X laid back, sighing in frustration. He'd tried to talk Zero and Colonel into stopping their fight to no avail once he ran out of popcorn. Appealing to Octavia for help, she'd suggested taking the fight to Maverick Hunter HQ, since it wouldn't be honorable of Colonel to beat Zero after he was tired from beating Sigma. The fact that Zero showed no signs of fatigue was not mentioned, and Colonel agreed to reserve fighting to defend his sister's honor until after Zero was fully checked out and recharged.
The fact that Zero seemed just as overjoyed at the idea only made Octavia groan nearly as much as X.
After returning, X had discovered something that had left the next few hours a delicate balance between pleasant, unpleasant, and frustrating. On the one hand, Alia was on duty and seemed to adore his new fluff. On the other hand, so was every single other female Navigator or Hunter on staff, and the only ones who weren't equally as appreciative were Iris and CiCi. X wasn't sure how to feel about having every single humanoid female Reploid on staff at HQ stroking his fur, and Octavia's laughter did not help.
Eventually, however, Lifesaver insisted on bringing the group down to the Med Lab to have them checked out. After giving X the OK, the defusion process was observed carefully. The end result of the process, however, revealed that the Armor units and power up chip had been fully incorporated into the Adapter, and were now a part of Piano, and would be applied when the Adapter was activated. While not an entirely welcome revelation, X considered it a fair trade for how much power the Piano Adapter gave him...and also made a mental note to not use it except against Sigma, should he show up again, or anyone like Sigma.
Colonel was also put under observation for a time, observing his systems for any sign of error resulting from the installation of the Hikari Antibody. The report was rather positive, as it only showed an increased resistance to outside tampering of his brainwave patterns. It had no other effect on his systems, and the attack program had no effect on how his saber worked otherwise. Lifesaver then began mass producing the Hikari Antibody program as an immunization against and a treatment for the present version of the Sigma Virus. He was quick to explain that a viral program would naturally evolve and adapt to become more efficient and work around antiviral software, much as a biological virus became resistant to antibiotics over time, and unlike X and Zero's neural data, the Antibody could not evolve on its own. They would have to tweak it for each new iteration of the Virus when it came.
Of course, Zero - who had just been fully recharged and checked out - made a crack about it being a pity it didn't increase Colonel's intelligence, and Colonel had responded with his sword...only for Lifesaver to grab both of them by the ear and drag them out of the Med Lab, telling them to do that somewhere with less delicate equipment. They had silently marched into the training simulator before drawing their beam swords and lunging for each other.
X was one of many now sitting in observation, watching the fight progress. Someone, he wasn't sure who, was providing plenty of popcorn, so he felt no reason to interfere in the fight unless serious injury was done.
Of course, as interesting as the sword fight was between two evenly matched warriors, the things they were shouting at each other were rather amusing.
"How dare you lay a hand on my sister!"
"It was innocent!"
"You have defiled her!"
"I didn't touch her like that!"
"You were playing Strip Poker!"
"It was her idea!"
"LIES AND SLANDER!"
"She beat me every hand!"
"How dare you expose yourself to my sister!"
After a quick flurry of sword clashes, the pair braced their blades against each other, each trying to overcome the other by pure force. They then leapt apart, charged energy into their sabers, and lunged.
"STOP IT!"
Both froze as Iris walked in, glaring at Colonel. "Again, brother?" she asked, her voice resigned.
"I...don't know what you're talking about," Colonel replied evasively, not quite meeting her eyes.
"This is the 37th time, brother," Iris pointed out exasperatedly. "It's a pattern by now. That doesn't fly."
"None of them were good enough for you!" Colonel proclaimed defensively.
"That's my decision, not yours!" Iris snapped back.
"They only cared about your specs, not your spark!"
"I have to get their attention somehow!"
"As your older brother, it's my job to protect you!"
"Protect, not control!"
"I only want what's best for you-"
"And I want a second date for once in my life!"
Colonel and Iris stared at each other for a time, before Colonel turned to leave. "We'll discuss this more at home," he stated primly, marching out.
"Next time, bring your S game!" Zero shouted as he left.
Colonel paused at the door to glance back over his shoulder at Zero. Only Octavia was sharp eyed enough to spot the momentary smirk.
Iris sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry about my brother, Zero," she apologized. "He is a combat Reploid first and foremost, after all. I suppose this is just how he shows how much he cares about me..."
"You free next Saturday?" Zero asked.
Iris blinked in shock. "...eh?"
"Well, I kinda need to take you on a first date before I can give you that second date you want," he pointed out. "As much as we hung out here, pretty sure 'liaisoning' doesn't count as a date."
"It's not even a word," Iris chided, smiling a bit. "But...you do realize my brother will try to kill you again if you try to court me."
"So I'll pick you up at six for dinner, hit an eight o'clock movie, ten o'clock duel with your brother, and I'll have you home by eleven," Zero suggested. "That work for you?"
Iris tried and failed to suppress giggles at the absurdity of the suggestion. "Seriously?" she finally gasped out.
"I'm a Maverick Hunter," Zero replied easily. "My day-to-day job involves going out to face off against Reploids who are going to try and kill me. I'm used to it...and to a certain extent I enjoy it. With or without your brother's threats, I'd still want to date you Iris. The fact that he's going to challenge me every time is just a bonus. That fight was fun!" He flexed his shoulders as he stared at his beam saber. "Think I'll tweak my combat specs a bit. Fighting with the beam saber like that felt...right. Like it was something I'd done before...something I was once designed to do."
Iris sighed, rolling her eyes. "Of course the only interesting boy not intimidated by my brother is also a battle junkie," she murmured. She then smiled happily. "See you Saturday." Leaning in, she left a peck on Zero's cheek before sauntering off.
After three minutes, Octavia walked up. "Uncle Zero?" she asked, gently poking him with one hoof.
With an eerie creaking sound, Zero tilted back without bending any joints before falling flat.
Dat fur though...
you
If you don't write that date I will inflict various forms of physical and psychological torment upon you.
Zero's itinerary for the date...love it.
I love how he can so easily turn everything that X says against him.
Well that just tickled my little heart container. Now, about Double... Ugh, Double. I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that Double dies a horrific terrifying Classic/Timbre/Piano related death.
6779340
Zero, not X.
6779340 Zero, not X.
Good work Tweaking
6779340 you mean zero right
I see you already got 3 or 4 messages like this just edit the comment it will save you some headaches
Ah, and yet another arc comes to a conclusion! Huzzah! Plus, I really like your unique take on a fan-interpretation of the Mega Man X characters, how they differ from the norm everyone else uses. Keep up the good work... Oh and X... *pokes fur* Touch.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
You know a game series where he uses his sword a lot? The Zero series.
Also, I never thought I would say this about any of your stories, but... aww, this was so ADORABLE! This is the kind of thing you should be adding to your stories: developing relationships with characters! It's like if you got to know Hinawa before her tragic death; you feel MORE rather than simply FEELING.
Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. Vaccinations help prevent many viral infections, but viruses mutate. Some viruses mutate so quickly that there is no viable vaccine. There are some antiviral medications for specific strains of things like Hepatitis, but they are very specific things unlike basic antibiotics that get prescribed every day.
Just two cents from a certified pharmacy technician.
6779657
Lifesaver's specialty is Reploid maintenance, not medicine.
Admittedly, it's my mistake too, but it can be excused in that regard.
6779663 Oh I understand why the mistake was made both in character and in writing, but I detest bad information. I'm just doing my part to make sure that anyone reading the story and comments is informed of the actual relationship between a virus and antibiotics.
People are gullible enough to believe that vaccines cause autism, after all, despite the fact that the paper claiming such is over ten years old and there have been dozens of studies since then that have completely destroyed the argument.
I eagerly await how you tackle X4. So much changes with Octavia's presence, I pray and hope she can somehow stop Iris and Colonel's fate.
Knowing Tatsu, I look forward to Zero and Iris' future.
...Unless, of course, that fated moment is bound to happen, what with X4 being next...
6779506
Not trying to bust your chops or anything, but have you actually read Tatsurou's Displaced Adoption fics? Virtually every singe one of them has their daww moments, and character building between missions and such.
Hell, over half of The Heart of The Dragon General is daww-related, especially where Cadance is concerned.
Just saying; sorry if I came at you too hard.
6779760 Yeah, I've read some other fanfictions... it's just, well... it's like this. Seeing some filly acting cute just to get the Hnnng!'s in motion is sort of cute, but meh overall. Seeing Kratos develop as a character and play Monopoly with his daughters is REALLY cute. Do you see the difference?
The point of the joke was supposed to be ironic while inputting my personal taste. The reader was supposed to be like "Wait, this guy only finds this one scene cute out of most of the other scenes? This one didn't even have ponies in them!!" But sometimes, the joke doesn't work out too well.
I am NOT looking forward to X4. But it would be nice if Alia made a move towards X...
6779710 WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR?
6779800
Ah, okay.
Amidst the banter the sword fighting is going on like this:
Got to stop you right there. Antibiotics are useless against a virus; their function is to combat bacterial infections by killing bacteria. Antiviral drugs do exist, and are labeled as such. They are not called antibiotics.
EDIT: Aaaaannd I just saw the comment above mine telling you the same thing, and your response to it. I stand by what I said, though, as there are way too many people in the world that would hurt themselves taking antibiotics for viral infections if they had the opportunity.
That one thing aside, the chapter is good. I'm halfway surprised none of the girls tried to brush X.
6779348
6779352
yes, I mean Zero. Though he probably could do the same to X if Iris preferred blue over red.
6779399
Nope, I refuse to change it. A mistake was made, and I refuse to cover it up like some politician. Plus, I couldn't do anything til I got home from work. It's already been seen.
6780944 to each their own
I just notice and realised. The name hikari anitbody, is it a reference to the battle network serires! Good move on that mate.
6779496 I hope I don't burst your
immortal timebubble, but I think it's interesting that you keep posting the exact same thing with the very same faces in a certainly constant order. It's like "Groundhog Day" when I see your comment.I'm not judging in the slightest, but I made a bingo game out of it. ...and I keep losing. Somehow.
I'm glad you like the chapter, too. Imagining X waving at everyone with his huge paws and questioning where his popcorn came from is awesome.
6779306 Whatever you say Kratos's Pinkie Pie.
I love this line, pure silly awesome!
I love X and Zero's characterizations, well written and amusing.
I can't help but imagine that at some point Colonel will take things a little to far and Iris will proceed to Judo toss him across a room or something.
6783813 I agree. Now, can you name the other references from my other comment?
6780315 *Looks at first video* Ha! I can just picture Zero doing the same thing.
*Looks at second video* Whoa... Okay, imagining Zero and Colonel fighting like that was awesome, though I imagine beam sabers won't be able to pull off the stabbing tips part all that well.
6786472 FUCKING SPOILERS, YOU ASSHOLE!!! JEEZ!!!
PFFFFFFT!!! CLASSIC! THAT'S PERFECT!!!!!
7307250 Ruff! Ruff! Awoooo! Ahahahahah(panting noise)
single
6786472
You spoiled the story duck you, I wanted to discover that on my own, you jackass!
Ok cool but I wonder on the Gameboy titles for both X and Classic could of been incorporated in some way.
Ha. I love your between-game Slice of Life stuff (if it can be called that). I really don't know anything about these games, so for all intents and purposes, aside from Tavi, X, and Zero, all these characters may as well be OCs, not just the ones that clearly are.
ah the wonder of having stuff go smoothly, though no doupt the heroes will be on edge, after all, evil doesn't rest, it plans for the future... bet their wishing they had wily at the helm for this stuff.