It was a quick sign, but one that Zach easily picked up on. Oh– right. Xav had made mention of one of his kids being deaf. Or… apparently mostly deaf, if implants could help her.
‘Going out sounds so stuffy and formal-’ His signing was a bit rusty so Zach had no doubt he had made a few mistakes, but hopefully the general context would make itself known.
“Haha… yeah, I am, I guess?” A shrug as he reached back, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck. “I mean we’ve been going on dates so…”
Was he… was he really trying to explain and justify his relationship with Xav to one of his children?
Vibrant blue eyes went wide as she saw the signs the other used. She looked like he had made her entire day just by using sign language, even if he was rusty.
Kai felt an actual sense of– disappointment when he saw how quickly the boy fell. Just one shot, one that he didn’t even try to deflect or dodge, one that he just took.
And he was supposed to be one of X and Zero’s children. How was it that Wily had made his decision to back Zero when this was where the blond decided to put his pride.
PATHETIC!
A few steps were taken towards the fallen youth before Kai aimed a sharp kick at his side. No point doing anything else with him. He turned, red gaze falling for a brief moment on Zero’s form before locking gaze with Rebecca.
“… I told you…”He grinned before starting to stalk back towards her.
There was something wrong with his arm. Yes, the obvious explanation was that the heavy weight of the wolf monster resting on him while idly gnawing one his shoulder. Of course something would be wrong then. But it was– the bite felt like it was somehow seeping further into his coding to erase and dissolve.
Oh well. It wasn’t something he could really worry about right now.
His working arm shifted into a buster as Zero ran through his internals. Something- electrified- Ah! It would draw a bit too much from him, especially in this situation, but it would (hopefully?) be more than enough to stun the reploid. (Hoping it would actually kill him felt like trying to cling to a fever dream.)
The energy for the electrified blast was pulled straight from his core. It left a gnawing ache behind as his power level dropped, warning lights flashing in his internal HUD to let him know that hey! guess what! you’re injured and you don’t even have the power left to kickstart self-repair!
The blast had, at the very least, nailed the other square in the back. Electricity arced out as his whole body seized, limbs and joints locking up and trapping him in place… for a moment.
“Rebecca!” He screamed out as her name as the wolf let out an angry howl before starting to drag his body back. “Get Aerin- RUN-!”
Zero’s yell broke her out of her self-destructing thoughts, and she launched herself to her brother, getting him up on her back. She was significantly faster than she had been before and she wasn’t going to question why.
Her only thoughts were that she needed to listen to her Papa. She didn’t want him to die, but there was nothing she could do to help him. And that fact burned at her insides. Her core ached.
All she could do was run out the door, her brother’s limp body weighing her down but not by much. She had to get out of the dome of interference so she could activate her armor’s teleporter.
A low rumble built in the chest of the wolf as he launched himself through the entrance, body slamming against the archway and causing it to crumble and begin to flake away from the force. Dark embers were visible inside his mouth as he launched himself towards Zero, paws slamming against red armor as the full force of his impressive body size and weight both crashed down on him.
Kai smiled grimly as his buster started to charge. The wolf was able to attack Zero, a feat that the reploid couldn’t copy. Instead his focus was forced onto the young male. A powered energy shot was aimed for Aerin’s chest as the purple-and-gold armored maverick dropped down from his perch, expression near maniacal.
“I’ll fucking kill you-”
Not Aerin. At least, the sentiment wasn’t aimed at him, even if Kai could only talk to him.
His eyes widened as he watched the wolf tackled Zero. If he could call it that, anyway. He was so distracted by this, that the only thing to really bring him to his senses was-
A charged buster shot to the chest.
There was no time to react as the contact had been made. The sheer force of the shot sending the reploid flying backwards. A loud thud could be heard as his body hit the floor.
There was a hole in his chest. And his body was put into immediate shutdown.
It was the only real thought that crossed through Zero’s mind as the– Calling it a wolfbot felt like it was doing the thing a disservice. It was far too large, far too powerful, and its weight had Zero slamming back into the electrified cage that surrounded Rebecca.
A scream was ripped from the blond’s throat as his whole body seized, synthetic muscles locking up from the voltage racing through him. The pain was intense but Zero forced himself to reach up, hands twinning through the thick fur of the wolf as his back connected with the ground. It helped to support him, but he still felt like he could feel something snapping inside of himself as his vision flashed bright white and blinding.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
His body felt half-paralyzed, but a sharp and forceful jerk had his knee snapping up to connect with the abdomen of the wolf. Zero’s reward was a set of hot teeth sinking down against his shoulder, melting through his armor to pierce his chest and shoulder. It was likely he would have screamed again- but all the air seemed to’ve been forced out of him with the last attack-
Their entrance was… roughly as Kai expected. The addition of the other child was a bit unexpected, but it wasn’t like he lacked a plethora of knowledge on him (Tomoe had been most useful for that). Factoring him into his battle strategy was hardly going to change things.
The child went barreling forward and Zero took his time. Seeing such patience in what was supposed to be a blood thirsty murder machine was odd almost to the point of hilarity, and Kai found himself grinning if only to offset the rage that was beginning to flood his system.
Zero. The… perfected warbot. The one that Kai himself would always be second best to.
He gave a slight nod of his head as they entered, and the slight sound of nails clacking around the floor would be the only hint to Cacophony’s movement as the wolf moved to block the entrance. His form was still shadowed, however, staying hidden until the perfect moment to reveal himself.
It took a few minutes, but he finally got up. Looking around before attempting to fix the now frizzy mess that was his hair. Why did he feel the need to just run in like that when he knew very well that this was a dangerous mission again?
Right. Rebecca! He and Zero are here to save her!
A look of concern was given as the boy rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah.. you look like you’re about to snap in there. Not very fun being held captive, is it?” That- that came out a lot meaner than intended.
“I mean- God dammit you already know I’m concerned. Let’s just get to the point. How do we get her out?”
He fell quiet as he examined the cell surrounding Rebecca. It was an energy generator that completely enclosed her. Zero had seen them before, used mostly outside of the lairs of mavericks to both keep things in and out, but never one designed to function like this. The two ends that formed the enclosure almost, but didn’t quite, touch. If they had it would have caused the entire thing to short circuit, but the hair width of space between them was enough to keep them working.
It was impressive, especially since it seemed like it had to’ve pulled off with the first try. There was no way Rebecca would have sat still to allow her captor to ry more than once.
“We need to break the circuit.” Zero stepped around it, scanning the ground to look down the source. The small little black box that the wires ran to and from to power it. It would be close by and- ah-ha!
Zero crouched down beside it before pausing, fingers almost but not quite touching it. “… You said you were put here as a trap Rebecca. What kind of trap?” His scanner wasn’t reading anything out of the ordinary, but it felt a bit off that it was simply sitting there. The whole thing felt off. There had been nothing stopping them from coming here, nothing stopping them from freeing her…
Turning his attention back towards the entrance way, Zero narrowed his eyes briefly before inhaling sharply. They might have been able to enter without an issue, but his scanner was already picking up something big waiting for them on the other side now.
“He wanted to lure you and X in to kill you two and cause me despair from bein’ the cause of it, or whatever the fuck. He’s got a gigantic… hell wolf thing, too. It’s fuckin’ huge. Be careful.”
She didn’t see a single reason to hide anything from her Papa. It would only help him in the end if she shared as much as she knew. This next bit would likely upset Aerin and anger Zero, but she had worked it out herself.
“He’s got Tomoe, too. Said she made the ‘right decision to be happy’. Pro’lly infected her to get her to tell him shit. She dumped everything she knew on that Maverick, going by what he tried selling to me. It’s probably why this mission went ass up too, fucking information leaks.”
It would look awful and Rebecca didn’t think the Hunters would be able to keep this quiet if it leaked to the humans. She looked really annoyed at the idea. This wouldn’t end well for Aerin or herself. It would make X and Zero look awful in the eyes of the public for covering it up as well.
“He got onto me and ripped into X for not somehow automatically knowing Tomoe had issues too. I’m not fuckin’ psychic. Can’t magically know somethin’ unless she says somethin’. And if Tomoe wants to fuckin’ say somethin’, she can say it to our faces, not through some Maverick middleman who’s pro’lly lying.”
She was still a bit angry about that, but it was quite clear that she was also a bit upset as well. She’d likely calm down and think rationally later, but right now she was angry, upset, and frustrated.
At this point, she just wanted to go home. She had faith in Zero to stay alive, but she was worried more about Aerin. And herself, but she didn’t think that Maverick bastard would leave any of them alive, despite what he said.
Kai arched a brow as he smirked at her. “More important things?” Mockery was all-but dripping from his tone as he took a step away from her. One hand went up to press against the side of his helmet as his gaze shifted to the Wolf; the over-sized creature nodded as he slowly rose to his feet before beginning to turn, leaving his post.
The discolored and miscoded version of X placed something on the ground several feet away from Rebecca. It was a small cube that slowly expanded, with wires that shot out from two sides to race in a straight line along the floor before turning at a sharp angle to connect with one another. A square was formed around her, one that she wasn’t about to just bolt from; Kai tested it by tapping at the ‘air’ to reveal the solid, translucent wall that had formed around her. “This will keep you here for now.”
Kai turned to leave as well, leaving Rebecca trapped in the empty room until her ‘saviors’ came. After all, what good would the trap be if the attackers were out in the open?
It wasn’t long until Aerin had run into the room. Spotting Rebecca instantly, and continuing to speed on in towards her. Leaving poor Zero behind in the process. Unfortunately, he was so focused on saving his sister, that he didn’t notice the trap she was placed in, face planting right into the ‘wall’.
He was electrocuted as a result.
“aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA–!”
It wasn’t long after, that he fell to the floor in a daze. Mistakes were certainly made on this day.
had been a mixture of bad timing combined with Zero’s guilt for allowing Rebecca to go missing in the first place. Tomoe’s disappearance was a heavy and constant weight that sat in the back of everyone’s mind, and adding another child to that list had clearly had negative side effects for Aerin. It had just been a few days but it was clear he was suffering.
And so, when he received the distress signal – and when Aerin had learned that they had picked up on one from her – Zero just hadn’t been able to say no.
Seeing him run face-first into the electrified field surrounding her really made him question that decision.
“Aerin-!” The word ended in a heavy sigh as Zero shook his head. Instead of barreling forward he simply dropped down into the room, scanner sliding down over his eyes as he immediately started to download all available information about the room. Schematics- traps-…
Walking slowly towards her- cage?- Zero shifted his scan towards Rebecca to ensure it really was her. “Hey babygirl,” he said slowly, hand reaching out to rest on Aerin’s shoulder as he helped him stand. “You doin’ alright in there?”
She had nearly screamed in frustration upon being put in the energy cage and had flopped down on the bottom of it, ignoring Kai mocking her even though she had been telling the truth.
It was a few minutes of staring up at the ceiling and making her tracking signal in her back flicker in the way she was taught to, that when she heard running and sat up to see what was going on. Aerin?
“Aeri-”
Oh. Oh she was doomed, wasn’t she? She put her face into her hands with a loud groan that Zero probably could’ve heard a mile away.
Once Zero actually got there though, she lifted her head to look at him, and looked up at her Papa.
“Papa? Yeah, I’m okay. The Maverick didn’t hurt me at all. It’s a trap, by the way. Yes, I’m pissed about it before you ask.”
She looked very put out by the fact that she was being used as bait to lure in her Papa. He could’ve been doing other important things but nooo, she had to get her stupid ass captured by that jackass.
A heavy sigh slowly rattled its way out from Zero’s chest in response to Rebecca’s soft murmurs. Right, she would… and so would the twins and so would X.
X. Just his name was enough to cause the voice in the back of his thoughts to begin to stir, hissing lowly before rattling against its mental cage. X. He was going to come back and-
Rebecca was practically dropped onto one of the repair beds as Zero looked down at her, green eyes wide for a moment as he forgot how to properly breathe. “… Don’t let her leave. Not until I get back.” The order was given to one of the medics, despite the fact that his gaze was fixed firmly on Rebecca as he spoke.
It took far too much effort for him to tear himself away, pushing a worried nurse aside as he limped out of the room. He could repair his wounds himself, and even if he couldn’t… putting space between himself and Rebecca was more important.
She squeaked when she was practically dropped, looking up at Zero. She was about to speak up to protest that when her leg sparked and she quickly thought better of it, shutting her mouth before she said something stupid.
She wouldn’t do anything stupid either, she promised, and maybe they’d teach her first aid while she was in here? She had been meaning to ask about that for a while now.
Rebecca watched as her dad left the medical bay, and laid down to let the medics work their magic- and she was out like a light for this it seemed.
Oh, he had just about had enough of this behavior from the two of them. They were siblings and siblings were supposed to
kill each other
tolerate and love each other. Maybe not get along all the time, sure, but they were the ones who were always there no matter what. This whole ‘I don’t want to spend time with the other one’ bullshit had to end.
“– Both of you are coming with me, and both of you are having a sit down talk with one another, or I’m stripping both of you of your rank.”
Zero didn’t bother to hear their complaints or explanations; he had turned to stomp away to an empty briefing room, intending on using it for their makeshift group therapy session.
A quiet ‘”Oh.” left Aerin in response. He had a feeling a talk of some sort was going to be arranged at some point, but he didn’t know his career was at stake. Well, what little of a career that he had.
Since this was the case, he knew this was serious.
Seeing Zero had immediately turned and stomped away, Aerin simply sighed and followed him. All the while, expecting this entire thing to turn into a dumpster fire.
“Yessir.”
Rebecca followed behind as quickly as she could, wondering what this could possibly be about. She had solved the problem that she was sure Aerin was having with her, he didn’t need to deal with her, and she could do her job just fine.
But she didn’t protest regardless, figuring that Zero knew better than her. She didn’t want to lose her rank either, so obey she would.
“I don’t have time. I have to… I have to find everyone else… take care of anyone else who’s hurt…”
He was shell shocked. There was no polite or gentle way to dance around the realization; the events of the past hour were only slowly starting to sink in. He had been attacked by his own unit. He had killed his own unit. So much… damage… death… destruction had happened, and it was… their fault…
His fault. He had been in charge of them. Trained them, molded them into the monsters they had become-
Infected them…
He would have continued to murmur on about everything he had to do, but Rebecca’s sudden movement had him pausing. Zero actually smiled before shaking his head and, with a slight arch of his brow, turned to go sideways through the door, avoiding the issue of fitting her through the doorway entirely.
“You don’t have to worry about anything, baby girl.”
“I wanna make sure you’re okay too though, Papa.”
Her response was soft, but she didn’t ask about it again. She went a little pink when he went sideways, a bit embarrassed she hadn’t thought of that.
Rebecca then let out a yelp when her leg sparked again because of the movement, a bigger one but nothing that wasn’t fixable. She simply got startled, was all.
She looked over at one of the medics and smiled nervously as her father brought her over to a medical table to sit her down. She’d have to keep her armor on for repairs, but at least nothing hurt much and it could be repaired.
It wouldn’t be as scary as the first time she was in here for repairs. Then again, she had been panicking badly that day.
Back in the Game 
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