"Well done!" Ciel gushed, "You ARE the legendary reploid, Zero!"

Zero looked askance at her.

"First of all. If you had energy weapons – and I'm sure your guards outside do – you could have destroyed most of the enemies if you put one guy in front with a shield or Cyber Elf to block shots. For crying out loud, all the Pantheons fell apart with one saber slash! As for the rolling spike balls, just jump over them!"

"But only you can jump!"

Zero did a double-take.

"Reploids can't jump?"

"No! All they learnt was how to run and shoot!"

"O…kay then. Anyway, those regenerating towers would fall apart with one detonation pack, and I know you have some, because when I woke up in that lab, the door you came in through was still smoking. Finally, you could bring some planks along to cross the spike pits."

"But the boss of the area, Zero! We couldn't handle him!" Ciel protested.

"You don't know your own strength, do you? Come on, where was the boss standing? Ciel, from here you could have hacked the trash compactor to move in reverse! He'd have been crushed flat long before your troops arrived!"

Ciel frowned and looked away.

"You… you're right. I'm so sorry for putting you through all that."

Ah, but she was still human. Zero patted her on the shoulder.

"There, there, we all panic and doubt ourselves."

"But Zero, what would have taken all our soldiers, you did solo!"

"I know. But that doesn't mean you're weak. There is strength in numbers," he cracked a wry grin, "But Neo Arcadia's numbers far exceed yours. So I'll thin the herds for you."

"…Thank you. You have no idea how much you mean to m… to us."

"Oh, what's this thing?"

Zero showed her a microchip marked by a lightning bolt.

"That's the Thunder Chip," Ciel explained, "Aztec Falcon incorporated it into his systems to use his electric attacks. Now you can do the same with your weapons when you charge them."

"Oh? But there's only one chip. How will I put it in both?"

"It's installed in your memory core."

"But how will my weapons generate electricity from something in my head?"

"They… you… oh, how should I know?"

"You probably made the thing."

"Yes, but that doesn't make me an expert."

"…"

"Questions?"

"One. What do I do with Nuppie? I figured out the small 'uns, but she says she's not fully grown."

"Oh! You have to feed energy crystals to big Cyber Elves."

"Can I borrow some of yours? You have a factory stuffed with them upstairs."

"We need those!"

"Ciel, there are hundreds of containers up there, with millions of crystals! You have, what, twenty people, including those that are captured?"

"We'll need them when we leave this place. Energy doesn't generate itself, you know! That's why I'm trying to find an alternate energy source."

"That's fine, but I still need crystals for Nuppie."
"Not just her, actually. I recorded the number of big Cyber Elves that were captured by Neo Arcadia. All in all, you'll need 22,800 crystals."

Zero smacked his forehead.

"WHAT?"

"Those are the numbers."

"I barely got a hundred on the last mission, and I can only hold one less than ten thousand!"

"So store them here until you have enough."

"Oi geez. I'll be back in about an hour. Can you spare the time?"

"We have a day or so for the most, but where are you going?"

"To the underground lab. Those spider nests kept generating little spiders, and where there's cannon fodder, there's crystals."

888

Zero went back and forth between the lab and factory three times within three hours. He brought back one less than ten thousand each visit.
"Whoa, Zero! Overkill!" Ciel gaped, "That's…"

"Too many. But it was easy. I just stood in front the spider nests and slashed them when they came out. Each batch littered the place with small crystals."

"Your arms didn't get tired?"
"Ciel, I'm a reploid. I'm over a hundred years old and I look your age."

"Point taken. Still, you have a few thousand more than you need…"

"I've learnt not to leave things to chance."

"So can we use them?" she smiled.

"Absolutely not. I busted my ass collecting them…"

"You said it was easy!"

"I got bored! But it's necessary. Anyway…"

He summoned Nuppie and fed her 750 crystals. She glowed, and grew larger, her physical features maturing.

"Thanks for feeding me, Zero!" she chirruped.

"Good. Now, what can you do?"

"I'll give you more life energy!"

"Okie dokie."

He snatched the fairy out of the air and bit her head off, program code spewing everywhere. Two things happened at that moment. First, Ciel screamed, and fainted. Secondly, a soldier in green rushed into the room and demanded to know what had happened. Zero, still chewing, shrugged.

888

If the first mission was simple, the second mission was the epitome of ease.

"Zero!" Ciel messaged him the first time he used it, "Are you doing what I think you are?"

"Yes ma'am!"

He was charging his Z-Saber. If it had been destructive before, now it was devastating. There was not one enemy for the length of the train that withstood a good blast and a follow-up slash.

"HA!"

Zero ripped apart a jetpack Pantheon in midair with the huge energy burst. The technique had come to him during his crystal collecting. Zero thought it would feel familiar, just like the three-hit combo and midair spin techniques, but the first time he gathered energy in the blade and that all-consuming wave annihilated the spider nest, it felt completely new.

"I don't know where it came from, but it kicks ass right out the door!"

"Don't forget you have to save Totten! Don't use that dangerous attack near her!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"And your rank has been degraded from "S" to "A" for killing Nuppie!"

"WHAT?" Zero yelled with great indignation, "Since when does using something I rescued and raised lower my rank?"

"There are so few Cyber Elves left, Zero! You can't just go killing them off!"

Zero stopped right there.

"Listen to me, woman. I am the best reason for using a Cyber Elf! What else are you going to use them for, pets? Didn't you use your Cyber Elf to resurrect me? Does that mean you're an "A" rank, too?"

"…"

"I thought so. Besides, I don't give a damn about my rank, but I do need to be well-fed to maintain my fighting prowess and spirit!" he declared, resuming his run along the train.

"But you never ate during the Maverick Wars!"

"Well then, I've got a hundred years or so to catch up on."

"Unless you have an "S" rank, you'll never get the Cyber Elf in my room!"

"I took that elf when you weren't looking, actually. Also, you have granny underwear. Try something lacier."

There was an interminable silence while Ciel went through the motions of apoplexy.

"Oh my God! I never gave you permission to…"

"Woman, you just said all I needed was an "S" rank to access your bedroom. Do you have any idea how slutty that sounds?" he chided, landing before the garage door, "If you're going to have that attitude, at least look through some Victoria's Secret catalogues before you let a real man in."

"Good CHRIST! I never knew a legend could be so DIRTY!" she shrieked, and cut the comlink. Zero sighed and shrugged.

"Give some constructive criticism to a woman and she goes mental. Besides, I have no ass. Go figure…"