The Suite Life X

15 - Flame On!

The Maverick Hunters led the way into a relatively barren room that Zero refferred to as "The Armory". What the Suite Life Gang saw was unexpected to say the least.

Really, the only thing of note in the room was another scanning device, this one more similar to one from an airport.

The shorter twin scratched his head. "This is supposed to be 'The Armory'? Am I missimg something here?"

"Looks can be decieving," X said rather cryptically as he made his way to the scanner, and after a scene simolar to what they'd experienced in the Navigation Room, he stepped out as if nothing had happened...

That is, until his armor suddenly turned a vibrant shade of red and then...

"Rising Fire!"

A gust of red-hot flame poured forth from his upraised arm cannon before dissapating.

His teammates had, of course, seen this a thousand times, so they barely acknowledged it. The students, however, were a different story.

Axl wasn't oblivious to their gawking. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Um, not the adjective I'd use..." Bailey was busy scanning X (in the less literal meaning of the word) for any injuries, and out of habit, her boyfriend followed suit. None were found.

"That doesn't hurt?" the taller twin asked.

"Nope," X replied, looking completely unfazed. He'd clearly been around the block. He guestured toward the scanner. "Go on."

Not one of the four teens-turned-reploids moved.

"We don't have all day," Zero grumbled, going in and out himself. "It's fine, see? Let's get on with it already."

Zack and Cody exchanged looks, engaging in a sort of wordless sort of conversation/argument they'd honed over the years. As Axl went through in the meantime, showing off a flamethrower-type weapon, a winner to said argument was crowned, the former twin throwing his hands up and walking through himself.

He looked at himself, sensing nothing out of the ordinary (as far as that went here). "Okay then...how's this supposed to work?"

"Just close concentrate," X instructed. "It should come to you naturally soon enough."

The gray reploid gave him an odd look. "Telling Zack Martin to concentrate? You'd have a better chance of Cody choosing to go to some no-name community college..."

"Heard that." Regardless, the boy did so, at first unsure of what he was supposed to be visualizing, until a burst of flame appeared in his mind's eye.

Then his eyes snapped open. "Speed Burner."

A coccon of flame swiftly surrounded him, sending him surging foward a few feet in a burst of speed before fading away.

Any anger or hard feelings he'd felt upon coming in vanished, replaced with a glee he hadn't felt in a long time.

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

Mixed emotions swirled inside the taller twin's head as he witnessed his brother's subsequent joyride with his new ability. On the one hand, he knew that he should be terrified at the prospect of his brother effectively becoming a living meteor. He could certainly name someone who would have a heart attack at this information (and a certain someone someone else who would more than likely join him in this joyride if he knew).

On the other hand, however, he couldn't help the warm fondness bubbling up as he saw this. Compared to the irritable zombie that he'd had to deal with, he would take the cocky thrill-seeker side of him any day, even if it historically caused mostly nothing but trouble (including a few groundings here and there).

Above all though, he just wanted to see him happy. Maybe—

The scene of an imminent collision forced him out of his thoughts. "Wall. Wall! WALL!"

The crash caused everybody to wince. The smoke cleared to find the darker red reploid in a crater of his own making, groaning, but once again out for the count.

Zero shook his head in mock pity as he peeled him off the ground. "Poor kid must really love unconsciousness..." After the resulting snickers fell away, his gaze fell to the other twin. "Let's get going, kid."

Going through the scanner himself, he learned that his ability, Fire Wave, essentually turned his Buster into a flamethrower. It simultaneously terrified and fascinated him to use it. The inevitable "packing heat" joke popped into his head, but he knew that if he said it aloud, even in unconsciousness, his twin would find a way to berate him for it.

London almost had to be carried through the scanner yet again, only for her to reluctantly decide to go willingly at the last second. She got a Fire Bow, allowing to launch flaming arrows, whether one normally or three at once after a brief charging period. She managed to adapt to them...a little too well, actually, as a few shots narrowly missed the watching crowd.

"Whew, quite the aim on that one, eh, boy?"

Cody recognized the voice, turning to its recipient, who had a certain two girls in tow. "Black? I didn't see you guys come in..."

The man waved his hand dismissively "We had a few things to take care of. Don't worry about it." He looked to the shorter blond passed out not far away. "Is he gonna be okay?"

The taller twin's gaze flickered over to his brother. Though he was still concerned, he felt was getting uncomfortably used to this by now. "Uh, yeah. Judging by what happened last time and what Zero said, he'll be up and about in about ten minutes or so.

"Hmm..." he nodded, thought for a moment, and then spoke again. "I know something that might interest you. You see, I used to program reploids, and I might be able to give you guys some useful information at the very least, so if you ever want to talk..."

Cody's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, his mind boggling at the possibilities of what he could learn from him. In fact, he had to work to keep himself from giggling like a schoolgirl. "Sir, I will gladly take you up on that offer!"

Right then, X called to him, breaking him away from his moment of hero worship.

"You're coming with me, Cody. We're paying a visit to an old friend..."

---

WEAPONS ACQURED

Rising Fire (X): An upward gust of flame.

Magma Blade (Zero): A flaming sword slash that sends a fireball forward and diagonally upward.

Fire Wave (Axl, Cody): A flamethrower-type weapon.

Speed Burner (Zack): A flaming tackle that can be charged to go further.

Fire Bow (London): A fiery crossbow bolt that can be charged to shoot three at once in a fan pattern.