But to guess, to predict, what cost it would be for the world to survive, no one could have begun to guess. Not even X felt the vibes of death approaching him as he ran through the hallways, searching for clues to where Sigma was.
The hallway he happened to be following was simple and straight forward. Sure there were a few Mavericks here and there to slow him down, but it was almost as if they wanted him to head this way. If he had been a little more adapt in the ways of combat, he might have realized this was a trap to lure him somewhere. But he was still naive to the ways of combat, even after battling and killing eight of his brethren.
That, however, was about to change.
X climbed the ladder and before him stood Vile. The symbol of his defeat. The symbol of his weakness. The symbol that mocked him and tormented him that he was too pathetic to make a difference. The one symbol he had to destroy. Vile.
Vile stood before him. He was short, but powerfully built. His purple armor gleamed in the light of the hallway and his mask covered his face in complete darkness. Only two red glowing slits could be seen, staring at him with their mocking evil. X began to shake. From fear...or anger?
Vile was the first to speak. "Ah, X. You have finally arrived. I've been waiting for you to come so we could finish what I had begun. Basically, to knock you around some more and listen to you scream in pain as I crush your body in my hands. Doesn't that sound like fun, X?" he asked cheerfully.
X clenched his fist. "I'm going to kill you, Vile! Your crimes against mankind cannot be forgiven!"
Vile laughed, his laugh like a corpse rattling around in it's grave. "You? Kill me? For my crimes against mankind? That is rich, little reploid. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. But please, allow me to demonstrate to you."
"That's quite enough, Vile," came a calm, cool voice of strength. Suddenly Zero dropped from the ceiling between the two and he aimed his blaster at Vile. "You're going to have to go through me first."
Vile laughed. "Lets fight to the death then, Zero." He ran through the door, it closing shut behind him.
Zero turned around to look at X. "You stay behind. This is too dangerous for you, X. I'll handle this!" He dashed through the doorway after Vile.
X swallowed the pain in his throat. Zero didn't think he could do this either. But he wanted to see the more experienced Hunter at work against Vile. He ran through the door and landed in a small room. On the other side was another door. It sounded like the battle had begun...
Vile rose up from the shadows in a giant mech suit. An upgraded version of the one he was trashing X with on the highway. The arm, which Zero had managed to shoot off in one hit, was repaired and looked deadlier than ever before.
That was when Zero knew. He had walked straight into Vile's trap. And now he was going to pay dearly for it.
Vile launched the mech forward, the spiked fists threatening to smash Zero in. Zero leapt backwards as the spiked fist slammed into the floor, going a few feet into it, causing the floor to splinter and crack. Charging his blaster, Zero continued to back up from the suit, trying to tune out Vile's insane giggle.
The mech had managed to free itself and punched forward, nailing Zero in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall. The impact of the wall bounced up forward, crushing the wall in his wake. His body staggered forward, his entire being screaming in agony, but he raised his blaster and fired a level 3 blast into it, causing the mech to shudder. Briefly.
Vile worked the controls and rammed Zero further into the wall with the next blow. Feeling like his chest was exploding, Zero realized he was being wedged into the wall. He had to take the offensive now or he would lose this fight in spades. Grabbing the spiked arm, Zero aimed the blast straight at Vile's mocking face and fired a quick round that knocked the maverick around.
Pushing himself out of the wall and standing on the arm, he flipped off of it and to the side as Vile recovered. He brought the mech around to bare on Zero and smashed the spiked fist at the Hunter. Zero jumped into the air as the spiked fist soared past him and he landed on the arm. Running up it, Zero grabbed Vile in his mech. "You lose, Maverick."
Vile hit a button and suddenly Zero felt an electrified blast go through his body. Gasping in pain, he fell to the ground, his body refusing to respond. "I wanted to fight you fairly, but I suppose this works just as well." He grabbed Zero with the mech, not bothering to hold him gently or comfortingly, and slammed him into an electric cage. "Now we wait for X..."
His dog moaned. He reached down and patted his robotic pet. "Don't worry my dear, at least we shall get to see X get smashed around like a doll now."
Vile laughed hoarsely. "Don't be foolish, X! If you want your friend Zero to be safe, then give yourself up!"
Zero snarled. "Don't worry about me, X! Blast him!"
Vile laughed even harder. "Don't be stupid, Zero! X knows he cannot defeat me!" With that, X fired a defiant blast straight into Vile's armor. Growling, Vile sent the mech skidding forward and slammed X with the spiked fist, sending the Hunter flying backwards. Dashing forward again, Vile hit the blue reploid before he even stopped flying back from the first blow, sending him smashing into the ground so hard he bounced. With that, Vile smashed X once more with the spiked arm and watched him hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Zero's face fell as he watched X struggling to get up, battery fluid seeping out of his mouth. He could tell the reploid had already lost his fight and was barely forcing himself to stand up to Vile's power.
Zero knew it. X had already lost.
X began to charge his blaster and fired a level 2 shot straight into the mech, but it didn't seemed phased. Vile just swung again, but X ducked it this time, his body screaming in protest. Standing wearily back up, he was rewarded by the second punch and sent staggering back. Shaking his head in a stunned confusion, X collapsed onto the floor.
...It couldn't end this way...could it?
But like everything else, it would pass too. Everything ended in some way or another. X craned his head a little. How would he die? How would his end come? What would he have accomplished in his life.
He knew he wouldn't have his end come in something meaningless. He wanted his end to have meaning. To set an example for others.
But how?
Once again, he pushed himself back up and fired another level 2 blast at Vile, he batted it away with the mech's spiked arm. "You're a loser, X." He punched X once, the blue reploid stumbling back. "You were always a loser." He smashed him once more. "And you will always be a loser." He slapped X once again, letting him collapse.
Vile charged his arm cannon and fired a stasis field blast, engulfing X in it like had Zero. His target was now neutralized and couldn't move until it vanished, which Vile wouldn't turn it off. He picked X and slammed him down. "You could never beat me, X."
Zero's fist clinched in anger and he looked down.
I don't know why...but something inside me wants to protect this guy. For some reason, I know, despite what the voice in my head tells me to do, to stand by and let him die, that I have to protect him. We all need something to protect, don't we?
I shouldn't have put X in this position. He wasn't ready to face the evils of Vile and Sigma. He should have never brought him here. This was my fault. X would die because of me.
I won't let that happen....
"Maybe not..." Zero begun, gathering all his energy within him. He punched upward against the cage and caused it to explode from his sheer strength. He leaped from the cage onto the back of the mech suit. "But I can!" He began to concentrate, activating his self-destruct button. Vile craned his head back in fear. Yes, the red glowing eyes held fear. Contempt.
Zero loved knowing he would take that look with him to the grave. He finished the activation and began to explode. X, still trapped in his stasis field, looked on helplessly as his friend was giving up his life to save his. The ultimate act of friendship. The one selfish act that is held higher than any other.
To give your life for another.
"Zero...no..." he managed to whisper. His friend was about to kill himself...for him.
Zero gave X one look. A grin. A look of determination that he knew what he was doing, to trust him, and X did. With that, Zero exploded, blinding the entire room.
With that, Zero ascended above everyone else. And with that, Vile still stood, his mech completely destroyed, but he, himself, unscathed. With that...everything was pointless and in vain.
X's eyes watered up as he saw his friend's body being thrown to the side, bouncing along, blood running out. And there, Vile stood, laughing, that evil, dead, cold, heartless laugh.
"What a worthless gesture. I guess it's just you and me now, X," Vile taunted.
"Yo-You...Yo-You bastard! YOU DAMN INSENSITIVE BASTARD!!!!" shouted X and energy began to surge into him. He stood up and slammed his arms apart, causing the stasis field to explode off of him. His energy returned to him.
Vile stepped back in shock. "What?! How is this?! This is impossible!" But then he regained his cool. "Whatever. It doesn't matter how much energy you absorb, X. You shall never defeat me." And with that, the battle began anew.
X began to charge his blaster as Vile activated his jetpack, flying into the air. The maverick fired off seven missiles at the azure hunter as he continued to charge, his blaster surpassing that of a level 2 and reaching a level 3, a purple aura surrounding him. X jumped up and fired off the blast, nailing Vile straight in the chest and sending him flying off in some unknown direction. Having dealt with him for the time being, X was left with the seven incoming missiles.
Landing on the ground, he back flipped as the first smashed into the ground, sending pieces and debree flying everywhere. The remaining six soared past the smoke at X. Firing off a level 2 blast into the first three, he caused them to explode, giving him time to dash against the wall and bounce off as the remaining three hit it, blowing it up. Rolling along the ground, X stood up, only to have his throat grabbed, being crushed...by Vile.
"Stupid Hunter. It'll take much more than that to kill me..." Vile snarled, strangling the life out of X. His armor was dented and smoking, but he looked pretty much intact. "I'm going to enjoy crushing the last bit of resistance out of you, X." Feeling his circuits being crushed and his memory banks screaming from the backlash of surges being sent up through malfunctions in his next, X's vision began to blur. He started to charge his blaster once more. "Scream my name, X. Let me hear you..." Vile hissed, his red eyes glowing in the blackness of his mask. "Come on, X...scream like the pansy you are."
Feeling his blaster reach a level 3 charge, X lifted it up straight into Vile's face. The Maverick gave a surprised look. "Go...to...hell...Vile." He fired, the blast hitting Vile straight in the head, sending the Maverick flying backwards. Explosion lights began to leak out from underneath his faceplate and his armor began to turn red, overheating. Suddenly his arm exploded, followed by his legs, then his mid-section, and finally the head exploded, the Maverick giving out a cry of surprise.
X stood up, swaying briefly, his vision restored. He realized Vile did very little damage to him. But then he remembered Zero. Surveying the ruins of the room, he spotted his friend off to the side. Running over, X began to pray to God this wasn't happening. This wasn't happening!
Zero turned around and smiled briefly. "Yeah, X. It's all I know, sometimes. It makes me complete."
"But what about hurting other people?"
"Well, X, you have to feel that out for yourself. Sometimes it's necessary to fight for what you believe in. And that means hurting people. There isn't always going to be a good and evil in a war. Sometimes there's just two points of views. The question is, do you want to fight to protect what you believe in?" Zero countered.
"What if you believe in pacifism?" X responded.
"There is no such thing as pacifism. Either you're going to let people walk all over you and the people who believe in the idea of pacifism, or you're going to fight for them so they can have peace. With war comes peace," Zero told him.
"And with war comes death and meaningless destruction," X said.
"Welcome to life, blue berry boy." The two stood there, silent, locked in their own ideas and ideals. When finally, Zero turned to him. "I'll tell you what. I'll fight to protect you, X. No matter what. That way you can do what you want."
Zero's lower half of his body was completely missing. Sparks flew out and battery fluid oozed in them. It possibly could mean another explosion. His blonde hair was matted in battery fluid, making it look reddish. It was no longer it's beautiful, well groomed self, but like a dying corpse's hair. And Zero's face was twisted in pain, with some battery fluid running down from his lip onto his cheek.
But he was still alive...he was still alive...
Cain leaned over. "You are in the infirmary of the Hunter HQ. Do you know how you got here?" The reploid shook his head no. "Do you remember anything that happened before now?" The reploid shook his head no. "Do you remember your name?"
The reploid nodded. "Yes...my name is Zero."
Cain nodded. "Fascinating. Okay, Zero, can you run a scan on yourself and see if there is any internal problems?" Zero nodded and ran the scans. A few moments later he finished.
"All systems are okay, functioning...why am I here? Did you create me?" he asked.
Cain shook his head no then hesitated. Zero caught it. "No, you were found somewhere else. You were deactivated and I brought you here and reactivated you."
"I guess I should...thank you..." Zero murmured. He looked around the room and noticed X. "And who's the blueberry boy there?" X blinked in surprise at the reploid's already bold attitude.
"Blueberry boy!? The name's X pal!" he found himself saying.
Zero grinned. "X is it? Is there anything else attached to that or did your creator just run down the alphabet with a blindfold and randomly pick a letter?"
"...my full name is Mega Man X, but I don't go by the name Mega Man. There was a robot named Mega Man almost thirty years ago that fought to solve his problems, I choose to find more peaceful methods. So, I go by the name X. The name Mega Man is for a fighter."
Zero glanced at Cain and back at X, obviously feeling like talking to the reploid more. Instead, he hopped off the table. "Well....doctor...?" he began.
Cain blinked. "Oh, Dr. Cain."
"Well, Dr. Cain, I thank you for activating me. But can you tell me what's going on? I feel like I've been in a deep sleep for years..." Zero told him. Cain nodded and the two walked into his office to brief the new reploid on what was going on. X crossed his arms.
Zero opened his eyes weakly, not really focusing that well on X. "X...? Is that you...? You beat Vile...You're a lot stronger than I took you granted for..."
X shook his head. "Not without you, Zero. Don't die on me!"
Zero smiled arrogantly. "You...just might be strong as me...maybe stronger," he admitted. "You might ... even be strong enough...to beat...Sigma..."
Zero swallowed. "Good luck, X...my friend..." With that, Zero's head fell back and his body vanished in a teleporting beam.
X stood up and screamed out in agony. "ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
For today, the world lost a great hero...and a great threat. A destiny was put on hold, but in the end, could anyone really tell what that destiny was for either reploid?
For X sat beside his dead friend for several minutes, mourning, but finally drew himself up and continued on. He was a Hunter. And he was the only one that could stop Sigma.
For this instant, X was finally ready to take the fight head on. He had accepted his destiny, though with confusion and fear, he moved on. As we all must...sooner... or later.