A/N: I did it! Got this chapter done! No more Z-saber this time. Zero kicks ass without it.
Thanks for reading.
"Sir, what are you doing?" X asked. "This isn't the test I remember."
Sigma replied, "I want to see how he does in more - familiar - terrain. I won't be convinced he's cured until he's pushed to his limits."
X grimaced. He looked down at Zero, watching him as the latter scanned his surroundings. With Sigma controlling the test, Zero reminded X of one of Dr. Cain's laboratory mice.
X then closed his eyes. No, he thought. Zero is not so helpless. He already proved that to Sigma. X turned away to hide his smile from Sigma. For the first time, X caught his pessimistic feelings. He pushed out his hopeless thoughts. He replaced them with those from that morning with Zero. He opened his eyes, and a surge of faith swept away his doubts.
Down below, Zero shivered as though a sudden, inexplicable chill blew past him. An audible clanging and rumbling of an approaching enemy forced his attention. The sounds grew louder, and they spurred Zero forward through the darkened facility. Joining the clanging metal, a cacophony of howls and snarls pursued him. Zero looked back over shoulder and spotted the several pairs of red eyes shifting and switching in the darkness. Zero scanned for an escape. Crates and parts were scattered about, but none offered a place to hide.
Instead, he caught sight of the many narrow steel beams suspended from the ceiling. Using the crates as steps, he ascended and flipped onto one of the beams, which creaked and swayed under Zero's weight. He looked down, and through some narrow strips of lighting, he spotted his pursuers- a pack of wolf-like mechaniloids. A single wolf lead them, distinguished by its larger appearance and denser plating. Far from eluded, the lead wolf let out a short howl, and in one bound, the wolves vaulted themselves onto beams near Zero. The last to ascend, the lead wolf hopped onto the same beam just forward of Zero. Flames puffed out of the corners of the alpha's mouth. Zero readied his buster arm.
The alpha lifted his head toward Zero. With growls and snarls, and the other wolves pounced toward him. Zero gritted his teeth and unleashed a mighty blast from his buster that disintegrated one wolf. He then twirled and dug his heel into the belly of the second, its jaws snapping wildly toward his throat. With a blast from his Z-buster, he punched a fatal wound through the beast. Through the explosion, the last wolf bore its fangs and clamped down on his buster arm. The platform swung, threatening Zero's footing as the wolf yanked him forward. The beam creaked even more ominously under the weight of three heavy robots.
"Oh no," X said. He kneeled, pressing his hand to the glass separating the chambers. Sigma chuckled in dark amusement.
Seizing the opportunity, the lead wolf opened its maw and a wall of flame surged towards Zero.
Zero secured his footing in an instant and pulled back hard on the wolf biting his arm. With terrifying strength, he tore off the wolf's head from its body. In the final second, he leaped upwards. The oncoming blaze rushed past below, the fire fully incinerating the decapitated wolf's body. At the height of his jump, Zero grabbed one of the thin support cables holding the weight of the beam. He smiled, then shot through the cable just below him. His end of the beam pitched forward, and the full weight of the beam snapped the other support cable. It crashed to the floor below, carrying the lead wolf with it.
"Wow!" X said. Given Zero's display of skill, he thought that Sigma would end the test right then. Zero proved himself as a Class B Hunter. He looked over at Sigma, but instead of making any move towards deactivating the test, he remained solid and stone-faced, fixated on the scene below. X followed his Commander's gaze and spotted the shadow lurking in the billows of dust and soot.
While the dust cleared from the point of impact, Zero swung himself off from the cable down to the floor. When he landed, he reached over, twisted off and tossed away the still-attached head of the wolf from his arm, the mangled stump still flickering with electric impulses.
He turned to face the still much alive lead wolf, which - aside from some scuffing - appeared quite undamaged despite the fall. The wolf growled and charged forward. Zero somersaulted over the attack, landing behind the alpha. The alpha pivoted swiftly. Out of its mouth it spat a cascade of ice blocks. Zero side-stepped the barrage, but winced at the blast of freezing cold air as each one coated the ground with slick ice as they shattered.
The wolf leaped and charged twice more, Zero barely keeping himself from harm as he slipped on the ice. His mind computed furiously while the wolf, meanwhile, dazed him with cunning and speed. The beast kept its distance between blitzes, and Zero struggled to train his buster while retaining balance on the slick ice. When he did strike the beast with an energy shot, the wolf's armor absorbed it. Zero pivoted as the alpha made another dash, but his footing slipped and a blast from his buster sailed over the beast. The wolf missed him as well, but its momentum caused Zero to slip further and he crashed to his knees. Zero felt a sting of panic, and X could see on his face from high above.
Then, as the alpha opened it's mouth for another burst of flame, opportunity came to Zero. With better balance on his knees, Zero aimed at the beast carefully. As fire came rushing from the wolf's jaws, Zero fired a direct hit down its throat, splitting the barrel in its mouth. Flames spurted from the wound, then erupted in an explosion. The force hurled the animal off its feet and destroyed its armor from its lower jaw to its breast.
Zero moved toward it to finish it off, but stopped when he heard the wounded wolf gurgle. The beast staggered to its feet, dark fluid pouring from the alpha's exposed chest cavity. The metal creature made a desperate charge to intercept him. Zero spun to face the beast, noting its slower, clunkier stride. When the alpha pounced, desperate and poorly-calculated, Zero side-stepped it easily and with an open palm, slammed the animal to the ground. He immediately pressed his buster to the rest of the head and fired.
"Excellent," Zero heard Sigma say. "The Velguarder is rather cunning, is it not?" However, the voice came from behind his back disturbed him. Zero turned around to see the Commander with a cloak draped over his shoulders.
In the observation room, X said, "Commander!"
Sigma said, "I designed this program specifically for Zero. I need to be fully convinced that he cannot relapse," Sigma said. X thought to believe the explanation as before, except that a devious smile on Sigma's face grew as he spoke. The worry X tried to push out of his mind now surged back in. He thought of all the work he and Dr. Cain put in to restore Zero's soul. Now Sigma seemed to take pleasure in trying to rip it away. X clenched in anger, but could do nothing as the scene below continued.
"You don't recognize this?" the hologram of Sigma boomed. "This was your purgatory."
"What?" Zero said. He looked up towards the evaluator's booth and said, "Commander, I don't understand."
"Now, for your last test," hologram Sigma said. He tossed off his cloak and unsheathed a double-bladed scythe.
Zero continued, "Fighting the Commander, even a hologram, doesn't seem like it would be part of a test for rookies!"
The real Sigma's voice blared back, "You are a unique reploid, Zero. This fight is not about win or lose, but to see what you are really made of. But if you refuse now, I will fail you and throw you out of the Hunters. Are we clear?"
Zero's face fell and he took a deep breath. He then activated his buster and readied his stance for an attack.
The hologram of Sigma roared and charged, spinning his weapon. He thrust it forward at Zero, but Zero vaulted over him to avoid it. Hologram Sigma looked up to see Zero coming down, with his fist aimed to split Sigma's head. As Zero brought his fist down, Sigma brought up his weapon to parry the attack. The force of Zero's fist connecting with the scythe's staff caused them both to reel backward. With a gleam in his eye, hologram Sigma detached his scythe into two halves, reared up and slammed the blades into the floor, launching a shockwave that snaked towards Zero, pulverizing the concrete as it traveled. Zero rolled to the side, but as he did so, Sigma took both blades and hurled them in boomerang fashion. Zero had scarcely come to his feet in time, but he snaked through the oncoming blades. Zero then sprinted toward the hologram in a blur of red, his buster aimed to land a shot through Sigma's gut.
Hologram Sigma grinned, then rotated his shoulder outward and dashed toward Zero. Zero was too late to react as Sigma's shoulder slammed directly into his face, the force of which caused Zero to power down his buster. He wobbled, fluid leaking from his nostrils. Sigma, still grinning, then reached to grab Zero by the throat and lift him off his feet.
"Please stop this!" X shouted to his Commander in the observation room. "He's already proven that he is B Class. He doesn't recognize where he is. This is enough!"
Sigma closed his eyes inhaled deeply, then said, "You may be right, X. Based on what I've seen, and these performance readouts, his fighting ability is only 60% of what it was when I fought him." Sigma then added, "How disappointing."
Sigma's eyes snapped open when he heard a pained wail erupt from the testing chamber, in his voice pattern. He and X looked down to see sparks pour out of hologram Sigma's forearm where Zero, teeth bared and looking positively feral, had reached up and crushed it with only his hand. A wave of pure hatred had washed over Zero, and his eyes took on a red glow. The sapphire crystal on his head, and every light on his body pulsed with electricity.
"What?" Sigma said, scanning the readouts on the evaluator's console. "Some dormant programming just activated. His higher cognitive functions are switching off. He's, he's-," Sigma paused, lost for words.
Hologram Sigma spun around and flung Zero into piping trailing upwards against a far wall. Concrete crumbled from the shallow crater and steam hissed out of the broken pipes. Remarkably, Zero quickly rose to his feet. With his undamaged arm, Sigma gripped the handle of a short sword and drew it from around his waist. Zero eyed one of the pipes jutting out of place, reached out, and tore it from its fastenings to produce his own "sword".
The image of Zero's face burned into X's memory: excited, unhinged, murderous.
"That's enough!" X said once more.
The real Sigma scowled at the scene, and rubbed his replaced arm. He tensed when his hologram lunged and swiped at Zero, who sharply parried the blow and caused hologram Sigma to stumble. Zero struck back, swinging the pipe down to crack it over hologram Sigma's head. Sigma blocked him with his damaged forearm, howling when the pipe crushed it in further. Hologram Sigma gripped his sword and thrust it forward to skewer Zero, but the red reploid leaped backward several feet out of the way. Zero grinned sadistically as electric arcs flashed from Sigma's broken arm. Hologram Sigma then erupted with a shout, took hold of his blade with both hands, and charged. As he closed in, Sigma cried out again and brought the sword over his head and then down upon Zero. Zero, however, kept still until the last second.
In an instant he appeared behind Sigma. In his hands, Sigma's wounded arm, separated cleanly from its shoulder joint.
The sight was enough to make the real Sigma flinch. He gritted his teeth and hissed, "Yes. That is enough!" Sigma punched the button for the microphone and said curtly, "Zero, we're done, congratulations. Thank you for your cooperation. Get yourself to the med bay to clean up." X said nothing, but his stress level remained high as he tensed at Sigma's barely contained rage. Nonetheless, X felt a smile threaten to cross his lips. The test backfired, and Sigma reaped his reward.
Despite Sigma's clear orders, however, Zero appeared deaf to him. Instead, he tossed away the severed limb and approached the wounded visage of Sigma. Zero bared his teeth and pounced, knocking him over onto its back. Zero straddled him and dropped the pipe in his hand. He proceeded to throw punch after punch into Sigma's face, causing the hologram to fizzle and short, briefly revealing a blank-faced dummy mechaniloid underneath the fa ade.
"Zero! Enough!" Sigma shouted again into the microphone. "Test complete!" Sigma's fingers pecked the console before him and the holographic program shut down.
Still blinded with rage, Zero's fists continued to slam into the dummy. Oily fluid spurted from the machine with each blow. His bloodlust far from satisfied, he began tearing out pieces of plating and wiring with his bare hands.
"Damn it, he's insane!" Sigma hissed. "I'll stop him myself." Sigma pulled out the hilt of his saber and made toward the door, saying "X, you don't hesitate to call for all the backup we've got if I can't get him under control."
Ignoring Sigma as well, X rushed to the microphone. "Zero! This is X!" X shouted. Zero froze, cabling and oil still clenched in one hand. "You have to stop!" X continued. He lowered his voice. "Everything is okay. I'm here. You did really well."
The effect was instant. The red rage clouding Zero's eyes parted and he snapped back to awareness of himself and his surroundings. He rubbed his hands, severe pain calling his attention to his battered, muck-stained hands. He jumped to his feet in a panic when he then noticed the mangled visage of the dummy beneath him.
X dashed from the microphone, past the Commander and down to the testing chamber. Upon entering, he raced to Zero, grabbing him by the forearms. X looked into Zero's face, saying, "Zero, are you alright?"
Zero met X's eyes and whispered, "Am I? I'm sorry, X, I remember starting to fight the Commander, but then- nothing."
X said, "It's okay. We'll get you cleaned up." X hesitated, then whispered, "No matter what the Commander says, I think you did great."
Zero smiled weakly and said, "Thanks."
"Zero!" Sigma's voice boomed. "I think you may need to work on your self-control a little more." Sigma then grinned and said, "You're quite deadly. I almost thought you had gone Maverick."
X's pulse raced. He suspected that the consequences of Zero's lapse would be far from positive. He let go of Zero and turned to face the Commander. He was nervous, but he was prepared for anything while he was at Zero's side.
Zero was resigned. He said, "Commander, I presume you mean that I am no longer a fit for the Hunters?"
To X and Zero's puzzlement, Sigma started chuckling, then bellowing with laughter. After his amused fit subsided, Sigma said, "Au contraire. Zero, your trial here has convinced me that you are truly an exceptional warrior, and your demonstrated hatred of your enemies no matter what they look like is what we need in this organization. You see, anyone can go Maverick. Even your fellow Hunters, and you will need to be ready to fight them. And you were. The program I had you run would have bested most B-class Hunters, probably even X here."
Ignoring the jab, X furrowed his brow in confusion at what the Commander was implying. His eyes widened in shock when he heard Sigma say, "Therefore, I am hereby promoting you directly to A-class."