The Suite Life X

31 - Digging Deep

With Axl and Zero…

Axl, in the course of his time as a Hunter, learned a lot about how to read people. Granted, most of that learning was done back in his days in a certain band of "vigilante" Maverick Hunters by the name of Red Alert, but the point stood.

Even without said training, however, even he could see the massive red flags in the way Zero was fighting from the moment the two touched down at the Energen Crystal Mine. None of his strikes had the usual finesse and sharpness. On defense...well, he was barely defending at all. No onlooker would mistake the sloppy swordplay currently on display as coming from the legendary reploid swordsman who struck fear into the hearts of Mavericks everywhere.

In fact, he was so unfocused that he was about to get a boulder dropped on his head courtesy of a flying maverick. 

"Watch your back!"

Thankfully, instinct carried the blonde Hunter out of the way, with Axl finishing it off once it was vulnerable. Now, the younger Hunter couldn't even pretend not to be worried.

What the... Zero never makes mistakes like this. This is bad...

His next decision, he'd admit was an impulsive one. Then again, one of the things he'd learned from his late leader, Red, was that there was a time and place to take calculated risks.

He had to omit that first part, though. Standing in the way of an irritated Zero wasn't necesarily one of his smarter ideas...

"Get out of my way.”

His ice-cold delivery would've made most back down. Not Axl. He knew the reploid in front of him far too well to truly be frightened of him.

"I will... The second you tell me what's going on. Someone's clearly not operating up to specs, and I think I've got an idea why."

"Hmph..." Zero walked past, ignoring him.

As they left the outside world and went deeper into the mines, the situation became a game of climbing up and down ladders, giving Axl another opening to probe. 

"So, do you miss her?"

Zero pretended not to hear the words, but a trained eye could spot him go rigid for about half a second. As they made their way to solid ground, fending off enemies along the way, the other reploid's tone softened as he caught up with him.

"Seriously, dude. Aren’t we supposed to be friends? Just be honest."

Nothing.

“I did pretty much spill my guts to you about my time at Red Alert when we first met, so you kind of owe me…”

Finally, a response, though it seemed more like he was talking to himself rather than his partner. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

The duo eventually made it to an empty corridor. Axl hoped he didn't regret his next words. "Iris was her name, right?”

The red reploid rounded on him, blade out and in slicing range. Suddenly, Axl was very afraid of his partner now.

"You're treading on dangerous ground, Axl... How...?"

"Stealth mode," was the hurried reply.  "Snuck into your room with it. I get bored sometimes."

What can I say? I love my toys... He thought. Luckily, Zero couldn't read minds.

Glaring at him once more, he nevertheless dropped his threats as quickly as he put them up and didn't speak up again until he got done slicing up a strange giant drill robot that was much further along.

His question caught the other reploid off guard. "Do you miss Red?"

It was answer enough that Red's data was the only DNA data that Axl kept on file in his mind permanently.

He never, ever wanted to forget his mentor and father figure.

"Every day..."

Nothing else was said until they reached the doorway to the main Maverick.

"Hey, Zero, do you mind if I take this one?"

"Be my guest," A ghost of a smile played on the Hunter's lips before he reverted to his "poker face". "Just don't expect me to bail you out."

"Noted."

An uneventful battle with a rather uninteresting foe came and went, and they collected their orb on the way back, blissfully unaware of how the situation had changed while they were gone...

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WEAPONS ACQUIRED

Tornado Fang (X): Shoots a slow-moving, drill like projectile outward that pierces consecutive enemies.

Seismic Cleave (Zero): A sword slash that splits the ground around the user. One-shots surrounding minor enemies.

Sand Grenade (Axl): Launches a grenade of sand dealing small spread damage.

Pile Driver (Cody): Charges forward with an iron spike. Can be charged to go farther.

Gaea Shield (London): Creates a shield of stone that redirects projectiles.