Zero looked around the lab assessing the various and fastest routes of egress for when he awoke Rock once again. He wondered if he should get out of his civilian guise and into armor before doing this but dismissed that as unfair. There had to be some risk or there wasn't really any reason to have done this. After his initial start up Zero had allowed Rock to enter the computer again while they performed maintenance and made small adjustments to the core of the reploid body that had been used for the first time. He stifled a laugh as he looked at Rock and shook his head. After they had finished he had decided to get some 'fresh air' or rather to get away from Roll who had been glaring daggers at him for a little bit since his little shock 'test'. When Kirche and the others walked by, following Axl, he decided to stop them, and asked for a little help from Kirche and Siesta after an idea struck him. He left the others upstairs because he knew that they'd probably not be willing to join in on what he had planned. As he explained his plan to Axl, Siesta and Kirche he had no real idea why he was going to do it, especially after arming Rock as he did but as Axl had said many times before, comedy was its own reason and reward. He had also been expressly not to do it, which for some reason made it even more important to him. After many protests from Roll who finally relented to his boyish grin, Kirche and Siesta got to work in earnest on Rock who was uploaded but not activated yet. Roll had left the room refusing to be there for the actual activation, although Axl and the girls hung back either curious or amused at the antics of what was supposed to be the greatest weapon in all of existence. Zero pressed the final confirmation codes and Rock's blue eyes lit with life as they went from a wide dull blue to a more focused, lifelike form and the glass retracted, "Welcome back to the world of the living." Zero commented as Rock took a step out of the capsule.
Rock's eyes immediately narrowed as he heard a swooshing sound on his first step. Looking down he noticed that he was in his civilian guise which had a similiar composition to Zero's but with a dark, almost navy blue, scheme and over the 'normal' clothing was a yellow sun dress. "Zero. Would you care to explain this before I test my buster on you?"
"Well, you see the hard part was getting the clothing on you with you being inactive. Especially activating your civilian form without waking you up. That actually took a bit of work without Roll helping. The makeup was actually the easiest part because Kirche and Siesta helped. " Zero replied seriously, with Axl stifling a laugh behind him and the two girls looking away from Rock.
"I see. Now why did you do this?" Rock asked slowly his hand grabbing Zero by the shirt of his civilian form.
"Well, you see, you spent a rather large amount of time in Roll's body. And I figured that you'd feel a little more at home in your new body if we eased you back into things little by little. I mean, you just can't give up your girlish figure so easily can you?" Zero asked, his tone dead serious.
"Is this another shock test?" Rock asked Zero who shook his head in the negative. With no warning after that Rock's hand shot out and grabbed the broom that Roll had placed near his capsule without Zero noticing it and before Zero could react swung it hard enough to throw Zero across the room into the wall. "Then I hope that was recorded."
"It was! Backing it up now." Came Roll's voice from the back lab.
"What the hell is that broom even made of?" Zero demanded as he stood up, noticing that the broom was still straight as it was before.
"Titanium carbon ceramic." Rock replied calmly.
"That's what most of our armor is made out of!" Zero replied in surprise then demanded, "Who would even do that?"
"Someone who wanted to stop replacing broken brooms. Roll went through a steady supply of them." Rock replied just as seriously as Zero was before. After this he struggled to get the dress off him, thankful that he didn't have his armor on at the moment because of the ways it had been tied. Then he went to the sink in the corner of the lab and began removing the makeup.
Zero chuckled lightly with how calm Rock had been, and how absurd the idea of the broom was. He supposed that he got off rather easily compared to how badly things could have been. But then again, he had been broomed. Again. And it had been recorded. Again. He just wish he'd payed more attention to Roll before she left the room. "Then I suppose you're ready to go and meet everyone as the new and improved Megaman."
"I'm just Rock. No matter what. That's all I want to be. With just that I can protect everyone." Rock replied with a smile.
Zero smirked at that and replied, "Yeah. You're right. You can. Let's go. They've been waiting long enough. You had more people worried about you than you think."
"Really? Are you sure you didn't just want to parade me around like you woke me up?"
"As amusing as that would have been they would have had to be down here because I didn't think you'd leave the lab like that. Unless you're into that kind of thing secretly," Zero replied mockingly then dodged a swing from the newly upgraded reploid. When Rock didn't say anything else Zero walked to the door and said, "Let's go. Your adoring public awaits."
Rock followed Zero up the stairs out of the lab. He felt a surge of excitement in him as he realized he was setting his first steps outside in his own body in what had been entirely too long. While he had been able to get out using Roll's old body, the chance to be out as himself again was something that made him eager to actually be outside the lab and see everyone. As the door opened and he stepped out into the sunlight with Zero he saw that a number of people were waiting outside everyone in the lab followed him outside. He recognized most of the little army that Zero was training, with Reynold and Guiche at the front of the crowd and many of the other students and some of the staff he had met in Roll's body. He noticed that the Colbert there as well, and even the headmaster.
"Ladies, gentlemen and shameless elderly womanizers, I give to you the new and upgraded Rock, properly upgraded and with the correct gender! Fully compatible with humans by the way, for all you eligible single young ladies who are looking for a reliable and handsome if somewhat naive young hero!" Zero said theatrically and Louise placed her face firmly in her palm causing Zero to smirk even more. He was fairly sure that was her first face palm ever. Now she knew how he felt!
Rock's face flushed as Zero proclaimed that out loud and he was about to say something sharply to Zero when he heard a sob from one of the girls. If he recalled her name correctly, her name was Katie. Suddenly, he scratched the back of his head as he started speaking apologetically , "I'm sorry to have worried you all. Thank you for your thoughts. I'll be doing my best to protect you all now. So leave it to me."
Reynold walked up to him, place a hand on his shoulder and smiled, his eyes visibly wet. "We're sorry. It's because of our weakness that you almost died. We should have been the ones to protect you when you needed it."
Rock shook his head and smiled gently, "I appreciate that. But I chose my action then. I could have avoided damage to myself in that instance but I chose not to. It was the fault of nobody but those who attacked us."
Katie was the one to speak then, "Why would you do that? Choose to be hurt?"
Rock smiled sheepishly, "Because, I knew that my body at the time could possibly survive the damage the discharged would cause. But I knew that Mathilda in her state at the time would have been killed with no actual chance of survival." After saying this, a series of murmurs went through the crowd, and Rock was alarmed to hear from a few of the girls how cute, reliable and serious he seemed. He saw a blush on a number of their faces, and he recognized some of the voices including Beatrice and her group. He glanced at Zero who had a near Cheshire grin on. "But to tell the truth, this is what I've done for a long time. I wasn't made for combat like Zero. So I'm not as good as him. I simply had to fill the role to protect people. So I'll be in your care from now on." Rock said with a slight bow which caused more murmuring.
"It's about time you accepted this." Mathilda said from a wall behind Rock. "I told you that everything would work out fine. We were all just waiting for you to realize it too. You're as bad as Zero with things like this aren't you?"
Rock sighed in defeat as everyone chuckled at his expense, although few really understood the true meaning behind the admonishment. "Alright… I got it, I got it. I'm here now right? That's enough right?"
"Well, we'll still probably remind you sometimes when you get too insufferable," Mathilda smirked as she dropped to the ground.
Zero smirked as he prepared to respond to Rock until he noticed Mallicorne who he had set to gate duty for the morning running towards them, a serious expression on his far less pudgy but still stocky visage. Zero wondered what type of catastrophe was going to ruin the perfectly good unveiling of Rock's new body. This was the closest that he'd get to having a birthday and it was already was set to be ruined which immediately set Zero off. With a sigh he walked up to receive whatever message it was that was being delivered, hoping it was something that could be fixed or blown up easily enough so that Rock's big day wouldn't be a total loss.
***Break***
As the academy came into view from the carriage the young passenger looked at it feeling somewhat pensive. He had to do this, he knew. He had to face everything. He would have to face Zero and face the judgment and punishment of a coward. His talk with the commoners who had driven him thus far and the memories he had of that once dark time showed that his actions had been simply running away. Dying was the easy way out. A sad smile crossed his face as he felt the carriage come to a stop and heard one of the two drivers dismount.
"You alright back there sir? You've been quiet for a while. If you're worried about meeting that man you shouldn't be. While he is a right terrible enemy to have I've never heard of him being murderous or anything of the sort without a reason. He gave little quarter to the enemy who invaded but he seems to be good people." The older driver said as he leaned back waiting.
"That may be, but I still am not all that excited to see him again. His council that he offered was accurate and I defied it for my own reasons. And because of that people close to him were put in danger." Was the calm reply.
"Pardon me saying out of turn, but honest mistakes are just that. My mother always said nobody, even the mightiest of noblest is perfect. An honest mistake is a mistake you try not to make again. It's when your pride makes ya repeat them that you should kick yourself." Came the dry reply from the driver.
"A very practical and wise view of things. But even with that, I am still to blame. Being a noble makes things my responsibility. It is the truth of the position. When you are entrusted to protect people and the society they live you must be held to a higher standard. I threw away the lives of three hundred men and women in arms. Their blood is on my own hands. All for nothing…"
"That may be, I'm glad I'm not a noble if that's how you view things. No offense intended sir."
With a light laugh the young man shot back," None taken, and for what it's worth I've often wished I hadn't been a noble. Free to love whom I want, free to go where I want. Free to cast off the shackles of responsibility."
"Many do not feel the same. I'm glad there are nobles like you around, just as much as I hate the nobles who lord over their position and make a fuss over us commoners as if we were a livestock." The man paused then spoke again," I think our conversation ends here… You should probably step out now."
With a nod, the blond man opened the door and stepped down from the carriage to the ground. He saw the other driver carrying a brown pouch, and a familiar young man wearing a stylish if somewhat subdued black suit of some kind. But even from the distance he was in, the hair and intense eyes made it clear who this man was. A wave of dread washed over him as he saw this time, the shift of Zero's armor. Suddenly the suit had been replaced with the armor he had seen before.
"Prince Wales? What are you doing here? Did someone somehow get that ring again?" Zero demanded as his hand touched his saber reflexively.
"No, gentle familiar. The spirit of water staved off the last vestiges of my death while I was in her lake. When you returned the ring she had to complete her bargain with a fairy of some kind which was to nurse me back to life as near as I can figure it. Under her control the ring can do more than just bring about 'false life' as she explained it."
Zero looked at Wales a moment then seemed to be furious as he complained," Wait, she never said anything about that!"
"You seem upset by this…" Wales spoke when Zero said nothing more. "I know I ignored your council and even betrayed the woman I love... But I didn't expect this level of anger."
"Why shouldn't I be angry?" Zero demanded looking both flustered and frustrated at the same time," Louise cried, Kirche cried, Henrietta probably is still crying. All this and she couldn't just let me know that you were coming back? Wait, fairy… damn it Charity, is this what the spirit meant when she said she had could talk to you? Also what the hell is with the humans here? You're not supposed to be repairable after death. I mean, not that I'm complaining… But seriously, if she knew you were alive she wouldn't-" Zero cut himself off. He was not going to tell the prince about the marriage proposals from the princess. Even he knew that would be a terrible idea. With a sigh he collected himself. "So what now? You're alive again? We should probably have Roll check that out too…"
"Roll? Check what out?" Wales asked, confused at Zero's sudden change of demeanor after he had suddenly stopped ranting.
"Roll is a physician. And Reploid like me. Her power level is comparable to mine as is her brother's. Enough to take out that joke of an army at Newcastle, if she actually didn't prefer to treat the wounded." Zero spoke easily, then paused. "So does this mean you're going to go become king of Albion?"
"No… I am unworthy of that title. I could not hold the country, nor bring its people together. I am but here to throw myself on your mercy for the wrongs I have done." Prince Wales replied somberly.
"What mercy? You made a decision and stuck it through. I didn't agree with you, but you had your reasons and logic behind it. You did what you thought was right, to protect what you felt needed to be protected. Who am I to judge that?" Zero wondered aloud, almost to himself then after a few moments he continued sounding bemused, "Although if we're lucky Henrietta will only be throwing chairs at you instead of both of us when I bring you to the castle."
"Throwing chairs? Whatever would cause my flower to do such a thing?" Wales asked confused.
"Beware prince, your little 'flower' has some thorns and steel in her now." Zero replied with a smirk, "Although she lacks the bramble that my own summoner has. And honestly I'd not be surprised if she's more like Louise than we think with the stories I've heard of their childhood play time."
"I see…" Wales said slowly.
"You don't now, but you will." Zero promised, a hint of humor in his voice. "Believe me, you will. But we'll deal with that later. For now, it's the birthday of someone very important. And after you get checked out you're going to take part in the festivities. I'm not letting anything get in the way of Rock's big return! I even got the head chef to go all out for us on this so nobody is going to say no."
Wales smiled slightly at Zero's demeanor, a far cry from what he had expected on his way to the academy. This warrior he had met during his last days as the prince of Albion continued to surprise him with his demeanor and attitude.
***Break***
Henrietta was shaking, tears flowing from her eyes as she held the letter that had been sent to her from the academy. It was penned in Zero's precise almost perfect script. Apparently today had been an eventful day at the academy. The young Rock had a new body and had celebrated the new birthday with the people of the academy. What was penned after that though, brought her up short. Wales had returned? The spirit of the lake had conspired with a fairy that was probably Zero's companion and neither had told Zero of the prospect? The report stated that his physical condition was fine and that he was very much alive. The paper tore in her hands slightly as she shook. Wales was back? Her Wales? Was it too much to hope? But then what of Zero, who she also loved? Her heart was heavy and conflicted. She had promised her love to Wales, then promised to forget him. She couldn't keep the second promise, but her heart had opened up to Zero through their trials together, and his guidance and companionship had deepened the feelings she had for him. Her head sank to the desk as everything sank in to her heavy heart. She felt lost, and conflicted to the core at the moment. While she read the words, and knew that they weren't a lie. But still, she felt like it was all wrong. In the depths of her heart she felt as if she were betraying both Zero and Wales both. Were anyone to see the girl sobbing at the desk, few would think she was the regal young queen they had come to admire.
***Break***
Neige walked through the crowded information and security room. Stacks of paper and modest terminals were placed at regular intervals. Reploids worked earnestly at tracking and putting in the gathered intelligence into the database. Being one of the higher ranking and powered reploids the others acknowledged her and assisted her. As she skimmed through the information she read reports on troop movements in Tristian and a group of young cadets in training. Not much was known about them except that they were young mages that had apparently been given to Zero's command despite objections from him and some of the higher ranking nobles that opposed his 'modern' views on human rights. She smirked at that. While he wasn't like her Prince, who was willing to take any responsibility that was required to make the world a better place, he took what responsibilities he had very seriously and took similar stances on many of the same issues. As she looked around, ensuring that none of the other reploids were watching her she started looking back in the database. She saw in the files information regarding eight warriors of Ragnarok, the "Einherjar" and something called "Area Zero" all input under the name Weil, the pass code protecting them seemed imbedded into her mind. The single word, "Omega". While her name was not involved in the incident it seemed familiar. She felt a dread thinking back to it, and felt something in the back of her mind. That anyone would want to kill so many just to subjugate people who wished for nothing more than to be free was a terrible thing. If this was the truth behind the father of her princes then they had done what they had to. He was a monster. She shuddered as she wondered how this all implicated her though. How did she know the word Omega? Blinking a few times she felt her mind lose focus for a moment. When she recovered and looked around none of the other reploids seemed to have noticed it. Feeling that she had found enough for now, she continued to work on the task that had been assigned to her. As she set about her work she started humming a light tune without realizing it.
***Break***
Copy Zero stood still in the private study he shared with Copy X. One eye was closed, his concentration focused almost entirely on Neige. He had no idea what she was doing but she had been deviating from her orders fairly often to look into restricted files. He had noticed parts of her programing being rewritten. It was like the program he possessed but far more advanced and in some cases abstracted. None of the other reploids seemed to have been interested in music yet he had on multiple occasions heard her singing lightly or humming while busy with other work. He had first thought the changes to be a legacy of Weil to thwart them until he analyzed it more base virus program was like his, and resisted any attempt for him to counter it. If it had been part of the doctor then he never would have been able to defeat him the way he did. That meant that it was likely the work of the original Zero from when he had interacted with her. If this was true then did that mean that any Reploid sent to deal with Tristian would be compromised even in such a short period of time? Copy Zero frowned as he realized they might need to use humans as diplomats to that particular kingdom if Neige did go rogue. As of now, the program had advanced her programing and seemed to give her key bits of information, including passwords and knowledge about events that they had been unable to access giving them more knowledge about things that had happened before that the good doctor had laid out for posterity in his demented mental state. Copy Zero sighed as he decided that sooner or later he would have to make a decision as to Neige's fate. She was acting on her own accord, but was not disrupting operations and in fact had helped uncover new information and specs including armor schematics for Copy X and more in-depth information involving his own weapons and armor as well as possible improvements that could be made to them . The information he had skimmed from her as well showed a strong loyalty to both himself and Copy X as well, often comparing them to the other Zero to find him short in some way even when a similarity came to her mind. His right hand tightened into a fist. He damned the original version of himself for putting him into this position. They had created this race of reploids to be guardians, and he had corrupted one of the finest with his virus and Copy Zero could do nothing to prevent it. The only thing he could hope was that the change would stay benign, or he would have to solve the issue permanently despite Copy X's objections…
***Author's notes***
Hey all. Been a while since the update. Been very busy. Still been working on the story but haven't had time to really get too much into the individual chapters. Gonna just go straight to the new reviews after bringing up the point that I've been getting spammed by a shit ton of notes from telling me that people keep favoriting or following my story. Which I appreciate and actually motivated me to get back to work with everything being so hectic lately. So on to the reviews since the last post. And boy are there a lot of them because of the timeframe.
First off, you're calling how people act OOC... But you don't know the characters from one half of the cast, their histories or how they were in previous games or how they changed over centuries or how 'ooc' they could act in their own series/games because of varying circumstances? Zero went from the awesome overpowered hero who saves you in X1, to a bunch of parts you put together in x2 that you might have to fight in an epic battle that was perhaps the most awesome thing on an SNES, to being a semi-playable overpowered if slower seeming character in x3 (When X realizes that for some reason he and Zero will someday need to fight. Why's that?) x4 Zero remembers "Father" and it shows that he was a psychotic son of a bitch when he woke up. X5 He ends up showing that he's the one who started the maverick revolt because he's the one who holds the virus. Then you go into X6 which shows that both Zero and X have the ability to evolve since they beat High Max easily enough. X7 sucked but still went further in showing Zero's paranoia but even beyond that he still wants to protect people and innocents. X8 he does everything he can to defeat and kill Sigma. He holds a VAST amount of guilt that his DNA(And yes, reploids HAVE DNA even if it's an artificial form of it) had been used to bring the world to the brink of destruction repeatedly. This happens over the course of a VERY, VERY long time, not even adding in Command mission and the apparent lapses of time and a hard to pinpoint exact starting point of the Elf Wars which had in a few short years killed more beings than about 10x the population of the world he's in now. A majority of the people in the world were killed in this event and the ecosystem of the entire planet was compromised. The death toll and scope of destruction is staggering if you take the time to think about it. And it is HIS FAULT in his mind. His body, his DNA. He makes no excuses and puts all the blame on himself. More guilt. Hundreds of years of fighting. He gets himself sealed till Zero 1 when he gets awakened. Then a lot of stuff happens. But a big thing in this is that each time he has a major personality shift in the series it's right AFTER something huge happens, often damage to himself or him being sealed. On the question posted about Zero not offering to slaughter the army before he knew more about the world? He's not a cold blooded killer and didn't want to become involved in politics. Now he ended up involved in politics but he also at the same time was weighing in if he should jump out of a window. Or through the wall. So he was more or less dragged kicking and screaming into that. And why did he act so irrationally for a few chapters before his mind finally "Clicked"? Go read the AN's it's all there. Not sure why I'm repeating myself. To clarify one thing, I'm not saying Zero had all his memories back by the end of the first game. But he had enough to remember that he fought along side X and made the best team with him. I'd think that he got more back with each game. By the end of the fourth game he had enough back to be Zero again in all his awesomeness minus the total angstfest involving Iris and Layer. That could actually be considered a plus in almost every way. Liked them especially since Iris showed interest in the MMXtreme 2 I think it was for the gameboy before they became an item in MMX4. It added depth to his character but would have dragged too much in the stories of the games and their fast paced no rest timeframes.
X is literally unavailable in one of the games with his NAME ON IT until you unlock him. Because he got tired of fighting and tried getting taken care of on the political field. There are times in the series where he is quite the chicken shit although he ends up manning up by X8, mostly. To have him hiding is actually quite in character. And this is GOOD because he is the foil to Zero. Zero is the one who takes the obvious path and will bare any burden for the people he deems worth protecting. X is the one who questions and feels deep regrets. He'll hesitate until forced to take action or make a choice. And if you played MMZ1(Which you haven't and admitted) he has proven he can work without being known, even with the DESIRE to not be known for who he is until he's kinda forced at the end to tell Zero what's going on so Zero will act.
Axl… He just wasn't developed enough. What development he did have was him being more or less what's in the story(Without the jaded jerk at times) and him totally getting tricked by a female reploid thief. In the story there are also elements of the other reploids as either in the games, or posted in their statistics. Seeing as they've taken up residence inside his head for such a period of time it's kinda hard to think he'd not pick up some of the feelings or mannerisms of them. I mean, his specialty was infiltration and he was able to do so well enough to fool Sigma in X7 at the end.
And the characters in the story from FoZ acting OOC? They're effected by the new cast members. Guiche is a perfect example. He's turning into a fine young officer with combat experience and formidable magics at his command. Karin would probably piss herself if she had to fight Zero again with his true capabilities now more or less known by everyone with her own personal experience fighting him(the whole thinking she died when he tried the experiment with counter probably was a shock).
On the fact of Mathilda not dying, here is my view. She has the ability to use water magic. Magic is not something Zero was used to dealing with. While he supplied Derflinger with MORE energy than he normally would have had(which led to the actual resistance of the wound to magical recovery) he struck an area that was more likely to kill a reploid than a human. While the wound was able to be closed through the application of her water magic, the more delicate portion of it(the rebuilding of nerves and tissue and the spine that is needed for mobility and to actually control the body was something that couldn't be done.)If you pay attention especially in day of Sigma you'll notice that the power sources for reploids are located in their midsections or torso which is heavily apparent if you look at the reploid hackers Sigma took out. Where a human spine might be severed a reploid's power source would be taken out causing either an explosion or a shut down(like X in the movie thing). Zero has MUCH more experience killing reploids and his fighting style is what made me decide that Mathilda was going to live, although she was going to become a cripple. He assumed she was dead because if it had been a reploid it would have been destroyed. And why Derf? He was dealing with two mages and he had just found out about Derf's magic eating ability. His saber can't do that and if he used his saber for long range attacks he likely could have his other buildings with the attacks passing through the targets(since humans aren't really sturdy enough to stop an energy arc from his saber). This later worked into the humanoid thing and Roll's evolution in the plot into a relevant force not to just add some modern medicine but to create a bridge between the humans and reploids like the humanoids in MMZX.
On if this is a happy ending I can't say. On Roll beating someone up with a broom, chances are it's gonna happen. There is no suspense if I give it away. But just because you have hope doesn't mean the ending is going to be happy. Look at Persona 3. Great game, connections made to people, and the meaning of life found by one person… And in the end, you have two choices. The world dies, or just you. With a smile.
Science is the human knowledge accumulated of the world around them and how to manipulate it within the physics of it. Magic is the human knowledge accumulated of the world and how to bypass those physics either with spells like the mages use or through 'spirits' like the elves. Each of different limitations and gaps that the other can not overcome in some ways. Zero adapted to this by evolving ways to use the energy that is latent in the environment and copying it with his own.
I do not believe anyone will see Zero's past. Humans are probably unable to deal with all of that. Either the crushing guilt or the excessive amount of time and death he saw condensed. I'm fairly certain having Zero's past thrown into their mind would unhinge any member of the cast possibly excluding the synthetics(not counting Mathilda who is currently mostly Synthetic).
Now is chapter 82. And all those piled up reviews just about answered.
Zero: Yeah. After waiting forever.
Hush. And yes, I've always planned for the prince to come back. Look back into the chapter with him being put in the lake. There is rainbow lights. Who in this story could create such an effect by being there? Who is going to have to run like hell once Zero finds out?
X: Please don't let him find out
Zero: Find out what now?
X: Nothing. Just doing a guest spot down here. Figured I'd see how you're doing without me.
Zero: It's just not the same. I don't have you telling me not to blow things up or yelling at me when I get myself killed.
X: … Wait, are you telling me that you get yourself killed just so I'll yell at you?
Zero: Not JUST for that reason but it's up there in the top three reasons. Number 1 is that you left yourself open and number 2 is that I failed to dodge.
X: … I'd like to be surprised but with a reason like "I had to hide while I repaired myself" it was pretty bad.
Zero: And you didn't even say anything about it. Which was the best part.
X: Ok. I'm leaving now.
Zero: Hopefully you'll make an appearance soon!
X: It's doubtful.
Zero: Ah, you don't wanna work with this lazy author? He's a jerk too. Keeps pulling up stuff from my past and making my life harder than it needs to be.
X: Yes… I suppose those would be good reasons.
Zero: Well, it was good to see you again anyhow X. Well I'm gonna go look for his next chapter he was working on. See you in the next story someone writes about us.
X: Ah… Yeah. I'll look forward to it…
Ya know, he's going to murder you when he finds out. Heh.
X: … wait, when? What do you mean when? That implies he's going to find out. That was not in our stated agreement!
Oh. I mean if. If he finds out.
X: No, no what do you mean when. You said specifically when. You're not dropping it that easily!
Hmm. This is the part where he's right about me being a jerk. See you all in the next update. Now to go play some Persona 4 Golden!
X: Damn it, why would you do this to me? Answer me! Put that stupid game system down and answer the question!
Who knows. Maybe I'm just trolling you. Or the readers. Or myself? I'm not really sure anymore. But I do know that I'm trolling Yosuke.
X: that doesn't speak well for your mental state.
It's fine, It's fine. Because I'm already certified as mentally unstable it's even on my DD214
X: …