North Star slid into the seat next to his and set down glasses of beer down. He pushed one over to Death Star, who graciously accepted it and began to drink. "So, how's your side?"
"Sore. Hurts like flamin' hell, but it's better than being dead. As my new motto says, they're dead and you're not. Catchy, eh?" Death Star asked.
His friend shrugged and glanced around. "Perhaps you should see Cain's new assistant. He's on the medical staff too. What's his name, X1 something..." he suggested.
Death Star gave him a skeptical look. "See X1? Haven't you heard the rumors about that nutcase? They're everywhere. The guy isn't right, they say. Does weird experiments all the time. Like trying to build a chicken. It's crazy if you ask me. They say his coffee ate through the roof in the training center."
North Star grinned. "Sounds like your sort. If you excuse me, I'm going to go over there and talk to those two attractive looking female reploids." His friend stood up and trotted off, leaving Death Star to his drink.
A voice rose up from the corner of the bar. "Hey, everyone, keep it down...Cran's speaking on the HoloVid." Death Star turned his seat over to face the HoloVid.
General Cran stood in front of a group of microphones. "As you know, yesterday should have been the final battle with the Mavericks. We had them cornered, outnumbered, and were badly beating them when they were allowed to escape. I've been given permission to hold an investagation inside the Hunters to see if perhaps some of it's members are indeed Mavericks are jeapordizing the rest of the team. Thank you." The man retreated, ignoring the many questions from the reporters.
Death Star grinded his teeth. He knew at once he didn't like that man and would see to it that he would do anything in his power to kill him. The future, however, had other plans...but the young reploid knew not at that time he would sacrifice his chance to kill Cran to save a friend instead. How much time changes us...
The leader moved against the door and rose his hand up, flicking off 4, 3, 2, 1. The four members opened the door and ran into the dark lab. Glancing around, the leader determined it was on auto sleep. Relaxing their guard, the four Hunters began to explore the lab.
One of the rookies stepped up to the capsule. "Hey, sir!! I think I've found something here...lets try to open it up..." The leader walked over and the two of them searched the capsule over. Finally, the managed to click it open. A hiss came out as the capsule opened up.
Peeking inside, the two saw a red reploid laying back, his eyes closed peacefully. He had long, blonde hair behind him. The leader crossed his arms. "Why build a lab and leave the reploid here by itself? Pfft, makes no sense." He turned his back. "Well, lets get Beta Squadron down here to pick this rep--URK!" the leader began when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His officer looked at him in shock and took an involuntary step back. Glancing down, the leader saw a fist sticking through his chest. Opening his mouth in shock, battery fluid dripped down. The next sound was that of his head being ripped off and thrown across the floor.
The officer scooted back and yelled at the other two officers, who came running. The three of them aimed their blasters at the red reploid. "Mega...Man....Where is Mega Man!?" the red reploid shouted, leaping at them kicking one back into some power generators, short circuiting it. The other two opened fire, but he skillfully leaped between the blasts and grabbed one's head, crushing it beneath his fist. Throwing the lifeless body aside, the red reploid advanced on the last one. "DESTROY MEGA MAN!" He pulled back his fist.
The officer grabbed his comm. "Be-Beta Squadron, HEE--EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" his screamed echoed and died as the red reploid dropped the body, turning at the door as four more reploids broke in. The reploid glanced at them, his hands dripping with the blood of the reploid he just killed. He grinned sinisterly and leaped at the new batch of reploids. Their screams died quickly.
"Where's that red Maverick that wiped out Gamma's unit?" Sigma stood there briefly, waiting.
"He has destroyed Gamma and Beta Squadrons, sir. He's inside the door"
"You may leave. I will handle this personally," Sigma said and began to walk towards the cave.
"By yourself, commander?"
"I don't want any more of my people being sacrificed!" Sigma snarled and he walked over to the blast doors and opened them, stepping in. It took his eyes a nanosecond to adjust to the dim lab. Moving in, he spotted the red maverick immediately. He turned and the two met eyes.
The red maverick launched himself at Sigma with incredible speed, unlike anything Sigma had ever witnessed, but the experienced Hunter easily managed to phase out of the way of the attacks. The punches flew at Sigma's head in fast blurs, so fast the human eye wouldn't have been able to pick them up. No wonder the Gamma and Beta Squadrons were so easily defeated...this would be a challenge unlike any other. Not even Vile proved to be that much of a fighter before he ran off with his tail tucked between his legs. Sigma grinned.
The red maverick seemed more determined at them and began to pick up the rhythm, moving faster than before. The two met head on, the red maverick throwing punches with Sigma putting everything he had into dodging. Finally, the moment came and Sigma grabbed the red maverick, throwing him over his shoulder, allowing him to crash heavily on the floor, breaking it up from the impact.
Phasing over there, Sigma grabbed the red maverick by his head and threw him through the ceiling, lodging his head there. Almost disappointed that his foe had lost so easily, Sigma didn't know if he should be happy or afraid when the red maverick pulled his head back out of the room, glanced down at him, and grinned evilly.
Pushing off the ceiling with amazing speed, the red maverick launched himself at Sigma, his fist stretched out. Sigma, frowning, pulled back and threw his punch out. Both their fists connected in mid air, throwing them back from each other. Sigma phased over to the red maverick and kicked him hard.
Pang. Crash. Pang. Bling. Crash. Pang. Clang. Bang. Clang. The sounds of their blows echoed as metal hit upon metal in fierce combat, Sigma kicking the maverick or punching it back and the maverick retaliating with his own attacks into Sigma's head and chest. The two moved like graceful dancers, only this was a dance of death.
The red maverick jumped into the air, grabbed a pipe attached to the ceiling and wretched it free before landing back on the ground. He threw himself at Sigma and swung with the pipe. Clazzzzzzh. The sound of the pipe connected...into Sigma's saber. The two pushed into each other's weapon, the pipe and saber locked together, shooting off sparks of energy from connecting. Both their metal muscles strained with the intense pressure they were putting themselves under from trying to push into the other for the killing blow. The red maverick got it. He shoved into and past Sigma, moving almost behind him without seemingly touching him.
Sigma roared in pain as his arm crashed to the ground, still holding onto the saber. He collapsed to his knees, roaring in pain as the red maverick began to advance with a sinister grin on his face at the victory. The following moments that followed were sheer fun for the reploid as he began to tear Sigma apart, kicking and bashing into the beaten reploid.
The red maverick grabbed his arm and twisted it behind Sigma. Grabbing Sigma's face, he began to tear it away from his head and twist his other arm off all in one move. Suddenly, a high buzzing sound went off in the red maverick's head, causing him to grab it in pain. Flinging himself back, a W flashed onto the crystal as the maverick tried to block out the pain. Sigma, having recovered by this time, pulled back his arm and slugged the crystal, shattering the W and throwing the red maverick back. A jolt went through Sigma's body and he felt different afterwards...his mind clearer.
The red maverick laid at his feet, out cold. Gripping his damaged arm in pain, Sigma limped out of the mine towards the two Hunters waiting on the hill. Then one of them saw him coming. "Look! It's Commander Sigma!"
"Incredible! Now I'm certain there's no one who's a match for the Commander... what!?" the Hunter started to brag but when he saw Sigma limp past, at death's door almost, his jaw dropped.
"I want that Maverick studied!" shouted Sigma as he walked home.
"Commander? Are you ok?"
Sigma shoved the Hunter aside and mumbles something, trying to come to terms with the new thought that had fused into his head. It had always been there, but that jolt awoke something in him. The circuits Cain designed to keep him from going maverick melted together and formed...a virus.
"Well, Dr. Cain?" came the raspy reply from the shadows. Two white eyes opened in the dark, followed by dark purple scars that shown slightly. "What do we know about this maverick?"
"Seeing as once you knocked him out, all the computers died and were completely erased to our knowledge, we can't say a whole lot about him. I don't think he's a maverick through. He attacked the Beta and Gamma Squadrons probably out of fear and confusions. He didn't get a proper wake up sequence from the capsule like X did..." Cain began, shuddering at the thought of X coming out and slaughtering him.
"So? He's not a threat?" asked the voice.
Cain shook his head. "Not necessarily. I'd like to run a few more tests and scans on him to make sure that he's fine. His memory seems to be locked up and restricted, even to himself. I'm sure if I can talk to him and change a few things to make him forget attacking you all, he'll become a good ally..." Cain told him.
The figure moved out of the shadows. Sigma glared down at the red maverick and grinned. "That's good to hear, Dr. Cain..." He began to walk towards the door.
"Wait, Sigma..." Cain called out. "Though I've repaired your arm and done what I could with your face, I'd still like to run a few scans on you. Make sure everything's okay."
Sigma turned around. "Oh, don't worry about it, sir. I'll get my checkup with X1. He'll be around tomorrow, right? I'll do that..." With that, Sigma reached over and took his cape from the doorway. He was briefly glad he didn't take it with him when fought the maverick yesterday. Would have slowed him down. Attaching it to himself, Sigma strolled down the hallway.
Cain, briefly curious, quickly forgot all about it as he began to study the reploid. "Hmmm...so much like X..." He began to work on repairing the reploid's damage and bring him back online.
"Fascinating..."
Grabbing onto the mirror, he looked into it and saw a demon staring back at him. A robotic demon clad in black armor with a weird looking helmet. Next to him sat a robotic dog, growling and barking. The reploid threw the mirror away and swam around in the abyss, trying to escape something he didn't know.
Blinded by a bright light, the words Destroy Mega Man were drowned out and forgotten, as if a circuit had been blown to remember that command. All the ghostly images faded, leaving only the reploid and the light...which swallowed him up.
Cain shook his head. "I'm bringing the reploid online now. I think I fixed whatever set him off before. I think it was some command that his creator left in but made no sense without a logical purpose or another...scientific talk there. I basically closed away that problem causing command for good."
X glanced at him. "Command? What was it?"
Cain shrugged. "Probably to protect the lab. It was invaded, after all. And the reploid showed no sign of wanting to leave it."
Death Star scowled at the thought of something. "Wait, if this command was to resurface again, wouldn't the reploid just go crazy?"
Cain shook his head. "If it was the lab command, the lab was shut down. No more problems. No reason to go back. If it was something else, chances are the reploid will be more stable like you and X, being able to deal with it at the time. I think this reploid could be a powerful ally if we just give him a chance."
X nodded. "I think it was probably just a zany command. He looks so peaceful."
Death Star nodded. "Yeah, I agree. I sorta like him. I mean, he did kick Sigma's ass single handedly. Cut down on his ego some. And if he could fight that well with a pipe, imagine a real saber. What a duel."
Cain mused. "I would be careful of rubbing in the fact this reploid defeated Sigma. It could make him mad. He already seems sore about it, yet seems very interested in this reploid for some reason."
X shrugged. "He got his ass kicked for once. Of course he's interested in who did it. Even Vile didn't put up that much of a fight before he pulled his troops out."
Death Star glanced at the clock. "Well, I'm going to jet. I have a meeting with North Star. He said he had someone he wanted to meet me. I swear, if he's trying to get me an appointment with that X1 fellow, I'm going to box him." The reploid turned and left.
X cocked an eyebrow. "Why is Death Star avoiding seeing X1?"
Cain shrugged. "I think the lad heard some rumors about X1...all true, probably, and fears that seeing him for medical help would be ... seriously injuring his health."
X crossed his arms. "I ran into X1 a week ago. He was quite an oddball. Ran off in the middle of our conversation. Haven't seen him since. Who he is? He said if he told me, he'd have to kill me or give me a muffin."
Cain smiled assuringly at X. "You have nothing to fear from X1. He's just a bit of an oddfellow. He's a bit of a prototype for his creator so he has some bugs in him, but he's a good guy at heart. Makes a pretty mean coffee too. Man, that'll wake you up or send you to the infirmary."
X sensed that Cain was avoiding the question, but didn't press the matter. Instead, his focus switched to the reploid who began to stir quietly. Walking over, X stood behind the reploid's line of sight so he wouldn't see him when he first woke up. That way X could spy on the reploid for a few more minutes before they made eye contact.
The reploid's eyes flickered open and he gazed around, confused. "Where am I?" he asked weakly.
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 deacivated 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.
"Blueberry boy!? Blueberry boy?! Since when the hell did a reploid gain an attitude like that so quickly?! Bah, must have been a robot first and reprogrammed into a reploid to pick up a personality that fast---" X began and stopped cold in his tracks. The thought must have been a robot first and reprogrammed into a reploid played around in his head. Was he a robot at one time?
X shrugged the thought off and walked out of the lab to tell the Hunter population about Zero's awakening. Cain had already sent the order forbidding ANYONE to tell Zero what he had done. But by next month, most remembering what he did would be dead or Maverick...
X and Cain walked up to him. "Excellent job, Zero. You are an impressive warrior," Cain told him.
Zero grinned. "All in a day's work. I sorta like the idea of the Maverick Hunters." He turned to X. "You should join instead of hanging out in the library. Wouldn't want you to get all fat and lazy."
X scowled. "And you should take it easy, Rambo, before you decide to take on the whole Maverick army yourself and get blown away like a little grease spot."
"I'll do that if that what it takes." Zero walked past X and patted him on the head. "Lets go get some chow and chat. You are the first reploid after all."
"...is that an offer to buy me lunch?" X asked.
Zero laughed. "Me buy YOU lunch? Hell no. That's just an excuse to bother you some more."
X shrugged. "We'll see who bothers who, Blondie."
Zero stopped laughing. "'Blondie'? Hey, are you dissing the hair?! Hey, X, get back here! You get back here, X!" The red reploid ran after his blue companion.
From the shadows of an observation room, Sigma stared down at the room with his arms crossed. Storm Eagle stood behind him, stretching out his wings a bit. "So, why do you keep watching this new reploid? Because he destroyed those units?"
Sigma remained still for a moment before speaking. "Yes. I was hoping he would join ... that's beside the point." He turned, shifting his cape behind him some. "This reploid deserves more observation."
He opened the door, only to find Cain on the other side. "Ah, yes, Sigma, here you are. There's a report of some strange ruin out in the desert area near where Zero was found. I want you to go investigate it with some of your men."
Sigma nodded. "Certainly, sir. Come on Eagle. You and I will check it out." The two teleported away before Cain, who mused a moment, rubbing his beard. Then the old man turned and walked away.
Death Star stopped for a moment from his slashing his sword in the air, a favorite past time in his room. He glanced around the room, eyes narrowing. It was like he had a bad feeling about something, something that was about to happen.
The room was empty, except for it's owner. Everything was neat and orderly so he could see every part of the room. There was nothing in there watching him, even if it felt like there was. Shaking his head slowly, Death Star swiped the air again. And again. Soon he was lost in working on his slashes, only the light of the saber humming before him.
Sighing with relief that the reploid hadn't seen him inside his room, the man waited in the closet two hours before it left. Sliding open the closet door, the man, wearing a technician outfit, reached back up into the corner area where there was a camera. Making sure to stay out of view, he reached up and attached a device to it that allowed feedback to another location also.
The man moved along and opened the door, ducking out quickly. Shutting the door behind him, he pushed his hat further down to cover his face and began to work his way down the hallway, not bothering to hide from anymore cameras. He had finished this wing, attaching feedback devices to all the rooms.
Moving past X, the first reploid created, and some blonde hair reploid, the man didn't bother to give them a direct glance. The blonde hair reploid, however, seemed to give him a good look over, as if he suspected something. Turning around the corner before the reploid could decide to double back, the man worked his way to the training area.
Moving past a few reploids training, he knelt down by the system and began to hook up more feedback devices, along with some controlling ones. Working quickly, he didn't spare much time to sit around. Every now and then he could feel eyes boring down his back, but he didn't care. Finishing up the system, he stood up, grabbed his pouch and placed it back inside his suit. Moving along outside the training area, the man worked his was to the bar and set up a feedback device to the camera.
Every now and then someone would stop him, questioning him about what he was doing. Well trained to lie, the man easily held up his technician identification card and mumbled some excuse about making sure all the machines were running properly. Everyone believed him.
Moving outside the building, the technician grabbed a private comm. "This is Alpha. Do you read my, Delta?"
"Yes, Alpha, Delta here. Was fixing the bird's wing a success?" came the voice.
"Yes, Delta, the bird flew away immediately. I'm returning home to the nest now. Alpha out." The man walked along side the building and stepped into a technician van parked outside the building. Activating the van, he drove away, slowly pulling off his suit and throwing it into the back. Parking the van about five blocks away, the man stood up and put on his normal clothes.
Stepping out the passenger side of the van, which was right next to a dark alley, the man vanished into the shadows, unseen by any. Walking along the alley, he reached down and grabbed a cigar. Putting it to his lips, he lit it and took a drag, blowing the smoke out into the air. "Well, Cran, your eyes and ears are open." Spade moved off into the darkness.
Eagle nodded. "Yeah, Sigma. So, what's the big deal about it? Why send us out here?"
Sigma moved along the area. "Well, if Cran thinks there's something out here, I want to find it." He didn't add on for himself but Eagle seemed to pick it up. He followed after Sigma slowly, as if thinking.
Sigma grabbed a large pillar and threw it aside, letting it roll down the sandy hill. He moved along the area, walking up a series of steps up to the ruined top of the temple. Stepping inside the entrance, both reploids were plunged into darkness. Sigma raised his beam saber and activated it, shedding light into the room.
The inside of the temple was more intact than the outside. There was an altar in the front, with dried blood, and all around it was thick spider webs, with big spiders on them. The air was still, with the smell of death lurking in it. Eagle gave an involuntary grunt. Sigma, however, seemed to thrive on it and moved further inside.
Bending over the altar, Sigma found two large blocks with some writing on it. Grabbing them, he held them up and set them down on the altar. "Eagle, can you read this?"
Eagle walked over to it. "Nah. I never seen this kind of writing before." Sigma frowned, displeased that he couldn't learn what was written on it. "However, it does look a prophecy of some sort. Perhaps we should get it translated by Dr. Cain."
Sigma shook his head. "We'll keep it for now. I want to know what it says. Cran wouldn't tell us more than likely. He has more confidence in X and that new reploid Zero."
Eagle nodded slowly. "Alright, so, we keep it. Gotcha."
Sigma moved away and looked around the temple some more. He felt like there was something else there, but it wasn't meant for him. But for another. Flipping off the beam saber he walked out the temple door and back into the light. Eagle grabbed the two stone tablets and followed.
"What do we report to Dr. Cain?" Eagle asked.
Sigma glanced at him, his eyes flashing underneath the scars as he thought. "We'll tell him we found nothing...there was nothing left here at all. Just a bunch of fallen over statues." Sigma moved past one statue that made Eagle stop and kneel down to get a better look. It was of a creature of the sorts he never saw before and the word 'alien' fell into his mind. Grunting again, he ran to catch up to Sigma.
Zero blasted at the dark demon in front of him. The purple demon flipped out of the way, it's red eyes gleaming beneath blackness of it's face. The purple reploid then flipped into a large mobile suit and powered it up, towering over Zero.
"Well, well, Zero. Time for a good thrashing. Are you ready? I sure as hell am." The mech's arm went back and punched Zero across the room, slamming him into the wall. The series of punches rammed all over Zero's body, sending raw pain throughout his robotic nerves. But he refused to scream.
The demon used it's mech and threw him into an electric cage. Zero realized he was trapped. And he feared...not for himself, but for another. The electronic door opened and X fell into the room. X and the demon were talking, Zero knew that much, but Zero was to worried about X. Why, X? You're not strong enough! I told you to stay behind! WHY, X?
X and the demon battled before Zero. The demon over powered X easily and began to decide what to do with him. Zero knew he had to save X. He had to save X!! HAD TO SAVE X SOMEHOW!!!!
The dream became fussy and the next thing Zero knew, he was laying on the ground in his own blood...own blood...own blood...he was...dead.
Zero shuddered and brought himself into a ball, hugging his legs and stomach. "It's just a dream, Zero...just a dream..." he told himself. He laid in that position until he was sure it was morning. Getting up, he moved across the cold floor and activated his armor, it teleporting around him. The floor was no longer cold to his feet. But the feeling of death was still cold in his heart.