"You underestimate me X! I hate that about you!" Vile said, hatred burning in his voice. As his ride armor put more pressure on X's chest, X cried out in pain. "X! There's nothing you can do! I'll defeat you and Sigma! Then I'll change the world!" X screamed out in pain again. As Vile moved to end the pathetic reploid in front of him, a buster shot slammed into his armor, its arm blown clear off.
Zero sprinted in, getting between Vile and X,"X, are you alright?"
"Hmph, Zero..." Vile said, contempt in his voice. "Why would someone as powerful as you align yourself with X? He's just a B-class hunter, nothing more."
"Vile... You're nothing but a maverick now." Zero replied as he fired another shot from his buster. Vile narrowly dodged it as his ride armor jumped off the highway.
***Break***
"Zero! Hang in there!" X shouted, as he ran over to Zero. He'd been damaged heavily when he had destroyed the ride armor. He was missing his right arm, and his lower body...
"X... I'm always telling you...to be more careful," he struggled out, his voice sounding strained. A slight smile appeared on his face," But now look at me!"
"Don't waste your energy talking Zero. We've got to fix you up!"
"There's... No time for that..." Zero looked into X's eyes with a piercing gaze. "Sigma is close. Very close...Go now... X..."
***Break***
Zero laid on the ground, his body at less than 31% integrity. His eyes moved to his partner, and he struggled to speak."...X. X...Do... you... hear... me? Darn...your ... optimism led... to your own... demise...You...should...L...L...live..." Zero smiled. Suddenly his first fight with Sigma jumped to the front of his mind. He was fighting him again. "Ha...die Sigma... Hmm, its strange. I defeated the Sigma virus. So why am I fighting Sigma again? I feel pain. I see... It appears my energy is running out, and it appears my memory is malfunctioning. It seems I'm finally going to die." Zero's smiled bitterly. Suddenly an outline of a man could be seen standing over him."Hmm. This nightmare again... It seems familiar. I know him... This time? You're Wily... You're creating me. The one who would destroy X...Not reploids, just the creation of your rival. Too bad, huh?" Somehow, Zero's heart seized up. He knew exactly who would show up now. And no matter how he struggled against it...Her smiling face greeted him. "Iris... I'm so sorry," Zero said. She just smiled back at him. He knew she couldn't hear. He knew that. And it was his fault. Her face faded from his mind. "I'm sorry X...But... I think I have to die...to restore the peace. But now... everything will come to an end...Good Bye...X..."
***Break***
Zero was on the ground. Damn this hurt. He'd been thrown pretty far by that explosion... he heard X's voice. He wasn't able to make out all the words as he worked to get himself back up.
"I'll leave this world to you. Please allow me to rest in peace for a while." X said, then a note of regret and sorrow was heard as he continued,"I'm sorry, Zero."
As X's cyber elf form teleported away, Zero slowly brought himself to a knee. "So be it." He said, only determination filling his voice. "But that's why we make the best partners." He stood up and turned, to come face to face with an army of Pantheon soldiers. "I'll do what you want... So rest for a while. I'll handle it, so you can count on me. I won't stop! When an enemy appears, I'll terminate it..." Zero dashed as he finished that sentence, drawing his saber, and diving into battle once again.
***Break***
Roll monitored Zero's vitals in the capsule. He had come to her, concerned about a number of his self diagnostics, and wanted to have a deeper look at his systems. His capabilities were far above what she, or for that matter X had... But with the inclusion of the ability to evolve... It was hard to tell just what X's final capabilities had really been. "Rock, are you seeing these readings the same as me?"
"Yeah... I'm seeing traces of energy that I can't readily identify being implemented into his systems..."
"What could it be?" Roll wondered.
"The only thing that comes close to this, is dark energy. But it doesn't seem to have the same corruptive factors..." Rock said hesitantly.
"Do you think that it might be what they call magic?"
"Its not impossible. You two are designed to evolve. With this energy in abundance, and people able to harness it, I don't see why he wouldn't evolve to handle it in some fashion."
"I see..."
"Roll, what should I do about the memories? Since he's been in there his mind seems to be working far harder than it should. It seems as if everything has been somewhat disjointed. Links are appearing...Its almost as if things have been intentionally altered... And now they're being reverted to their previous state. From what i've seen they're fairly disturbing too...I can't help but wonder how he's kept his sanity..."
"There isn't anything we can do. Please try not to look at them Rock, its not what we're here to do." Roll said as she glared at the monitor that her brother was talking from. She shook her head then murmured,"From what I can tell, its been years since he's had proper maintenance... Although from what we're seeing he doesn't exactly need it, its still healthy to have..." Roll scrolled through the information that was being fed to her from the capsule. She had to wonder how many battles were required to cause the damage that he had endured. Had he evolved the ability to repair himself because of that? While his systems weren't exactly biological, they had evolved to something very close. It was amazing to think that she too was capable of this type of evolution...
***Break***
Cattleya walked down the stairs to the lab for her daily check up. It had been a little over a week since she was confined to the academy. While Eleonore had at first been against it, the lack of dizzy spells, and coughing, as well as her general health improving, she had firmly embraced the new treatments. She still seemed wary of her spending too much time with Zero, but Cattleya had ignored her. The young warrior had been nothing but a gentleman. Sure he had a bluntness to him, but it was an honest bluntness. There was no disrespect behind it, no deceit. While she didn't like that he had hurt her sister, she couldn't help but be happy with why he had done it. For the first time, someone aside from her was willing to protect her little Louise. She entered the lab, and heard Roll's voice, talking about proper maintenance. "Excuse me, Miss Roll?" she called out in a gentle voice.
"Ah. Cattleya, I'm over here." Roll replied.
Walking towards the voice, she saw the young man Zero standing in a tube of glass motionless. Light seemed to come from within the tube. "Is something wrong with Zero?" Cattelya asked, sincere concern in her voice.
"Hmm, oh no. You could call it a routine check up. Just a way to make sure he doesn't have any problems that aren't readily apparent. Better to find problems before they become problems, don't you agree?" Roll replied.
"Oh, that makes sense." Cattelya admitted. After a moment of thought, she asked,"But, why didn't you use this on me?"
"Well... Zero and I... we're not quite like you. We're...Its hard to explain. Lets just say we're different."
"Oh. I'm not sure I understand... But I'll take your word on it. You're the physician." she replied. She hadn't understood about Rock either, but that was alright. He was nice, even if he didn't have a body.
"Roll... Something's wrong!" Rock said, his voice sounding synthesized for a moment.
"Rock? What's going on?" Roll demanded, suddenly warnings took up her screen. Something was happening with Zero. Rock's program had been taken offline to prevent damage to his data from the massive influx of information. Zero's power output was off the charts. "Zero, just happening inside of you?" she murmured as she tried to wake him up. Suddenly a sound like shaking earth could be heard, and a deep rumbling sound reverberated through the labs. "What's going on?" Roll demanded, there was no seismic activity, the ground itself wasn't shaking... So what the hell was going on?
"Zero! Reaching critical speed!" a female voice sounded over the speakers. "If it goes any faster I won't be able to get you back! Hurry!"
"No..." A deep sadistic voice replied. "This isn't over yet!"
"What is happening, miss Roll?" Cattleya asked, as she heard the alien language, and felt the rumbling sound deep in her chest.
Roll looked at the screen before her. Apparently this was the sound files that were from a memory imbeded in Zero. One that had caused a rather large reaction once the system reached it. "I think its one of Zero's memories...Its fine," Roll said, not feeling half as confident as she sounded. This shouldn't be happening. Was this because Rock had continued scanning his memories?
Cattleya brought her wand out, and hurriedly cast a spell of translation. If this was truly one of Zero's memories, it might help her understand him a little better.
Zero's voice sounded over the speaker, "Weil!"
A maniacal laugh followed this. "I told you! I can't die! Nobody can stop Ragnarok now!"
"Z-zero! There's no time! Get back here!" the female voice called again.
"No, there is a way. If I destroy Weil's core, the explosion will take Ragnarok out with it. If Ragnarok is blown apart, it no longer poses a threat!"
"But what about you?" she cried out loudly.
Another laugh came from the deep voiced mad man. "But are you even capable of it? The Reploid hero. Protecting justice and humanity! I am one of those humans you were sworn to protect! Do you have it in you to defeat me?
Zero's voice, filled with determination, followed,"I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling myself a hero... I have always only fought for those I believe in. I won't hesitate. If an enemy appears in my way, I will destroy it!"
"Zero! Zero!" the feminine voice called out in panic.
"Ciel... Believe in me!" Zero said in response.
"Zero!" The voice cried again, sobs could be heard as she screamed his name in anguish.
Roll's eyes opened wide. She heard the sounds of battle. She could hear the sound of a saber weapon, and the repeated sounds of buster fire. After forty-eight hectic seconds, the sound of battle cut out suddenly. The speakers went silent a moment later. "What... what in the world was that?" Roll whispered. Zero had talked about a fight like that, but that was surreal. Could that possibly be true? Who was that girl who screamed his name like that? How had he sounded so calm when he talked of being blown apart...
"Was... that really Zero?" Cattleya asked, in a timid voice.
"I... Think so..." Roll said, she let lose a sigh of relief as she noticed the changes in the readings from Zero. All were back down to the normal ranges that had been established.
"Roll... Zero is not human, is he?" Cattelya asked hesitantly.
Roll turned to look at the girl. She didn't seem scared, but she had a look of confusion on her face. "No, he's not. And as I'm sure you figured out from that... Neither am I."
Cattelya inspected Roll's ears closely... They were round, with no hint of any type of point. The only thing she'd ever read about that was even close to this was..."Are you some kind of human like golem?"
"No. From what we've seen, golems are constructs of magic, that have no mind of their own. We are beings created without magic, to emulate and in some ways, surpass humans. My creator was a kind and compassionate man. He encouraged my dream of becoming a doctor. It is how I have the knowledge, and the tools, to help you."
"Oh...I see. So, while you're not a human... You're still a person." Cattleya said, nodding.
"That's a very good way to put it. Yes, we are people, but we're not human."
"That's too bad..." Cattleya said, her head lowering.
"Why's that?"
"Because, I was hoping that Zero and my sister would find some solace in each other. Even mother can't deny Zero's rank, and he believes in Louise. He's done so much good for her, and I know he'll protect her."
"I don't think it would be a good idea. She's much too abrasive around him. With everything about her rights and authority, she's more than likely going to cause problems with Zero. For that matter, he tends to dislike most nobles almost on principle...You saw what he did to your sister."
"Oh, you misunderstand my sister's actions... Louise doesn't really care about her rights or authority, at least not for their own sake. She's more scared than anything else. She's finally starting to get some recognition. She's finally done something, but she's so afraid of slipping back. She's afraid that she'll be that zero that mother always accused her of being. While I was able to help her at times, I am not strong enough." Cattelya looked at Roll meaningfully. "You had a parent who chose to support you. Louise has had two parents who treat her like a failure. While father has been kinder than mother, neither of them think of Louise before they think of the family and our honor. Nothing she has done has ever been good enough. Can you really blame her?"
Roll looked at the kind sister of Louise and hung her head. "No, I suppose not. But I still can't see those two being happy. He'll out live her... By a lot."
"Oh?"
"I'm older than Zero, and he's three hundred and fifty years old." Roll said, looking straight into her eyes.
"But, he doesn't look any older than Louise."
"He doesn't need to. He wasn't created to. He's already lost everyone else who was important to him. Why let that happen again?"
"So...You think you'd make a better match for him?" Cattelya replied, understanding what the girl didn't seem to want to say flat out.
"I do. But I don't know if he's even ready for that. He's already lost someone that he loved. It must have been over a hundred years ago... But he still feels guilt and anguish over her. At this point, the only thing I want is to do is help him find some measure of peace. I think that's enough for me. For now ..."
"He seems to be fairly happy to me..." Cattleya said, as she recalled his smirk, his friendly jokes, his arms as he carried her to Roll, his voice when he sang, and the way he and Rock tended to trade verbal banter.
"I think that has to do with his personality... He always talks about moving forward. I think, he looks to the future not because of hope...But because he can't bare to look to the past. A hundred years of pain, battle, death, and suffering..." Roll said, sounding near on tears,"But even still, he wishes to protect people. Its funny, since his creator wished for him to become the destroyer of his enemies. I suppose Wily failed in that endeavor even on his greatest success. He made what could arguably be the greatest robot... But none of the things that he aimed for were accomplished."
"What?"
"Zero was created by a madman who had on many occasions tried to take over the world, and kill myself and my brother. It is because of him that my brother no longer has a body. I hate him for that... But, he also gave us Zero. Its a conflicting feeling." Roll replied. She looked down. She'd seen Zero cry. Why couldn't she? It wasn't fair... She couldn't even really hate Wily now. To create something like Zero... Even as an accident, he'd blessed the world. And yet he'd cursed Zero at the same time.
"Miss Roll, are you alright?" Cattelya asked as she stepped up behind her, placing her arms around the shaking shoulders of the smaller girl.
It felt as if a dam had broken inside of Roll as realization dawned on her,"You heard him right? From what he told me, that was his final battle before he got summoned here! If Louise hadn't summoned him he'd be dead! You heard his voice, he didn't care! To save our world, he was ready to sacrifice himself for it! There was no hesitation! He still can't find peace even with that! Even now he can't believe that he is a hero!"
Cattleya held on to Roll. Minutes passed, and Roll stopped shaking. Cattelya said in a gentle voice,"It doesn't matter if he sees himself as a hero. Would a hero really care about being called a hero? If he's fought so hard for everyone else he is definitely a hero...And if he's not a hero, then I don't believe that such a thing exists in our world."
***Break***
Henrietta looked at her Louise who was sitting across from her, her familiar conspicuously absent. "Where is Zero?" she asked her friend.
"I'm sorry Princess, but he wasn't able to come. He was acting rather odd, and said that he needed to go see Roll..." Louise replied.
"Who is Roll?"
"Ah, you haven't met her. She is a physician who works for the academy. You remember my sister right?"
"Of course. She was always a comfort to us when we were younger." Henrietta smiled, remembering the happy days she had spent with with Louise.
"Yes. Do you recall that she was sick, and that she required treatment fairly often?"
"I do. I remember, even the royal water mages could not cure her..."
"That is true princess. She came along with my sister Eleonore to retrieve me, but she had a one of her attacks... When she collapsed Zero took her to see Roll." Louise said, her voice purposely staying at a low note.
"Oh no! Is she alright?" Henrietta asked, concern clear in her voice and features.
"She's doing well Princess, but isn't allowed to leave the academy. Roll was able to diagnose the cause of her problem and has been treating her with some new methods. She's even put on some weight in the past week," Louise said, a grin on her face.
"Oh Louise, I'm so happy to hear that!" Henrietta said, relief lifting the heavy feeling in her heart. "So Zero went to see her?"
"Yes princess. When your message came he was already gone, and since he usually doesn't take care of himself... I didn't think it wise to interrupt whatever he needed to do. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get him to eat right. Or sometimes eat at all." Louise complained, annoyance clear in here voice.
"That's true. I believe you chose the correct action in this case. Although, I suppose this calls for some delay." Henrietta said with a smile.
"Oh?" Louise looked at the princess with a puzzled expression on her face.
"You see, we've had requests to push the knight-captain into the army's command structure now. As you know, starting tomorrow, the school will be given the shut down order. The more powerful nobles have become very aware of him with his actions of late. But, with all that he is done, I can say that he needs his rest."
"Princess, I will go to war if you ask me, but if possible, please do not involve Zero. I told him, that he didn't need to fight here. But he will if he is ordered to..."
"I do not wish for him to go into battle either Louise. But you know as well as I, that he would go even if we told him not to. With this, we have a reason to delay his departure to the field of battle."
"You're right, of course. I just can't help but wish we could give him some sort of peace Princess..."
"So do I Louise, but the world isn't always fair." Henrietta replied sadly, to which Louise just nodded her head.
***Break***
Zero's eyes opened as the capsule opened up. He moaned. What had happened? His vision was blurred.
'An unnoticed side effect of your rune I believe. It was so subtle that I didn't even notice it. Sorry son.' Came a reply from the voice of Wily.
'What are you talking about old man?' Zero thought,
'The runes suppressed all the thoughts that would have caused you a desire to go back to your world. That girl Ciel... She was one of the good ones, wasn't she?'
"Ciel?" Zero shouted the name out. As memories of the kind scientist assaulted him.
"Zero, are you alright?" Roll asked, as she stood in front of him, surprise written on her face.
"I... I'm fine." Zero said flatly, as his eyes focused. He took a tentative step out of the capsule.
"Oh, Mr. Zero, we were worried about you." Cattelya said, as she stepped into view.
"Worried?" Zero asked confused.
"Yes, there were some complications with-" Roll started to explain, but was promptly interrupted.
"My memories. Yeah I get that. This rune was doing it. Its fixed." Zero replied easily. Closing his eyes for a moment he tried to gauge what he felt. Thinking of Henrietta, Kirche, Tabitha, Cattleya, Guiche, Monmon, and even his angry little summoner, he still wanted to protect them. Damned rune. Doing unnecessary things like this, if it had been someone else it would have turned them into a slave. He hated to think what could have happened if someone less level headed had broken the coercion that the rune had forced on him.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Cattelya asked again.
"Yeah I'm fine." Zero said, giving his confident smirk. "Was a nice nap."
The pink haired woman looked at him, her face filled with determination. "So, who is Ciel? You cried out her name when you woke up."
Zero looked at her. He shook his head. "She is a scientist. She woke me up from a self imposed sleep. When she woke me up, she was being chased by...monsters. I didn't know who I was at the time, having just woken up from a hundred years of sleep. She was vulnerable, and she asked for my help. Later, she proved to be a good person."
"I see. Was she, special to you?"
"What?" Zero asked, as the pink haired girl looked at him, a previously unseen iron in her eyes. "I wanted to protect her. She did everything in her power to fight against war. She tried to help everyone she could. She didn't discriminate against anyone regardless of their...birth. She helped many people, and never backed down when it mattered."
"So she was?" Cattelya asked again.
"Not in the way you're thinking. She was special, she was a good person. I'd gladly die to protect her. But what could I say? She's nothing like me." Zero said, and then flinched as a torrent of memories assaulted him. Seemingly at random, memories of reploids that he destroyed flashed before his eyes. Not all of the reploids he had destroyed had deserved it either. He remembered the reploids who he had destroyed when they first discovered him. Only a monster could do that and take pleasure in it. "With the amount of killing and battle I've seen, I'm beyond saving. I am nothing more than a monster, a weapon. The best I can do is fight to protect those who will build a better future. " Zero said sadly.
Silence hung in the air for a few moments, but it was broken by the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing through the lab. Roll looked at Cattelya, who had pushed her out of the way.
"Do not ever speak such words again," Cattelya said, her voice cold and hard. "When I collapsed, what would have happened if not for you? Would not Roll and Rock be slumbering still without you? Would Louise not have a life devoid of hope or companionship? What about Fouquet or Wardes? What of the invasion of Tristian?" Cattelya demanded, and though her eyes were cold, unshed tears were in her eyes. "There are people in this world who deserve the name monster. You have dealt with a few of them. You are not one of them, and I will not let you say that. I don't care if you believe yourself a hero or not. A monster can not feel remorse. A monster can not feel love. A monster can not use themselves as a shield for others. You are not a monster."
"Cattelya, stop..." Roll said, as she looked at the normally quiet girl.
"No, Roll. It needs to be said. If nobody else would do it, it falls on me to do it. It is my responsibility as a noble to right injustice as I am able." She said, not taking her eyes off Zero. Her eyes softened as she continued. "I am sorry for the boldness of my actions, but I still feel that what was said, needed to be said. You are not a monster, nor a weapon. If you ever say such again, I will correct you. Do you understand?"
Zero could only look at the girl standing in front of him. She had slapped him. Actually, it hurt a little. And now she was looking at him the way she always did. After a few moments, his eyes widened in realization. "Cattelya, is your hand alright?"
Looking at Zero, Cattelya had to stifle a laugh. "Yes, although it does hurt. A small price to pay though, for you to see the truth." She smiled at him happily.
Shaking his head, he tentatively took her right hand, and felt her wrist. When she flinched at his touch he realized she'd probably bruised her bone, maybe worse. "You really should think before you act. You know you've got a weak body. Although you feel better than you have in a long time, you're still not that strong." He looked at Roll, and she went to get one of the first aid kits.
"Ah...I should think? I hit you, and here you are worrying about my hand, simply because the pain was caused by me hitting you. Do you not think you're proving my point?" Cattelya asked, as she smiled at him.
"Whatever," Was Zero's only response to the girl's laughter. As he looked at Roll, he shook his head and asked,"What time is it?"
"The dinner bell should be ringing fairly soon."
"Ah, can you take care of Cattelya's hand? Louise is probably gonna be upset that I've been missing all day." Zero said as he let go of her hand.
"Of course." Roll replied as she opened her first aid kit.
"Thanks Roll. And thank you Cattelya." Zero said as he looked at the smiling girl that was standing in front of him.
***Break***
Louise was waiting outside of the door that lead down to the lab. She was allowed in, but she wasn't sure what was going on with Zero. She'd returned half an hour ago but was unable to really think of a reason to go down. She half worried that if she went down, she'd find out that something was wrong with Zero. He'd never taken care of himself before, but suddenly he had to see Roll...
"Hey, you look distracted. Everything alright?"
Louise jumped as the object of her worries shook her out of her inner thoughts. She turned around and did her best to look calm and dignified after he had scared her. "I'm just fine. I was waiting for you."
"Oh?"
"You said you wanted to see Roll today about something regarding your health. Although you are my familiar, and I am concerned about you... You asked me not to come with you today."
"Wait, so you actually waited up here for me?" Zero said, surprise evident in his voice.
"What's so wrong with that? You asked and I respected that!" She yelled.
"Nothing's wrong with it at all." Zero said with a smile.
"Zero... Did you and Roll get into a fight?" Louise asked suddenly.
"Hmm? No, why do you ask?"
"You seem to have a hand print on your cheek,"
"Oh, that's just from Cattelya," Zero said, laughing at the strangled sound that Louise made.
"My sister would do no such thing! And if she did you must have done something unforgivable!" Louise said, glaring at him now. What had he done to her sister?
"Unforgivable, Huh? All that happened was, I woke up with some bad memories coming back to me. I might have called myself a monster and," Zero was cut off as Louise's hand hit him in a familiar place.
"Unforgivable indeed," Louise said as she glared at her familiar.
Zero looked at the little girl in front of him. Before now he'd never seen anything about the two personality wise that would make you think they were related in any way. Suddenly he burst out laughing. "That's too much. That's right about when she did it too! She has a better arm though!"
"You deserved it!" Louise said as she continued glaring at him.
"Probably. Probably. Let me guess, no dinner?" Zero replied, his voice both sarcastic and playful.
"Oh no. You're going to come to dinner, and you're going to eat! It is hard enough getting you to take care of yourself! So we're going now!" Louise yelled as she took his hand and led him off. She scowled as she thought about what he had said. A monster? The fact that he called himself that was enough to make her angry enough to hit him again. He wasn't a monster. He was her beautiful, kind familiar. He believed in her. And she'd believe in him.
***Author's Notes***
While some people might think that Cattelya's character might not be capable of this, the other sisters bow to her will in all things. To me, she is kind and gentle, but beneath this she has the ability to step up and say things that need to be said. In this case, with all that Zero has done, him calling himself a weapon, or a monster(which is quite a fair description if he remembers what he did to the reploids before Sigma found him. Which he does. He mutilated them for fun. There was no real reason, he could have talked to them, but he didn't. It was destruction for no other reason. A truly monstrous action) this provoked Cattelya's sense of right and wrong. She knew that Zero isn't the type to accept her normal comfort like Saito did... so she used the next best thing. The bitch slap of common sense. She apparently passed this secret art on to Louise.