"Keep him as a pet."

Zero sprang up as he heard this and shouted out, "Oh come on! Haven't I been through enough yet?"

Axl and X pretended to think about it then both said, "No!"

Zero growled and ground his teeth in frustration, but what was he supposed to do? Until those two decided to let him join their ranks he'd always be inferior to them. And that just wasn't fair! So he waited to see what they would do to him next.

"So what do you think we should do next?" X whispered to Axl.

"Let's scare him some more!" Axl said, an idea forming in his mind.

"How?" X asked.

"By playing catch!"

With that, Axl scooped up the tiny Zero and held him tightly in his hand. X moved to the other side of the gym and waited for Axl to toss Zero to him. Axl wound up and sent the reploid flying through the air at high velocity. At the last possible second X caught Zero. He laughed at the expression on his friends face. Zero's eyes were wide open and he was breathing heavily. Before he had time to recover, X threw him back to Zero. Back and forth they went until Zero was so dizzy he couldn't tell up from down. Axl tossed Zero to X one last time then sat down. X sat down across from him and dropped Zero between them. He staggered a little bit to the left, then to the right, then fell on his back, the room spinning around him.

Meanwhile, Alia rushed to the War Room to discuss the results of her tests to the leaders of the Maverick Hunters.