The Suite Life X

19 - Light Antics and Black Plotting

Some time earlier, at Troia Base...

Axl tapped furiously on a computer controlling the Shooting Range. He was no computer expert by any stretch (as fighting was more his forte), but X and Zero had taught him just enough about the basics to work the Range's systems. He wasn't about to some bratty girl from nowhere who walked around like she owned the place beat him at his own game.

"I'm waiting, Axl..."

Speak of the devil...

By the time he got to the floor, she was tapping her foot and checking her (technically nonexistent) nails. There was also that Ruby girl who'd decided to watch standing on the sidelines, but he barely acknowledged her existence.

London looked about as bored as he'd imagined, glancing condescendingly at him. "Are you done yet? I'm ready to beat you again..."

"Let's go," he growled in response, letting his frustration be fueled by her tone. If he didn't believe that Cody kid's story before, he sure believed it now.

Swiftly, he finished his set of targets before smirking. "Ha, beat that, Princess!"

Surprisingly, she didn't react to the intended insult with anger or anything...except.

"Been called worse," she mumbled under her breath just loud enough for him to hear. She didn't elaborate further and focused. Her hands moved like lightning from then on, nailing the targets at almost double the speed of her mentor, causing his jaw to practically hit the floor...again.

"I win. Yay, me!" the navy reploid didn't unfreeze as she jumped around and clapped. She eventually stopped and noticed this.

"Um, does this always happen?"

"Allow me," went a whispery, young voice belonging to the redhead watching. Spawning a staff from seemingly nowhere, she whacked Axl on the foot with it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He stared at the little girl through half-closed eyes and gritted teeth as he hopped back and forth on one foot.

"You were just frozen like that, and it was kind of awkward to look at," she answered nonchalantly.

Calming down from that, his attention turned to his supposed protege, who was busy pointing and laughing at him. "Oh, shut up, Princess! So you may be a little bit faster on the draw than me. Big deal. Let's see how you do when it comes to accuracy."

It wasn't long before they were back at it, albeit with a new accuracy-testing setup. Ruby watched from the background, thinking. She didn't remember much of her life before becoming a reploid, but sometimes she wondered...did she have friends like these? Would she in the New World her dad promised? She liked to think she would, and the thought made her smile.

---

Present time, in a hidden laboratory...

"I can't help that. He and his friends are in the way!" He was on the comms with Sapphira. It took everything in him to bottle up how his real feelings about the situation in order to keep up his ruse.

He finally allowed his daughter to talk. "I...I don't want to hurt them. I never did. C-Can we please just stop this?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a choice."

Perceptive as she'd always been, he was a fool not to see her next question coming. "Father, why is that? What are you not telling us?"

A seemingly never-ending pause. Then... "Just keep sending in that combat data for now. We'll need it."

His next words were pained, but he meant every single syllable.

"I'm sorry. I love you both."

Albeit with a frustrated grumble, the blue-haired girl mumbled the same before ending their conversation.

Black walked up the passageway to the lab wanting to punch the walls surrounding him... Again. He knew what was coming next from that...thing even now.

He hated every moment of all this, and not for the first time found himself wishing he'd just accepted his death.

"Report, Black."

The normally cruel, arrogant voice was all business for the moment. He knew he'd have no choice (that would be acceptable) but to comply.

"X is as resilient as ever. His protégé, however, is not. He lacks the heart for battle..." That much had been obvious as he had watched the footage from the Boomer Kuwanger mission. This thing knew it too, as it apparently had the ability to "see through the eyes and speak through the mouths of other reploids". What that truly meant, he didn't fully know beyond his ability to somehow control his daughters...

"A classic pacifist, is that what you're telling me? Hmm..."

An unsettling silence, followed by...

"Perhaps he might be of use to me after all. Keep an eye on him. We could potentailly use him to flush out X if nothing else. Is that understood?"

Black almost snarled at the word "we", but held himself in check, knowing full well what would happen if he didn't. "Understood."

"Make sure the two of them keep sending in the battle data. That's valuable information as well..."

"Yes... But may I ask, why do you need it? Seems kinda pointless for a supposed peacekeeping reploid..."

"M-, er, our New World requires all the data on any and all possible ways that threats that can be addressed. That includes that of the Mavericks, X, Zero, that prototype...and while we're at it, those organics can be thrown into the mix as well."

Naturally, the man didn't buy this bit of bluster either. There would certainly be no place for him or anyone else for that matter in the so-called utopia this monster imagined. Even knowing this, though, what could he do about it?

"One more thing," came the voice as he turned to leave. A twisted grin was now present in its voice, making the black and white reploid cringe. "How long do you plan to keep decieving them about what's really going on here? Until the very end, perhaps?"

No answer was given this time. He wouldn't give it the satisfaction. He just kept walking.

"No matter. Just be sure to check on my bodies..."

The creature's subsequent laughter seemed to last forever as Black thought,

I'm sorry for dragging you into this, girls... I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.