Alright everyone, here's another chapter for you all to enjoy:

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Area Zero

"I'm still not at the Settlement yet, guess I'll need to walk there by myself." Zero gets out his Z-Saber and destroys a nearby Valiant.

Zero destroys a few more mechaniloids and moves on, getting into the Settlement.

"The humans from the Settlement are trapped in several of the rooms. To make matters worse, fire has broken out. Zero, extinguish the flames and rescue the humans." Rouge turns off the communication after she finishes.

Extinguish the flames… Zero looks around and finds a fire extinguisher guarded by a strange mechaniloid with a hammer. There we go!

Zero destroys the moloid and uses his Z-Knuckles to grab onto the fire extinguisher. He puts out the flames near the first tent and goes in to find a human and a Valiant.

Zero destroys the Valiant with his Z-Saber as the human moves out.

"Hmph, to think you would be the one to save me."

"Not a very grateful person, are you? Just hurry up and go." Zero continues to save the other members as he goes on.

A black reploid slowly follows him from behind, ripping through all the mechaniloids with his bare hands. "Zero, let's just see how powerful you really are."

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"Thanks for saving everyone, mister." A small kid, now identified as Typhon thanks Zero as the last human enters.

"There's no need to thank the reploid. It's his kind's fault that this is happening in the first place." Wait, where's Neige?

"Zero, is everyone alright?" Ciel's voice goes through the communicator just as the human finishes talking.

"Yeah, but I can't seem to find Neige. I'll go on and look for her."

"Alright, but be careful. Your repairs aren't complete yet, you don't know when it will give way."

Zero keeps on going and finds Craft standing by a truck muttering to himself.

"So, she wasn't here either. Guess I'll have to keep on looking."

"Craft!" Craft turns and notices the red reploid.

"Ah, Zero… I see you're protecting Area Zero because of the Settlement." Craft throws away his cloak to reveal his green armor. "However, I'll defeat you here for Lord Weil!"

"You used to be a Neo Arcadian reploid who fought for humanity. How could you fight for Dr. Weil and attack the Settlement?"

"Lord Weil has all of the world's energy at his grasp. Humans and reploids alike must learn to live under him. There are still fools who don't understand that and keep on fighting a hopeless battle. As long as they continue to fight, there will be casualties. That is why I'm helping Lord Weil, to open their eyes!"

Craft gets out his bayonet from his gun and charges at Zero. Zero sends an ice blade through the ground, but Craft stabs through it and stabs Zero. Craft releases the blades and fires it, pushing Zero back while doing more damage.

He's too powerful! Zero gets his Z-Saber and gets out the Mega Hammer he stole from a moloid. I'll just out power him!

Craft stands in place and points his gun at Zero while a thin red laser goes forward. Zero dashes straight at Craft as Craft lets out a blue laser.

Zero jumps out of the way just as it fires, and comes down smacking Craft with the Mega Hammer. The force of the attack knocks Craft off balance as Zero slashes with his Z-Saber.

"Not bad, Zero. However, that still isn't good enough to defeat me!" Craft launches a missile that Zero manages to dash over. The missile turns and goes after Zero again.

I need to destroy it to stop it from following me. Zero slashes at the missile with his saber, but feels a pain in his back as Craft stabs him with his bayonet. Craft fires the blade, damaging Zero and pushing him back.

Craft follows up by pointing his gun again as a thin red laser comes out. I have to get up! Zero jumps upward as the blue beam fires. I need to stay up longer! Zero lands into the beam, getting pushed back.

Craft launches another homing missile at Zero. This time, Zero dashes and skewers the missile and Craft with his Z-Saber.

Craft rolls past Zero and kneels onto the ground as he fires three grenades. Zero jumps upward, but lands in the explosion of the bombs.

"Now do you understand, Zero? It is useless to fight against Lord Weil. No matter what you do, it'll result in defeat." Craft jumps into the air and aims his beam diagonally. He starts charging forward in the air as Zero jumps up.

Zero sends Craft down with the Mega Hammer, stopping the attack. Zero follows up with three slashes from his saber.

Craft stands up from the attack and fires a bomb at Zero. Zero moves back, but the bomb splits into four as it hits the ground, one of the pieces hitting Zero.

My wounds are reopening! If I don't end this soon, I'll be a sitting duck. Craft gets out his bayonet and aims at Zero again.

This time, Zero dashes and jumps upward, landing behind Craft and slashing with his Z-Saber.

"Just give up already! You can't win!" Craft aims his gun at Zero again and prepares to fire.

Zero tries to jump but couldn't move. My repairs are starting to give way! I can't move! Craft fires and hits the immobilized Zero. Zero stands up after a few seconds and speaks.

"I didn't want to have to use this against you, Craft, but time is running out." Zero raises his hand into the air as a bright light surrounds him. His armor shifts to a black color as he prepares to attack.

This is the first time using this alone. I don't know if there are any side effects. Craft gets out his bayonet, but Zero appears behind him and slashes him upwards.

Zero grabs onto his Z-Buster and launches a blast at Craft, knocking him down from the sky.

Craft coughs out some blood as he starts to talk. "This form of yours wasn't in Lord Weil's database. Still, it doesn't matter how strong you are! Lord Weil will win in the end!"

Craft fires another bomb, but Zero slashes at it before it could split into four. Craft fires his bayonet, but Zero deflects the knife with his saber.

Zero dashes at Craft to finish off the battle when a huge pain sears through his body. My repairs are breaking apart! Zero reverts back to his original form as he clutches onto his chest. Electricity starts to come out of his wounds.

"Zero! Please get up!" Ciel watches the battle from the monitor and yells through the communicator.

I can't move! Craft gets out his gun to finish off the battle.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, Zero, but I'm afraid I must. All those who defy Lord Weil must be destroyed. I'll give you one chance to join us before I pull the trigger."

"I'll…never…join the likes…of Weil. AAAHHHH!" Zero screams as his armor starts to malfunction from all the stress.

"Very well, you've fought honorably. However, it ends here." Craft prepares to squeeze the trigger as a blast hits him in the back.

"I'll be the one to defeat Zero." The smoke clears as a familiar black reploid comes out. Craft recognizes the figure as his eyes widen.

"It's you!" Zero watches Forte as he transforms his buster into a blade.

"Why are you here, Forte?"

"I wanted to check to make sure you were alive. I don't know what you see in this Settlement that's worth protecting. Still, a good fight no and then will keep me entertained."

Forte turns to Craft. "Now, I'll be the one finishing this fight. Besides, we haven't exactly finished our last fight, did we?"

Craft gets out his gun and aims it at the black figure. He shoots as it pierces through his chest and smiles. "Guess that got him. What!?" The body he pierced disappears as Forte appears behind him.

Forte slashes at Craft with his blades and fires a blast from his buster. Craft gets up and does a diving attack, but Forte teleports behind him and fires a charged shot, knocking him down.

"He's too strong. I'm already weakened from the fight with Zero." Craft reaches for the gun, but Forte puts his Saber through it to stop Craft.

"It's over." Craft grabs onto his gun, but isn't able to free it from Forte's blade.

"STOP IT!" Forte, Zero, and Craft turn to find Neige standing there. "Stop this meaningless fight right now."

"I'm fighting for the greater good. Humans must be awakened from their stupidity." Craft stands up after Neige appears.

"Greater good!? How can you talk about the greater good after seeing what you did to harm the nature and this settlement!? It took a long time for the nature in this area to return its former glory so humans could find peace." Neige faces the three reploids. "It doesn't matter how you try to justify your actions, all three of you are just fighting the same stupid war!"

"Hmph. I am not concerned with any war." Forte faces Neige as he replies. "I was made to fight, so I fight. I don't care what happens to you worthless humans. If the reploids weren't here, your kind would be almost extinct from fighting each other. Don't concern yourself with matters you don't understand, human."

"Neige, I should have known you were here." Craft replies to her as well.

"What happened to you, Craft? Why did you follow Dr. Weil? When I first met you, you were a proud warrior. You said that you'd bring peace to humans and reploids. You promised me…"

"Yes, I remember, and I'm keeping my promise by doing this!" Craft dashes at Neige, and the two of them warp away.

Ciel speaks through from Zero's communicator. "Zero? Thank goodness you're alright. The reploid signal is growing fainter, you did it."

"Ciel, Craft's got Neige. Can you get on it?"

"What!? I'll track his signal right now." Zero stands up and faces Forte.

"Forte, will you help us again to rescue Neige?" Forte turns his back as he moves.

"Didn't you hear what I said before? I wasn't made to concern myself with these matters, and I'm not going to risk my life for some human. Go ahead and do what you want, Zero. I expect to see you get stronger."

Forte pauses for a while. "Craft was right about one thing, no matter what you do, you can't stop evil. There was some trying to take over the world two hundred years ago and there's someone trying to take over the world now. You can't create peace no matter how hard you try."

"I'm only here to stop Weil. Creating peace is something that Ciel and the others can handle. I believe in them." Forte laughs.

"Well, you've believed in humans for too long. They will never be able to achieve peace, never." Forte warps out of the area.

Zero turns to find some of the humans from the Settlement.

"So she was friends with one of the Neo Arcadian reploids…"

"She pretended to be helping us the whole time."

"And you… You are the legendary reploid… Hmph. Some legend, the other one kept talking about the greater good, and look at what he did. You reploids only bring trouble."

Typhon, the kid, starts to speak. "Aren't you all going to help Neige?"

"Hmph, that woman was with the reploids the whole time, why should I risk my neck for her?"

"I-I can't believe you."

"You're just going to abandon her? She put her life on the line to stop the fight and save your Settlement!" Zero starts to speak after hearing all their outbursts.

"So what? If we save her, we might get attacked again."

"You're all just a bunch of cowards. At least Forte had a good reason to not help. In fact, I'm starting to see where he got those ideas from."

"H-How dare you! That reploid was the one who stole from our Settlement."

Typhon tries to defend the black reploid. "He was only looking for repairs…"

"You're no different than the humans from Neo Arcadia. Why did you even leave that place if you were all going to continue acting like cowards?"

The communicator beeps as Ciel speaks. "Zero, we've located Neige. Get back here as soon as possible."

"Alright, transfer me." Zero disappears in a white light as he goes back to the Resistance Trailer.

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I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and I need to cram for a test, so the chances of an update tomorrow are pretty slim. Anyways, enjoy this one and leave a review. )