(Untitled)

[final_number]

He was pushing his dash jets as fast as he could roll energy through them; less than a quarter-click from X's position and closing fast. He had to get there to back his partner up before the Maverick went ballistic...

Then he skidded around a corner...  and near-collided with a white wall abruptly thrown up in his path. Only quick reflexes stopped

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[plays_it_loud]

Zero probably has even less time for the snort and guffaw from over here, but it's not like Forte cares. Someone showing up in mid-dash only to almost make an indent of their face on the wall? Good stuff. Or maybe it was just getting harder to find actual entertainment around here.

"Nice one, blondie!" A peer and a double-take followed up the snark, however, as Forte suddenly realized exactly who he was looking at. Not someone he'd seen active before, that was for sure...

"...Hey, what the hell? Aren't you that girly bot the old man was building?"

[final_number]

Zero whirls on the newcomer as his audials pick up the snarky commentary. His hand goes to his shoulder, drawing down the saber and lighting it quickly, a reaction that's swift and near-automatic at this point.

'the old man'... meaning what, exactly?

Zero's eyes narrow. "Name's Zero. And you are..?"

[plays_it_loud]

"Oh gee, he's just as imaginative with names as ever. Who'd've guessed?" But there's a touch of wariness in Forte's eyes as he puts a hand on his hip, meeting Zero's gaze with a frown of his own. The girly-bot that Wily had boasted would outdo Forte didn't even know who he was? That was... unsettling. His other hand shifts to buster mode, just in case blondie there tries anything with that saber.

"Forte. Just for the record, I don't care what the old fart says, or if you know who I am. I'm still a better robot than you'll ever be!"

[final_number]

His eyes flick immediately to the weapon change- the robot's unfamiliar, but he sure as hell knows what a Buster is!- and his grip on the hilt of the saber tightens.

"If you come at me with that, I'll cut you down. How about we both just keep our distance until I figure out what's going on here?"

The words are stern and authoritarian, but his eyes show hints of confusion.

[limitedvariable]

*All that commotion brings X investigating. He steps around a corner down the hall and glances around. He was sure he heard dash thrusters and clonking boots.*

Hello? Is someone-

*He broke off abruptly as he spotted Zero down at the end of the hall. A great big smile spread across his face.*

Zero!

[final_number]

*Zero twists at the sound of the voice. A slight- very slight- lessening of the tension at his shoulders. He turns to move a few steps toward X, relieved to see the other Hunter well. At this particular moment he has no clue that there's another multiverse scenario, but X is X, to Zero.*

X! Good, you're all right. Got any idea what this - *he whacks the nearest wall with his hand* is all about?

[limitedvariable]

*X jogs down the hall to him. He knows this may not be his Zero... But he's missed him so, and Zero is still Zero, right?*

Of course I'm fine.

*X smiles, the response coming automatically even if it's not strictly true.*

Oh, you just got here...?

This place is... I don't think it's on Earth. Not really. People keep showing up here. And then they can't leave...

*He frowns, troubled.*

There are no exits. And... the walls move sometimes.

[final_number]

*Can't leave? Moving walls? If it was anyone other than X saying those things, Zero would dismiss them as crazy. But he trusts X and the other Hunter probably has the score on the situation.*

...That's a pain.

*He shrugs a shoulder, and pushes his hand along the top of his helmet, looking uncertain.*

So what exactly happens here? What's the Maverick situation?