Dr. Cain sat back, sighing, rubbing his face with his hands. "Perhaps because the need for it isn't present anymore. Yes, you've become weaker in a sense, but you've retained your fighting skill, you speed enhancements, plus overall, you're still a lot tougher. You never really needed that armor to begin with."
X scowled. "Excuse me, but to put it bluntly, it kept Sigma from ripping me to shreds. I don't know how, but it gave me that extra boost I needed. Hell, I tried mimicking the attack I used to kill him with but haven't been able to mimic it again. Not once. It's like it's totally gone."
Dr. Cain glanced over at X1, who shrugged, then took out a marker and began doodling on X's charts. Cain turned back to X, who was looking extremely stressed out over the loss of his armor. "Look, X, the way you found the armor to begin with was incredibly strange. Maybe just as mysteriously as it came, it left. But that doesn't mean you won't come across anything like it again. You retained your speed enhancement, you're generally stronger, and you've done a lot to come this far. Plus right now there has been hardly any maverick activity whatsoever. I don't think you have anything to worry about --- at all."
X sighed bitterly. "Trust me, Doctor, I have a feeling that we're going to need the power that armor gave me. I can't explain it, but I just know it. I need that armor. Isn't there anything we can possibly do? Or least figure out what happened? Maybe there's a defect to my design that caused it to vanish."
X1 cleared his throat in a matter of fact way, stepping up. "Actuaaaaaaaally, there's no defect," he began in a professor's voice, pointing at the charts he had been doodling on. Upon exmaining the paper, X saw it was just a bunch of scribbles, circles, a few smiley faces, a picture of X1 beating up Death Star, who X noted didn't get along well with X1, and a few triangles. However, X1 continued. "You see, when you had the armor presented to you, there was a need for it. However, as you are now, you no longer need these "training wheels" and thus have lost the use of them. Perhaps, in the future, you'll need some more "training wheels", but these will more than likely be totally different in the regard of teaching you new things. So, as you can see here," he went on, tapping the chart like a teacher would present something on a chalkboard, "you simply have no need for the armor."
X and Dr. Cain stared at him in silence for a few moments, in which a couple of pennies could have been heard dropping. Finally, Dr. Cain swallowed, looking away, refusing to acknowledge how X1 came up with this. Grumbling, X finally spoke. "Just, uh, how did you come to these conclusions based off...what you did on that chart? There's no coherent logic in what you did so obviously you know more than you're letting on here..."
X1 immediately froze, blinked in surprise, looked at Dr. Cain, who was shaking his head in the way of saying "blow your cover, why don't you?", glancing back down at the chart, then at X. "Lucky guess?"
X blinked. "A lucky guess?"
X1 nodded. "What? Like you've never done it before. Here. Guess what number I'm thinking."
X raised an eyebrow. "32."
X1 pointed at him. "A-ha! Lucky guess!"
X regarded him a moment. "What? I got it right?"
"No, but you got a lucky guess in just the same. It was actually 42,567."
"...But I wasn't even close! How could that be a lucky guess?" X demanded.
"My point exactly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to do. Toodles." And with that X1 was gone.
X turned to Dr. Cain. "I wonder about him sometimes."
"Join the club."
So it puzzled him even more that North Star had moved out here after he left the Hunters. Of all the areas, why this place? He planned on asking him - if he survived the journey to his apartment. Walking along the cracked sidewalks, Death Star took note of all the dangerous hazards. First, there was a group of human and reploid thugs off to the side, glaring at him. Probably they were sizing him up for a mugging. Not that he carried any type of money on him anyway. Second, the building off to the side looked like it was falling apart already. If a couple of plasma blasts where to hit it just right near that right support beam, the building itself could collapse straight into the street - which would land on the thugs, in a light point. Finally, the street itself was a hazard, because so many holes and cracks could be seen on it. One wrong step and flat on your face you would go - which would definitely have those thugs on you in a couple of seconds. Out of all the options, Death Star voted for the building falling - on the thugs.
Working his way down a side street, which seemed more like an ally out of some sleezy movie where the star would be raped by a bunch of gangsters, Death Star kept his eyes glued in front of him. Taking his steps carefully, he was half-way through the ally and out onto the other side when he realized those thugs from earlier were deciding to follow him. And they were closing in this distance fast. Cursing himself for not noticing them sooner, he looked up the sides of the chipped and decaying buildings. The one on the right had a fire escape, but that itself looked ready to fall apart any moment. The one on the left had an open window, but sending oneself into someone elses' room could lead to more trouble than it's worth. Not many people will listen to reason when you suddenly jump through the window, begging them not to blow you away. Now, if they are SLEEPING under the window, that'll put you in even more trouble than you were to begin with. Especially if it's a child. No, his only option would either to fight the thugs or take the fire escape.
Coming to a halt in the middle of the ally, Death Star didn't bother to turn around. He no longer could hear their movement behind him, so he figured they must have come to a stop like he did. Slowly he couldn't take the waiting any longer and turned around, seeing seven of them standing there with various forms of crude weaponry. A bat. One had a large sword. The others had knives. And one had a chain with a spike on the end. The presumed leader, or perhaps it was just the bravest one of the bunch, sneered at Death Star, as if realizing this one didn't have much in him. However, not to provoke them any further, Death Star kept his expression neutral, not betraying any emotions on his face. Hurting the reploids would be a no problem experience, but if word got out a reploid went bashing in human heads, especially a HUNTER reploid, then Cran would have the biggest field day of his life, and he for one wasn't about to give that to him. No, he would have to think of some other alternative to dealing with these new development that didn't involve him smashing in the humans' heads...yet.
They started to advance, slowly at first, as if hoping to surround him. Thankfully, the two buildings made it easy for Death Star to take a couple of steps to the right building, which also put a wall to his back. The gang of thugs moved in closer, forming what would be called a half circle around him, since they had no way of going in at his back right. Even with the safety of the wall behind him, he knew that they had the advantage at this point, mainly because the wall, while a savior, also served as a barrier for him to be knocked senseless against. Either way he looked at it, he was trapped, unless he went for the fire escape, which was directly above him. Shooting his eyes once without tilting his head, as not to alert them to what he was thinking, Death Star noted the fire escape indeed looked about ready to go down. If he took that, he could easily send the entire thing falling back down - with him included. By the time he had come to this conclusion, the bravest of the thugs stepped forward and grinned. "Give us all your valuables and we won't hurt you...much."
Ignoring him, Death Star studied each of the reploids first. There were three of them in the group of seven, so presumably if they agreed or voted on things, the humans had the upper hand in voting. Probably they would all agree that a reploid should take on a reploid first, just to make things more even. After the human realized he was being ignored, pointed at the three reploids, then indicated back at Death Star, just as he had assumed they would. The first wave of assault was coming in, the three reploids preparing themselves. Two had sharp looking knives while the other had a sword. Probably before his creator died, if he hadn't been made on the assembly lines, he was taught some basic combat skills with that sword. Studying the sword, he guessed that it had no magical or reinforced strength to it, so a simple cut from a saber would slash it in two. On this note to himself, he took two steps to the side, ignoring the other two reploids with knives for a moment. The one with the sword grinned, either guessing that Death Star was hoping to run, or perhaps coming at him. He slashed the air twice with his sword and went into a dorky combat stance that would only been seen in some low budget movie.
The humans by now were watching and cheering their reploid friends on. Death Star spared a moment to glance at them, then the two reploids with knives. Turning his attention back at the one with a sword, he stepped forward, now in swiping distance of his sword. The reploid stared at him in disbelief, wondering if perhaps this one had a death wish. Pulling back on his sword he swung at Death Star's throat, hoping to remove his head from his body. Praying that he was right in his judgement of the sword, Death Star reached behind his back where he kept his saber on his casual clothes, which where black today - and the sun made it really hot, even for a reploid. Finding it just inside his pants, he gripped it and yanked it out into sight, thumbing it on at the same time. Swiping through the air, he slashed the sword in half, sending the sharp end flying into the wall of the left building where it became stuck and unable to move. The reploid looked down at his handle in shock, then roared in anger and stabbed at Death Star with the remaining half. Stepping to the side, he tripped the reploid into his the crowd of humans, causing a domino effect among them. By then the two reploids with the knives launched their assault, so Death Star twirled around, slashing their chests with the saber. He didn't go in deep enough to seriously hurt them, but the pain and surprise it caused made them hit the ground.
Turning his saber off and putting it back in his hiding place, Death Star moved to step past the fallen 'warriors', when the humans recovered by then, once again blocking his path. He momentarily cursed the fact he hadn't hurt them enough to take them down. And despite the fact all their friends were on the ground, hurt and bleeding battery fluid, they were still ready for a brawl. Deciding not to take his chances anymore, Death Star crouched down, waiting for them to advance, which naturally they did, seeing the reploid kneeling before them. Springing off the ground, Death Star jumped straight up and landed on the fire escape, which groaned and shook upon contact. Gripping the side of the wall, he waited for the fire escape to calm down. After it stopped swaying, he began to work his way up, grinning at the curses and shouting he heard from below. Just another day as a Hunter.
The door swung open and North Star stood before him, glancing Death Star over in surprise. It hadn't even been a full month since he saw him last, but Death Star felt like North Star was acting as if it was a year or more. North Star waved him in. "Come on in, DS." Stepping in, Death Star glanced over the apartment. He could see little furniture. One chair, in front of the HoloVid, one table in the kitchen/dining area with one chair under it, and then a place to recharge at in the corner, where the bedroom was. The apartment looked just like the rest of the building - full of decay - and it seemed his friend had no intention of fixing it up.
He moved into the center of the room, turned around, and studied North Star. His friend looked worn down, falling into decay himself, since he had last seen him. It surprised him at how fast he was...falling apart. "North Star..." his voice said, reflecting the pity and surprise in his voice.
North Star looked off to the side, perhaps in shame perhaps not wanting to confront Death Star on the issues. "Hello, Death Star..."
Death Star frowned, his heart aching as he saw his own friend...almost a brother letting himself slip into this. "Why, North? Why are you living here?"
Looking up, North Star looked at him. "I can afford it with the job I have."
Waving his hand around, Death Star let some anger slip into his voice. "Why not repair the old lab? Why choose...this place over our birth place?"
"Creation place," North Star absently correct Death Star. The two glared at each other briefly, until finally Death Star's shoulders slumped. "Look, DS...I know this isn't what you expected of me, but this life style suits me just fine. And I'm closer to you than if I was out in the country, right? So we can keep in touch..."
Death Star looked miserably out the window, not liking the view of the decay much...the entire sector should be wiped out and redone. "...is that so..." he said weakly.
His brother flinched and stepped over, resting his hand on Death Star's shoulder. "I'm still the same me." Death Star glanced over his shoulder at North Star's face, studying it for a moment, and then learned the simple truth. That was a lie. They were both changing.
"Yeah," he said with a false smile, "you're still you." He straighten up, deciding to put the problem behind him. The two chatted as if nothing had changed, despite the air of tension surrounding them. A few hours later, Death Star went home. He made a note to come back in a few notes when North Star had a chance to settle down in properly and he got rid of all the overload of recruits coming in.
Sigma flexed his hand, testing it out. Despite the fact only half of his body was completed, his left arm was operational now. Swinging it around in the air, he tested it's speed, satisfied at the amount of power and flexibility it could produce. Aiming at the wall, he unleashed some claws, punching three holes through it like it were paper. Smiling, Sigma turned his attention down to Serges. "Excellent job, Serges."
Serges nodded. "Yes, thank you. Those claws have enough power and strength behind them to punch even through his armor." Agile frowned at the mention of 'his armor'. They were probably referring to Mega Man X again. How could one weak little reploid prove to be so much trouble? He had personally scanned the reploid a few weeks back, finding his skills and power lacking considerably. Sigma, however, retorted, "Don't underestimate him, fool."
Sigma sneered, probably picturing his triumph already. Agile smiled coldly. He would follow Lord Sigma through the flames of hell if need be. Because death could not touch him, not with his true form. No, no one could kill Lord Sigma. Not even X.
Agile teleported into the room to deliver his report. Serges and Sigma both glanced at him, not expecting him to come sneaking in like that. Sigma usually disapproved of such action, but with the news Agile had, he was positive that wouldn't be a problem. "Lord Sigma, I was searching through the area of the last battle against the Hunters like you requested. They must have stopped looking months ago, because they certainly missed the treasure I found."
Sigma glared. "And what is that, Agile?"
Agile smiled, his cocky-ass smile. "I found him, Lord Sigma. I found...Zero." A few moments of silence passed, with Serges and Sigma staring at him in shock. "He was blown into three pieces," Agile continued before they could speak. "While I think we could repair the body, we could never properly get it back online without the control chip, which the Hunters no doubt have."
Sigma's face twisted up into thought. "So the last of the Doctor's creations actually survived intact..."
Serges looked at him. "Shall I repair his body incase we can attain that control chip?"
Sigma shook his head. "No, I have a better idea. When it comes to make our move, Zero's parts could easily be used as a bribing chip to slow down X and the other Hunters. What I want you to do is something much greater. I want you to take Zero's designs, Serges, and build another reploid totally like him."
Serges blinked. "You mean you want me to build a reploid based off Zero's designs?"
"Correct. However, I want him upgraded compared to Zero. Give him the best technology we have. And make him completely loyal to me. I will train this reploid to kill X." Sigma began to laugh at the idea of it. Agile's lips turned up into a cold smile. This would be a glorious day indeed. For when the X-Hunters made their move, the Hunters would be no more.
Beside him was Vertigo, admiring a few flowers. X smiled fondly at the younger reploid, since he had only been online for a few months. He was curious about everything in the world, it seemed, and that was refreshing to X. Almost like he had lost what Vertigo had...but all the others, especially Death Star, claimed he was naive as ever.
Vertigo glanced at him. "You think it'll be a cold winter this year, X?" he asked, expectantly.
X smiled. "Yes, I think we'll have lots of snow." Vertigo smiled at that idea, turning back to look at the flowers. "I've never seen snow before..." Vertigo told him.
"Well, Vert, I promise you this, there'll be a lot of snow this year. You can count on it..." he told him, smiling. Vertigo nodded, believing X's every word. Some people said that Vertigo acted as if X could do no wrong. He frowned suddenly, looking X over.
"So---X..." he began slowly, as if he was thinking of something difficult. Finally it looked as if whatever difficult struggle he was having in his mind resolved itself. "So you still can't call down the armor anymore, X?" he sounded worried.
X shook his head, shivering. He wanted to blame it on the cold. Patting his traditional blue armor, he smiled sadly. "Looks like I'm stuck with this. But I'm sure I'll be able to access the armor if anything bad ever happens."
Vertigo nodded, his green helmet bobbing awkwardly. "I believe you. You can do anything, X," he said proudly. X smiled warmly and patted Vertigo on the back of the head, steering him towards the building again.
"Lets go back inside. We still have to do our chores." X used the world lightly. Their chores was mainly training and keep fit. X himself had to look over all the new recruits in their training. He still didn't know if he was ready to take on such a thing -- was he really ready to lead an army? To be by yourself with no one under your command was one thing, but to lead the entire Hunters into battle was quite different. Even with Dr. Cain and Death Star helping him, it still felt odd.
The two reploids stepped into the building and was greeted by Dr. Cain, who was leaning on his cane, like usual. "Hello X. Vertigo." He paused a moment, smiling and listening to their return greetings. "Vertigo, would you mind if I talked to X privately for just a moment?" he asked gently.
Vertigo shook his head and turned to X. "See you later, X!" he told him and run off down the hallway. X and Dr. Cain watched him run off, each smiling. Finally, they discarded their smiles and each focused on the other.
"What is it, Doctor?" X asked.
"Well, X, it seems that we're reducing the Maverick population down to it's last bit. There's not really much more of it left after the defeat of Sigma and Vile. Basically, it seems, we'll be done with our jobs. The counsel was already hesitant about putting all this money into CorSec and the Hunters if the Mavericks were really being reduced so fast. Well, looks likes their worries were right, but the entire population is breathing easier," Dr. Cain told him.
X grinned. "Well, that's great."
Dr. Cain shook his head and sighed. "I still don't like it, X. We've combed the wreckage of the entire battlefield where we defeated Sigma and Vile yet we have not located Vile, or Sigma, or even Zero. None of their bodies are anywhere."
"Well, I kinda blew Vile out of this world, I think. I don't see how his body could have survived what I put it through. As for Sigma, well, in the end, only thing left was his head..." X told him, pushing back the nightmare he had with Sigma away. "And...well, Zero kinda teleported after taking that damage. But he had died, his circuits failed him."
Dr. Cain nodded. "I suppose I'm worrying about nothing. Still, locating even a few pieces of them would put my mind to rest. You know us old men like to worry..."
"Well, what's Death Star's opinion on it?" X asked.
Cain chuckled. "He thinks I have too much time on my hands and almost wishes a maverick would attack so I would stop worrying."
"And X1?"
"He thinks I need to talk to my plants more. They're not getting enough water, he claims."
"Figures..."
Five robots materialized around Sigma. They opened fire, trying to vaporize him. He reflected the blast back with his claws and slashed one through the head, blowing it up upon contact. Flipping back, he teleported to the side as the rest of them opened fire. Reappearing, he slashed one's back open, causing it to spin out of control and smash into a wall. Grinning, Sigma formed a beam of lasers between his claws and slammed it into the third one, causing it to overload and explode in a fiery inferno. Stepping back, Sigma noted the last two of the five were both heading at him from opposite direction. Pathetic. Instead of letting them crash into each other, Sigma slashed out, tearing apart one's chest. He quickly spun around and kicked the other, instantly crushing it with the sheer force of the hit.
Sigma stepped back, admiring the wreckage around him. "I must say, I think this body is just a bit faster than my old body."
Serges appeared in the room, smiling. "I tried my best, Lord Sigma. Everything is to your liking?"
Sigma nodded and waved his hand around. "Have you been training our new recruits lately?"
"Agile has been drilling the eight mavericks that decided to join the X-Hunters. So far there's no indication that the Hunters even know that we exist. They think they're almost have the Mavericks' on their last leg. It honestly seems that way. Their attacks are becoming less and less every month. I think by next month, there will be no other mavericks even willing to fight. Other than us."
Sigma shook his head. "Sad, really. Letting these humans dominate us like they have."
Serges grinned. "But you'll change that, according to the prophecy."
Sigma nodded. "I suppose. How has our little project been going?"
Serges's grin widen even further. "The 'clone' has been going on nicely. His personality will be different than that of Zero's, but his fighting skills seem even more ficious, if that's possible."
Sigma sneered. "Oh, trust me, we'll make this reploid be the way Zero should have been. It'll all go according to plan."
Serges went silent for a moment. "Lord Sigma?"
"Yes?"
"What shall we name the reploid when he's finished?" asked Serges.
Sigma's sneer became even bigger. "Slash. We'll call him Slash."