A/N: In response to the question asked about what game Zero plays, I believe that he's found (probably at a junkyard or perhaps while digging through a Maverick's base) an ancient type of hand-held entertainment device from the very early 21st century with the words PSP inscribed on it – and an even older game-cartridge within it labelled "Super Mario 3"

And look. I'm baaaack!

Chapter 4: Meanwhile…

X stared at the wall between his feet and wondered how much longer he would have to stay in this place. Knowing the GYF, it would take quite a while for them to forget the embarrassment his and Zero's little trick had caused them, and thus, he would need to stay hidden for quite a while. Currently, he had located a place to hide which, he had to admit to himself, was pretty ingenious. With his feet firmly planted on one wall and his neck at the opposite, he managed to hang suspended in the air some twenty feet up one of the few, tall corridors, well above the floor and anyone that might notice him.

His biggest problem at the moment was that his own weight was slowly dragging him down, meaning that he, from time to time, had to take a few steps up the wall again in order to stay hidden – and that meant he had to turn his audio receiver to its maximum in order to tell whether or not something was approaching. At the current moment, he wished he had thought to summon one of his more advanced armours with the ability to stick to walls – such as the Shadow Armour or Gaea Armour… Then again, the last time he had worn either of the two, Zero had found it most entertaining to pick him up and throw him into the air to see him sticking to a low ceiling.

Speaking of Zero, the blue reploid could not help but wonder how his friend was faring. When X had decided to stop trying to argue with the angry GYF and just escape, his jump from the lamp had upset Zero's grip on the wire and caused the red reploid to crash to the ground – X had not remained behind long enough to see if his friend had escaped or not, concerned as he was with his own salvation at the moment of panic there. He had merely dashed down the corridors, hearing the howling noises of women behind him as they took up the hunt much like robotic hounds, and it had only been quick thinking and a leap out a five-storey window which had saved him from their initial wrath. He had following returned to an area near the cafeteria, and had located this short, but very tall corridor, lit only by a single window in the ceiling. Fortunately, for him, the window had long since been blocked off when huge satellite dishes had been placed on the roof, and thus he was virtually invisible as long as he kept his radio disabled and no one thought about looking up when passing underneath.

Had he been Zero, he contemplated, he would probably long since have blown his cover by dropping random objects on people's heads. But, he wasn't, and therefore he would be able to keep hiding without being discovered. It made sense. He was a reploid, and therefore unable to feel hunger or thirst. He could hang in this position until his batteries ran dry, and if he crashed to the ground when that happened, he would be utterly oblivious to any damage he took, meaning that the GYF could kick him to pieces without actually harming him. His only slight concern was that Lifesavor and Douglas might have difficulties putting him together again – but he had full confidence in those two, seeing as they had managed to reconstruct him several times already.

Pursing his lips, X wondered briefly why his brain seemed to go into overdrive when he was not doing anything constructive like fighting mavericks, trying to finish some annoying report, or playing dodgeball with a few of Douglas' leftover rocket bike engines. Although that particular version of the old game had originally been invented by a runaway maverick who had thrown small cars at the Hunters in an attempt to stop them, and Zero had later stated that he thought they had made such a pretty Boom-noise when they exploded.

Folding his hands on his stomach, the blue reploid momentarily tapped his chest plate as he watched his feet slip another fraction of an inch downwards. Of course, he could push harder against the wall, but it was old and worn, and he feared his legs would merely end up by going straight through the wall, leaving him in a quite odd position if someone SHOULD think about looking up while passing underneath. At least, he mused as he lifted one boot and pried loose a piece of dried paint with his toes, there was an ever-growing chance of the mavericks to suddenly start re-appearing and smashing things once more, giving him a good excuse to flee the base and get as far away from Alia and her gang as possible.

"X!" a shill voice beneath him suddenly shrieked, overloading his audio processor.

Glancing down, pressing one hand against the wall to keep himself up and using the other to rub his ear as he felt the circuits within his head re-settle and solve the damage done. Spotting the pink, female reploid standing beneath him, glaring up with a gaze that could have burned a hole through Magma Dragon, X found only a single word befitted the whole situation... He was in big trouble.