Zero stood on top of the armory tower, scowling down at the school. How the hell had he gotten into this? It didn't make any damned sense, and here he had been cornered and outwitted by that girl?
"So, what are you doing up here?" came the familiar voice of Axl from behind him.
"Nothing." was Zero's curt reply.
"I hear you have an upcoming date with Leviathan. Congratulations. I don't think anyone has ever backed one of the guardians into one before. I mean, with her attributes you could say she's a real ice princess." Axl commented, laughing as Zero grumbled quietly."Why complain so much. Why don't you go out and have some fun? What's the worst that could happen? The tragic Zero could have a bad day or something? You got a date with probably the hottest reploid in Neo Arcadia and one of the few women who can understand you. Have some damned fun before Layer shoves my ass aside and beats the stuffing out of you again."
"She wouldn't." Zero replied seriously, still looking away from the other reploid.
"You have no idea just what she would do. Hell, when she took over she surprised me more than it surprised you truth be told. She is the strongest of the cyber elves that I have, and without her my combat capabilities would be pretty stunted, at least in close quarters combat. But that's not really important. What is important is that everyone agrees except Armored Armadillo that you need to wake up and realize that the past doesn't always happen again. Sigma is gone. Weil is gone. You have a new chance, in a new world with people who care about you. If you really want to throw that away... We're all going to work together to beat some sense into that empty head of yours. And Armored Armadillo is on board with that part at least."
Zero chucked lightly. "I see...Even Iris feels that way?"
"Especially Iris. She loves you Zero. Enough to set you free. Go have fun on your little date, and see what comes of it if anything. Who knows what could happen in the days to come. Just give it a chance if nothing else." Axl said in an oddly gentle voice that warped near the end. Suddenly he shook his head with an annoyed look.
Zero, who was deep in thought missed this, but just shook his head. "I suppose I can try..."
"If it's so impossible will you just give up?" Axl asked some contempt leaking into his voice.
"Give up? Who do you take me for?" Zero demanded as he whirled to face Axl.
"It's not really a question if you can or can't make this work. It's more a question if you will or you won't." Axl replied with a grin.
"If I will or won't? What a stupid thing to say." Zero replied rolling his eyes.
"Well, I am talking to someone who is pretty stupid when it comes to this. I'm just trying to give you a little guidance on this." Was the quick return from the younger reploid.
"Whatever. I suppose I have to go face the music either way," Zero commented as he stood and headed towards the stairs down.
"Have fun. And remember, don't let her get third base on the first date! Make her work for it!" Axl cried after him, although was disappointed when Zero didn't respond to the tease as he had hoped. After a few minutes Axl sighed. "Well, that wasn't as amusing as I had hoped it would be. But at least this is progress."
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" A familiar voice asked from behind him.
"Still not showing yourself, huh?" Axl replied with his own question not bothering to turn around. "You're just digging yourself a bigger hole for when he does find out. If you need me to though, I'll try and find some musicians to play that song... What was it called, the Benny Hill theme or something like that? I'm pretty certain that it would be fitting."
"He doesn't need to find out." X replied with a smile at the other reploid. He always had a way of finding the lighter side of things, even now. "I'm content like this. I do not need to fight, I do not need to save the world. All I need to do is support those who are important to me. I... Kind of like it this way."
"Always the coward, X? You're leaving it all on us again. But in the end, it feels like it will all come down to Zero again. I'm doing what I can... But you being 'dead' still hurts him. There isn't any reason for you to stay out of sight like this." Axl replied, a hint of anger in his tone, his fists clenched. "You're just afraid to act, just like before!"
"You might be right, and this might be selfish..." X said somberly,"But in the end, this is what I feel is right. I'm sorry."
"Who cares. I'm not the one who you need to apologize to. I'm doing what I feel is right too. But I don't think you're right so I won't agree with you." Axl replied as he finally turned to face X. When he turned, he realized that the cyber elf had already left. "Damn it. You ran away again..." Axl murmured as he shook his head. With a brief burst of agitation Axl kicked the parapet he was standing on, looking much like a child barely restraining a tantrum. "Don't you idiots understand that neither of you saved the world alone? Nobody can do something like that. And people call me an idiot? I hate this about you both... Idiots..."
***Break***
Leviathan looked at herself in the mirror. She supposed her civilian guise would work for this, although she'd always been too embarrassed to wear it before. This just didn't fit the aquatic warrior that she was, but right now that was not what she was aiming for. Looking in the mirror she had to admit that this would trap Zero. This hunt had to be carried out in an alternate way, and this was the weapon for that. All she had to do was wait for him. She lightly brushed her long azure hair, allowing it to sweep behind her so that it didn't obstruct other... views. Suddenly she started as she heard a tentative knock at the door. "Who is it?" She called out, knowing she wouldn't let anyone else see her in such a condition before Zero.
"It's me." came Zero's slightly nervous voice from the other side of the door. The sight that greeted him when he opened the door was something he had not expected. While Leviathan's face had become more than familiar to him, the dress she wore was something altogether different. It was a long, pale blue dress that seemed to be latticed around the bust with a whitish material, somehow pushing her chest up and making her look something akin to a goddess cresting out of a wave. His face turned instantly as red as his armor as he turned away.
"So ugly that you can't stand to look at me? You know, you're the first person I've shown this to, and I'm that ugly?" Leviathan asked in a sad voice, although she was pleased with the reaction he had to her secret weapon.
"N-no, nothing like that!" Zero stammered as he turned to face her again, his face still bright red."I just... Didn't expect you to..."
As Leviathan looked at Zero, still in his armor, she prompted,"Expected me to what? Look like a girl?"
"Ah, not that. I just..." Zero protested lamely as he tried to keep his eyes where they should be.
"You know Zero, it would be considered fairly rude if you don't show me yours, after I've shown you mine." Leviathan said after Zero fell silent again, his gaze faultering periodically.
"W-what?" Zero asked as he took a step back. Date or not, not even Kirche had been that forward!
"Your civilian form. Show me the other side of Zero. We would look ridiculous if I'm the only one not in armor." Leviathan replied coyly."Althoguh if your mind is on that track I suppose we could always skip the precursor going out. I mean, you've been courting me since the first time we met after that woman woke you." Leviathan said as she laughed and took a step back as she spun with her dress showing just a hint of her lower legs and her hair splaying about as she enjoyed teasing him. "You know, your power has always driven me crazy, right?"
Zero shook his head violently as his form shifted to his civilian guise, his cloak falling to the ground as he did. "Damn...Stupid useless cloak." Zero complained as he picked it up.
"You can leave it here if you want. I don't care about it, or what it means." Leviathan replied honestly as she made a show of looking Zero up and down with a satisfied smile on her face.
Finally, Zero nodded.
"You know, Zero..." Leviathan said slowly as she moved too hook her arm in his after she tossed his cloak toward her bed,"If we ever see Harpuia again... He's going to kill me."
"For dealing with the enemy?" Zero asked, confused that she would bring that up. He and Harpuia hadn't really been on that bad of terms, and in the end he thought there had been some sort of casual peace between the two of them, seeing as he had been the most like X.
"No, not really. He had more of a crush on you than even me. He'd always say things like 'He makes me feel more alive than anyone. This is how it should be,'. I mean, he even brought you to the resistance when you collapsed." Leviathan replied with a smile as Zero choked on that realization.
"You're joking, right?" Zero demanded as he tried to move away, but Leviathan held tight and stepped with him.
"Nope. That spoiled boy had it really bad for you. When he woke us up and finished our repairs so that we could help you against Omega he had the stupidest smile on his face." Leviathan replied with a smirk,"Each time you two played together it just got worse. Just like all of us really. I suppose even Fighting Fafnir had a thing for you in some way." Leviathan couldn't help but laugh at the face Zero made when she said that.
"...That is incredibly disturbing." Zero said in a flat voice, hoping that it could be dropped, but knowing his luck, nothing would be that easy.
"Probably. But then, it doesn't really matter. Because i'm the Guardian you're on the date with. Now, where exactly are we going, or are you going to take me up on my other offer?" Leviathan asked as she raised an eyebrow at Zero.
Zero growled at her teasing then replied,"We'll figure it out when we get there."
"Get where?" Leviathan asked curiously.
"You'll see." Zero replied as he headed out the door and reached down to grab something. It appeared to be a woven basket with a small blanket on it.
"I can't wait, although is it really a date if you walk away from me? I'd hate for us to have to do this over for you to get the ring." Leviathan noted stopping Zero in his tracks. When she stood next to him he started moving again, she kept pace with him, suppressing laughter at how easily the reploid who had defeated her so many times in the past could be flustered outside of combat. It was kind of cute really.
***Break***
Guiche sat in the Koga headquarters, going over their training schedule for the week. Zero had made it fairly 'light' this week, focusing more on developing skills involved with stealth and infiltration as well as the counters to these skills. He shook his head, trying to figure out why they couldn't have just been a more normal order of knights, then sighed again. If they were normal, then they wouldn't be the Koga knights. Suddenly his attention was captured by the door swinging open and a pink haired girl charging in.
"Where is Zero?" She demanded angrily as she grabbed Guiche by the lapels.
"The c-commander?" Guiche stammered, unsure why he was suddenly the target of the girls rage.
"Yes, that Zero! My familiar? Where has he gone to? The maid said that he had stopped by the kitchen and gotten everything one would need for a picnic for two!" Loiuse replied while shaking Guiche angrily. "
"Ah!" Guiche cried as he was man handled by the much smaller girl. If he had the ability to concentrate he'd ask just how she was able to do this, but he didn't at the moment. This left him with just one choice, answering the question,"D-date." As he uttered the word, she stopped shaking him and her body went rigid.
"What did you say?" Louise asked calmly as the word sunk in.
"That woman, Leviathan and him were going out on a date because," Guiche replied, trying to explain but was interrupted by the angry girl.
"That stupid woman tried to kill us, and now he brought her back, allowed her to join his order of knights and is now taking her out on a date... Unacceptable..." Louise replied angrily,"It's not fair!"
"Ah, but Louise," Guiche tried to get a word in but it was clear she wasn't listening.
"Stupid familiar, stupid Zero!" Louise cried as she kicked the table.
"Stupid girl!" came a sharp voice from the corner getting her attention.
Louise scowled at Derflinger who had been left out of his sheath, a mirror polish on him. "Pay attention when people speak. Guiche wasn't done talking."
"What more was there to say?" Louise demanded as she stomped up to the sword.
"Ah... Well, you see... She kind of coerced him into it Louise." Guiche said scratching the back of his head, taking a few steps back and putting some furnature between him and her.
"Coerced?" Louise asked, her attitude shifting,"How could she do that?"
"Well, she had the ring that he had promised to recover for the water spirit. She said that it belonged to her, but that she'd trade it for a date... Myself and my dear Montmorency where there for this exchange... Her tactic was equal parts flawless, ruthless and brilliant. Before he knew what had happened he was demanding a single date, rather than three dates and... Then I think he caught up to the conversation. I don't think I've ever seen the commander look so confused before." Guiche explained, trying not to laugh at the end.
"She has the ring of Andvari?" Louise gasped and Guiche nodded an affirmative. "I see... So he went on a date to get the ring. While I dislike that notion, I suppose it is acceptable... I mean... He did promise. So that's alright. A date in exchange for such an item wouldn't mean anything. It couldn't." Louise said as she nodded to herself, talking herself down from the panic she was feeling.
"Don't fool yourself Louise. While partner is more defensive around her, he also lets his guard down in some ways when she's around." Derflinger said seriously,"She is rather pretty, and they're both fighters. But I have just the plan for you!"
"What plan?" Louise asked suspiciously.
"Have you ever dressed up as a bunny before? I have the most wonderful idea as to how you can catch partner's attention!" Derflinger replied in an enthusiastic voice.
"...I'm going to go talk to Kirche..." Louise stated in a flat tone as she breathed deeply, remembering she was not really supposed to melt Derflinger. It would just make Zero angry. But he'd get over it. Really, a bunny. What was that stupid sword thinking, who could ever find a bunny attractive. As she reigned in her blossoming anger she deliberately walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
"A bunny you say?" Guirche asked the sword curiously,"What's so good about a bunny?"
"Ah, my young uncorrupted friend, think of your dear Monmon in a lacy number, rabbit ears and a fluffy tail. Visualize this, and answer the question yourself." Derflinger replied, his voice more serious than Guiche had ever heard.
As Guiche visualized this particular thought, his face turned red and his eyes locked on to the sword. "T-that...That is... an amazing thing!"
"I knew you'd understand. That girl just doesn't understand the glory of my wisdom. Too stubborn to admit it, too." Derflinger said with regret.
"Ah, that's too true, too true. As expected of the sword of the commander, a wise and considerate weapon." Guiche gushed as his mind raced. "Oh noble weapon, do you believe... That you could convince my Dear Montmorency to dress like that? I would forever be in your debt."
"Eh, my partner likes ya so we'll see. Although I normally only step in and give my great wisdom when people have troubles with their partner. Unless you do something stupid you don't really need my help, right kid?" Derflinger asked a pouting Guiche.
"I suppose not..." Guiche admitted glumly, then shook his head,"But still, such a thing... Such a thing would be amazing to behold."
"Of course. Why do you think I brought it up? I do have six thousand years of experience after all. I've learned a lot about humans in that time." Derflinger spoke proudly.
***Author's notes***
Because apparently it's not clear to some people. Zero is not Omega. Omega would probably have no problem killing anyone he wanted to if they annoyed him enough, or even just once. Zero is not Omega. While Omega could be said to be a type of incarnation of Zero with no other use but to destroy that is NOT Zero, nor will it every be Zero. Even Capcom has said this. If you don't like that write your own story where Omega gets summoned, have it last three chapters while he depopulates the entire continent or whatever.
Because I've recently had a number of questions involving some earlier things that have happened, I'm going to give a few quick explanations. A lot of the current stuff started around chapter 17. If you guessed that the incident involving the rune there was something involving Wily then you're absolutely on track. this was Wily's first attempt at subverting/removing the rune, and lead to his knowledge of how to remove it. Simply rendering Zero unconscious wasn't enough, but he later used the information he had to simply let Zero's system overload itself by making it draw more and more on the magic of the world in an uncontrolled fashion in the fight with Albion so that his system would actually shut down even if it was for only a few moments to rid the body of the rune so he could repair Zero. Wily's plan for that was spanning that far back.
TLDR version : Chapter 17, Wily picked a fight with the rune and lost. But he learned enough that helping Zero overload himself he got rid of it later.
Also... Derflinger. How the hell is a sword so perverted?
Also. Wardes took multiple gunshot wounds from the Zero. Then he plummeted outta the sky on his dead dragon. Wardes = Done. Fouquet saved Wardes in the real story so... Who saved him now? Nobody.
Zero: He better be or else next time I meet him this story is getting upgraded to an M rating. And the cleaning staff is gonna be pretty pissed at you.
And where exactly are you taking Leviathan for your date, since you decided to show up down here again Zero?
Zero:...You really want me to break the spoiler for you?
Ah...Not really, I was just teasing...
Zero: Had enough of that with Axl, I'm gonna be taking her to the-
Okay that's enough of that lets give them a reason to keep reading.
Zero: You asked. I was going to answer.
Yes, it seems you were, you crazy crazy person.
So what were you doing?
Oh just finished replaying MMZ-Z4 S rank and Megaman X1-4. 4 is half done. Cleared on X first, now clearing on you. God damned Speeder stage. controls for it suck.
Zero: So that's why i've been so tired. Well at least you didn't go after any more no hit games than MMZ2 right?
Yeah. Totally harder to get 0 hits esp in 4 when they made the bosses like Mino Magus. He's a douchebag. Just sayin. letting it be known. He's cheaper than Zero in MMX4 once he beats magma dragoon.
Zero: ... Wow. That's pretty damned cheap, but you're right. He was NOT fun to fight. I couldn't figure out how his systems worked with the amount of magnetic energy wasnpusling through him and holding him together.
So yeah, I have multiple screenshots of Zero being a Hero, Redeemer...through out the series
Zero: You... have... what?
Oh. Here, I have the stats right here
Result:
Mission: 100% 20 points
Clear time : 1'51' 20 points
Enemy 40 15 points
Damage 15 points
Retry 15 points
Elf 15 points
Total points 100
Rank Hero
Departure just makes you feel uber and the just keep throwing three mini boses the pantheons the birds it's not really a nice opening stage but it's a WONDERFUL continuous stage. it is games like these that make me wish that Capcocm still made awesome games like this. I'd have to say it's the most memorable video game opening ever. you're busted down, you're nearly weaponless. You can swing your saber once. You can only partially charge you buster. No shield, no troll(sorry recoil rod). But still you fight until you have to destroying everything you can until you meed boss, boss, boss all with about a 20 second difference between em.
Zero:What did you call me?"
"I didn't call you anything. I'm just saying what the game I was playing on said.
Zero : :glares intently at Destrinbriar.
...okay moving on before he kills me, another small chapter. But hey an update is an update. Thanks for the support will see you all at chapter 70.