and other, more precious regions.
"Hmm… interesting… X…?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Axl had some sorta reaction to the ice cream," Zero said.
"Sort of," X corrected him. Zero sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. C'mon, lets go find Axl and see if he's normal yet."
"Come on," X corrected again.
"Whatever!"
"Axl! Put that down!"
"No! You can't make me!"
"Drop that!"
"NO WAY!"
A group of reploids was trying to get Axl to drop the cooler he had snatched from the kitchens. Why a reploid facility had a kitchen was beyond anyone's knowledge, but they did, and Axl had snatched a case or two of beer. Actually, it was closer to four kegs.
"Axl! You can't have those!"
"Wanna bet!"
"Those don't belong to you young man!"
"You're too young to drink!"
"Says who? Maybe I five million and a half!"
Zero walked into the room and his mouth fell open. Axl was perched on top of a couple of stacked tables, clutching the kegs that he had stolen.
"AXL YOU DROP THOSE NOW!" he screamed across the room. Everyone froze at the sound of the pissed off reploid's voice. No one, no one, dared make Zero angry. And only then did everyone realize that those where Zero's kegs.
The red-haired teenager froze and dropped the kegs, which rolled across the floor, coming to a stop at the wall. Zero snarled and slowly stalked forward so that he was just before Axl.
"Get. Down. Now."
Of course the boy complied, but he stumbled off the tables and landed on the floor at Zero's feet. The blond grabbed him by a handful of spiky hair and pulled him to his feet.
"Why. Did. You. Take. The. Beer?" Zero said very quietly, and very slowly. Axl stared at the floor.
"Because it was funny… to watch them all chase me around…" he mumbled. Something inside of Zero snapped and his hand shot out and wrapped around the poor boy's throat.
"How 'bout I rip off your head? That would be funny as hell!" he snarled with a grin of impossible widths. Axl looked at him with pure horror, as did all the other reploids. But to save their own hides, they hightailed it out of there.
"Z-Zero! I'm sorry that I--hck!"
He was cut off as Zero tightened his hold, stopping Axl's air supply (A/N: Do reploids breathe?) The blond chuckled insanely as he moved his mouth near Axl's ear.
"You've done it now," he whispered in a dangerously cold voice. "Now, you'll die…"
Axl's eyes widened as he fought for breath. What was going on? Why was Zero so upset over beer?
Please! Zero! he thought loudly, hoping the words would make it out of his mouth. I'm sorry! Let me go!
The insane blond just smiled, if possible, wider. He was enjoying this… The feeling of someone so helpless beneath his fingertips. Slowly, he tightened his grip, feeling Axl's windpipe weakening under his touch (A/N: do reploids have windpipes? THEY DO NOW!) Axl tried to scream out in pain but could not. Suddenly the boy found himself thrown against a wall.
Zero laughed cruelly as a sickening thud sounded around the room. He then walked over and pulled Axl to his feet.
"C'mon kid, lets go for a walk!" he laughed as he dragged the boy out of the cafeteria and towards the red-head's own room. Axl didn't make a sound, but tried to pull away. This caused Zero to just hold tighter.
"Quit fighting… It'll hurt less if you do!" Zero laughed as he threw Axl into his room. The boy hit a bookshelf, which was crammed with comics, mangas and magazines, and crumpled to the floor. A moan of pain echoed around the room as Zero stalked forward, his green eyes flashing with a murderous glint.
"Zero… please… I'm sorry… What did I do?" Axl muttered as he gazed at Zero.
"You touched my beer, then said it was funny," the reploid growled. He himself wasn't even sure why he was doing this. Something just… snapped.
"Zero! Please! I'm sorry!" Axl cried, tears starting to pour down his face. "Just… let me go! I'll never do it again! You'll never have to buy me ice cream again!"
Zero froze. The ice cream… Had it messed with the kid's programming?
Axl found himself being dropped, and he fell to the floor. He looked up and stared at Zero, still sobbing quietly.
"Axl… is there a reason that you want ice cream? Above everything else?"
"Yeah… it makes me feel… weird…"
"How so?"
"I feel really light… and happy!"
Zero thought about those comments. Ice cream to Axl was like marijuana to a human. It gave him a sort of high.
Before Axl could comprehend what was happening he felt a pair of arms around him. His eyes widened as he felt long hair brush against his face.
END CHAPTER TWO
Okay… I win! Sorry if its… not what you expected. Review! Please!