Uh oh...I think I'm out of witty little quips to put here...Zero's
Capcom's...so ummm...yeah...
Ch. 4
Practice
Zenton was busy talking and arguing with Dr. Light about his armor. Zero and X had gone back to talking about the memories. Some of them didn't seem to fit into what they were.
"It seems like all of my memories are tainted around the edges with a feeling verging on rage or possibly insanity," Zero was telling X.
"That was probably the results of Zero technically being a Maverick." X responded slowly.
"Say what?! But, I thought he was a Hunter."
"He was one of the best. But even that couldn't cover the fact that he was a Maverick inside. He hated humans for the way they treated Reploids. He didn't realize that compared to a Reploid mind, a human can be pretty dense. That's not saying I haven't met a stupid Reploid, it's just that I haven't seen very many humans take a good look at both sides of anything. Zero knew that he was a Maverick and he did his best to rid himself of that fact. He couldn't however, until the day when Sigma finally managed to infect me. When that happened he knew then why I had always been so serious. I knew that if I had gone Maverick, he would be the only one who could stop me. I may not be the best Hunter on earth, but I have an almost unmatched amount of power. The thought of that power being under Sigma's control scared the crap out of me. Zero found out why I had always protected the humans. If I hadn't fought, I would have been easier to control. That was what spurred me on to help the humans. Zero discovered that. Then the fight happened. You know the rest."
"That I do. We blew sky high and what happened in between is what started the Human-Reploid War. How long has it been since you and Zero last took out Sigma?"
"That depends. What year is it now? Light never had the chance to tell me."
"23XX."
"It's been somewhere around two hundred years then," X said rather calmly.
"That means that Sigma has had control over the humans for about seventy-five to fifty years. We lost track of a few years toward the end. Only a few humans truly know what year it is. Those who are found to have any knowledge of the actual date are put to death as soon as Sigma gets a hold of them. Most of the humans are kept in small communities, each with its own personal group of Mavericks to enforce Sigma's iron-clad fist."
"Titanium," X interrupted. "Sigma would never use anything less than titanium."
"What makes you say that?" Zero looked slightly confused. The two were mortal enemies and X wasn't exactly on a personal level with the head Maverick.
"Nobody knows the true extent of my power or yours. We do know, however, that I can blow a hole through a steel wall likes it's nothing and you can probably do as good, if not better. Sigma knows that. He wouldn't risk another life on anything less than titanium. He's too wary for that. He doesn't know how to make Dr. Light's Titanium-X alloy. That gives us the advantage when it comes to armor. It's the only reason Sigma is so bulky. If he didn't have to use so much titanium he would probably have been much quicker. But we have the Titanium-X alloy for our armor. That's what gives us our power. Our armor is at least as good as the armor that Sigma wears. Quite possibly better." X was a gold mine of information, Zero discovered quite quickly.
"Well, in any case. There have been a number of uprisings among the humans and the occasional Reploid going un-Maverick, so to speak. Then about ten years or so ago there were a bunch of humans who took advantage of the fact that their village was poorly guarded and managed to overrun the lone Maverick who was left to watch and alert the others. Somehow they managed to overrun him and put him off-line before he could make a noise. They proceeded to hide for the next however many years. Then we were discovered. Zenton and I managed to get lucky. We were exploring the nearby caves when the Mavericks struck."
"So that's how you found Dr. Light and became Zero. Interesting."
"Hey, X. Follow me. I've got a bit of an idea." The two walked over to where Zenton was standing arguing with Light.
"I cannot make your armor out of crystal, Zenton. It would be much too heavy, not to mention the fact that it would break at the first contact with a plasma blast." Light seemed to be rather irritated.
"Hey, Doc," Zero broke in. "What if you were to use the Titanium-X alloy and just make it look like crystal. That should satisfy Zen." Zenton nodded in agreement. Light seemed satisfied as well.
"That's actually a good idea, Zero. I'll get to work on it right away. You handled the armor very well. I would say that you are most definitely a fighter. Was there by any chance something you wanted?" Light seemed puzzled.
"Do you know what exactly happened after X and Zero went and lit the sky on fire?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I had probes above ground at the time. Sigma's Mavericks who were still loyal started talking to the media as soon as the city had stopped shaking. The people took that as a sign that all the Reploids were going Maverick. Everyone panicked and Sigma stepped back into the picture as head of the Mavericks. It took him a few decades to take over the human race. Even then the war raged on. The people in the countryside fought better than the people in the army had. They used guerilla tactics."
"Thanks, Doc. For some reason that was bugging me. Would it be okay if we went into the caves for some training?" Light smiled.
"That actually would be a good idea, Zero. It will give Zenton a chance to accustom himself with his new body. And by the way, did you know that you are a sorcerer, Zenton?" Zenton was actually a bit baffled. "If you search your mind, you will discover that you know all sorts of spells. There never were very many sorcerers."
Zenton still seemed a bit taken aback. "Whatta ya mean, sorcerer? I think sittin' in that computer knocked you off your rocker, Doc. In any case, I think I'll go with Zero and X. I do feel a little different so I might as well get used to it." Zenton turned and walked to where X and Zero stood. Zero had noticed that there did seem to be the occasional twitch while Zenton walked.
"We'll be in contact, Doc," Zero added while turning to leave.
"Remember to put your weapons on their practice settings. I really don't feel like putting any of you three back together again." Light seemed almost humorous about the whole thing. Zero laughed.
"Okay, Doc. I'll warn the children to be careful with their toys." He then turned and walked out.
The three of them found a fairly open cave a little ways down the cavern the lab was in. Zero walked in and noticed a beam of sunlight was coming in through a hole in the ceiling. Zero teleported up to check on it. As he stood on the ceiling he stooped up to look through it. He then looked down to look at his friends.
"This looks like as good a place as any. We might as well start. That hole will give us ventilation in case we need it as well. I have a feeling that none of us want to be breathing plasma vapor anytime soon." X and Zenton grinned and nodded in agreement. "I told Light that I'd remind you to set your weapons on their practice settings. I think we better take care of that now." Zero reached back over his shoulder and pulled the blade free. Although it was actually an energy blade, it still made the characteristic hissing sound as it came out of the sheath. He turned the power setting down. He looked and noticed that Zenton was holding a massive axe on the end of a handle about five feet long. It was one solid piece. "Why did you choose an axe, Zen?"
Zenton grinned. "The axe has always been my favorite weapon. This one has a little something extra. It uses an ultra-sonic vibration to shear away almost any material. If that gets knocked off-line, well, I guess I'll just have to rely on brute strength. That's the other good thing about it."
Zero and X laughed while they listened to the axe hum. "That's the best it's going to get so get used to the humming."
Zero stepped back and began to issue instructions. "Okay, guys. I just want one thing to be remembered here. This is practice, so please don't kill me or each other." X and Zen laughed as they also backed away. "Here goes nothing." Zero teleported out of sight. X and Zen looked at the spot where he had just been and then at each other.
X started charging. "I guess that's the signal to start." CLANG! "Whooaa." BANG.
X hit the wall hard as Zero landed a kick to his head and sent him flying. Zero landed heavily and was immediately hit with a counter-blast that X had fired while still stuck in the wall. Zenton in the meantime stood and watched the two as they went at it. He then stopped to think about what Light had told him in the lab. He decided to try one of the spells. As he muttered the word under his breath he saw X and Zero starting to slow down a bit. He decided to try a couple more. He warped to the space in between the two and swung his axe in a wide circle. He hit both of them in the chest, knocking X further into the wall and sending Zero for a fairly long flight. Knocking a Reploid that's over six feet tall several dozen yards with one swipe was pretty spectacular. Zenton then allowed them to go back to their usual speed. Zero looked a little stunned. X was still trying to get out of the wall. Zero stood up and picked up his saber that he had lost in mid-flight..
"That was impressive. How'd you manage that one?"
"Apparently Dr. Light was right. You two just got the effect of one of my spells. Then again, You felt one of them, I felt two other ones."
"Whatever. Just keep the one that slowed us down out of it, if you would be so kind."
"Oh, come on. That was the fun one. I've got a bit of a question. Is X gonna be able to get out of that wall?"
"I think he'll manage it eventually. If he doesn't we'll just have to go yank him out of it." The two stood and watched as X finally managed to unceremoniously pull himself out of the wall and land on his head. He flipped up to his feet and walked toward the other two. He then brought his X-buster up and pointed it at the space between the two. He had also changed into his first set of armor. He let loose one of the giant hot pink blasts and managed to nail both Zero and Zenton at once. As the two flew back, both blinked out of sight as X tried to keep his eye on them. He realized that once again he was gonna get hit and teleported to a few feet away. He stood and watched as the two came together at the place where he had been just a moment before. He brought Chill Penguin's weapon on-line and promptly froze both of them. Or so he thought. As he walked up, the ice around Zenton began to melt. X stopped and stared as the ice melted into a puddle while Zenton stood there. After all of the ice melted Zenton straightened out and shook his head from side to side. Zero broke his ice container a moment later.
He stopped and stared for a moment. "That was neat. I don't think I've ever been frozen before." He turned and looked at X and then swung his axe back for a swing that would have knocked Sigma's Kaiser form off of his feet. X watched as Zero grabbed the axe a little ways below the blade and used it to throw Zenton towards the ceiling. Zenton hit headfirst and went through the ceiling. He didn't fall back down immediately. Zero and X were going at it when Zenton flew back down in between them with blinding speed. "Hey, guys. We've got a bit of a problem. There seems to be an army of Mavericks above our heads and if we're still fighting when they get above us they're going to be able to hear every word. We really should get back to the lab." The other two nodded in agreement and they all three teleported out.
Ch. 4
Practice
Zenton was busy talking and arguing with Dr. Light about his armor. Zero and X had gone back to talking about the memories. Some of them didn't seem to fit into what they were.
"It seems like all of my memories are tainted around the edges with a feeling verging on rage or possibly insanity," Zero was telling X.
"That was probably the results of Zero technically being a Maverick." X responded slowly.
"Say what?! But, I thought he was a Hunter."
"He was one of the best. But even that couldn't cover the fact that he was a Maverick inside. He hated humans for the way they treated Reploids. He didn't realize that compared to a Reploid mind, a human can be pretty dense. That's not saying I haven't met a stupid Reploid, it's just that I haven't seen very many humans take a good look at both sides of anything. Zero knew that he was a Maverick and he did his best to rid himself of that fact. He couldn't however, until the day when Sigma finally managed to infect me. When that happened he knew then why I had always been so serious. I knew that if I had gone Maverick, he would be the only one who could stop me. I may not be the best Hunter on earth, but I have an almost unmatched amount of power. The thought of that power being under Sigma's control scared the crap out of me. Zero found out why I had always protected the humans. If I hadn't fought, I would have been easier to control. That was what spurred me on to help the humans. Zero discovered that. Then the fight happened. You know the rest."
"That I do. We blew sky high and what happened in between is what started the Human-Reploid War. How long has it been since you and Zero last took out Sigma?"
"That depends. What year is it now? Light never had the chance to tell me."
"23XX."
"It's been somewhere around two hundred years then," X said rather calmly.
"That means that Sigma has had control over the humans for about seventy-five to fifty years. We lost track of a few years toward the end. Only a few humans truly know what year it is. Those who are found to have any knowledge of the actual date are put to death as soon as Sigma gets a hold of them. Most of the humans are kept in small communities, each with its own personal group of Mavericks to enforce Sigma's iron-clad fist."
"Titanium," X interrupted. "Sigma would never use anything less than titanium."
"What makes you say that?" Zero looked slightly confused. The two were mortal enemies and X wasn't exactly on a personal level with the head Maverick.
"Nobody knows the true extent of my power or yours. We do know, however, that I can blow a hole through a steel wall likes it's nothing and you can probably do as good, if not better. Sigma knows that. He wouldn't risk another life on anything less than titanium. He's too wary for that. He doesn't know how to make Dr. Light's Titanium-X alloy. That gives us the advantage when it comes to armor. It's the only reason Sigma is so bulky. If he didn't have to use so much titanium he would probably have been much quicker. But we have the Titanium-X alloy for our armor. That's what gives us our power. Our armor is at least as good as the armor that Sigma wears. Quite possibly better." X was a gold mine of information, Zero discovered quite quickly.
"Well, in any case. There have been a number of uprisings among the humans and the occasional Reploid going un-Maverick, so to speak. Then about ten years or so ago there were a bunch of humans who took advantage of the fact that their village was poorly guarded and managed to overrun the lone Maverick who was left to watch and alert the others. Somehow they managed to overrun him and put him off-line before he could make a noise. They proceeded to hide for the next however many years. Then we were discovered. Zenton and I managed to get lucky. We were exploring the nearby caves when the Mavericks struck."
"So that's how you found Dr. Light and became Zero. Interesting."
"Hey, X. Follow me. I've got a bit of an idea." The two walked over to where Zenton was standing arguing with Light.
"I cannot make your armor out of crystal, Zenton. It would be much too heavy, not to mention the fact that it would break at the first contact with a plasma blast." Light seemed to be rather irritated.
"Hey, Doc," Zero broke in. "What if you were to use the Titanium-X alloy and just make it look like crystal. That should satisfy Zen." Zenton nodded in agreement. Light seemed satisfied as well.
"That's actually a good idea, Zero. I'll get to work on it right away. You handled the armor very well. I would say that you are most definitely a fighter. Was there by any chance something you wanted?" Light seemed puzzled.
"Do you know what exactly happened after X and Zero went and lit the sky on fire?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I had probes above ground at the time. Sigma's Mavericks who were still loyal started talking to the media as soon as the city had stopped shaking. The people took that as a sign that all the Reploids were going Maverick. Everyone panicked and Sigma stepped back into the picture as head of the Mavericks. It took him a few decades to take over the human race. Even then the war raged on. The people in the countryside fought better than the people in the army had. They used guerilla tactics."
"Thanks, Doc. For some reason that was bugging me. Would it be okay if we went into the caves for some training?" Light smiled.
"That actually would be a good idea, Zero. It will give Zenton a chance to accustom himself with his new body. And by the way, did you know that you are a sorcerer, Zenton?" Zenton was actually a bit baffled. "If you search your mind, you will discover that you know all sorts of spells. There never were very many sorcerers."
Zenton still seemed a bit taken aback. "Whatta ya mean, sorcerer? I think sittin' in that computer knocked you off your rocker, Doc. In any case, I think I'll go with Zero and X. I do feel a little different so I might as well get used to it." Zenton turned and walked to where X and Zero stood. Zero had noticed that there did seem to be the occasional twitch while Zenton walked.
"We'll be in contact, Doc," Zero added while turning to leave.
"Remember to put your weapons on their practice settings. I really don't feel like putting any of you three back together again." Light seemed almost humorous about the whole thing. Zero laughed.
"Okay, Doc. I'll warn the children to be careful with their toys." He then turned and walked out.
The three of them found a fairly open cave a little ways down the cavern the lab was in. Zero walked in and noticed a beam of sunlight was coming in through a hole in the ceiling. Zero teleported up to check on it. As he stood on the ceiling he stooped up to look through it. He then looked down to look at his friends.
"This looks like as good a place as any. We might as well start. That hole will give us ventilation in case we need it as well. I have a feeling that none of us want to be breathing plasma vapor anytime soon." X and Zenton grinned and nodded in agreement. "I told Light that I'd remind you to set your weapons on their practice settings. I think we better take care of that now." Zero reached back over his shoulder and pulled the blade free. Although it was actually an energy blade, it still made the characteristic hissing sound as it came out of the sheath. He turned the power setting down. He looked and noticed that Zenton was holding a massive axe on the end of a handle about five feet long. It was one solid piece. "Why did you choose an axe, Zen?"
Zenton grinned. "The axe has always been my favorite weapon. This one has a little something extra. It uses an ultra-sonic vibration to shear away almost any material. If that gets knocked off-line, well, I guess I'll just have to rely on brute strength. That's the other good thing about it."
Zero and X laughed while they listened to the axe hum. "That's the best it's going to get so get used to the humming."
Zero stepped back and began to issue instructions. "Okay, guys. I just want one thing to be remembered here. This is practice, so please don't kill me or each other." X and Zen laughed as they also backed away. "Here goes nothing." Zero teleported out of sight. X and Zen looked at the spot where he had just been and then at each other.
X started charging. "I guess that's the signal to start." CLANG! "Whooaa." BANG.
X hit the wall hard as Zero landed a kick to his head and sent him flying. Zero landed heavily and was immediately hit with a counter-blast that X had fired while still stuck in the wall. Zenton in the meantime stood and watched the two as they went at it. He then stopped to think about what Light had told him in the lab. He decided to try one of the spells. As he muttered the word under his breath he saw X and Zero starting to slow down a bit. He decided to try a couple more. He warped to the space in between the two and swung his axe in a wide circle. He hit both of them in the chest, knocking X further into the wall and sending Zero for a fairly long flight. Knocking a Reploid that's over six feet tall several dozen yards with one swipe was pretty spectacular. Zenton then allowed them to go back to their usual speed. Zero looked a little stunned. X was still trying to get out of the wall. Zero stood up and picked up his saber that he had lost in mid-flight..
"That was impressive. How'd you manage that one?"
"Apparently Dr. Light was right. You two just got the effect of one of my spells. Then again, You felt one of them, I felt two other ones."
"Whatever. Just keep the one that slowed us down out of it, if you would be so kind."
"Oh, come on. That was the fun one. I've got a bit of a question. Is X gonna be able to get out of that wall?"
"I think he'll manage it eventually. If he doesn't we'll just have to go yank him out of it." The two stood and watched as X finally managed to unceremoniously pull himself out of the wall and land on his head. He flipped up to his feet and walked toward the other two. He then brought his X-buster up and pointed it at the space between the two. He had also changed into his first set of armor. He let loose one of the giant hot pink blasts and managed to nail both Zero and Zenton at once. As the two flew back, both blinked out of sight as X tried to keep his eye on them. He realized that once again he was gonna get hit and teleported to a few feet away. He stood and watched as the two came together at the place where he had been just a moment before. He brought Chill Penguin's weapon on-line and promptly froze both of them. Or so he thought. As he walked up, the ice around Zenton began to melt. X stopped and stared as the ice melted into a puddle while Zenton stood there. After all of the ice melted Zenton straightened out and shook his head from side to side. Zero broke his ice container a moment later.
He stopped and stared for a moment. "That was neat. I don't think I've ever been frozen before." He turned and looked at X and then swung his axe back for a swing that would have knocked Sigma's Kaiser form off of his feet. X watched as Zero grabbed the axe a little ways below the blade and used it to throw Zenton towards the ceiling. Zenton hit headfirst and went through the ceiling. He didn't fall back down immediately. Zero and X were going at it when Zenton flew back down in between them with blinding speed. "Hey, guys. We've got a bit of a problem. There seems to be an army of Mavericks above our heads and if we're still fighting when they get above us they're going to be able to hear every word. We really should get back to the lab." The other two nodded in agreement and they all three teleported out.