North Star crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue at his 'brother'. Death Star had jet black hair, which he kept in a spiky, uncombed set up that fell over his eyes a little. He had dark blue eyes and tan reploid skin. His armor was black with blue stripes and areas along it. North Star was clored in a red / gray set up, but kept all the other appearances. Their hands were in white gloves, which was used to protect them. They could call them out instantly and make them vanish, like their Star Buster.
"So what? I did it long before you," he responded dejectedly. Death Star just grinned, knelt down, then flipped off the tree and spun in the air several times, falling down the side of the great old tree which was around 50 feet tall, and landed on his feet easily. Standing back up, he patted North Star on the shoulder.
"Eh, you know you can't stand seeing me doing something so much better than you though..." Death Star told him and grinned, running back towards his home, McCormick Labs. North Star chased after him and the two began to have a race along the hillsides. The two were tied for the most part, both of them sparing glances at each other that only spurred them on.
North Star flipped ahead and threw a kick at Death Star's head. The other promptly ducked the incoming blow, dived forward like he was going to grab the ground, but instead flipped his palm out flat and did a cartwheel off the ground, spinning ahead for the lead.
Growling, North Star grabbed a tree branch from an old apple tree that sat alone on the hill. Using the branch, he spun around in a circle, gaining momentum and flinging himself ahead of Death Star easily. The two continued to run along the hill, Death Star lagging behind. Which wasn't unusual, since North Star liked to do combat situations far more than he did.
Finally they both reached the top of the hill, each stopping in utter shock. "Oh ... my ... God..." Death Star sputtered out as he glanced down the hill at the chaos that had become of McCormick Labs. The entire lab was trashed and destroyed, nothing but ruins. The two stumbled down the hill in shock towards it, only to collapse to their knees in front of the wreckage.
"Who...did this...?" North Star asked.
Death Star shook his head slowly. "I don't know..." he began but stopped at seeing the blaster marks along the walls. "Reploids......"
North Star glanced at him, confused. "...what?"
"Reploids did this....Mavericks no doubt...we heard about them on the news..." Death Star managed to say, still in utter shock staring ahead. "Do you think he's alive?"
North Star shook his head. "No, I scanned the area. No lifesigns...they killed him, DS, killed him dead...and Dr. Starr..."
Death Star felt sick to his mechanical gut. "...why ...?"
North Star stood up and clenched his fist. "Because we're at war. You heard the news...The Mavericks are fighting against humanity. And their number is growing. They attacked this spot since they figured it made reploids that were more likely to join the Hunters. And that's JUST what I'm going to do!"
Death Star let himself crumble to the ground and lay in the grass, gagging on the smells of burning flesh and chemicals in the background. He felt dizzy, confused, weak, and sick. "J-Join the Hunters!? Are you MAD? We weren't designed to fight..." he said after a few moments of breathing deeply.
North Star pounded his chest with his fist, swinging his other hand out pointing at the damage. "What the hell do you expect me to do then!? Sit here and lets others fight for me!? They killed our masters!!! Dr. Starr was in there too!!! Don't you want vengeance?! Don't you want to fight for what you believe in!?" he shouted out passionately.
Death Star rolled over on his gut and looked at the grass. I don't know what I want anymore...what I believe in...what to do...fighting....is wrong...but they killed them. North Star's bloodthirsty. He wants blood. ... I want justice...this is wrong...this isn't right... He rose to his knees and stood up and looked grimly at the damage. "I will join you...I will fight for justice. I will make sure...this never...happens to anyone else if I can. ..." he muttered more to himself than North Star. He didn't know it, but at that moment, he took the first step in a long journey that wouldn't end for a very, very long time...but it would be the end that only a hero would receive.
The two reploids stood there, the sun setting in the background, casting odd shades of orange over the flames from the lab. Then, together, the two began to trek toward Mega City. Death Star, before heading off, stopped at the area of the workshop and stole the prototype saber McCormick was building and took it along with him. He choose this weapon to be his main source of fighting and vowed to prefect the art of sword fighting. He would become the best, so he hoped. But for now, he made the journey to Maverick Hunter HQ. And the journey of his destiny.
Though he wondered what the rest of the McCormick family line would feel upon hearing about his master's death. Would they care, like he did? Perhaps that is what made a reploid so human like - the fact it could care.
The figure ran behind another support beam that went up, using it as a shield, glancing around for his attackers. "Dammit to hell, Vile, you didn't say the Maverick Hunters would mobilize this quickly...frickin' hell..." the figure muttered to himself.
A shot rang out and hit the beam behind him. A sinister voice spoke up, that made the Maverick's heart, if he had one, stop in it's tracks. "I suggest you come out with your hands up so I can deactivate you quicker and less painfully...but trust me, I wouldn't mind blowing you away...bit by bit, as you desperately try to crawl away to safety..."
The Maverick began to moan in disbelief and sat down, shaking his head. "Why?! Why are you fighting against your own kind?" Another shot rang out, denting the support beam even more. "Are you fucking insane, man!? If you blast away these support beams, you'll bring the entire area down on Janus Corporations, us, and your unit!"
"I came alone. My unit's safely tucked away on another building, watching us. And believe me, I don't mind tearing this area down just to get you." For some reason, the Maverick believed him. He slowly edged out from behind his support beam and to look at his attacker. He stood there, towering up, his cape flapping in the wind, glaring evilly at him. His face, though humanoid in appearance, reminded him of a demon who masks himself.
"For the love of Light, I'm out!!" the Maverick managed to say, paralyzed with fear.
Sigma sneered. "Remember how I said I wouldn't blow you away...bit by bit?" he asked. The Maverick nodded. "Well...I lied." Sigma raised his blaster and fired, blowing away the Maverick's arm. He seemed to thrive off the scream that he gave, it echoing off the support beams. The slaughter lasted another ten minutes, the rest of Sigma's unit watching, amazed at their leader's ability.
After he finished, he walked up to the eight reploids on the roof. "The Maverick is dead. Lets go back to HQ." Storm Eagle nodded and grinned at Boomer Kuwanger. The nine of them teleported back home.
"OW! Hey, I'm SITTING here!" yelled a voice as Cain reclined on the seated reploid.
With amazing speed for his age, Cain leapt out of his seat, grabbed his cane, and leaned against it for support as he turned to face the chair. "Who the hell is there!?"
"...Johnny? It's Johnny, isn't it? Oh, that little scamp, always causing mischief, he is! Oh, he'll never get me Lucky Charms!"
Cain blinked in disbelief. "...what?" He leaned closer to inspect his somewhat strange invader.
There before Dr. Cain stood a ghostly afterimage of the reploid only known as X. The creation before him shown of a porcelain white hue with armor eerily resembling X's. The stature, the face, even the way the machine moved mirrored X in some odd capacity. Tipping his rounded helmet, he revealed a full head of silver hair. "Model number X 1-4590, at your service. Folks call me X1. And some call me 'Skippy'. Don't call me Skippy."
"Skip-? X1? What? How did you get in my office?! Why are you here?! I'm going to call security!" Cain said, flustered and confused by the sudden entrance of this strange reploid who reminded him of X. At his old age, Cain couldn't take very many surprises.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there, Grandpa Munster, being a scientist, doesn't your curiosity over my striking resemblance to a certain recently unearthed Reploid win out over throwing me in jail?" X1 clamored as he tried to calm down the old fart.
"...." Cain said nothing, but took his cane and tapped X1's helmet. Rubbing his beard thoughtfully, he began to poke X1 all around the body as he curiously inspected him.
"Hee hee...HEY! Knock that off! Eek! Help, I'm being molested!" The white newcomer shrieked as he started running around Cain's office in panic.
Cain watched him run around. "Why do you look like, X? You certainly don't act like him...who created you? And please, stop running around, you're going to knock over my va--" Cain began when X1 hit the vase, knocking it over with a loud crash. "My vase..."
"Ack!" he replied as he came crashing to a halt. Picking himself up off the floor, he dusted off his armor. "Well, to make a long story short..." And for the next seven hours, the being known only as X1 regaled Cain with the tale of his creation during the original Mega Man era and the sad-tale of what actually happened, and of his isolation as a rock for so long.
Cain poured himself a cup of coffee. "So, Dr. Light and all his other creations were killed in a big battle with a Dr. Zealous?"
"Well, not all of them, I wasn't around to witness the ACTUAL end, so who knows...By the way, how do you like my coffee? Brewed it myself."
Cain nodded his head a little. "Puts hair on your chest, I tell you...ugh...my stomach...feels like it's melting....er...." He shook his head and swallowed another gulp. "This is better than the strongest whiskey, vodka, and Cuban beer mixed together...gah, burns a hole in ya." He continued to drink it as he moved over and sat back down at his desk. "So, why have you been hiding around the HQ these past few months?"
X1 over exaggeratedly shrugged as he paced around the office, examining various papers and awards. "Where else would I go? X doesn't need to be watched over anymore, going back to being a rock would be redundant, stealing frying pans and toothpaste gets old after awhile..."
"You did that?! Why you little creation from hell! --- er..heh, lets forget that shall we? ... anyway, if X doesn't need watching over, why not tell him who you are?"
"I've been reading over your reports," X1 said as he waved at the files scattered all over Cain's desk. "Now, I may only be programmed with a degree in psychology, but I think dumping the atom bomb of histories on an amnesiac soldier would only serve to screw matters up severely."
"Soldier? You mean the Hunters? Oh, no, X doesn't fight...he doesn't believe in violence or any type of fighting. Ever since Voltage died...that was the reploid he and I created together...ever since he died for being a Maverick, X has began to question, I believe as I have no proof, his own existence...perhaps you talking to him could help him find out what Dr. Light had in mind for him..."
X1 sighed as he sat down in a chair opposite of Cain. "Doc Light..."He trailed off as he thought about the past. "He...he wanted peace, Wily came along and screwed that all up with his big hair and little feet. No one was lifting a finger to stop him, so Light was forced to turn Rock, that was his original name, into a robotic soldier. He was a peacefighter of sorts, that's what he was rebuilt for."
Placing his feet up on the desk, X1 leaned back further. "After Mega Man was trounced, the only way to save him was converting him to X. The X idea made him even more effective at his job. Light never wanted war, but it was up to him to do something to stop it."
"So, what you're saying is...X will one day be forced to fight?"
"There's always a war out there somewhere..." replied X1 as he leaned back even farther...only to fall back in the chair, waving his arms wildly. "Ack! Help me! I've crashed and I don't have a back up!"
Dr. Cain shook his head. "Rubbish. Sigma is driving the Maverick forces back easily. X will never have to fight..."
X1 clicked his tongue as he sat back up. "Yeeaaahhh...didn't they ever teach you the 1st rule about villains?"
"..."
Sighing, X1 banged his head against the desk. "NEVER trust the bald guys! Did people listen when they were warned about Mr. Clean? Nooo...And that Mechelen Man guy, yea, those people weren't laughing when he shoved steel radials down their throats!"
"Sigma is designed with my latest chips. His systems are immune to going Maverick."
Pulling back his skin, X1 seemingly looked at a watch on his wrist. "Uh huh, and what time is it?"
"...almost noon...."
"ENH!" Buzzed the Reploid as he slapped his hand down on the desk. "A couple years too SOON! X was meant to be in cold storage for a full 30 years! You tampered with the expiration date, you voided the warranty, you snoozed, you lose, you broke him, you bought him!" Slapping his hands together, he looked around. "Watcha got to eat around here, anyways, I'm starved."
"What?! Now you're saying X is going to go Maverick?!"
"Him? Naahh, wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't shove a rabid weasel in his face. Now this Sigma guy, him, watch him like a dog watches thin air."
Dr. Cain leaned back in his seat. "What am I going to do with you, X1..." He sighed.
"Give me a lofty position where I'm overpaid for doing little or no work?"
Dr. Cain glanced at him. "Are you sure you won't talk to X? About all this?"
"Sometimes in life, Docy, "said X1. "we must leave people to find their own way without any help. In X's case, let's not force him into anything unless it's of dire straits. Or we're out of sandwiches."
"...we certainly can't have you running around...people will begin to wonder about you..." Cain began. "Will you become my lab assistant? It'll be a good cover story for you. And I could use the help..." He held out his hand.
"...Orrrr you could become MY lab assistant and we go around solving cases and live on a nonexistent street where I'll occasionally play the violin very badly." X1 switched the offer around as he reached his hand out to Cain's, then suddenly yanked it back and rubbed his helmet.
"...lets just stick with the original plan, for now."
"For now."
The person meeting them nodded and smiled at them, being an attractive young women in early twenties. "Welcome, Mr. Star...and Mr. Star..." she began, nodding at the two of them. "Dr. Cain has had time to review both of your statuses and your training skills. You're part of the Hunters now...Congrats."
The two turned and grinned at each other. "You hear that, North? We're Hunters!" Death Star told him.
North Star bragged. "It was MY skills that impressed them, of course. It just brought you along for the joyride..."
Death Star shook his head. "Cocky. Anyway, Miss, where do report?"
The lady smiled at their sibling rivalry. "Just go down the hall. The guard there has been assigned to give you access keycards to the Hunter area of here. See you two around," she told them and walked off.
North Star star watched her go. "Oooo, what a fine ass."
Death Star whapped his head. "Listen, hormones for brains, you're a reploid, she's a human."
North Star shrugged. "So? We can both cause our armor to vanish..." Death Star frowned, uncomfortable, never really having bothered to access that command before. He liked his armor for some reason.
"Anyway, your flesh isn't real...get over it...get a life, grow up..." Death Star told him and marched down the hallway.
North Star shrugged. "Bastard." He followed behind.
Storm Eagle flapped his wings. "Vile's probably quaking in his boots at the very thought of your arrival, Sigma..."
Chill Penguin chuckled briefly. "Vile's probably iced over already, wondering how to surrender to us."
Spark Mandrill, being the dumbest of the group, slammed his huge fist on the bar, breaking it. "Me smash Vile dumby!"
Sigma shook his head. "Calm down, Mandrill...Cain's already pissed about us wrecking the training room the other day. No sense in making the old man fussy again, is there?" he asked.
Spark blinked but settled back down as two new figures entered the room. Sigma turned and glanced at two almost identical reploids, except for their colors. They whispered to each other and moved off to the side, sitting alone and sharing a few drinks and laughs.
Flame Mammoth glanced them over. "New recruits, I bet. Look pretty small to me. Cain be getting braindead in his decisions of choosing Hunters."
Sigma shrugged. "We'll see what they can do in combat...a crash course is always fun."
Spark Mandrill shook his fists in the air. "SMASH COURSE!! SMASH COURSE!!"
Sigma shook his head in disgust. "Idiot."
Stepping in, he saw that Sigma's little crowd of followers were in one corner with a few other unit groups in others. X didn't personally know any of them and he avoided Sigma at all costs. But he didn't get far into the doorway when he met eyes with him.
Sigma sneered at him from across the room and nodded at him, causing all his friends to turn and stare. They all began to whisper something and chuckle. X moved over and sat down at one of the tables. Usually the air in the room was refreshing, since X tried to avoid Sigma's times to visit. Today, however, Sigma got back early.
Opening his notebook, X sketched idly on it, drawing a picture, when a shadow fell over it. He didn't even have to look up to know it was Sigma. "Yes, Sigma?" he asked, his voice more of a squeak then anything.
"Why are you here, pacifist?" Sigma asked. "This is a bar for warriors, people willing to risk their lives for what they hold true...yet you choose not to fight, claiming that violence is 'wrong'..."
X closed his notepad and turned around to stare at Sigma, his entire body vibrating. He couldn't tell if he was shaking from anger or fear, because he felt both right now. "There's more than one to deal with a problem, Sigma. You choose to fight, I choose to do more peaceful manners."
Sigma grinned coldly. "You'll see one day, little one, that you're mistaken about peaceful means. We both know it...we both can see it..." Sigma told him. And in that instant, X saw a brief picture of himself standing over the torn bodies of mutilated reploids. His hand were dripping with blood...his blaster warm from blasting over...and over...and over...
X shook his head and stood up. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sigma...now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving..." He walked out of the door and never looked back, not even during their laughing...
North Star shrugged. "You were afraid to fight at first."
Death Star glared icily. "I'm fighting for what I believe in, North Star. What do you believe in?"
"Revenge, of course..."
"And that's where we're different. But, lets get a drink...and hope not to piss off the locals."
The mavericks scattered before him, afraid. Vile crossed his arms and roared into he sky. "This Sigma character...he and I will meet...and then, then I will destroy him...once and for all...him and all his traitors reploids...nothing will stop my VENGEANCE!!!!"
Outside, lightning crackled, as if on cue.
"Fools, all of them. Don't they see pandora's box is opened here?! I never expected Cain and the council to counter with the Hunter Project. Genius, Cain, very genius..." Cran muttered. "But if your precious leader, Sigma, was to fall, then my plans can go back into action..."
He stood there, musing. "Yes, these Hunters can be played to MY advantage. As I was once taught, any situation can be played to one's advantage if they are willing to wait it out and keep all players in mind."
Crossing his arms, Cran glanced over at the Hunter HQ. "Hmmm...I have a feeling, the tides will be turning shortly...and the weakest link in the chain is Sigma...not Cain and X like I originally thought."
Outside, lightning crackled, as if on cue.
Storm Eagle flapped his wings out to repel some of the flying rocks. "Uh, sir, I don't think now is a good time to be worrying about that. Vile is launching another wave of attacks on us."
Sigma nodded and moved to the side, standing next to Sting. "Camouflage and get the hell around there. We can't afford to stay here much longer. If you can get behind them possibly blast them to death, we'll have our way in. Understood?"
Sting vanished, only a glimmer giving a faint notice to his location as he took off around behind the Mavericks. Sigma sat back and fired blasts at any incoming missiles from around behind them and turned to look at his other men. "Keep searching for a way through their defenses. That bastard Cran's been stirring up public support for this to be our final battle. Damn idiot thinks we can defeat the Mavericks now? Hah. Get ourselves killed more like it..." he muttered.
Another unit arrived and one of the reploids walked up to him. "Lieutenant Death Star here." The reploid glanced behind at his almost look alike twin and pointed to a position over by the rocks.
Sigma sneered. "So the calvary is finally here. About damn time." Death Star shrugged, not bothering to really look at Sigma. "Get your commander so we can get your men ready for an assault."
"We had a little battle of our own on the way over here. Commander Z'ting died rather brutally. I'm in charge now." Death Star pointed at a few humans and reploids and waved them up. "Get ready for an assault attack against the Maverick forces. We'll go on Sigma's command. Understood? Good."
Sigma stared at Death Star a moment. Despite his apparent cool, he could tell that the reploid was actually quivering in fear and not knowing what the hell to do and very uncomfortable with leading the team at this point. "Alright, since I'm the leader of the overall Hunter operations, I'm taking command of all units here. Prepare your weapons. We'll attack as soon as we can." He glanced over and saw Death Star slacked with relief.
The maverick fire suddenly was divided, attacking from behind them. "Okay, Sting's got them. Move, move, move!" The Hunters surged forward, opening fire on the Mavericks. The bloody war picked up, as both sides blew each other way, destroying body parts and sending reploids flying every which way. Skilled warriors, like the eight under Sigma's direct command, worked their way through the surges of Mavericks beautifully, destroying all that opposed them. Others, like Death Star and North Star, held their end up, surviving each new encounter by killing their opponent. Death Star swung his saber around, slashing reploids in half and skillfully working his saber like a master. North Star took the direct route of blowing their brains out against the rocks and smashing his way though violently, a grin on his face. But other reploids, like the rookie Hunters, were shot down violently, their bodies left behind in the sun, smoke rising from them as their hopes of ever being repaired faded. War was an art, and if you couldn't draw it, you starved. There were many starving artists in this battle.
Sigma leaped into the head of the battle, roaring and slashing his green saber through three reploids at once, their bodies sliding off each half before exploding together. He turned around and slashed through a Maverick's gut, slashing upward so that it exploded a few seconds later. Grinning, he shadow dashed on ahead after Vile.
Storm Eagle flew over a group of Maverick and fired an egg bomb, it exploding a little bird reploids attacking the Mavericks. As they were distracted, he flew up into the air and came swooping down, ramming the group and ripping through all of them, letting them explode behind him.
Spark Mandrill rammed through his mavericks, punching viciously in front of him, breaking their robotic heads into the rocks and letting quick puffs of smoke pop out after each blow. He raised his fists into the and roared a triumph call.
Chill Penguin froze his opponents, punching through them and shattering them into a million pieces. Grinning, he flipped onto his stomach and slid over the ice trail he made, crashing through sniper spots as he did so. How he enjoyed his job was evident.
Launch Octopus gripped a Maverick with his tentacles and ripped it's body in many pieces unmercifully, throwing them aside. Firing off missiles into a nest of Mavericks, he watched them explode.
Bob the Hobbot leaped above a Maverick saber and hit it with his rod. The maverick angerily fired his blaster, roasting Bob the Hobbot, letting his charred skeleton fall on the ground. Poor Bob the Hobbot's family...but that's the price you pay when you can't draw art.
Flame Mammoth fired a wave of flames over his opponents, causing them to explode in rapid succession after one another. He fired some red goo on one of his opponents, sticking them in place before punching through him, blowing the maverick up easily.
Armored Armadillo fired electric sparks at people and then rolled into a spinning ball. Running over the crowds of Mavericks, he rapidly in succession destroyed them one after another. Flipped to his feet, he grinned.
Sting Chameleon and Boomer Kuwanger, probably the most dangerous out of Sigma's group, launched their attacks. Sting gripped the sides of the rocks and fired off blasts from his tails, pinning his opponents and causing them to explode. Sending his tail flying, he smashed through one Maverick's gut, leaving it gaping in shock as it looked down to see it...seconds before he exploded. Kuwanger vanished in and out all around his opponents, moving quicker than they could follow. Throwing out a boomerang, he mashed through three Mavericks and let it spin back to his hand before ramming another one with his head's spikes.
North Star flipped over a Maverick's blast and punched into it, kicking the Maverick into a wall. Charging his blaster, he fired a blast right into it's gut, blowing it apart. Three Mavericks leaped at him from behind, causing him to spin around and kick one, blasting another away, and headbutting the third. They all came back at him, but he was already bouncing to a safe distance to blow them away...and did so.
Death Star slashed through the Mavericks, leaving their bodies falling apart and exploding after him. Spinning his saber, he cut off a Maverick's head and gutted another one, flipped over another's saber. A blast caught him in the side and sent him rolling. Getting to his feet, Death Star charged and slashed, leaving the Maverick in half. He turned and watched Sigma work his way up to the top where a purple clad reploid stood, watching the fight. Before he could witness the battle, he went back to fighting the onslaught of Mavericks.
All around, the bodies of the dead laid in pieces...most reploid, some human. The reploid pieces were now littered about in millions of pieces, unable to be put back together ever. The human's dead carcasses laid to waste in the sun, where vultures flew over head. This art...this picture...was that of a sorrowful artist. In war, no one wins...but there's beauty in all things. Like the battle of two master fighters, one on one...
Sigma slashed at Vile, who blocked with his own saber. The two circled one another, slashing and combating. Sigma leaped at Vile, slashing for his head, but the purple reploid stepped back and fired his cannon, hitting Sigma in the chest and sending him over the cliff edge.
Flipping to his feet, the reploid launched himself back up at Vile and the two locked sabers again, but Vile's overloaded and exploded in his hands. The purple clad reploid took a step back and punched at Sigma, who skillfully dodged and kicked Vile back. The two continued to pound one another, sabers forgotten, until Vile activated his jetpack and flew back into the air. "Retreat, Mavericks!! We'll not lose all our numbers today. We have weakened the enemy, like they have weakened us. Let us live to see one another again..." The Mavericks and Vile teleported away, leaving a bunch of tired Hunters to witness it.
That day, the Hunters served to give the Maverick resistance it's biggest blow and it would have ended the entire conflict there and then...if other forces didn't have something to say....
Walking around the corner of some experiments, X bumped directly into X1. He stared at him for a second before finding his tongue. "Er, excuse me..."
"Yeah, jeeze, watch where ya fart..." X1 snipped as he worked on his latest experiment. Looking up, his face froze. "Uh...hi X, what can I do ya for? And no, I don't do plastic."
X glanced X1 over with a silent, curious glance. "You're X1, aren't you?"
"If by X1 you mean, "The letter following 'w' and before 'y', and the positive number at the start of the number line, then yes, I suppose that is I."
X cocked an eyebrow and kept studying X1. "Well, it's nice to meet you X1. When did you get in? Dr. Cain said you were his lab assistant, but you kind of just came out of nowhere..."
Chuckling, X1 patted X on the back and leaned close whispering in his ear. "If I told you, my dear lad, I'd have to kill you. Or give you a muffin."
X blinked, as if the word muffin jarred something in the back of his memory. "Muffin...? Blueberry muffin?"
Blinking in confusion, X1 nodded unsurely. "Uh, yeah, sure, oookkkaayy..."
X narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. "You do know, that if you warm a blueberry muffin up for twenty seconds, the blueberries will melt a little..."
"And butter, oh, can't forget the butter..." added X1, starting to salivate.
X nodded in agreement. "...now, anyway, say, why do you look a little like ... me?"
"...How do you know that you don't look a little like ME?"
"Because I was first!"
"Says WHO-uh...what I mean to say...oh look, Margaret Thatcher!"
X glanced at the direction. "Who?" Without so much as a goodbye, X1 darted off in the opposite direction. X turned his head around, looking every which way. "Hey!! X1?? X1!? Get back here!"
Seeing that X1 was nowhere in sight, X scratched his head. "What a strange fellow..." He turned and walked away.