Leilei made her way up the stairwell, taking them two at time, she needed to get back to the others and fast. She hadn't bothered changing her clothes, though she did retrieve her staff.
'Will have to apologize to that girl later.' Leilei thought. She looked up, still a few more flights to go before she's back up on the floor they were at. 'Wonder how the others are doing..'

Kuwagust Anchus looked irritated, and who can blame him? He paced the hall, keeping an eye on Vile, Tuka and Yuno while standing between them and the elevator.
"You know you should relax a little." Vile said mockingly.
"Shut up Maverick." Growled Kuwagust.
"Hey I get it." said Vile. "You wanted to get revenge and it slipped through your fingers, trust me I know."
"I said shut up." said Kuwagust. "It's bad enough I have to babysit the three of you, I'd rather not have to listen to you as well."
"Then why not make me shut up?" said Vile, he stepped forward, getting into Kuwagust's face. Kuwagust stared Vile down, his pincers flared open in annoyance.
"My orders are to keep you detained, nothing more." said Kuwagust.
"Oh come now." said Vile. "You were ready and willing to go and kill Rory, and you just let her go...that must be eating you up inside, having to let your brother's killer go free to see X?"
"If you're trying to rile me up Maverick, it won't work." said Kuwagust.
"Oh no of course not." said Vile. "You're just a limp dick weakling who bends over backwards for X and cowers in fear at the sight of his secretary. You've got no spine, which could explain why you're hunched over like that."
"Shut up right this instant!" Growled Kuwagust.
"Or what?" said Vile.
"Vile, what are you doing?" Tuka asked, not liking where this was going.
Vile said nothing, but he merely turned his head for a moment, looking down the hallway, he chuckled, turned and eyed Kuwagust. "You know I was really hoping to get you to throw the first punch but...well she already got here."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kuwagust asked.
And Vile's response was a left hook to Kuwagust's face that staggered the Beetle Mutos and took him off his feet, just as the sound of footsteps echoed and Leilei came into view.
"Leilei!" Tuka said, seeing her approach.
"No time." said Leilei. "Need to move fast."
"You go on ahead." Vile said as he readied his shoulder cannon. "I'll keep bug boy busy."
"X and Rory went on ahead." said Yuno, readying her beam bow as Kuwagust flared up in anger. "You may still be able to catch them."
Leilei nodded and made for the elevator, getting on and hitting the button before turning in time to watch Kuwagust charge at Vile, Tuka and Yuno as the doors closed.
"Damn Maverick!" Kuwagust growled. He kicked on his thrusters and dashed at the trio. Instinctively Vile pushed Tuka and Yuno out of the way. Why? He wasn't sure why, but a part of him knew those two shouldn't get involved, and so he pushed them out of the way as Kuwagust clamped his pincers around Vile and continued down the hall, with Vile struggling as he punched at Kuwagust's head.
"VILE!" Yuka stared in shock after being pushed away, watching the two reploid go down the hall.
"Come on, let's go after them." said Yuno. Tuka nodded, picking herself up and quickly racing down the hall with Yuno in tow.

Vile winced as Kuwagust came to a dead stop and pinned him against a wall at the end of the hall. Quickly he brought both arms up and delivered a double Axe handle to the back Kuwagust's head, followed by a second and a third.
"Let go of me you oversized bug!" said Vile, delivering a knee to the jaw as a follow up.
Kuwagust shrugged the knee strike, and if he had a mouth he'd be smiling. "Gladly Maverick." he said as he launched Vile over his shoulder and down the hall.
"Oh Shit!" Vile said, regretting his choice of words as he tumbled into the air and crashed to the floor. Vile managed to roll through it somehow, getting back on his feet and turning around in a crouch to launch a grenade from his knee. Kuwagust ducked down the corner to avoid the detonation before popping back out and firing energy lasers from his hand blades. Vile responded with a round from his cannon as he took cover to avoid the lasers, before popping back out to fire another shot. Kuwagust peaked from his cover briefly, before detaching his arms and fanning them out on energy chains, giving him new angles to work with as he fired on Vile's position, forcing him out of cover. Vile rolled behind a plant firing another shot at Kuwagust.
"Man just think of how much trouble you're going to be in with that secretary." Vile said. "Once she finds out you disobeyed orders and started attacking us."
"Oh don't give me that, you threw the first punch!" retorted Kuwagust. He aimed his blade arms to ricochet a laser shot off the wall and at Vile. Vile jumped out of the way before pulling out the Triple Rod and engaging Kuwagust in melee.
"But you're enjoying yourself." said Vile. "Finally letting off all that steam and frustration at not being able to kill Rory. Not that she can be killed mind you. I'm sure you've seen security footage of her rampages." They both stopped at that comment, and shuddered, Vile thinking about it, Kuwagust having indeed seen the footage. Kuwagust retracted his blade arms to block Vile's swing, parrying to the side before locking his pincers around Vile's waist again and throwing him into the wall.
"I may not be able to kill her, but at least I'll do the world a favor by ending you once and for all." Kuwagust said.
Vile shook off the migraine as he got back to his feet, looking at Kuwagust. "Haven't you heard? I'm all reformed now. Fighting for freedom and all that other happy crap."
"Don't kid yourself!" said Kuwagust. "You're a maverick and a loose cannon. The fact the resistance even reactivated you is proof they are dangerous."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." said Vile, he blocked an attack from Kuwagust's arm blades, then quickly parried Kuwagust's pincers, not wanting to be thrown for a third time, before swinging the triple rod up and catching Kuwagust in his chin, staggering him. That was the opening Vile needed as he lunged for Kuwagust, tackling him and pinning him to the wall with the triple rod holding him in place.
"You Mutos aren't much of a fight are you?" Vile asked. "I've fought Mavericks who gave it better than this. Hell, I fought X and Zero."
"So you going to finish me off?" Kuwagust asked, glaring at Vile.
Vile stared back, eyeing Kuwagust as he heard footsteps, Tuka and Yuno were approaching. He relaxed his grip and let Kuwagust go, causing him to fall to his knees.
"No." said Vile. "The fighting ends here."
"Vile, are you okay?" Tuka asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." said Vile as he turned and walked pass the two of them. "Let's go back to the elevator and wait for Zero to do what he has to do." He turned and looked at Kuwagust. "You coming bug boy? You're still our babysitter after all."
"Bu..Bug boy?!" Kuwagust got back to his feet, eye twitching. "The name is Kuwagust Anchus you idiot!"
"Whatever." said Vile.

Instinctively, Leilei quickly activated her Cyber fusion, Gripping her staff tight and keeping an eye on Anita, occasionally looking to Rory to see how she was doing.

'Not good.' Leilei thought to herself. 'Rory took so much damage she's having trouble regenerating, who is this woman?'

"Ah, so that is the Cyber Fusion." said Anita, looking Leilei up and down. "Quite a magnificent figure you strike there." A twisted, unnerving smile crossed Anita's lips, and Leilei watched with surprise as Anita's whole body turned into a shimmering formless slime, before reshaping herself into an exact copy of Leilei in her Cyber Fusion form.
"Mmm, very magnificent indeed." Anita/Leilei said as she began to admire herself. "I must say this look is almost as impressive as the modified form of Rory I used to beat her into submission." She held up a hand, and a ball of fire began to form. "Why I could almost feel the power emanating from you, as if it is my OWN!" Anita/Leilei's eyes widen and her mouth stretched into a crazed smile as she launched the fireball at Leilei who fired off her own fireball to counter it. The two quickly followed up with launching a shard of ice which clashed and canceled each other out.
"Mimic?" Leilei asked, staring at Anita/Leilei.
"Something like that." said Anita/Leilei. She snapped her fingers, and Leilei quickly jumped out of the way of a bolt of lightning. "As a member of the Zan'ei Gundan, Infiltration is chief among my abilities."

Leilei responded with a large fireball that obliterated Anita/Leilei's head...the body twitched for a moment and staggered back.
"Did I get her?" Lielei asked herself. She watched as the splattered slime from the head exploding gathered back into Anita/Leilei's body and the head reform. Anita/Leilei would move her head back and forth and side to side.
"Really, must you be so barbaric?" she asked, rubbing her neck. "If you're going to explode my body like that at least be more elegant about it."
"Like this?" Leilei raised her hand and snapped her fingers, Anita/Leilei blinked, before looking down and noticing a glow coming from her chest.
"Oh Shi-" the word was cut off as the spell detonated and splattered Anita all over the walls, floor, ceiling, and some on Leilei, who just casually wiped it off her face.

Leilei blinked at the mess, seeing the shimmering rainbow pieces of goo shuddering as if annoyed by what just happened.
"Don't...let your guard down." Rory said finally. Leilei ran over to Rory, kneeling down next to her.
"Are you okay?" Leilei asked.
"I'm fine...just need time to regenerate." said Rory. "But Anita isn't dead. Blowing up her body won't kill her. She has a nucleus like a slime."
Leilei looked up, watching the goo begin to gather together into a single puddle, it seem to be twitching with irritation at being blown up as it swelled up into a humanoid shape, and once more took on Anita's appearance. The Secretary casually put a stray strand of hair back into place before adjusting her glasses, glaring daggers at Leilei who casually stood up.
"Was that elegant enough for you?" Leilei asked.
"Very funny." Anita said. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"
"A little." said Leilei. She held her staff out. "Stand down."
"Why?" Anita asked. "Why should I listen to you?"
"This war needs to end." Leilei said.
"It will when the resistance surrenders." said Anita.

"Will it?" Leilei asked.

"Huh?" Anita tilted her head.
"Will the war end?" Leilei asked. "Or will it continue in a different form?" She held her hand to the side. "Things need to change, or history will repeat."

Anita stared at Leilei, then let out a chuckle. "And what proof do you have that things will not change even after the resistance surrenders."

"Myself." said Leilei.

"Huh?" That left Anita confused. "Yourself?"
Leilei nodded. "And Rory, and Tuka, and Yuno. Princess Pina, Count Formal."
Anita blinked, and the light bulb finally lit up. "The Gate."
"Opportunity to rebuild and save this world, right before you." said Leilei. "Yet what is X doing?"
"He...he plans to...to..." Anita blinked, she suddenly found herself unable to answer.
"What is the senate doing about the gate?" Leilei asked.
"Well...they are...they are..." again Anita stopped, what WERE the senate doing again about the Gate?
"Do you see what I mean now?" Leilei asked.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Anita hastily retorted. "You're just trying to confuse me! Stall me for time!" Her left hand morphed into a large spiked ball and lashed it out at Leilei on a chain forged from her body. Leilei dodged to the side, sending off another fireball, Anita was ready this time however, forming a shield with her free hand to block it.
"Is ANYONE in Neo Arcade doing anything about the Gate?" Leilei asked. "Or are you just mindlessly continuing your war with the resistance and anyone else that stands against you?"
"Shut up!" Anita said. "Once the resistance has been put down, we'll be able to focus on the gate."
"You could have just ignored the resistance once you found the gate." said Leilei. "Does Neo Arcadia really care about rebuilding? Or just maintaining the status quo?"

"Of course Neo Arcadia cares! We all want to restore the world!"
"But if the world is restored, humans lose all their special privileges and indulgences, reploids would no longer be persecuted." said Leilei. "Is that something the humans want?"
"What are you getting at?" Anita asked, firing off a blast of Ice that Leilei countered.
"X bent over backwards and lost his mind in the process to the protect the humans of Neo Arcadia at the cost of everything else." Leilei said. She's launched a fireball, which Anita would counter with a fireball of her own. "Do you think they will give up that special treatment just so that the rest of the world can go back to normal? Do humans of Neo Arcadia care about the ruins outside the dome?"
"Of...of course they do!" said Anita, sounding unsure.
"You don't sound convinced." said Leilei.

"There have been reconstruction projects." said Anita.
"Where?" Leilei asked.
"There was...there was one town, built up, good as new but...it was attacked by Mavericks and destroyed." said Anita.

"Was the village rebuilt? Were guards sent to protect it from future attacks?" Leilei asked.

"Of course it...no...wait...we tried to get a relief effort going but...we couldn't raise the necessary funds."

"Why not?" Leilei asked.
Anita blinked. "We couldn't get donations from the wealthier humans, they couldn't be bothered to offer even a single Zenny to help the town. "It's not a part of Neo Arcadia, why should we care?" I remember one man saying."
"So you abandoned them, and everyone else to coddle the humans here in Neo Arcadia." said Leilei.
Anita shook her head, practically growling. "Again, you're trying to confuse me! Not all humans are like that! X is not like that!"
"Then End the war!" said Leilei. "Tell X to stop hunting the resistance!"
"The resistance are criminals!" snapped Anita.
"Say who?!" asked Leilei. "Who says the resistance are criminals?"
"We do!" said Anita. "They are mavericks, they went against the laws and government of the city!"
"And that justified you attacking Italica?" Leilei asked.
"You...They gave us no choice!" said Anita.

"You could have tried to sue for peace." said Leilei.
"Make peace with Mavericks? Are you out of your mind?" Anita fired off another fireball at Leilei but Leilei easily counter it. "Do you really think they would have agreed to talk?"
"Yes." said Leilei. "Because unlike you, I know them."

"LEILEI!" said Rory suddenly. "SHE KEEPS ONLY USING FIRE AND ICE ATTACKS!"
Leilei blinked. Anita's eyes widen, seeing Rory. "When did you?"
Quickly Leilei turned her attention to Anita, readying a lightning spell. "Don't like electricity." she said.

Anita growled, raising her arm up and forming a buster she fired a shot at Leilei. "As if I'm going to let you hit me!" she said. Calmly Leilei moved her head, dodging to the side before raising her hand up and snapping her fingers. Anita's eyes widen as a bolt of lightning suddenly struck her body, sending a large amount of voltage through her body, causing her to twitch violently.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Anita let out a distorted scream from the electrical discharge, her body deforming and flailing about as she struggled to maintain her reploid appearance.
"Protect...must protect..." Anita said, staggering around.

"Protect what?" Leilei asked.
"Master...Protect..." Anita's voice was distorted and flanged, her whole body was a contorted mess as she tried to pull herself back together. "Protect...Master...X"
"Why are you so devoted to Master X even after all that he's done?" Leilei asked.
"Kind...to...me." Anita said. "Treats me...like...reploid...not...weapon...must...protect..." One of her arms would suddenly fall off, hitting the floor and splattering into a puddle of slime.
"If you're suppose to protect X." said Leilei. "Why do you stand by and let the Dark Elf drive X to insanity?"
"Dark...Elf...?" Again Anita twitch, still trying to hold herself together. "You...lie...Elf...dead..." she staggered suddenly, her legs gave out and she collapsed, crashing to the floor as her legs broke and collapsed into puddles of green slime. "Suffering...virus..."
"Isn't that just as bad?" Leilei asked. "X is infected. Regardless of it being the Dark Elf or the virus, he's gone maverick and is putting both our worlds in danger."
"He...under...control..." Anita said, more trying to convince herself. "Not Maverick...not...maverick..." She looked up a at Leilei, her face was distorting from the electrical damage, looking like herself, Leilei, Pina, Rory..."Under...control..."
"Vaccines only last so long." said Leilei. "How many times has X needed stronger doses?"
Anita just stared, it was like the gears were finally starting to spin, slowly clicking into place that she was finally understanding the danger everyone was in because X refused to get proper treatment.
Leilei walked over to Anita, and knelt down. "We're here to save X, from himself. The only way to do that is to force the Dark Elf out of his system."
"Dark...Elf...is alive...?" Anita said, looking worried.
"Yes, X used himself as a prison, but the strain caused by the energy crisis weakened his resolve, and the Dark Elf began to corrupt him."
"Lies..." Anita said, she'd suddenly reach out with her remaining arm, surprising Leilei by grabbing her by the throat, but the grip was so weak she couldn't even choke her. "Lies...X...fine...X...fine...Fine..."
Leilei looked at Anita's face, the secretary was still unstable, but at the very least her face was her own...she looked like she would cry at any moment.
"If X is fine, then this war wouldn't have happened." said Leilei. "If X was fine..." Lielei gritted her teeth at what she was about to say next. "Would he have attacked a human city?"
Anita's eyes widen at that. She let go of Leilei's neck and her arm just dropped to her side before falling off from the instability caused by the electrical damage.
"Attacked...human city..." Anita said, as if finally realizing the full ramifications of the attack on Italica. "We...attacked humans..." Her eyes widen, she looked up at Leilei, who was now on her feet, light from the window of the hallway seem to illuminate her, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body melted into its original green slime substance, revealing the Pantheon head that was Anita's core and true self, laying there in the puddle.
Leilei stood there for a moment looking at the Pantheon head, which seemed to have a panic look in its single eye, quietly Lielei picked the head up, she dispelled her Cyber Fusion as she sat on a bench, and taking out her Data pad, she extended the connecting cable and plugged it into the back of the pantheon head.
"Leilei...what are you doing?" Rory asked. She finally pulled herself together but she was still weak, and watched as Leilei tapped away on her pad.
"Maintenance...repairs..." said Leilei.
"Why? Just destroy the damn head, she was a pain in the ass."
"No." said Leilei. "No more killing." she looked down at Anita, the head actually looked up at Leilei, blinking in confusion. "The war ends tonight." She tapped away at the pad, looking over Anita's systems, her eyes narrowed.
"Something wrong?" Rory asked, noticing the look in Leilei's eyes.
"May not be able to fully repair." said Leilei. "Will need new core..." she tapped away some more on the data pad, and then unplugged it from the Pantheon head. Leilei picked it up and brought it back over to the shimmering green slime and set it down.
Instinctively the core started to manipulate the slime, slowly pulling it all back together, gathering into a large mass before it reshaped itself back into Anita, who collapsed onto her hands and knees.
"Why...?" she asked, looking dumbfounded. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you just kill me?"
"Do you want to die?" Leilei asked.
"I...deserve to die..." Anita said. "I failed in my duties."
"Maybe." said Leilei. "But if you die, who will protect X?"
"There are others...better suited than me." said Anita.
"But X trusts you, more than anyone else." Leilei said.
Anita looked up at Leilei.
"Even if not the whole truth, he trusted you about his infection, and only you." Leilei said. "No one else knew, only you, and you tried to help him, best you could."
Anita looked down at the ground. "Can you save him?" she asked.

"Yes." said Leilei.
"Will this war end?" Anita asked.
"That depends on everyone involved." said Leilei.

Anita looked up. "Please, save Master X." she said.

"I will." said Leilei. She looked to Rory. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I think so." Rory said.
"Bring Anita downstairs." said Leilei. "I'm going after Zero."

"Alright." Rory said watching Leilei run off. "I hope she gets there in time."
Anita blinked, looked up at Rory. "What do you mean?"
"You weren't there when X and Zero fought at the gate. The battle was so even, if X hadn't lost his mind at a critical moment...they might have killed each other."

Zero walked down the long empty hall, there was nothing but silence. His focus was ahead of him though. He stopped at the doors in front of him, no guards, nothing.
'So he is expecting me.' Zero thought. He reached his hand out, and pushed open the doors and went in, finding himself in X's private office. He looked around, the place was a mess, papers everywhere, bottles too, that was a surprise. He turned and looked toward the desk, and the chair, the back was toward Zero.

"Zero...my friend..." came a slurred voice. "Izzat you?"

"X..." was all Zero said...the chair spun around, almost lazily, and X sat there, slumped in it, red faced and holding a bottle of liquor. "Come, sit down, have a glass, got it...from the Emperor himself...good stuff..."
"You're drunk." Zero said.

"Yes...I believe I am..." X said. "I was worried I wouldn't be...hard to face...reality when your sober...everyone turning against you, alienating you..." he raised the bottle up using it to point at Zero, he had a dumb, almost sad smile on his face. "Listen to this, you're gonna find it funny. The Senate...the Senate is gonna...gonna vote me out of office...that I'm...and this is the best part...unfit to rule!" He slumped back in the chair, laughing at his own misfortune as he brought the empty bottle, up, shaking it when he realized it was empty. Disgruntled he tossed it aside. "Can you believe it? Me, X, leader of Neo Arcadia, getting impeached for...for...bad behavior..."
Zero stayed quiet, not saying anything. He picked up a chair that was knocked over, positioned it on the opposite side of the desk and sat down. X smiled, glad for the company it seemed, as he grabbed another bottle from the cases he had, he'd hand it to Zero, who took it, and poured a glass for himself. He'd hand the bottle back to X, who proceeded to chug it.
"Where...did everything go wrong?" X asked. "Answer me that Zero...where did we go wrong?"
"I'm not sure." Zero said. He looked at his glass.
"Ah right...amnesia...lucky..." X sounded almost disgusted by this. "Well...let me...tell you...everything went downhill...when you disappeared...I needed you...and you were gone...and you can't even tell me WHY!" he shouted this last word, slamming his fist on the desk. Zero said nothing, merely took a sip from his glass.
"You were...always there for me." X said, his voice cracking, as if on the verge of tears. He blinked, and looked around. "Hey where's...Anita...I sent her to bring you and that...goth girl with the Axe...uh..what was her name?"
"Rory." said Zero.
"That's it..." X said with a clumsy finger snap. "Rory...great girl...could use her in the army..."
"Your army is scared to death of her." said Zero. "She shows up and Pantheons run in the opposite direction."
"I saw the...the footage...you know?" X said. "I swear...to...to god...one of my pantheon pissed themselves...humiliating huh? Greatest military might in the world...brought low by a...by a...a girl in goth Lolita cosplay..."

"X..." Zero said. "Why?"
"Huh?" X looked at Zero, confused and red faced. "Why what?"
"Why did you seal the Dark Elf inside yourself?" Zero asked.
"Dark Elf? Oh...her...right...right." he'd nod. "Yeah well, get this...it's cause I'm an idiot and too much of a...of a nice...guy..." he slumped back in the chair, laughing at himself. "I was like..."you know what? You need to be reha..reha...rehabi..." uh..."
"Rehabilitated?" Zero asked.
X made a lazy pointing motion. "Dats the word..."Rehabilitated" I took pity on her...not her fault you know...it was Dat guy...who did it..."
"That guy?" Zero asked.
"Yeah you know...Dat guy...We..something or other...I dunno...too drunk to remember." X laughed again, grabbing another bottle. "So like, I dunno if you remember...pfft...oh right...well...dat guy...put this curse on the Dark Elf remember? Oh right..."

Zero just stared, just how much has X been drinking. He looked around at the empty bottles then back at X. "Does Anita know you've been drinking yourself into oblivion?"
That made X stopped, the bottle halfway to his lips, his eyes widen. He looks directly at Zero his eyes burning red, not from anger, but outright fear. "Do NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE tell her." The look in his eyes calmed down. "Well..anyways...I thought, and get this get this...ha ha ha...I thought I could free the Dark elf from her curse...make her normal...but everyone wanted her dead so...me being the brave, selfless all loving hero that I am..." Here X took another swig of the bottle he was holding. "I sealed her inside me for safe keeping...cleaver right?"
"Yeah, very clever." Zero said, giving X a sarcastic smile. "You forgot the part where she started corrupting you when the energy crisis began to stress you out."
"Oh that? Pfft...details..." X waved his hand lazily, as if waving the way the problem. "I am in...perfect control...of my functions..."

"Then why did you attack Italica?" Zero asked.
"Me? I didn't attack Italica." X said. "That was all prince Zorzal remember?"
"There were pantheons." said Zero.
"He...wanted Pantheons to help apprehend the dangerous...dangerous crim...crimi..."
"Criminal." said Zero.
"That's it...criminal!" X said. "Dangerous criminals called the resistance."
"So that's your plan?" Zero said. "You're going to throw your own allies under the bus in order to save face?"
"Zero...Zero." X said. "You need to...to understand the wide world of...politics...you see Zorzal isn't exactly loved back home."
Zero said nothing, just stared at X.
"So you see...I'll be doing Emperor...Emperor...you know, whats his name...I'll be doing him a favor..." said X. "Besides...you and I we...we both know that Pina is...is a MUCH better candidate for crown prince...er...princess..."

Zero simply took a sip from his glass. "So Zorzal gets the blame for attacking Italica, Neo Arcadia denies any and all knowledge of his actions despite Pantheon presence?"
"Exactly..." X said. "a Rogue mutos, Lunar Inaba, decided to...personally help the prince and provided a portion of her personal guard from the Zan'ei Gundan..."
"And when Inaba says otherwise?" Zero asked.
"Oh you don't know?" X asked with a hiccup." Inaba is...dead...blown up with one of our...supply depots..."
"And Zorzal?" Zero asked.
"Pfft, who would believe him?" X asked, with a dismissive hand wave. "Hey you want some more?"
Zero shook his head.
"See I know that...that the Shittenou have betrayed me...and joined you." X said waving his finger at Zero. "so I know they were in...Italica...helping to evac...evac..."
"Evacuate." said Zero, slowly getting annoyed with X's drunkenness, was he always such a lousy drunk?
"That's it..help to...evacuate the citizens of Italica and fight off the rogue faction."
"So basically your going to say a Mutos went Maverick and sided with the Empire's crown prince to seize Italica for personal gain?" Zero asked, sounding disgusted by all this.
"Bingo!" X said happily. "It's a...great plan right? And Harpuria and...the others...get to save face..."

"You know why they sided with us don't you X?" Zero asked. "The Dark Elf has twisted your mind and turned you into a despot and you don't even realize it."

"I...told you...I'm perfectly fine..." said X.

"The X I remember, if only faintly, would not have allowed Italica to happen." said Zero. "He wouldn't have let the war happen." Zero stood, slamming his hands on the desk, causing X to jump. "The X I remember is better than this! He'd have ended the war once the gate was discovered, worked WITH Ciel to rebuild the world."
X said nothing, he just slumped back in his chair, pouting as he stared at another empty bottle.

"Do you even hear yourself X?" Zero asked. "Attacking Italica and then just passing the blame onto someone else. Why? So you can keep appeasing humans? I get it, you're trying to prioritize the lives of the humans, but look what it's done to you! Look what it's done to the world. Nothing is getting done cause the humans of Neo Arcadia would rather sit in their comfy homes and be pampered."
"That's...not true...there are...rebuilding..."
"BULLSHIT!" Zero cut X off. "You're not doing a god damn thing and you KNOW it X. All you do is sit around trying to capture or kill one little group of reploids who just wanted to be left alone, but are forced to fight day in and day out for their safety against a government that decided one day they were mavericks for disturbing the peace. So when do we start declaring humans outside Neo Arcadia Maverick huh X? What about THOSE humans who don't have the ability to live in luxury? Have you SEEN the outside world? Have you SEEN how humans outside Neo Arcadia struggle to live day in and day out?"
"You're...mad..." was all X said.

"You're damn right I'm mad." said Zero. "You sit here in your office, bemoaning your failures and wondering why the senate plans to vote you out of office. That fact you can't even realize that shows how far you've fallen from the X I know. I hope they do vote you out of office X. Maybe then this city will get a leader with a backbone."
"I..I have a...backbone." X said weakly.
"Could have fooled me." said Zero. "Looks more like the humans here took your spine out, and the Dark Elf went and put your balls in a mason jar for added measure." Zero leaned in, staring daggers at X.
"This war is over." said Zero. "As soon as Leilei gets here, we're getting the Dark Elf out of your system and contained, and then your ass is going to rehab."

"I said...I'm in control...!" X said. He stumbled out of the chair but managed to stand upright, glaring right back at Zero. "You have NO idea what I've been through all these years. What I've had to do, the sacrifices I had to make. Do you think I WANTED to kill those protesters? Do you? Do you think I WANTED to restrict the freedoms of reploids?"
"You still are." said Zero.
"It was suppose to be TEMPORARY!" said X, trembling. The slurring speech was gone, at least for the moment. "Those laws were meant to be a temporary measure to keep costs and energy down while the Science Department developed a new alternative energy source to replace our dwindling Energen reserves. It wasn't suppose to last this long."
"But it did." said Zero. "And you made it worse by firing on those protesters and causing the maverick purge 3 years ago."
"We were so close though. Ciel was making a breakthrough..." X said. "If everyone had just, behave themselves and waited."
"You expect half your population to just sit and behave while the other half mistreated them?" Zero asked. "And do you really think Neo Arcadia's humans will let the current status quo go?"

"What are you talking about?" X asked.
"Were you not listening to me X?" said Zero. "I know you're a lousy drunk but even your memory isn't THAT bad. Humans in Neo Arcadia lived a life of luxury and decadence because you bent over backwards kissing their asses to make sure they were safe at the expense of reploids and everyone outside the dome. How do you think they will react when the energy crisis that gave them all this power and luxury is gone, and everyone is treated equally and fairly again?"

"Nah...your...your imagining things...people want the energy crisis solved." X said, his voice slurring with a hint of uncertainty.
"Do they?" Zero asked.
"Yes." said X.
"Are you sure?" Zero asked again.
"Of course!" said X.
"Prove it." said Zero.
X stumbled, leaning on the desk for support and Zero watch him walk over to one of the shelves in his office, he began to rummage through it. "I've got...don..dona...uh..."
"Donations." Zero said.
X gave a lazy finger point to Zero, "Dats right! Donations! Donation records for recon...recon..."
"Reconstruction." said Zero.
"Reconstruction right!" said X. he found a folder and staggered over to Zero and handed it to him. "Donation...records for reconstruction efforts...all provided by prominent humans living in the...the...city."
Zero took the folder, opened it, looked in, and then held it open. Nothing fell out.
"Dats funny..." X said staring at the empty folder. "I could have sworn there was...something in there..."
"Your donations are lacking X." said Zero.

"No...no your wrong!" X said, staggered back to the shelf. "We...we sent out numerous...requests for donations..."
"Did you check the waste baskets?" Zero asked.
X was rummaging through the shelf again. "Farms...roadwork...we have so many projects planned...just need to...solve the energy crisis." He dropped to his knees trembling. "We're so close...so close to a solution...but the resistance...they keep interfering."
"Because you won't leave them alone." said Zero.

"They're Mavericks!" said X.
"They're civilians." said Zero.
"They're dangerous criminals." said X.

"They want to be left alone." said Zero. "You want to save face? You want to be a hero the people will look up to instead of a villain who goes after civilians and targets human settlements? End the war and talk with Ciel. She has a prototype damn it."

X stopped, staring, his eyes widen. "She didn't say..."
"Of course she didn't. Why would she? She has no reason to trust you so long as you continue to allow the Dark Elf to control you."
"I told you I'm...I'm in control." X said.
"Then do the right thing and END THIS WAR!"

"NO!" X's voice distorted as he swung his Buster out, aiming it at Zero, Zero quickly aimed his buster gun at X.

"This war does not end until I get what I want!" X said in a distorted female voice.
"So you finally came out." said Zero.

A cocky smirk crossed X's lips. "The poor fool thought he could keep me subdued with all this booze. I was just waiting for the last of his willpower to break, and you did it for me by subjecting him to a very, very harsh reality."
"You're out of options." said Zero.
"Am I?" X started charging his buster. "From where I stand I still hold all the cards. All I need to do is order a full scale invasion of Italica to get at the rest of the resistance, and Ciel will finally give into my demands and give me what I want. Her."

"That will be a little hard to do." The door opened and X and Zero watched as Leilei came in, staff in hand.
"Leilei, about time." said Zero. "Did you find Ciel."
Leilei nodded. "She's safely out of Neo Arcadia." said Leilei, her eyes rested on X.
"What did you say?" X looked surprised, then his eyes widen, he quickly scrambled to his desk, to his window and looked down at the distance street below. "The protest!" He turned, his eyes looked deranged. "You were behind it."
Zero shrugged. "I wasn't behind anything. I just needed a distraction to slip in through the back door."
X twitched. "How?!" he said, as that bit of information finally came back to him. "There's no way you could have gotten in."
"They got in because I used our Master codes."
X blinked, where did that Cyber Elf come from?
"Wait...that voice." X's eyes widen seeing the image form from the Cyber elf. "No...No way, you're not real."
X's Cyber elf stared him down, he had a cold look in his eyes. "Hello Dark Elf, I've come to take my body back." he said.

"You look surprised." said Zero.
"Didn't know." Leilei said.

"Looks that way." said Zero.
"He...He made a backup?!" X said.
"Correct." said the Cyber Elf. "a failsafe for if he failed to heal you on his own."
"Heal me? HEAL ME?" X burst out into deranged laughter. His body giving off a dark aura. "The fool doesn't know the first thing about healing a Cyber Elf."
"But Ciel does." said Leilei. "And we're going to make sure she heals you."
X held his hands out, smirking with delight as his body flashed. Zero shielded his eyes, looked over and saw X wearing a pure white armor that cover his Chest, shoulders, arms and legs. It was highlighted with gold accents giving him an almost regal bearing, complete with a 3 point golden crown on the helmet and a pair of angelic wings.
"Your welcome to try." X said. He aimed his buster which was now decorated with golden angel wings. "Now then Zero, are you ready for round 2? Unlike X I will not hesitate to kill you, I don't have to worry about things like friendship and feelings getting in my way as I tear you apart piece by piece."
Leilei's eyes narrowed, and she quickly Cyber fused, gripping her staff. Zero simply held his hand out.
"This is my fight." he said.
"But..."
"Leilei I need you in one piece to contain the Dark Elf once I drive it from X's body." said Zero. "Get back down to the others and start evacuating the tower, It's going to be a war zone, and be prepared to contain the Dark Elf as soon as we're ready."
"Right." Leilei said. She took one last look at X before quickly leaving.
"You ready?" Zero asked the Cyber Elf.
"Yes." said X's Cyber Elf. "We'll need to weaken the Dark Elf's hold on my body enough so that when you use me I am able to force her out all together and reboot my systems."
"And we'll need to be in the right place when we do this." said Zero. "We have one shot, we need to make this count."
"Are you two done talking?" X asked. "Because the time for talk is done."
"Your right." Zero said, igniting his Beam Saber. "You and me X, lets finish this once and for all."