Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I walk into Zero’s office. I was called in here for who knows why. Maybe it’s because Zero will finally recognize how awesome I am at my job.

But when I walk in, I see that he’s sitting at his desk, looking absolutely pissed off. Like, that guy looks like he’s going to pop a wire or something. The room feels tense, and I’m starting to get nervous. I try to loosen the tension a bit by greeting him. “Uhh, hey, Zero!” I give an awkward grin. “You called me?”

“Have a seat.” He says, tone icy and sharp.

I don’t waste any time. I take my seat as I was told to do. Looks like the guy isn’t up for any small talk… He wants to get straight to the point, whatever that may be.

Zero pinches the bridge of his nose, closes his eyes, and lets out a long, frustrated sigh. He then opens his eyes, and stares at me for a few seconds before speaking. “What happened yesterday?” He questions.

I blink at the guy. I don’t know what he’s talking about. A lot of things happened yesterday. And because I have no idea on what he could possibly be referring to, I start recounting my day, starting from the time I woke up. “Uhh - well… I woke up, got ready for the day, had breakfast, walked around a bit and-”

“No. Not any of that,” he says, cutting me off. “What happened yesterday with the maverick attack?” He elaborates.

Oh! The maverick attack! That’s what he wanted to know? Maybe he wants to recognize my efforts, I think to myself. After all, I am pretty good at my job. But I’m not sure why he wants to know about the maverick attack. Nothing really happened, I just took care of the guy. “I handled it,” I respond nonchalantly. Then I change the subject, because I’m starting to get uncomfortable with the way Zero’s staring daggers into my eyes. It’s hard to make eye contact with him. “Are you feeling alright? You seem angry or something. Did something happen?”

“Are you serious, Axl? Did you seriously just ask me why I’m angry after what happened yesterday…?”

“...yes?” I reply, feeling confused. I still don’t know what’s up.

Zero slams his hands down on the desk while standing up. He narrows his eyes at me and begins to tell me what’s wrong. “While you were sent out to deal with the maverick, you blew up multiple buildings, had countless, unnecessary reploid casualties, got caught in a high-speed police chase while you stole someone’s car, and you destroyed the maverick himself. Even though you knew full well that we needed his memory chip for an ongoing investigation. What were you thinking?!”

Ohhh… That’s what’s wrong! To be honest, I kind of wasn’t thinking. I’m more of a “shoot now and ask questions later” kind of guy. I mean, it’s effective! It’s gotten me this far! I don’t see what the issue is. I mean, he was still kind-of intact when the recovery and clean-up team went to deal with it. I shrug at Zero and give my reply. “I mean, I didn’t destroy the guy completely. I’m sure you’ll be able to recover it.”

“Axl, the chip’s in multiple pieces. It’s going to take a while to fix it. And you still haven’t explained all of the other things you’ve done,” he replies sharply.

“I did what had to be done! It was all for the greater good! Sure, poor Jim got shot up on the sidewalk and fried like calamari, but he can walk it off! And besides, it’s not like I hurt any humans or anything! Now that would’ve been a problem. And don’t get me wrong, hurting reploids is just as bad, but they’re able to recover from injuries and stuff way better than a human can. Ya feel me?”

“Axl, the police thought you were the criminal. That’s how reckless you were being… and are you seriously trying to justify the casualties?!”

“I mean… Am I wrong, though?”

Zero’s eye twitches, and he looks like he’s ready to throw hands with me. I discreetly try to scoot my chair back, but it ever so slightly scrapes the floor. I start to smile nervously while Zero looks like he’s having an internal debate with himself about whether he wants to wipe the floor with me. After a few moments, he lets out a disappointed sigh, then tells me something absolutely terrible. “Because of your reckless actions from yesterday, I’m suspending you from the field for forty-eight hours,” Zero states.

My eyes become wide upon hearing his statement. He can’t possibly be serious? Suspending me?! I do a good job, though! Oh well, at least I can treat it as a vacation or whatever… But ever since the Jakob Tower incident, things have been moving kind of slow, so I’ve practically already been on vacation!

But then a wonderful idea comes into my mind. And it’s a perfect one. I almost begin to smirk at the thought of it, but I stop myself, as I don’t want Zero to get suspicious of me. I’m already on thin ice! So, I continue looking disappointed and heartbroken. I even throw in a shocked “what” to really seal the deal.

Zero sighs again, and tells me that there’s nothing more to discuss, and that I am dismissed.

I leave his office, with my head hung low. But when I close the door behind me, I start snickering like crazy.

Now, it’s time to put my plan into action.

***

After searching for a while, I finally find him. I run up to X, smiling. And I make sure it was one of my more innocent-looking smiles, because I don’t want X to think that I’m up to something (even though I am…).

“Yo! X!” I say out loud.

X turns around and smiles at me. “Hello, Axl. How’s it going?”

“Good!” I grin while fist-bumping him. “You mind if I ask you something real quick?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Now it’s time to ask. Hopefully, Zero hasn’t told him I was suspended already, because if he did, that would absolutely suck. “Can I take the next maverick attack when it pops up? I just really want to help out the team, you know?”

X nods his head. “Of course! That’s fine by me!” He replies.

YES! It worked! I have to resist the urge to pump my fist into the air. I instead just give X a cheesy grin and thank him. Zero can go suck an egg for all I care. Normally, I would be thinking this about X, but for some reason, Zero’s being so weird. He’s acting like I’m on his bad side, so I’m gonna give him the X treatment until he gets his head screwed back on.

I say goodbye to X, and I walk off. I feel like I’m practically unstoppable. And a genius. I can’t believe my plan worked out so well! I’m surprised X hasn’t heard about my suspension. Maybe Zero didn’t have a chance to tell him yet.

Oh well. Whatever the case may be, I’m glad everything worked out. Now, all I have to do is just wait for the time to come.

***

“A maverick attack has been located in the south part of Abel City, where the bank is located at. X is to be sent out to-”

“Nope!” I say, cutting Alia off. “X told me I got the next one whenever it pops up. It’s my turn!”

“It’s true.” X confirms.

Alia blinks at me for a few seconds, but nods her head. “Alright then. Axl is to be sent out to deal with the maverick attack.”

“Alright!” I say with a smirk. I grab my guns, fist bump Pallette, my navigator, on my way out, and I teleport out of there, ready for another day’s work.

Zero walks into the room, looking around the area for Axl. He spots X and walks up to him,  hoping he has an idea on where he could be. “X, have you seen Axl? I have something important to tell him. Do you know where he is?”

“Axl has been sent out to deal with the recent maverick attack,” X explains. “If things go well, he’ll be back here shortly.”

Zero’s jaw drops, and his face shifts into a scowl. “What?! What is he doing out there?! He’s supposed to be suspended from the field for forty-eight hours!”

X’s eyes grow wide. “He - he is? What happened? I’m sorry, Zero. I wasn’t informed about this.”

Zero lets out a frustrated sigh. “It’s - it’s fine. I forgot to tell you and Signas… When he gets back, I’m suspending him for another day. I just hope things will go well like you said… But knowing how reckless he is, I doubt they will.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

***

I walk into the break room, feeling absolutely wiped out from dealing with that maverick earlier. Maybe I’ll make myself a smoothie or something…

But when I walk in, I see Zero, X, and a few other maverick hunters huddled around the TV. Curious, I walk up to them, wondering what’s up. I look at the TV, and I see that they’re watching the news, with a reporter talking about the same maverick that I had just taken care of.

“It appears that during the latest maverick attack on Abel City, the bank the maverick was robbing has apparently blown up due to a misfire from a maverick hunter. The city is absolutely devastated by this loss, as it will…”

Oh. I forgot about that…

“Whoops…” I mutter under my breath. Zero and X, upon hearing my voice, slowly turn their heads around and look at me dead in the eye, with the same amount of anger being plastered on each of their faces. I laugh nervously at them, feeling a bit frightened at their frustration towards me. “Uhm, hey, guys…! What’s up…?” My voice trails off at the last sentence.

“You’re suspended for a week.” They both state bluntly.

Aw, man!

Chapter Text

Zero and I are walking down the hallway together, hanging out and having a good time. We’re going to the courtyard to meet up with X so we can go out to eat.

Somehow, during our conversation on the way there, Zero starts to talk about Sigma and his past experiences with him. He tells me he’s glad we don’t have to deal with that guy anymore, and how things have been more peaceful without him.

A familiar, yet perfect joke enters my mind. I can’t help but say it. It’s the best response. And I bet you would agree, too, once you see what I’m about to say…

I clear my throat before I speak. I make sure to sound as annoying as possible when saying my sentence. “Erm, what the sig-”

All of a sudden, Zero whips his head around while smacking me in the face with his hair, and freaking snaps at me out of nowhere. (But to be fair, I’ve made this joke, like, countless other times. Five-hundred and twenty-three to be exact. Including the one I just tried to say.) “AXL, I SWEAR ON EVERYTHING ON THIS EARTH, IF YOU SAY ANOTHER WORD THAT’S OUTDATED SLANG FROM 20XX, I WILL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!” He yells at me, which isn’t very kind of him. His voice echoes around the hall, and some nearby reploids stare at us in confusion and horror.

I stay silent for just a moment, as his yelling caught me off guard. Sure, I might’ve said this same exact joke a bunch of times, but it’s a good one! And it’s not my fault Sigma had to be named “Sigma”. But then I think of the perfect reply for what to say next, and the words naturally flow out of my mouth oh-so-smoothly.

“Another wor-”

*** 

Next thing you know, I’m in the infirmary, waking up with a piercing headache.

I open my eyes and look around, and I see X standing over me with the most worried look on his face. I give him a weak smile to try and ease his worrying, but I can’t give one of my good ones because I don’t feel good. After all, I just got shot by Zero and I’m waking up after who knows how long.

“Are you alright, Axl? How are you feeling? Do you remember anything? Are you in any pain?” He asks me, growing more frantic by the second.

“I’m good. My head hurts, but other than that, I’m feeling fine,” I reply. I don’t mention how I can remember everything though. I like playing dumb sometimes, even in a situation like this.

Soon after I reply, I watch Zero walk through the door and stand over me next to X. He looks worried, but more guilty than anything. “Hey, Axl. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yup! Everything’s good!” I smile at him.

“Listen, uhm… I would like to apologize for reacting the way that I did. It was uncalled for…”

I shake my head and smile even more at him. “It’s fine. I probably shouldn’t have made that joke. I say it way too often, anyway. Don’t worry about it,” I reassure him.

Zero and X both let out a sigh of relief, and I give them a cheesy grin.

Hopefully, my repairs won’t take too long…

Chapter Text

I throw a dart at the wall for what feels like the thirty-second time that day. I then let out a groan, and drop to the floor, and lay there for a few seconds.

You see, I’m experiencing this very common problem called “boredom”. You would think now that we’re living in the year 21XX, they would have a cure for this sort of thing, but no. But hey, at least we’ve finally achieved flying cars and junk!

My brain starts to wander, trying to come up with some new ideas or anything to cure this wretched disease that seems to come and go as it pleases. But then, it hits me… it hits me so hard, I have to sit up from the floor.

Pranking.

I can prank people! 

This solution has come to me many times before, and has turned out to be a great remedy to boredom. However, it has caused me to run for my life multiple times… and I’ve even ended up in the infirmary a couple of times, too.

But that was because of my more silly, destructive pranks. Which is about more than half of them, but anyway-

There’s this one particular prank that I absolutely love, like, I want to marry that idea (besides Pallette, but anyway-), I’ve tried this idea out so many times, and it’s easily by far the best prank I’ve ever done.

You know that copy ability that I have? Normally, I would use it in battle to help me gain some advantages and junk, but when I’m not in combat, I use it to spy on people, and to impersonate them.

What? Can you blame me? What else am I supposed to do with it? Oh, and to the guy in the back who’s probably saying, “B-bUT AxL, wiTH gReaT pOWer ComES gReaT reSponSibiLItY!” My answer to that is to go suck an egg. You can go ahead and be best friends with X.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, the prank!

The small downside, whenever I do this particular kind of prank, is that I eventually get caught, whether that be because I say something out of character for the person I’m pretending to be, or I behave in an unusual way. Or I don’t know something that the other person knows. That happens more rarely, but it happens enough to the point where I have to count it as a possibility. But lately, I’ve been getting better and better at impersonating everyone, and it’s been taking people a lot longer to catch me in the act! I’m hoping it’ll stay that way…

With my plan now in mind, I get up off the floor, dust myself off, and head out, ready for another day of pranking to cure my terrible, crippling disease (like seriously! It sucks the life outta me!) known as boredom!

***

My first victim is Zero.

I shapeshift into X, and I calmly approach him with my best “Hi, I’m X. I love everything, and I hate violence” mentality.

Zero turns around and smiles broadly at me “X”, when he sees me coming down the hallway.

“Hey Zero!” I say while walking up to him. “How’s your day been?”

“I’ve been very well, you?” He inquires.

“I’m great! Listen, I have to ask you something important… it’s something that’s been circulating around HQ, and I’ve been wondering about it for a while.”

Zero cocks an eyebrow. “Oh? What is it?”

“So, about you and Layer…”

All of a sudden, he starts blushing like crazy! Like his face is completely pink!

I figure now that since I’m impersonating people, I might as well use this ability to get some useful information. And I’ve been wondering about the Zero and Layer rumor for a while! You didn’t hear this from me, but lately, the other reploids in headquarters have been wondering if Zero has a crush on Layer, and vice versa. Listen, I gotta know this kind of stuff, so I can tease Zero about it mercilessly so I can help him out!

“I – I – uhm…” He stutters.

I place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and give him a Grade A X smile. “Come on, Zero. We’re friends, aren’t we? You can tell me about this kind of stuff, and I’ll listen. But if you don’t want to tell me, that’s also fine,” I reassure him.

Zero lets out a sigh, then concedes. “Okay, you’re right… I’ve been dating Layer for a little while now. However, I believe some people have started to find that out, even though we started dating only a week ago. Rumors tend to spread quite fast around here if you let them.”

Bingo.

I try to suppress the urge to laugh, which causes me to smile more. But smiling is somewhat on brand for X. Maybe not completely wide smiles, but smiles nonetheless. “I’m proud, Zero! I hope things have been going well for you two.”

Zero gives me a shy smile. “They have been. Thank you, X. I’m glad I have someone I can talk to whenever I need to get certain things off of my chest.”

Okay, I can’t help but laugh, but I disguise it in a way where it’s a more heartfelt one. “Haha! It’s not a problem at all! Anyways, I have some things that I need to get done, so I’ll see you around, alright?”

Zero nods his head. “Alright. I also have things that I need to attend to. Do you want to watch a movie later tonight? I can ask Axl if he would like to as well.”

Movies? MOVIES?! Aw, yeah! I’m scoring big today! “Sure thing! That sounds like a great idea! I’ll see you around!” I smile, then walk away from him.

“Bye, X,” he says, then walks in the opposite direction.

When I reach a secluded area, I transform back, and I just start cackling like crazy. I’m doubling over, clutching my sides, the whole thing! I cannot believe what I’ve just heard! I mean, Zero and Layer do make a cute couple, I’ll admit that. But I never knew that they were an actual thing! Now that’s interesting.

After I calm down, I start thinking of a new victim to prank. And after some soul-searching, the next person came clear as day to me.

Alia.

A mischievous grin forms on my face, and I start rubbing my hands like a supervillain. I transform into Signas, and then I began making my way to the navigator room.

***

Alia was typing away furiously at her computer before I walked into the room and cleared my throat. She was the only one in there, so when she heard me, she jumped a little before turning around to address me.

“Commander Signas,” she says while standing up and giving me a small salute. “Is there anything that I can help you with?”

“Yes, actually. I would like to discuss Axl with you,” I state.

“Yes? What about him?” She asks.

I let out a long sigh, and shake my head. “You know how I have been asking you to keep an eye on him?”

“...yes?”

“I think… I think we’re good now. He’s been showing improvements lately, and I no longer think he needs the extra attention. Not like that. Do you understand?” I ask in a very serious way with my very serious Signas voice.

Alia blinks at me like I had just said I was going to take her kneecaps. But then after a moment, she finally responds. “A-alright, sir. But are you sure about this decision?” I narrow my eyes at her. How dare she question my very serious authority, as someone who is very serious, and deserves very serious respect? She eventually gets the memo, and sighs. “Alright sir. I understand.”

“Thank you. I’ll be taking my leave now.” I reply back, then walk out of the room. I then go into another hidden area, and I transform back into my regular old self. I can’t help but let out a small giggle and breathe a sigh of relief. You have no idea how long Alia’s been on my case for. She’s almost as bad as X! You know… now that I’m thinking about it… those two are perfect for each other! They should get married!

Oh, and speaking of getting together… I’ve decided that I’m going to transform into Alia next and go find Pallette. I want to… confirm something… uh, yeah! That’s all!

I transform into Alia, then head right back out there, searching the headquarters to find my crush friend!

***

I find Pallette sitting by herself in the courtyard outside. It looks like she’s drawing something in a sketchbook, but I can’t quite tell what it is.

I go over to her and sit down next to her. “Hey Pallette!” I smile warmly.

Pallette looks up at me and smiles back. “Hi Alia! How are you?”

“I’m good, you?”

“I’ve been doing alright!” She beams.

“I have an important question to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course! What is it, Alia?”

Here goes nothing…! “So, I’ve been wondering something lately… it’s about you and Axl.”

Palette starts to giggle and blush a little bit. “Yeah? What about us?”

“I was wondering if you had a crush on him, based on how you two act around each other.”

Her eyes widen slightly, and a cheesy grin forms on her face. “Alia! I didn’t know you were into gossip like that! But I mean… to answer your question… I do think he’s kinda cute…”

YES! YES YESYESYESYES YESSSS!!! LET’S GO! AW YEAH! I’M WINNING!

I pump a fist in the air, only to curl up on the inside once I realize what I have just done.

“Oh wow, Alia! I’ve never seen you do that before!” She laughed.

I come up with a quick lie to save both her reputation and myself from getting caught. “That’s – that’s because I’ve… been trying to get you two together! And I’m just really excited that you both like each other! I think he was planning on asking you out sometime soon…”

Pallette lets out a short gasp, and a small squeal escapes her mouth. “Really? He’s going to ask me out?! When? I wanna be ready when he does! Tell me!” She insists.

“I’m not too sure when… probably later today or tomorrow? I’m not sure.”

She looks a bit disappointed upon hearing my statement, but she still looks content. “Oh, okay… well, I’ll just have to be ready no matter what! Thanks for telling me, Alia!”

I crack a smile at her. “Mhm. No problem at all, Pallette!” I then stand up and began to walk away. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you soon!”

“Oh, okay! Bye!” She waves to me, and I wave back. On the way back inside, I have to resist doing a happy dance. I can’t blow my cover! But the first chance I get? I’m gonna start breakdancing on the floor from how happy I am! Nothing can stop me now! I feel like I’m on top of the world! 

Oh, and guess what? I’ve already decided on my next victim.

Mega Man X himself.

***

I transform into Zero, and I start scouting the area for X. I make sure to do a bunch of spins and stuff, because I like the way Zero’s hair moves when I spin. I feel like a ballerina or something. How does he even manage all of that hair, though? I can barely deal with mine! And X… does he have hair? I’ve only ever see him with his helmet on, so I can’t be too sure. Part of me is hoping that he looks like Mr. Clean underneath it. I kind of want to make fun of him by putting some sort of polish on his scalp, and then his head is just super shiny and starts reflecting light from everywhere, almost like a mirror of some sorts! Hey, now that I’m thinking about it… maybe we should turn X into a disco ball! But then again, that will only work if he is bald. I’m kind of hoping he is…

Anyway, after some searching, I find X in the hallway, heading into his room. I catch up to him just in time before he closes the door. He lets me into his room, and we start talking.

“Hey, X! Glad I caught up to you! I need to ask you something.”

X looks at me, and he seems super agitated. Almost like someone spit in his burger or something! “...yeah?”

“Axl and I were planning on watching a movie later today, do you want to join us?” I ask him.

X almost gives me a disgusted look, then shrugs his shoulders. “Not sure. I’m kind of mad at Axl.”

Wait… what?! Oh great! What did I do now?!

I raise my eyebrow and get all sad and sympathetic. “Oh? What’s wrong? What did he do?”

“What didn’t he do should be the better question.” He scoffs. “The kid’s immature, and I’m constantly having to fix whatever mess or drama he causes. Like you know how in the break room, we all mark our lunches and containers, right? He’s literally the only person that ignores that rule. I had some fudge that I was really looking forward to eating, but now it’s gone. And a little while after that, I go into the training room, and I see that everything is a mess! The whole place looks like it’s been bombed, which is normal, but everyone fixes the area after they’re done using it. He never fixes it, and the whole place was a wreck! So I had to clean that up.

“And when you actually need him, he’s nowhere to be found. About an hour ago, I was searching the whole place for him, because I needed him to give another report on a maverick incident from not too long ago. I can’t find the kid anywhere. But when you don’t need him, or when you have no interest in talking to him, he’s there. Always there. It’s getting on my nerves, and I just…” He lets out a huff, and pinches the bridge of his nose, before looking at me in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you two are close, but it’s not the first time I’ve talked to you about him, and you’ve even agreed with me most of the time… I think I’m just in a bad mood in general, but that guy seriously gets on my last nerve. I don’t mean to lash out or be rude to him sometimes, but he’s always getting into some kind of trouble… I seriously don’t understand…”

I… I don’t… I don’t know what to say. 

I feel both angry and upset. It’s weird. I want to cry, but I also want to punch the air? Is this normal?

On the one hand, what X had said about me is true. Sometimes, when I’m hungry, I’ll go into the fridge and take whatever is in there. And I sometimes forget to fix the training area after I’m done using it. But I stopped the first habit a while ago! (And the second one? It’s… a work in progress). And on the other hand, I’ve been pranking people all day! I couldn’t have been the one to do those things! And the fact that he had just blamed me so quickly…

And now that I’m fully processing what he had just said, I feel even more conflicted. He describes my presence as a “need”, not as a “want”. He usually uses both when describing Zero or other people, but with me? It’s simply a need, like I should only be around as a Hunter…

But the worst part about what he said was that he’s been talking about me behind my back to Zero! And from what I heard, he agrees with him?! What the heck! I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back! I get that X and I have a rocky relationship, but I like to think that it’s also a work in progress. I don’t hate the guy, but I’ve never said anything about him! At least, not out loud…

I get that I can be kind of annoying sometimes but… dang… that hurt. That hurt a lot. I don’t… I don’t think I want to do this anymore. This whole prank idea just went down the drain, along with my happiness. On the bright side, my disease (known as boredom) has been cured, but at what cost? My joy.

I guess my pitiful reaction must have come across as actual sympathy for X, as he lets out a sigh of relief, and gives me a small smile. “I’m so glad I can talk to you, Zero. You’re a great friend.”

“Yeah… no problem, X,” I reply. “I have to go, I think… Alia sent me a message to come to the navigation room,” I lie. “I’ll see you around.”

“Bye, Zero. And yeah, I think I’ll be joining you guys for movie night.”

Well, that’s something, because I’m not. I don’t want to be with anyone anymore. I kind of want to be left alone for a while.

I leave the room, transform back to myself, and then head off to my own room. I shut the door behind me, and my eyes start burning.

But I don’t really like crying. Nah, that’s not really my style. I go to my desk, sit down in my chair, and open my laptop. I then log onto Roblox and start trolling ten-year-olds to help me cope.

But that didn’t really help me, so I log off and I just lay my head down on my desk.

For a day that was supposed to be fun, things sure ended up being a disaster. For me, at least.

This sucks. I wish I never pranked X like that. The saying “ignorance is bliss” is true, and you can’t tell me otherwise.

Can we just skip to the part where everything’s all fine and dandy? And I’m not so sad or angry anymore? Please? Because I’m not having fun. And I’m like the king of fun! 

But I guess I’ve been dethroned, huh…?

Chapter Text

I became a Discord mod. I haven’t left my room in a while. I don’t know how long it’s been. Maybe a day? A couple of days? (I check my mirror every day to see if I’ve grown some stubble, but then I realized after a bit that reploids can’t grow hair, so I’m kind of screwed. Eventually, I just grabbed a black marker and created the stubble myself.)

However long it’s been, X and Zero have been trying to get me to come out of my room. But I won’t budge. Not after what they did.

But today while I was rotting in bed with my laptop, banning twelve-year-olds on the “Axl is Legally Awesome” server, I hear a loud knock on my door, which has become the norm for the past few days. I ignore it, but then I hear the knock again, only this time, it was much louder, and it shook the entire room, too.

And then I hear the voice.

“AXL, OPEN THE DOOR. THIS IS AN ORDER!” Signas’ voice roars from behind the door.

I straight up cannonball out of my bed, and immediately open the door for Signas. Look, if you don’t follow an order when it’s given like that, you’re just asking for death at that point.

My artificial heart is pounding as I take a few steps back, letting Signas into the room. His eyes are blazing with rage, but also concern. And I think I saw a bit of pity hidden deep down, too.

He takes a look around the room, then at me, before his brow furrows into what I think is both a look of disgust and confusion. “You’ve been living like this for the past few days…?” He questions.

“...yeah,” I mutter. “The trash can started to overflow from the bags of Cheetos and e-tanks I had in my closet, so I had to create a trash pile right next to it. But hey! At least I don’t have any ants! Or roaches… I’m so glad I don’t have those.”

He doesn’t respond right away. He’s still looking at the state of my room before his eyes land on me. He raises an eyebrow and asks, “...your face?”

“Oh! I created some fake stubble since I couldn’t grow any myself, sir! Do you like the look?” I grin at him.

“No. Absolutely not! You look ridiculous! Go clean yourself up, along with your room, and meet me in my office. I believe we have some important things to discuss.”

I look at the ground shamefully before I say, “Yes, sir.”

When he leaves the room, I get to work immediately. I throw out my trash, make my bed, clean the area, and then I go and take a shower.

After I finish doing all of that, I start making my way to Signas’ office.

I think I’m screwed…

***

“Why were you in your room like that? You were living like… like some kind of vermin!” Signas sputters out. I’m now inside of his office, and I’m starting to get deja vu from when I was in Zero’s office… I don’t want to think about him right now…

“I… I don’t… I don’t know.” I mumble, knowing that I’m only partially telling the truth. I wanted to be away from other people, but only for a little bit. But I think it evolved into me becoming a couch, or bed potato.

Signas lets out a sigh, then stares deep into my eyes. He looks so worried. I think this is the most worried I’ve ever seen him! “Axl, you’ve been in your room for four days straight. Everyone’s worried about you, especially Zero and X.” 

I couldn’t help but let out a short huff at that statement, and my chest starts to hurt. But it’s not like a physical kind of pain, even though it technically is? Why am I feeling this way?

Signas continues with his statement. “It’s gotten so bad to the point where X broke down into tears when he and Zero’s last attempt at getting you to come out of your room ended in failure.” 

Okay, but everyone knows X is a softie or whatever. Of course he’s gonna cry like a baby! We all know this! I think to myself. 

“Eventually, I had to step in and get you to come out of your room. Which now brings us here. You’re lucky that there hasn’t been much maverick activity right now, otherwise, you would be in severe trouble. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes sir…” I answer.

“You shutting yourself in like that is unhealthy. I believe we need to correct this behavior. Don’t you agree?”

“I… think so, sir…”

“Zero brought up an interesting solution to me. He suggested that you, him, and X go on some sort of ‘road trip’ together. A vacation, basically. They hardly ever use their vacation days, so I gave them permission to do this. Not only that, but like I mentioned earlier, maverick activity has been low as of now, so I don’t see the harm in letting our Hunters relax. I believe we all need a vacation at some point… but for you? You don’t get a choice on whether or not you go with them. This will be a mandated road trip for you. You’re required to go outside, Axl, and get out of that room. I never want to see you in a state like that ever again, do you understand me?”

The pain in my chest only grows more and more, and it’s tightening. I don’t like this idea. But I have no choice, do I? Oh well, at least this’ll be part of my paycheck, even if it means I’ll have to spend however long with X and Zero… “Yes, sir. I understand…”

“Good. Now, go pack a bag and meet Zero and X outside in the parking lot in one hour. Do you have any questions?”

I slowly shake my head. “...no, sir.”

“Alright, then. You’re dismissed.”

***

I sling a duffle bag on my shoulders and I walk out of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, feeling absolutely bummed out about what’s coming. I’m trying to accept my fate, but I feel like I’m going to die if I have to spend even a second with those two. Why do they even care so much about me if I’m such a problem or whatever, huh? I seriously don’t get it.

When I walk into the parking lot, I see X, Zero, and Signas talking to each other while standing in front of a white SUV. X has a dark blue backpack on, and Zero has a red duffle bag in his hands. I let out a sigh and walk up to them. I don’t bother announcing my presence or anything, because I don’t want them to know that I’m here.

Unfortunately, Zero turns around and spots me first. He then alerts the others, and next thing you know, I’m being pulled into a tight group hug with X and Zero. Only this time, I don’t really feel anything. I feel terrible, actually. After a few moments, I gently push them off of me, and I look at their faces. Zero seems to be relieved, while X seems to be in a bright mood. “You ready for the road trip, Axl?” He grins at me.

I force a smile on my face and nod my head. “Uh-huh. You bet!”

I look to my left, and Signas is giving me a nod of approval, like I’ve made the right choice to come along for the ride. I’m only doing this because I was forced to, and I don’t want to lose my job or get put into The Hole if I say no. (Yeah, long story short, there’s a rumor going around, where basically, bad hunters who suck at their job, are rule breakers, or are just simply disrespectful get put into the basement of the HQ. And they stay there for who knows how long! I don’t know why they call it a hole. I like to think it’s a literal hole though. It raises the stakes.)

“I hope you three have a great time. Stay safe out there. Abel City’s drivers can be quite reckless at times…”

“Tell me about it…” I hear X mutter.

Zero nods his head. “Thank you, sir. We will.”

We then exchange goodbyes with Signas, and he begins heading back inside. I look back at X and Zero, who were discussing who was going to be the group’s driver.

“I can handle the driving,” X offers.

“Really? Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind driving. I don’t want you to be stuck behind the wheel the whole time without a break.”

“I’ll be fine,” he assures Zero. “And besides, if I do end up needing a break, we can switch or I can pull up to a stop, which I have a feeling we’ll be needing to do very frequently.”

Zero nods his head, satisfied. “Alright. I’ll go in the front seat, unless you want to, Axl?” He asks while turning towards me.

Normally, I would take this opportunity to call shotgun, but I don’t want to be near either of them. At this point, I’m just trying to create as much distance as I can to make this trip bearable. “I’m good. I wanna go in the back,” I reply.

Zero raises his eyebrows, almost as if he’s surprised by my response. “I - alright then. That settles it.”

X then goes behind the car and unlocks both the doors and the trunk. We put our stuff in the back, taking out any items or so that we want with us. (I brought out my phone, my blanket, earbuds, a pillow, and a comic book.) We then hop in the car, and start driving…

But then I realize something important. I forgot something back at HQ, but I don’t know what it is… what could I have possibly forgotten about?!

But then it hits me.

My guns!

“Bro – guys – X – stop the car! I forgot something!” I shout.

But X didn’t stop driving, he only slowed down. “What did you forget?”

“My guns! I can’t leave them alone! I need them! What if a maverick or something attacks us while we’re out?”

“Keep driving,” Zero instructs, to which X obliges and picks up his pace. “I brought my sword, and X has his buster in his armor. So if anything were to happen, we can take care of it. However, I doubt anything will. There’s no need to worry,” he answers.

My mouth is wide open from shock, but I don’t bother protesting. I let out a short “hmph”, and I slide a bit in my seat. Of course they get to keep their weapons! But with me? NoOOoOOo, I can’t have my guns! Even though we literally could’ve turned around right then and there. But I guess not! Oh well! Whatever. It doesn’t matter. If something bad happens, they’re gonna be feeling real sorry for not turning around to let me get my guns! I hope they feel really stupid when that happens!

We keep driving for a bit, and I’m looking out the window while X and Zero are having small talk with each other. I couldn’t care less about the topic, to be honest. Normally, I would try and join in, but I don’t want to bother them or anything…

But then I see those sweet, heavenly golden arches in the distance.

My eyes light up, and I press my face against the window to get a closer look.

Could it be…?

A McDonald's?!

I whip my head around and I ask them, “Can we go to McDonald's?!”

“What? No! We haven’t been on the road for ten minutes yet, Axl! And besides, didn’t you already have breakfast?!” X responds.

“I mean yeah, but… oh c’mon, guys! It’s McDonald's!” I cry out.

“Axl, no. And that’s final.”

“Ugh, whatever,” I groan. I then put an earbud in my ear and start playing music from my phone, trying to make myself feel better from the absolute losses that I’ve been taking recently.

But from my other ear, I overhear a bit of Zero and X’s conversation.

“You see what I mean?! Not even fifteen minutes into this road trip, and he’s already asking for stuff! I love him, but he’s annoying the life out of me…” X whisper-shouts.

Zero shakes his head. “I know, but you can’t blame him. I think he’s just excited. You’re normally very patient, X. Is something wrong?”

X lets out a sigh. “I know… I think I might just be stressed out…”

“Well, it’s a good thing that we’re going on this road trip, right?” Zero softly laughs.

I then shove my other earbud into my ear, and stare intently at the window, blinking back tears as I did so. 

This was literally the exact reason why I didn’t want to come along with them! Yet here I am, being forced to hang out with these guys. Can I just go home already?! They clearly don’t want me around! I really don’t want to be here.

I really don’t…

***

We’re about an hour in, and I start to doze off, before I shoot my eyes wide open when I hear X and Zero blasting 80s music while singing their heads off. I can’t help but crack a smile. This is one of the very few times where I see them act so unserious. I kind of want to join in…

And that’s exactly what I do. I join in on the singing. We sound like crap, but hey! No one built us to be professional singers! (I mean, I could modify my vocal cords if I really wanted to…) I think what’s more important is the fact that we’re all having fun. I almost forgot about why I felt so melancholic earlier!

Nope, never mind. I just remembered it. Great…

After our short singing session ends, we’re all laughing and in a good mood (for the most part), but then we pull up to a gas station. X parks the car next to a fuel pump and asks us if we want anything to eat while we’re here.

“I’ll just have an e-tank,” I say to him.

“Same. Do you want me to pay for it?” Zero offers.

X shakes his head and gives Zero an A+ smile. “It’s okay. It’s all on me.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” He reassures very assuringly in his own assuring way.

Zero lets out a sigh, and concedes. “Okay, if you say so. How about I go ahead and pump the car while you go ahead and handle that?”

“Alright.” X agrees.

Normally, I would ask for some chips or something (usually Cheetos) to go along with my e-tank, but I’m not feeling it right now. I just want to get to our destination.

Hey, wait a second – where are we even going, anyway?! I’m now realizing that I just went along with the plan, hopped in the car, and I don’t even know where we’re heading. For all I know, they could be taking me to the woods somewhere to put me down! Old Yeller style! (Okay, I doubt they would do that, but there’s always a possibility.)

After a few minutes go by, X returns with three e-tanks, and I hear him talking to Zero from outside the car.

“Hey, Zero, is Axl okay…?” X asks him.

“I… I would think so… what’s up?”

“It’s just… normally he’d ask for more than an e-tank. I’m worried about him. I’m starting to think he might not be feeling well…”

“Well, I wouldn’t start jumping to conclusions. Maybe he just doesn’t want any food right now.”

“I mean, maybe, but still… Not only that, he’s also been kind of… I don’t know, not like himself? He didn’t even want to sit in the front seat!”

“I noticed that. I was shocked, but I just think he wants the extra space in the back of the car.”

X lets out a sigh. “I guess. I don’t know… I’m gonna talk to him when I get the chance. Probably once we hit the road again.”

Dude, can they not talk about me for like, five whole minutes?! Sure, I like getting attention and all, but not like this! This sucks! And no, X, we aren’t going to talk later. I’m going to pretend to sleep through the rest of this car ride for as long as I can!

Fluff you!

***

It’s been about two hours, and I’m starting to get sick of being in a constant state of actually sleeping, fake sleeping, or being half asleep. I’m bored out of my mind, but it’s worth it if it means I won’t get to talk to X. Oh, and I still don’t know where the heck we’re going! So that’s my life right now. I’m having such a great time…

Multiple times, X and Zero have tried to “wake” me up, but I wouldn’t give in no matter what. But this time, I hear Zero make a joke about saying how I could be dead, and from what I hear (because I have my eyes closed), X punches him in the shoulder for making that joke and starts freaking out. Zero assures him that I’m probably not dead and that he’s just kidding.

Which brings us to this exact moment.

Because X is now paranoid, he tells Zero to wake me up, just to make sure that I’m not dead. I beat them to the punch, and pretend that I’m just now waking up. I do a fake yawn (which quickly turns into a real one) and I stretch briefly.

X lets out a sigh of relief, and smiles at me from the mirror. “Hey Axl!” He says all bright and cheery, like he wasn’t just freaking out earlier. “How was your nap?”

“Mm – fine…” I answer before asking, “Where are we even going, anyway?”

“A national park.” Zero replies.

“Oh, cool!” I crack a smile. Wait a second – don’t national parks have woods and junk? Wait, I was just joking when I thought about that Old Yeller comment. Are they actually going to take me into the woods and put me down?! I’m too young to be decommissioned! Now X and Zero on the other hand… (okay, mentally or from their AIs, they might not be old. But physically? They’re practically old as dirt! I mean, X got sealed up for a hundred years! And who knows where Zero came from! From what I heard, he was also found sealed up somewhere!)

“Hey uh – Axl, now that you’re awake, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” X mentions.

Ah great, here we go… “Yeah?”

“Have you been… feeling alright? Are you okay?”

Okay, before you read what you’re about to see, just know that I’m normally not a liar. Maybe… I mean, I lie a couple of times, but I wouldn’t say I’m a pathological liar or anything! So please don’t think that I’m a liar! I’m only lying in this situation because I don’t want to face my problems! Is that so wrong? “Uh, yeah! Why are you asking? I feel great!” I say, lying through my teeth.

“I don’t know… you just seem a bit off lately… are you sure you’re alright?”

“Dude, trust me. I’m fine.” I start to sound agitated, which I am, but I don’t want them to know. Otherwise, they’ll only get more concerned, and then I might explode.

Everyone goes silent for a bit, and the silence is giving me the creeps. I know they’re onto me, and I’m starting to feel scared.

“You know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Zero says.

X nods his head. “We won’t judge it for you, either.”

Okay, that was the final straw.

I normally don’t think of myself as an emotional or angry person, but I (sort of) accidentally snap at the both of them when X made that comment. I feel bad, but I’m just so sick of this!

“No, I can’t!” I yell. “You will judge me for it! That’s what you two have been doing! You’re constantly judging me! And don’t even lie and say that you don’t, because I know that you do!”

I watch as X’s eyes grow wide, and then I see him pull off to the side of the road and park the car. He then turns around and looks completely hurt. Zero also looks at me with a sad expression, but he seems more shocked.

“No, we wouldn’t! What made you think that?!” X rebuts. “We’re your friends, Axl! We would never-”

“You sure don’t act like my friends!”

Zero tries to cut into the conversation. “Okay, now hold on a second-”

“No, let me talk for a second!” I glare at him, then continue speaking. “If you guys were my friends, you wouldn’t constantly talk about me behind my back! You wouldn’t act like I’m such a problem all the time! You wouldn’t!” My eyes are starting to burn again, but I ignore it. I then look at X and start to address him specifically. “And X, what’s with you and your wishy-washy behavior, huh? One moment, you get all pissed off when I ask for stuff, but the next moment, you’re concerned and worried when I don’t?! Like back at the gas station?! And I’ll even give you an earlier example.

“You were acting all concerned and stuff when I was staying in my room during the past few days, yet the moment I get in the car, you start complaining to Zero about how annoying I am. Isn’t that nice? Oh, and speaking of which…” I then look at Zero, and at this point, tears are threatening to come out of my eyes, but I don’t want to cry. Like I said before, crying isn’t my thing. I don’t cry. I really don’t! “I know X and I don’t get along as well, so it kind of makes sense why he gets mad at me a lot. But with you?! Thanks to X, I now know that you also talk behind my back. At least X can be somewhat upfront and honest when I’m bothering him, and we might get into it in a fight, but you can’t even tell me right to my face if something’s wrong!”

I then look back at X. “When you complained to Zero about me a few days ago, it was actually me who you were talking to,” I confess. I then look at both of them. “If you guys are going to talk about me behind my back, at the very least, make sure I’m nowhere around, okay?!”

I then slump back in my seat, staring daggers at both of them. Both of their jaws were open, which kind of made me want to laugh, but I can’t because of this stupid pain in my chest, and my eyes are burning like crazy. I’m blinking back my tears, but I’m kind of losing the battle with this one.

But then I felt something in me kind of just… break? And next thing you know, I start crying out of nowhere. It first started off as normal crying, but then I just start ugly sobbing, and my throat’s starting to feel raw. I never knew I could cry like that. I feel embarrassed. I don’t like crying, because I feel weird doing it. I’d rather laugh than be sad.

X and Zero both have tears in their eyes, and their hurt expressions from before have deepened. Zero starts to speak up first. “Axl… I’m… I’m so sorry… I didn’t realize that you felt that way… and I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing… I feel terrible. Was this why you were in your room for so long?”

I barely manage to answer him through my sniffles. “Y-yeah…”

Next thing you know, I see X breaking down completely. He gets out of the car, only to come to my door, open it, pull me out, and give me a hug.

“Axl, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me… I also didn’t realize that was how I was treating you. It’s just… every time I look at you, I get reminded of myself. I was almost like you once when I first became a hunter. I wanted to see and do everything. I was always moving around from place to place. But I had made a lot of mistakes when I was younger as well, and I was quite frankly… foolish at times. I didn’t like how I was. And when I see you… I want to protect you, and keep you from making the same mistakes that I had made when I was younger. But in doing so… I only created more, for both you and for me. My stress with everything that’s been happening hasn’t helped me, and sometimes I’m not in the mood to joke or hang out. I didn’t mean to treat you so harshly. I really care about you, Axl. I really do.

“And I won’t try and deny what I’ve said about you. It was how I was feeling in the moment. I could’ve used better words, or better yet, I could’ve went to you about my issues, instead of complaining about how I felt about you to Zero. We both could’ve. I’m sorry we made you feel so terrible. We love you, and we really want to be friends with you. I know I don’t often show it, but I do. From now on, I’m going to be a better friend to you. Okay?”

After listening to him speak, I hug him back. I don’t say anything for a moment, because I’m… shocked. He’s said something like this before, when I first tried to become a hunter. He told me he didn’t want me making the same mistakes that he and Zero had made, but I didn’t know, and still don’t know, what he meant by that. But… I’m glad that he cares about me, though. In his own way, I guess. Still, his apology means a lot to me, and that pain in my chest slowly starts to fade out.

I slowly look at X and give him a weak smile. “...okay.”

But then X and I almost get tackled to the ground from how hard Zero hugs us. He’s also crying, which makes the three of us. 

“What X just said also goes for me, too,” Zero says. “I also could’ve went to you about any issues I had. You’re not a problem, Axl. I’m really sorry we made you feel that way. You being yourself, and acting young isn’t problematic. It’s who you are, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. You’re a breath of fresh air back at HQ, and I’m glad that we’re friends. I’ll never do that to you again. I’m sorry…”

I also smile at Zero. “I forgive you guys… and… I also have to apologize. I know I can be annoying, I won’t act like I’m not. I also tend to push people’s buttons and stuff, and then get upset when they lash out at me. I’m sorry for doing that to you guys.”

“It’s – It’s okay,” X responds. “We love you, alright?”

I let out a small laugh, and I grin at them, and my tears soon turn into happy ones. “Heh, I love you guys, too!”

***

Our trip was amazing!

We’re now back at HQ, and I gotta say, stepping outside of the city and observing nature was a really moving experience. I even took a souvenir home with me! (X and Zero don’t know about it…)

When we step into the building, Signas is already there, ready to greet us.

“Hello you three,” he smiles. “Did you have a good trip?”

“Heck yeah!” I shout while giving the biggest grin. “It was awesome! We went to a national park! I got to see some cool mountains and animals! Ten out of ten experience. I would honestly go again.”

Signas lets out a chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you had a great time, Axl. What about you two?” He asks while addressing X and Zero.

“Honestly, Axl pretty much said how we felt, Commander Signas,” X states. “All three of us had a great time. It was a great bonding experience, and we learned a lot during our time there.”

“Yes, I agree with both Axl and X. We had a wonderful time. It was a beautiful experience,” Zero says. “The sunsets we saw…” He shakes his head, recalling the memory of it. “You just can’t experience sunsets like those in the city. Not like that…”

“Well, by the way you all seem to be talking about it, I just might have to visit a place like that myself! It’s good to have you guys back.”

“Thank you!” I say out loud.

But then I feel something fall out of my hair, and I just freeze into place.

My souvenir fell out…

I see it walk out and stand right in front of me, and in between Signas and us.

The others also see it.

Uh oh.

“Axl,” Zero begins to say, his eye twitching. “Is that… what I think it is…?”

I swallow. “M-maybe…”

“Did you just take a pup from the national park we just came back from…” X questions out loud.

I finally unfreeze, and I pick up the young wolf. “Okay, but in my defense, it was really cute and I just had to-”

“Axl!” Signas shouts, which causes me and the others to jump. “You are to teleport back to that park, and put that animal back into the wild where it belongs. This is an order. Do you understand me?!”

“Y-yes sir-” I stutter out.

Zero lets out a sigh, facepalms, and shakes his head. “We can’t take you anywhere…”

…okay, but can they really blame me?! C’mon man… oh well. 

Chapter Text

I scoop up half a container’s worth of gel and slick my hair back as I look myself over in the mirror. Then I brush it out until I get the front part all smooth. I then grab a hair tie and tie my hair in its usual spiky ponytail. I look over myself once more before deciding that I’m ready to go. I adjust my suit, making sure it's on straight, and then I go into Zero’s room and steal a bottle of cologne off of his dresser. I then proceed to drown myself in it until I can barely breathe (to the point where I’m gagging and twitching on the floor…). I gotta make sure I smell wonderful, y’know!

Right now, I bet you’re probably asking, “Hey Axl! What’re you doing all of this for?” And the answer to that, my dear friend, is that I’m going out on a date! Well, it’s a double date, but it’s still a date nonetheless. But this is my first date ever, and I’m kind of nervous. I really like Pallette, and I don’t want to mess anything up!

…which I won’t, by the way, because I’m just awesome like that. (Duh!)

Anyway, I head downstairs and wait for the others. Surprisingly, I’m the first one down here. Right now it’s 6:30 P.M., and we’re supposed to leave at six to go to a restaurant we had all picked out…

Wait…

It’s 6:30 now, and we had to leave at six…

…

OH SH–

***

I never teleported out a place so fast in my entire life.

I teleport right outside of the building and I run as fast as I can inside. I immediately see an annoyed Zero, a worried Pallette (yikes…), and… a Layer. I can’t really tell what she’s feeling, because literally half of her face is covered with her hair.

I can’t tell if I should be upfront and apologize for being late, or pretend that I was here the entire time. 

You know what? I’ll choose a secret option:

Silence!

I silently walk up to them, and I take my seat next to Pallette…

Everyone was staring at me, especially Zero. It feels like he’s burning a hole through my core…

…Nah, I might as well come clean. I feel like lying hardly ever works out for me, which absolutely sucks. Telling the truth can be so hard sometimes!

“Uhm – hey guys!” I nervously grin. “How’s… everyone’s day…?”

Everyone is dead silent.

I let out a deep sigh. “I’m – I’m sorry. I thought we had to leave at 6:30, but when I realized it was supposed to be six, I came here as fast as I could. I didn’t mean to keep everyone waiting.”

“It’s okay, Axl!” Pallette replies. “I was actually a bit late, too. I got here at 6:15 because I took too long getting ready!”

I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who was late! However, I am the last person who got here… oh well! Late is late, am I right?

After I finish getting settled, a waiter comes over and takes our order. Zero orders a steak, Layer orders lasagna, and me and Pallette order chicken tenders and fries. When we said our order out loud, Zero looks at us like we had just committed some sort of atrocity, and Layer’s just staring at us. Like, c’mon! We don’t know what half the other options were! And if you’re going to judge someone, at least don’t make it obvious! Gosh!

For our appetizers, we all decide to get a salad. I wanted soup, but when Pallette said she wanted salad, I changed my mind. Salad sounds kind of nice, I guess.

Anyway, while we’re waiting for our appetizers to arrive (and also our drinks), I start to make small talk with Pallette. While I’m talking to her, I start to get all nervous and stuff. Like I start to shake, and my voice is stuttering. And I think my face is turning red, too…

“S-so… how’s your day been?” I inquire.

“Oh! It’s been great! But it got a whole lot better when you showed up!” She giggles.

My face heats up even more. “O-o-oh! Hah – ah – yeah! I-I’d imagine! I’m pretty cool, after all!” I say while giving the most awkward grin in my entire life.

Normally, I am pretty cool. I like to think that I’m the coolest guy around! (Besides Zero and X, of course.) But right now? I’m acting like the opposite of cool! This sucks! Why am I acting like this?! 

But even as I’m fumbling through our interaction, Pallette just gives me the kindest smile, and that just makes me freak out even more.

“How’s your day?” She asks me back.

“F-fine – good! It’s uhh – it’s good!” I stutter out. 

“Haha! I’m glad!” Pallette laughs, then after a moment passes by, she subtly holds my hand underneath the table, and I have to physically resist the urge to scream. At this point, I’m full-blown panicking. I need to get my act together, or else I’m going to look like an absolute idiot by the time this date is over.

I get up from the table, and make a lame excuse to leave, saying I have to go walk my legs, and I head inside of the restroom.

I look at myself dead in the eye in the mirror, and I give myself a hard slap. Twice. “Focus, Axl! You’re better than this! You should be the one making her flustered! Not the other way around! What if she thinks you’re lame?! Get it together!” I say to myself, thinking I’m the only one in there.

Unfortunately, I’m not…

This guy who’s right next to me is washing his hands, and he’s giving me the weirdest look. I turn my head to him, and I go, “What? What are you looking at?!”

“N-nothing,” he replies.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought… loser…” I mutter, fully projecting my insecurities onto him.

He then lets out a sigh, and shakes his head. “Yeah, I lost tonight. I just got done breaking up with my girlfriend…”
My face falls, and I look away awkwardly. “Oooh… yikes… I’m sorry about that, man. But hey! There’s plenty of fish in the sea!” I smile, trying to make him feel better.

But then the guy suddenly bursts into tears. “My ex-girlfriend loves fish!” He cries out, then runs out of the restroom.

…my bad.

***

After that whole dilemma occurred, I went back to my seat. After waiting for a bit, our appetizers and drinks arrive, and I’m trying to save face while eating some cold, sad pieces of mixed-up vegetables known as a “salad”.

As I’m eating, I notice Pallatte glance at me for a couple of seconds, then fully whips her head around, and she looks like she’s going to burst into a laughing fit.

“Huh?” I sound. “Is something wrong?”

“Y-you eat salad like that…?” She asks. “Without any dressing?”

“This is my first time having it. And what the heck is dressing?” I question while raising an eyebrow.

“That,” Layer answers while pointing to a glass bottle with chunky, colorful liquid on the table that came with our salad.

“Ohhh,” I realize. “You know, if I’m going to be completely honest, I thought that was just for decoration. Thanks for telling me though!” I smile. I then proceed to pick up the bottle, unscrew the lid, and chug a portion of the salad dressing. I then put the bottle down and wipe my lips. “That was a weird drink… but I guess it makes sense. We have to have a burst of flavor after eating bland vegetables.”

All of a sudden, Zero spits out his drink while Pallette sinks into her chair, dying from laughter, and Layer simply facepalms and shakes her head. 

“Axl, you’re such an idiot. You’re supposed to put that on your salad. Not drink it!” Zero scolds.

“Oh… I’m – I’m not?”

“YES?! Why – why would you even drink it?! I – I can’t deal with this right now. I need to excuse myself from the table,” Zero exclaims. He gets up from his seat and leaves the area, heading into the restroom.

I start to feel embarrassed, but then I stop. This was my first time trying salad! How the heck was I supposed to know you weren’t supposed to drink salad dressing from the bottle?! I genuinely, whole-heartedly, don’t know a thing when it came to salad etiquette or whatever. And who’s to say drinking dressing from the bottle isn’t normal? Maybe they’re the weird ones, and I’m the normal one! Pallette is an exception though. She’ll always be an exception.

“A-Axl, you’re – I can’t – I can’t breathe!” Pallette laughs, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

Eventually, when she does catch her breath, she looks at me with the biggest grin on her face. “I am. I just wasn’t expecting you to do that!”

“I mean – can you really blame me? This was my first time trying salad in general! I didn’t know what to do!”

Pallette then elbows me playfully, and says, “Axl, you doofus!” She teases. “But you’re my doofus, though, so it’s okay!” She blushes.

My face gets extremely hot, and by this point, I think I’m as red as the tomatoes in my salad… 

“You know, maybe I should try your way of eating salad. It might taste better!”

I give her a sheepish smile. “Haha – m-maybe, yeah!” I then look over at Layer, who’s sitting across from us. She has an amused grin on her face, and she’s slowly shaking her head. I give her a small smile, and I go back to eating my salad, but in the “normal” way, I guess. (It ended up tasting better than my method, but we’ll pretend that it didn’t, though.)

***

By the time Zero came back and sat down, we were given the rest of our orders. 

And let me tell you, I don’t care what nobody says… those chicken tenders and fries are FIRE! Like, they taste really freaking good! And I think Pallette seems to agree, too! Screw all the fancy stuff with names that I can barely pronounce, this is peak! (No, seriously, what the heck is a lace-an-ya? You know, the thing that Layer ordered?)

Anyway, while we’re eating our meal, I’m having a great time talking to Pallette, but occasionally I’ll glance over to the other side of the table and see Layer and Zero flirting with each other. And then me and Pallette start giggling like we’re preschoolers. And then they get annoyed with us, and they decide to pull the same thing when we start talking to each other. But minus the giggling. They just stare at us for an uncomfortable amount of time, which makes us uncomfortable, so we decide to leave them alone for the rest of the evening, and they do the same with us.

But as we’re all finishing our meal, all of a sudden, we hear a bunch of yelling coming from behind us, and then the sound of a freaking gunshot. I’m convinced Zero has the equivalent of “spidey senses”, because literally half a second before the gunshot went off, he suddenly stood up straight. After we hear the sound, Pallette, Layer, and I also get up from the table. We also see other people who were sitting nearby stand up, or at the very least tense up in their seats. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who heard it.

“What was that?!” Pallette questions.

“It sounded like a gunshot,” Layer answers.

“Should we go check it out?” I ask.

Zero shakes his head. “No, not yet… just listen for a second.”

And then, we hear the follow-up.

“LISTEN UP! WE WANT ALL THE MONEY IN THIS PLACE, AND A LARGE CONTAINER OF FRIES, BECAUSE I GOT HUNGRY WHILE COMING HERE! IF OUR DEMANDS AREN’T MET WITHIN FIVE MINUTES, NO ONE IS LEAVING HERE ALIVE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”

…

“So there’s more than one of them…” Zero infers.

“Aw man, out of all the places those people could’ve picked, they chose here?! While we’re out to eat?! And we don’t have our weapons?!” I complain (as I feel like this time is a genuinely good time to do so. I mean seriously, c’mon man! Can’t we just have one day where we don’t have to fight some crazy wackos who thought it would be a good idea to commit a crime? In this day and age?!).

But then we hear the commotion stir within the restaurant.

“Oh my gosh!”

“Someone call the Maverick Hunters!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“Mommy, those guys with the guns look like the people from my favorite show! Can I go say hi?”

“No Timothy, those people are bad!”

“No miss, it’s okay. I can give your son an autograph while we’re at it!” (Probably) one of the criminals says.

“Yay!”

“Oh my goodness…”

And then we hear another gunshot go off.

“NO ONE IS CALLIN’ ANYBODY!” A different voice yells. “IF I SEE A PHONE APPEAR, I’M SHOOTIN’ EVERYONE IN THIS PLACE!”

“I’ll go round up the phones!” (I’m assuming) another criminal says.

“Good idea, you go do that while Carter and I continue to look threatenin’.”

“Got it!”

The group is dead silent. No one has made a move or said a word after hearing that exchange of words. 

If I’m going to be honest, if I wasn’t awesome, and I didn’t know how to deal with mavericks, I probably would’ve just accepted my fate and given up. How do you get out of a situation like this?!

Luckily, Zero and I seem to have the same idea, as I give him a smirk, and he grins at me. 

Because we (or should I say some) reploids were given the ability to teleport, we’re able to go to and from within seconds. Zero quietly instructs me to stay put while he retrieves our weapons from HQ, and I obey. After a solid minute or two passes, I start to grow worried, but Zero comes back and passes our weapons around like candy. Pallette and I got our guns, Layer has a scythe, and Zero has his sword. Surprisingly, the criminals haven’t gone over to our side of the restaurant yet, so we quickly make a plan to catch them off guard while waiting for reinforcements to show up.

After that? We make our move.

Pallette and I rush out to the front of the restaurant, with Layer and Zero right behind us. However, I immediately stop in my tracks when I see the situation in front of us.

There’s eight of them.

Eight.

And there’s only four of us.

And they’re all wearing black. However, it looks like they don’t have any armor on, which’ll make this fight a bit easier, because we don’t have any armor on, either.

But if I’m going to be totally honest here for a second? These guys are idiots. If you’re going to rob a place, and you’re a reploid, wouldn’t it make sense to wear some armor? Shoot, at least the mavericks we fought had the idea to do so! I mean, none of them really robbed places, because they were busy doing worse stuff, like working for Sigma… but you see my point, don’t you? These guys are just plain dumb!

“Mavericks! Surrender yourselves now, and this can end peacefully!” Zero orders while pointing his sword at them.

The robbers turn their heads, and their eyes widen at the sight of us. “No way! We get to fight these guys?! This is awesome!” One of them gushes.

“No! Not awesome! We’re gonna die!” Another one exclaims.

“Well, I ain’t goin’ down without a fight!” A different one growls.

“We’re not surrendering that easily!” Someone else says.

“Guess we really are going to die…” A different guy sighs.

“Alright then. So be it,” Layer declares.

Next thing I know, I see Layer straight-up kill one of those guys. I'm not gonna say how, but let's just say she made him look like the sliced vegetables in my salad...

I turn to Zero, and he’s just standing there in complete awe, but he eventually snaps out of it and gets to work. And that prompts Pallette and I to do the same.

The two of us combined start raining bullets on them, and they’re firing back. I’m ducking and weaving, meanwhile Pallette is just straight up charging at those guys. I don’t want her to get hurt, so I run over to where she is. With every person that she doesn’t hit, I do. And with every person that I don’t hit, she does.  

Next thing we know, there’s only three guys left.

But it turns out, those guys are the strongest of the bunch. And they seem to be the only ones wearing armor.

So… it turns out I was incorrect in my assumption about none of them having any… but it’s okay. Look, I said I was awesome, not perfect! But it’s fine.

Those guys must be the ones behind all of this, I assume, considering how, like I said, they’re the only losers idiots mavericks wearing armor.

Because they’re the only ones left, we start focusing on attacking all of them at once. Pallette and I are slowly wearing their armor down from the sides, while Layer and Zero work together to fight them upfront. One of them had a gun himself, another had a pair of daggers, and the last guy didn’t even have a weapon.

But when the guy without anything picks up a chair and just hurls it at Zero and Layer, it catches me completely off-guard. I immediately stop shooting and I rush over to go check on them. “You guys okay?!” I ask.

“We’re… we’re fine,” Zero states while getting up from the ground, then he helps Layer up.

But then she suddenly lets out a sharp gasp. “Watch out!” She warns.

I whip my head around quickly, and I see this guy about to break a chair over my head, but then all of a sudden, he stops moving, and he drops to the ground.

Everyone froze within that moment.

I and one of the criminals goes over and examines him, and that guy is good as gone. Like, he completely blue-screened type of gone. And he’s twitching on the floor. He’s having a full-blown malfunction.

“Hey! He looks like me from earlier today!” I point out, grinning. “Dude, we’re actually twinning!”

Everyone gives me a judgmental stare.

“What? I’m being honest! It was because I used too much of Zero’s cologne…”

“Wait a minute – you did what?” Zero questions.

“Uhh – don’t worry about it!” I laugh awkwardly, then change the subject. “Hey, wait a second. Shouldn’t we be taking out the other two guys?”

“Oh – right!” Pallette says, then causally shoots the other two.

And then they explode just like Mega Man would from 20XX. I’m talking about the whole sound effect and everything! Maybe I should share that fun fact with X when I get home…

Anyway, when we realize that we took out all of the mavericks, we all let out a collective sigh of relief, and the rest of the restaurant does the exact same.

And by the time we go back to our table, the reinforcements show up. (What took them so long?!) But because we just got done doing the whole job, they decide to just collect the mavericks and take them back to Headquarters.

You know, I thought we were about to be screwed when dealing with those guys, but surprisingly, we did a heck of a good job!
This just goes to show how awesome I am… no, that’s not right. It goes to show how awesome we are. Yeah, that’s better!

We’re awesome!

***

After paying for our meal, we all walk out of the restaurant, feeling absolutely wiped out from the fight. 

There’s a certain quietness among us. I’ve experienced this before when I had came back with X and Zero from fighting Sigma. It’s a peaceful silence, though. The quietness helps you think after dealing with so much in such a short amount of time. 

And I know I’m going to sound crazy for saying this, but it feels like our wounds start to heal faster when we’re quiet. I guess it’s because we aren’t using any energy talking, but I genuinely feel a lot better being quiet when I’m hurt, than I do when I’m talking. It could just be me, though. What do I know?

As I’m walking, I hear Pallette let out a short, frustrated sigh. I turn my head around and ask, “Are you alright?”

“No…” Pallette answers. “Our date was ruined by that whole fight!”

“I understand, but I don’t think it was completely ruined!” I reply.

She lets out another sigh. “I guess… I don’t know…”

All of a sudden, an idea pops into my head, and my face starts burning like crazy. But I have the biggest grin on my face.

Now’s my chance to salvage my coolness, and be a good boyfriend!

Wait… can I even say that?

But I end up fumbling the bag again, because the question I ask comes out in a lame stutter. “W-well… d-do you want a k-kiss? To – to m-make you feel better…?”

All of a sudden, Pallette stops walking, and she lets out a huge gasp. And next thing I know, she turns around and pulls me into a deep kiss.

Like an absolute loser, I let out an actual squeal when she does it, and that causes her to briefly pull away to let out a series of giggles. But it’s okay, because I end up laughing too. Then I pull her into a hug, and she hugs me back. And while we’re doing all of this, my head feels like I’m going to explode, and my body feels all fuzzy. It’s so weird, but I think I like this feeling. I kind of want to do this more often. It’s nice.

But then we hear a few chuckles. We let go of each other, and turn around, and see Zero and Layer looking at us.

Layer has her hands folded together, giving an approving nod to Pallette, and Zero just gives me a thumbs up. (Now that I’m thinking about it, part of me thinks that they might’ve planned some of this… or at least, it was planned on Layer and Pallette’s part.)

My face starts burning even more, but I’m grinning through it. And Pallette is just as happy as she could be, laughing and giggling while running to catch up with the others, and I do the same.

This is the best day of my entire life. Minus the day where I met X and Zero.

Despite the trouble we’ve faced in the restaurant, it was all worth it.

It all got made up for in this exact moment.

***

Axl walks up to X and Zero, carrying a decent stack of paper in his hands that were stapled together. He sets the papers down right in front of them, and X raises an eyebrow while taking it.

“What’s this?” He asks.

Axl grins at the both of them. “Well, remember how a while a go I said I was getting into the whole ‘writing thing’?”

“...yeah?”

“Well, I actually sat down for like a good ten hours and wrote an autobiography! I mean, it’s about the size of a novelette, but I think it’ll do!”

“Oh, really?” Zero says.

“Yup!”

X starts flipping through the papers, and Zero leans over to look at them. “Wait – you said you sat down for ten hours and wrote all of this?” X questions.

“Uh-huh!” Axl confirms, then starts to explain more about what he’s written. “I mainly just wrote about the past month of things that have happened to me. I think I’ll save all of the bigger details, like fighting Sigma, for when I’m older, and I have more experience in life.”

As X and Zero look over the papers, their eyes slowly grow wider and wider. And eventually, X sits the stack down in disbelief with his jaw open, and Zero pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Axl,” Zero began.

“Yeah?”

“I never said anything about how I’ll ‘blow your brains out’ when you made that Sigma joke.”

“Uh – yeah, you did!” Axl retorts.

“No, I didn’t,” Zero insists.

“Yes, you did!”

“There’s no way you can publish this…” X says.

Axl’s face falls. “What? Why not?! Is it that bad? I checked my grammar like, thirty thousand times! It can’t be that awful! Look, I know it’s my first time as a writer and everything but–”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… if the public finds out about the majority of the stuff you’ve written in this, we’re going to get into some controversy.”

“Oh… well uh – a bit too late for that…”

Zero narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by that…?”

“I uh – I already published it.”

“You WHAT?!” X shouted.

“Yeahhh… but hey! At least my book’s a big hit at HQ! Everyone’s reading it!”

And sure enough, everyone around them is reading it. Not one person in the area doesn’t have a copy of Axl’s book in their hand.

Zero facepalms and lets out a deep sigh, while X simply shakes his head. “You’re insane…” the latter grumbles.

“Hey! If I ever write a second one, I think I’ll call it that! Thanks for the idea, X!”

“No – don’t – no – oh my – I need a coffee…” he says while walking away.

“I think I need one as well,” Zero states, then follows X.

“Oh, alright then! Bye guys!” Axl waves.

Axl then goes back to observing the other reploids in the area, putting his hands on his hips.

He’s proud of himself.