Mega Man 1. The Beginning Chapter 1 Revised

Revise Note: After two complaints about my tense situation, I finally got off my lazy duff and went back to fix the problem. But there are three things you should know about this fanfic.  
  
First of all: As some of you have pointed out, I SUCK AT PAST AND PRESENT TENSE. Believe me, I try to fix them to avoid brain cramps, but it always seems that there is always something wrong with my tenses that drives some of you to tell me otherwise and quit after reading one chapter that's riddled with random tense. Don't let this minor grammar error distract or irritate you from having to read the rest of my fanfic. You'll find that, despite my randomness of past and present in one paragraph, that it is actually something worth showing your friends (If that even happens).  
  
Second of all: I use the names (Both Japanese and American) VERY loosely. Mega Man is a superhero. And like most superheroes, they have normal, everyday names. Which is why I don't use Mega Man or ProtoMan when they aren't fighting for the benefit of mankind. Another reason why I use the names loosely is because only those who don't know him well enough NOT to call him Mega Man will do so based on the public and enemies point of view. Lastly, the reason why I call Forte and Gospel by their American names is because I've grown up knowing American dubbed anime and, not to sound or make you think I'm racist, I happen to like dubbed anime. It may not sound good, and I may be missing out on some "too-violent-for-kiddy" action that isn't seen in the U.S. but I still like them. DEAL WITH IT!  
  
I will vouch for something though: I don't like using Blues' American given name unless I'm doing a fanfic based on the American Cartoon (Like Parallel Mishap) or if I decide to do a MMBN fanfic, which is why I used "Blues" instead of "ProtoMan" or "BreakMan" (Except on some occasional fanfics where Blues is needed to save his brother, BreakMan would be my closest selection).  
  
Last, and least important: I believe some (or one) of you may have missed my point about the use of characters (or I haven't explained it clearly). I know there are three different points of view with the connection of the Original and X series. POV1: Everyone is dead. Either killed by Zero or someone stronger. Some may have survived, some may not have depending on who thinks who should survive in their fanfic. POV2: Mega Man has been upgraded due to extensive injury or because he wants to be stronger and is sealed in some unknown location until he is found or he wakes up. Some of his family members may have survived or he has joined forces with an old enemy to combat a new evil while his closest friends and family have been killed by Zero or someone stronger. POV3 (VERY RARELY POINTED OUT): Mega Man and X are the same person. For some odd reason, whether he had been badly damaged by Zero or worse, Dr. Light had used him to create X, either with his memories still intact or without. This is how I used to think X and Mega Man were before I was pushed into a bandwagon where everyone thinks that X and Mega Man are two different people (Hence why I stuck to POV2). Because of these POVs, I NEVER complain in other peoples fanfics on how they should use their characters, so please don't try and tell me which characters should and should not be used in my fanfic.  
  
I apologies for the long Revise (Pet Peeve) Note, but I wanted to get a few things clear with you readers. If I hadn't driven some of you away from this hanging long note, please enjoy the rest of this fanfic with the knowledge I have bestowed upon you.  
  
1 - A Dark Ending  
  
"I don't know, Dr. Light," Rock mumbled, "Building a robot with the ability to think and make their own decisions sounds kind of dangerous."  
  
"Which is why I'm going to make sure it never happens," Dr. Light said, working on what would be Rock's baby brother on the table in front of him. Rock sat on the other table, swinging his legs back and forth like the typical child he was originally programmed to be long before Wily tried to attack, "Once X is completed, he will be sealed in a diagnostic chamber for 30 years to test his ability to adapt to the world." He then stops and looks down, "It's sad that I won't be able to live long to see that day. When the day comes for X's release, I hope you and Roll are still around to make sure X has a safe welcome."  
  
"Hey, come on, Pop. You made a super warrior out of me," Rock laughed, "Wily couldn't beat his way into this lab with me coming along to stop him."  
  
"And that's what worries me," Dr. Light said, looking at Rock, "Wily hasn't emerged from Skull Castle since his previous defeat. I fear that he is up to something that could very well surpass you, Rock. I don't want you to get too overconfident or this kind of action will become your downfall in the future."  
  
Dr. Light returned to his work on X, "Even now, as we speak, he could be hard at work building a robot stronger than you. There is no telling when he'll set it loose. I just want you to be safe."  
  
"Father...." Was all Rock said before he looked down, now worried as well.  
  
- - -  
  
"How can you do this to me, Wily!?" Bass yelled, "I can destroy Mega Man if you'd just give me a chance! I know I'm stronger than him!"  
  
"Then explain why you keep coming back half dead!" Wily snarled as he worked on the robot in front of him, "You have failed me too many times, Bass. Just like my other Robot Masters. Be thankful I didn't shut you down after your previous failure at destroying Mega Man. But just you wait. My next creation will deal with that blue bug once and for all."  
  
"Why go through the trouble of building more robots when you could use that brain of yours to make me stronger!?" Bass demanded, "I'm sick of just sitting here and watching as stronger robots go to battle. This kind of stuff makes me feel useless!"  
  
A vain throbbed in Wily's forehead. He grabbed an electro-rod and clobbered Bass on the head with it that electrified and forced him to let out a painful scream before he dropped to his hands and knees, gasping and trembling.  
  
"You are forgetting your place, Bass!" Wily snarled as he waved the electro-rod threateningly in front of Bass' face, "Remember, I am the one who created you and Treble. Keep talking to me like that and I'll reduce you to a maintenance bot!" he gripped the electro-rod harder before he slammed it to the ground and turned back to his work.  
  
Bass snarled and stormed out of the room. Wily snorts, goes back to the construction table and looks at an incomplete robot laying on it.  
  
"With or without Bass, it doesn't matter," he mutters, "When I am finished creating this robot, it will take care of Mega Man and his family for good!"  
  
- - -  
  
Rock walked over to the construction table next to the one Dr. Light currently worked on and found another robot laying on it, only this one had been completed.  
  
"What's with the other robot, Dad?" he asked. Dr. Light looked up at the robot in front of Rock. This one looked like Blues, only taller and wore a red and yellow armor vest. The robot also had snow-white, ankle long hair covering most of the table around it.  
  
"Oh, him," Dr. Light looked down, "X would be without a family if we were all dead long before his activation. So I figured he should at least know what its like to be a brother. He will be sealed with X in the capsule for 30 years as well, so the future doesn't suffer a double threat."  
  
Rock continues to stare at the robot before he looks back at Dr. Light, "You know. I feel kinda weird having a baby brother that's taller than me."  
  
Dr. Light looks at Rock a moment before he smiles, "Yes, but his enhancements are too big for me to construct a robot your height. Should X choose to fight for peace, he will need these weapons." He walks over to a monitor and looks at the blueprints of a variety of armor, "And with these armor programs, we can increase X and his brother's powers. But if the world were to be as peaceful as we wish, there would be no need for these."  
  
Suddenly, the double doors swung open. The two turn to see Roll stumble in with Blues on her back.  
  
"Dr. Light! It's Blues! I found him unconscious in an ally! Something's wrong!" she cried.  
  
Dr. Light ran up to Roll, helps her carry Blues to a scanning table, places him inside and activates the scanner's overhead lights as they move over his body and brought his schematics onto the huge monitor in the lab.  
  
"I have feared this would happen," Dr. Light muttered. The two Light bots gave him a confused look.  
  
"W-What're you talking about?" Roll asked. Dr. Light, realizing he had blurted something morbid out, turned to his two children.  
  
"I can't hide it anymore," he said, looking back at the monitor, "Two months ago, I have detected an imbalance in Blues that would eventually kill him. I offered to repair it, but he refused. Now I'm afraid the imbalance has spread throughout his body and there is nothing I can do to fix it."  
  
"Y-you mean he's going to die?" Rock asked, shocked.  
  
"I'm afraid so." Roll covered her mouth when Dr. Light grimly said that. Rock was equally shocked, but he knew how much his brother hated to be operated on, especially with something this serious. And not even he can talk his brother into accepting the offer.  
  
Dr. Light sighed and turned the machine off, "I'd say he has a few more hours before his systems shut down completely. I'm sorry I had to keep this from you. I was afraid if I told you sooner, you would go out of your way to save him against his will." Dr. Light looked grim, then walked off.  
  
Roll slowly walked towards the scanning table where Blues laid, reached a hand toward his face as it quivered, touched his cheek and slowly stroked it downward as if he was a dying animal.  
  
Rock, with his battle instincts keeping him from showing how upset he is, walks up to Roll and places his hands on her shoulders. She reacts by slowly turning to him, staring at him for several minutes before glomping him and crying. Rock looked at her shocked before he moved his hands off her shoulders and around her back, and hugged her comfortably.  
  
- - -  
  
Rock couldn't sleep that night. Having lost a family member, he couldn't think of anything else than what the future had in store for him and his sister. Before long, he would lose another family member, leaving him to tend to the Light Family's problems.  
  
He tried to clear his thoughts. He knew he wasn't ALL alone. He knew Auto and the others would help him maintain everything in Dr. Light's absence. But he worries that they too would eventually leave him. If only there was a way for him to see what would happen to him and his family in the near future.  
  
The sound of wood creaking cut him from his thoughts. Rock turned to the nearly closed door to see a shadow sneak by. Curious, he slipped out of bed and poked his head out.  
  
Roll was moving away from his bedroom. Rock wondered what she could be up to and followed, keeping quiet so she wouldn't find out she was being followed.  
  
She stopped at the double doors of the lab, sighed and pressed some numbers until a chorus of beeps slid the doors open. Once all the way, Roll pokes her head in, looking around. X was still on the construction table, nearly complete.  
  
Roll knew that X would need a control chip in order to function. If she could take Blues' control chip, with his entire memory still stored inside it, and install it into X, she could save Blues.  
  
She walks over to the scanning table. Blues was still laying in there, motionless...and now lifeless. Roll turns Blues to his side, opens his back panel, and slowly and carefully removes the control chip inside. Once in her hand, she moves towards the construction table and stops when she sees the red robot resting on the one next to X.  
  
His resemblance to Blues gave Roll a better idea. Instead of moving towards X, she moved towards his would-be brother, pushed him to his side and opened his back panel. A control chip has already been installed. Roll pulled it out, replaced it with Blues' control chip and closed it.  
  
"I don't want Blues to die. Even if he doesn't like it, we should all still be alive." She mumbles.  
  
Rock had seen the whole thing. Although this would've made him happy knowing that Blues would still be alive in the body of another robot, he also worries about his reaction. Blues never liked being worked on, upgraded or resurrected in a body he's never controlled before. If he goes out of control because of what Roll did, there won't be anything Dr. Light can do to stop him and that would only make everyone more depressed.  
  
- - -  
  
The moment of truth has arrived a few days later. Dr. Light has finished constructing X and it was now time to seal him and his brother in a capsule for diagnostic tests. With everyone in the lab with him, Dr. Light walks over to the red robot, feeling he should be the first to be concealed.  
  
But the minute he touched the robot, he stirred. Startled, Dr. Light stumbled back as the robot groaned and opened his green eyes. He sits up and looked at his white hands, a mixture of confusion and rage painted on his face.  
  
"What...what is this!?" he muttered. Dr. Light was completely shocked.  
  
"He has been activated," Dr. Light mumbled, clearly having no idea of what Roll did to the robot a few nights ago. He was hesitant a bit, but walked up to the robot, "I did not expect you to activate so soon. But in order to make sure you don't do anything that would endanger the world, I must seal you in a capsule to test out your reliability."  
  
He moved to take the robots hand only to see him scowl and throw him back. Rock and Roll ran over to the shocked doctor and helped him to his feet.  
  
"Don't touch me!" he yelled, jumping off the table. The minute he touched the floor, he fell over, nearly taking the table with it. The robot pushed himself to his feet, his knees shaking.  
  
"I-I don't understand what's going on," Dr. Light said, "He has just been activated and already he is showing signs of going insane."  
  
The robot had no clue what Dr. Light was talking about. All he knew was that he had been reconstructed against his will. He backed away from them, his fists throttling before he turned around and ran off.  
  
"N-No! We can't let him loose!" Dr. Light cried, "If the public gains knowledge of a robot with the ability to think and make his own decisions, they would fear him and try to destroy him."  
  
Roll turned white with fear. Scared out of her mind, she released Dr. Light and ran out of the lab. Rock watched her go, but couldn't go after her, afraid that she'd find out he knew why the robot acted so aggressive. He turned back to Dr. Light.  
  
"I'll bring him back, Dad," Rock said. He releases Dr. Light and runs for the door only to feel his arm snag. He turns to see Dr. Light's hand squeeze his elbow and nearly get dragged across the floor.  
  
"No. I can't lose you too, Rock," Dr. Light said, "Without you, the world will be in even greater danger than it already is. We need you here so that if Wily finds out about this, he won't break in to steal X. If that happens, than the whole world is doomed."  
  
"But...but the government will capture the robot and destroy him. Then X won't have anyone his stature to talk to."  
  
Dr. Light looks down, "I know. I'm afraid it's a risk we all must take. But with you still around, he may still have a chance to live a peaceful life."  
  
Rock looks at Dr. Light. His eyes were filled with fear, agony and remorse. He knew his own safety must be better than the pleasures of a robot soon to be born in 30 years.  
  
- - -  
  
Some people, however, can't wait 30 years for their robots to be more reliable to humans. Dr. Wily, eager to destroy Mega Man, activated his creation the minute he was done building him.  
  
The robot, all red and white with a cat-like helmet and blonde hair, laid in a capsule, ready to be activated. Wily pressed a few buttons, causing a whirring sound to echo throughout the room. The glass door slid open as the red robot sat up.  
  
"Ah, Zero," Dr. Wily said, overjoyed, "My masterpiece. You have finally awakened. I have many things in store for you...my son."  
  
Zero opens his eyes and looks at Wily coldly. Wily was a bit shaken, but ignores it. This was the same look he was given when he activated Bass and Treble. He knew Zero would probably get used to him eventually.  
  
"Now then. Onto business." Wily walks over to a monitor and turns it on. The monitor showed a picture of Dr. Light, "This is Dr. Light. He is my nemesis. A too-goody man making robots for the benefit of mankind." Wily pressed a button. The monitor switched to Rock, "And this is his creation, Mega Man. For many years, I have been trying to fight for control of the universe, but whenever I do, he always shows up and ruins them along with his robotic family."  
  
Wily switches off the monitor and turns to Zero, his fists clenched, "Our rivalry is what gives me motivation in life. And with you, they will think differently. I want you to seek Dr. Light and his creations, AND DESTROY THEM!"  
  
Zero steps out of the capsule and stares at Wily some more. Wily thought that Zero was going to rebel against him, but the cold-eyed robot turns and calmly walks out of the lab.  
  
- - -  
  
Bass kicks an empty E-Can against the door. He was sick of Wily building robots to destroy Mega Man without once letting him either lead the army or fight the blue brat himself. After his second failed mission to destroy Mega Man, Wily slowly stopped using him for battle and went to build robots that are even stronger than Bass. The more robots he saw battling and losing to Mega Man, the more fueled up his rage became until he can no longer take it.  
  
Treble, laying on his side on one of the "Dr.W" labeled creates in the cargo room, had been watching him kick things for the past 72 hours. He hates it when Bass gets this pissed off, but there was nothing he can do to get him to calm down. Wily had created Treble for the soul purpose of supporting Bass. As the days went by, their bond grew, as if Bass truly had a warm heart. Because of this, he would only listen to Bass and no one else. Even Wily had problems controlling him without Bass around to calm him down during rough housing moments.  
  
After another hour of knocking things over, Bass finally calmed down. He just stood there, looking at the mess he made and lowered his head.  
  
"That fool, Wily," Bass muttered, "Thinking he can make stronger robots when the real warrior is standing right in front of him. He's starting to act as though I no longer exist. If he isn't that interested in me anymore, why doesn't he just deactivate me and throw me into the ocean below!?" Treble lifted his head upon hearing that, but Bass didn't seem to notice as he slams his fist into the palm of his hand, "Well, the time has come for me to remind Wily why he made me!" he turns to Treble, "Come, Treble! We're going to find Mega Man and destroy him by ourselves!"  
  
Treble gets up, jumps towards Bass, and fuses into him to form his Super Armor. The thruster below his wings ignites a violet burst of flames as they blast through the door of the cargo room and out of Skull Castle.  
  
- - -  
  
Dr. Light continued to dread over the actions his robot had caused when he fled the lab. He stared at X, his hands rested on the table near his arm were shaking. He had managed to install the control chip into him, but was afraid to turn him on. Doing so may cause him to be just as out of control as the robot he was supposed to call brother in the near future.  
  
"You're not going to activate him and introduce yourself?" Auto asked. Dr. Light's head snapped up and turned toward him. His mouth hung open in silence for a minute before he looked down.  
  
"No. I will not risk activating him just for a simple greeting and to explain what is going on," Dr. Light said, "I have installed the control chip so that he will be able to move. But I must seal him before he wakes up." He looked at Auto, "Will...will you help me?"  
  
"Of course! That's what you built me to do." Auto said, throwing his hand on his arm and squeezing it.  
  
- - -  
  
From the roof of a building, Duo stands, his eyes closed and looking down.  
  
"So...there is still some Evil Energy left on this planet," he says to himself, "And Wily has managed to use it to build a dangerous robot. If I don't stop him, the Evil Energy will consume him and not even Wily can control him."  
  
Duo walked towards the edge, feeling the presence of the energy growing stronger as it neared him. He looked down to see Zero wander the streets, taking in his surroundings.  
  
A boy rode along the sidewalk on his skateboard, nearing Zero unexpectedly.  
  
"No, he will be killed," Duo muttered.  
  
"Huh!?" the boy caught Zero coming to a halt and stumbled off his skateboard, landing on his rump and staring at the towering robot leering at him, "W-Why didn't you move? You saw me!"  
  
Zero continued to stare at him. A chill ran down the boy's spine as he whimpered and got up to run. Zero followed his movements, then forms his Z-Buster and points it at the fleeing boy, releasing a powerful shot towards him.  
  
"NO!" Duo jumps off the roof and lands behind the fleeing boy, swiping the blast with his distorted, glowing hand and absorbing its plasma, "I will not allow you to harm the innocence!"  
  
Duo walks towards Zero who didn't seem fazed by his appearance, "What's the matter? Has the evil doctor programmed you not to speak? Or are you thinking that calm and cool makes you a better robot?"  
  
Zero frowned and fired another blast at Duo only to see him use his glowing hand to absorb it. His mouth curves into a snarl as he charges towards Duo in an attempt to punch him, but ends up seeing the huge hand of the towering robot cover his face and felt the ground leave his feet.  
  
"You are possessed by the Evil Energy. I cannot free you from it, so I have no choice but to destroy you." Duo raised his hand as it burst into flames and aimed it at Zero's chest, "One blast will disable you permanently. If you weren't controlled by the energy, you may be able to do some good to these humans.  
  
"Look! That must be the robot responsible for killing three humans!" came a voice. Duo's eyes widened and turned to see Rock on Jet Rush's back, head toward them.  
  
"No! Mega Man, get back!" Duo yelled.  
  
"What!?"  
  
Zero saw this opportunity to break free and kicks Duo in the face, knocking him into the window of a bakery and forcing him to release his grip on the red robots neck. Zero lands on the ground and faces Rock and Rush.  
  
"You...are Mega Man," Zero muttered, "I will destroy you!"  
  
"W-What're you talking about?" Rock muttered as he and Rush backed away. Zero forms his Z-Buster and aims it at Rock's chest. Scared, he formed his Mega-Buster and fired at Zero, knocking him back a few feet.  
  
"W-What is he?" Rock asked, his quivering Mega-Buster still aimed at Zero as he regained his balance and continued toward him, "I've never been this scared before in my life!"  
  
"Destroy!" Zero yells again. He points his Z-Buster at Rock and fires. The two robots yelped and split as the blast sailed past them and slammed into a light post, which caused it to melt and bend over.  
  
Rock gets up and looks at the melted light post, "Wow! That's some firepower! I'd better be careful so it doesn't hit me!" he turns back to Zero to see him continue to advance toward him. Shaken, he continues to back away, charging his Mega-Buster and firing a charged shot.  
  
The shot connects and Zero is sent flying into another light post, causing it to bend slightly. Rock thought he was out cold, until he saw Zero get up and look at him with an evil grin stretched across his face.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" Zero asked coldly, "I barely felt it."  
  
Rock was now completely out of ideas. Rush, seeing just how frightened Rock was, snarls and jumps at Zero. The red robot attempts to move, but the robotic K-9 was faster than he and receives a painful bite to the shoulder the minute Rush lands on his back.  
  
The robot screamed, grabbed Rush by the scruff of his neck, rips him off his chest and throws him in the air. He then points his Z-Buster at the falling robo-dog and releases another blast that engulfed his whole body.  
  
Rock watched in horror as the silhouette resembling Rush slowly began to fall apart from the blast until there was nothing left. He looks back at Zero who smiles at the move he made, not once regretting what he did.  
  
Outraged, the blue robot yells and points his Mega-Buster at Zero, firing another super shot. Zero sees it and merely jumps out of the way. Rock looks up to see him high in the air.  
  
"Mega Man is destroyed!" Zero yells as he points his Z-Buster at Rock and fires a blast bigger than what he used on Rush and the light post. Rock didn't have time to dodge and was caught in the blast.  
  
- - -  
  
Bass flies around the sky, continuing his search for Rock when he heard him screaming in the distance. Following the sound, he stops to see Rock hit the ground, blown in half, part of the skin on his face ripped off, revealing the metal underneath. Every part of his body that was ripped open was sparking and spilling fluid all over the sidewalk.  
  
"What!?" Bass was outraged. He lands behind Zero and points at him, "Hey! Who the hell are you and what have you done to him!?" Zero merely turns around to face him.  
  
"Are you a friend of his?" Zero asked, "I will destroy anyone who follows him."  
  
"Friend!? He is not my friend! He is my target and you have no right to destroy what I should destroy!"  
  
"It doesn't matter what you are, I will destroy anyone who gets in my way!" Zero points his Z-Buster at Bass and fires.  
  
"Since I can't destroy Mega Man anymore, I will take my anger out on you!" Bass flies into the air and points his Bass-Buster at Zero, firing a ray of plasma pellets at him. The ray pushes Zero back, but he didn't show any signs of going down, "Why won't you die!?"  
  
The fact that the beam only pushed Zero back fueled his anger. He charged his buster and sent a huge blast toward Zero, which slammed into him and exploded. But when the smoke cleared, Zero was still there, knelt down, his arms covering his face.  
  
"You are just as weak as Mega Man." Zero said. Bass was now as shocked as Rock was before he got blasted. Zero pointed his Z-Buster at him and fired a powerful shot that blew him clear out of the sky.  
  
Bass hits the ground with a hole in his chest, separated from Treble who lands right beside him, most of his armor scratched and torn slightly. Zero stoops over the weakened, black robot, pointing his Z-Buster at his head.  
  
"Say goodnight," he seethed. But before Zero had a chance to finish Bass off, a "W" appeared on the gem on his helmet, followed by a buzzing sound that only he could hear. His eyes shrank as an unidentified piercing pain throbbed in his head. His hand slipped out of his Z-Buster as he grabbed his head and stumbled back, screaming in pain and agony before he disappeared in a beam of red light.  
  
Treble regains consciousness and drags himself to his feet, looking in front of him to see his one and only master and friend laying in a pool of his own fluid, groaning and trembling. Whimpering, he hobbles over to Bass and nudges him.  
  
Bass opens a weak eye and looks at Treble, "It's...it's over...Treble.... M-My repair systems have been severed...and my energy is fading fast...." Treble continues to whimper and grabs his arm, attempting to drag him when Bass wiggles it loose, "Don't...Treble.... There is no point of me...going back to Wily.... He probably favors...that red robot now.... I...I hate to have to do this...but from now on...I am no longer...your master.... Erase me from your memory. It is time you found someone else to take care of you...."  
  
Treble was forced to sit and watch as Bass slowly died in front of him. Because Wily never programmed him to feel emotions, he never knew what it was like to feel the pain of loss...until now. With nothing further, Treble lifts his head up and howls.  
  
- - -  
  
Duo pulls himself out of the bakery, seeing Rock's torn up body laying on the floor. He walks over and bends down to place a hand on his chest.  
  
"He is barely alive," Duo says, "That is good. I may be able to save him. But it is risky."  
  
Duo lifts his left hand and grunts, until a ball of blue fire floats above it, "This is 50% of my power. It is enough to revive you. But it is very risky because you cannot even control one percent of it." He places the ball on Rock's chest as it sinks in, "I will take you back to Dr. Light. Maybe he can do something to help you control your power."  
  
- - -  
  
"Y-You destroyed Mega Man!?" Wily yelped.  
  
"I did as you ordered, Wily." Zero said, rubbing his Z-Buster. Wily, instead being frightened, was overjoyed.  
  
"You are more than I expected! You will make a great addition to my robot army!" he then walks over to the monitor, "Now. Since Mega Man is permanently out of the way, we can get onto other matters. Before we can plan on world domination, I want you to go and destroy Dr. Light and the rest of his robots!"  
  
But Zero just stared at him. Wily was getting impatient, "What's the matter? Did the blasts disable your hearing sensors? I said track down Dr. Light and destroy him!"  
  
"So...I am nothing but your tool...." Zero muttered as he looked at the "Dr.W" signs on the wall, "That letter.... I saw a similar one on my forehead when my head started to hurt from all that buzzing."  
  
"I may've been reluctant to Dr. Light's warnings, but I know which line not to step over. I won't waste 30 years of my life waiting for the test to confirm your reliability, only to have some goody-to-shoe scientist wake you up and turn you to the wrong side, so I have installed a neutralizer in your control chip so that it will stop you when your murderous level reaches its peak."  
  
Zero turned to Wily. The emotionless look on his face made him cringe a bit.  
  
"Is that so...." Zero starts to advance towards Wily, "Well...I have decided to control my own life from now on."  
  
"N-Now just a minute here, Zero. There is a rule that says you cannot harm a human being!"  
  
"Rules? You didn't program me to follow rules, Wily," Zero said, "Therefore, the rule of harming a human being means nothing to me."  
  
"O-Oh dear! What have I done!?" Wily whimpered, "I should've checked the blueprints I stole from Dr. Light closer before designing this robot." Wily began to back up as Zero closed in on him, "P-Please. Don't do this! Without me, you won't live long. You will die just like everyone else."  
  
"I will never die. I will destroy any human who tries to control me. Including you."  
  
Wily backed himself into a corner. Realizing he was trapped, he brought his hands up for defense as Zero stooped over him, "N-No! Y-You can't do this!"  
  
His scream echoed throughout the whole desert. Then nothing but wind was heard.  
  
- - -  
  
Duo explained everything to Dr. Light when he saw what happened to Rock. He nodded grimly.  
  
"I see," Dr. Light said, a bit upset, "I wonder if the diagnostic chamber meant to hold one of my latest creations would help strengthen Rock's hold on his new powers."  
  
"It is worth a try," Duo said, "As long as Rock sleeps for 30 years at the most, he will be able to control his powers. He may suffer some permanent side-effects from the power, but I believe he will pull through."  
  
"I will try everything I can to make sure Rock has the same future as X." Duo nods and places the torn Rock into the capsule, the glass sliding shut.  
  
Duo then looks at Dr. Light. He hasn't told him who did this. It would upset him more, "I know the future won't be pretty without Mega Man. But there are others who will try to protect the future. Even with your passing, the future will still go on to be as peaceful as before the war."  
  
"I hope so...." Dr. Light says as he looks at the capsule, "I hope so...."  
  
- - -  
  
Standing among the cliff deep in the mountains is the robot that escaped Dr. Light's lab with Blues memories keeping him alive. For some reason, the robot had realized that these weren't his memories. They were memories of a robot he can't quite name. He was too outraged to ask Dr. Light who he was or where he got the memories from. But now he figured it was too late. The doctor he shoved probably wasn't going to accept him back or stay by long enough to answer his question. He knew he would have to figure this out on his own.  
  
He looks at the sun as it slowly sets. Unknown to him, a new adventure was about to change his life forever....  
  
OOC: Well, I did the best I could so far. Probably when I read the fanfic again, I'll end up having to change more of the paragraphs to make them less randomly tensed.  
  
Next Chapter: 100 years have passed since the somewhat tragic end of 20XX. The year is now 21XX and a robot society seems to be nothing but a mere rumor. But one organization has been constructed to keep it going. The introduction of Robot Rescue. It starts out with few volunteers and it barely made a difference in the way people think about robots.  
  
But when one special person comes in and volunteers, the spark of Robot Rescue becomes brighter than ever. Plus, a new age of robots is about to be born when Dr. Cain discovers Dr. Light's ruined lab and finds X buried inside (I'm pretty sure you know the outcome, but this is supposed to be a half-humorous spoof on the MMX games...you'll find out later). 


	2. The Beginning Chapter 2 Revised

Revise Note: I went a little deeper in the angst and questionable scenes of this chapter. I also got rid of some of the grammer problems to make them a little more understandable. The angst scene was more of an inspiration of the "anti-drug" commercials (Which may give some of the grown ups reading this fanfic reasons to tell their kids not to smoke...like that ever happens).  
  
2 - A New Start on Robot Civilization  
  
Many years have passed since 20XX. All of Dr. Light's robots have long since disappeared for various reasons and with no one around to keep an eye on the capsules, X has yet to be unleashed into the world. Dr. Light, himself, grew old and died of natural causes (Or so the history books claim).  
  
The old city of Tokyo has become nothing more than a ghost town almost buried in sand along with the remains of Dr. Light's lab and the shack where X resides. There has been no word on the whereabouts of his other robots. Giving up on the search, everyone assumed that with the death of Dr. Wily at the hands of his own creation, everything was going to turn back to normal with the addition of Dr. Light's last line of robots. But the robots left by the good doctor only served to obey society, not have a life of their own.  
  
Because of this, everyone went back to believing that robots were nothing more than tools created to do what everyone told them to do. They never reacted to the way humans have been treating them like most of the robots created just for family purposes. Dr. Light seemed to have lost his will to make those anymore. As he was dying, his only hope was that X would wake up in a world where, despite how robots are being treated by the humans, he could learn to adapt to the world as the first (And possibly only) robot to have human feelings.  
  
- - -  
  
The year is now 21XX. Because of the way humans have been treating Dr. Light's last creations, not many robots were left on the planet. Very few were left for very rich people, but even some of them have forgotten how robots should have been treated.  
  
A lot of the robots that were unable to work have ended up in the junkyard or torn down for parts. But one person was about to change all that. He and a few of his mechanical nerds have pitched in and with the money they got from high-paying jobs, opened up a hospital for robots called "Robot Rescue". It was a non-profit organization created for the soul purpose of finding and repairing broken robots and sending them to people who knew how to take better care of them.  
  
Unfortunately, they only made the situation between robots and humans worse by giving them to people who are too lazy to do simple things themselves. And due to the lack of knowledge on how robots should really live, very few volunteers came in, expecting to be paid rather than have a feeling for robots and coming in to make a difference. Most of the other volunteers were robots who had very little emotions and reactions against human activities towards them.  
  
- - -  
  
A year later, the robot (who fled Dr. Light's lab in confusion and anger years ago) appeared at the doors of Robot Rescue. The people walking around him all murmured at how he looked. He still had the same features as when he disappeared from the world, except this time, he wore a yellow scarf and black shades and his hair was tied into a very long braid. The robot can barely remember why he wanted to wear these, but despite this, even he thought it made him look cool.  
  
Most of the people who saw him had chills running down their spines and would quickly move away from him, but the robot paid no heed to them. He just turned his attention to the door and walked in.  
  
The woman at the check out desk was also shaken by his appearance. He seemed so dark and emotionless. She, not knowing what to expect, ask what he wanted. She was soon surprised when he mentioned wanting to change his life. More confused, she brought him to the president of Robot Rescue for a private interview.  
  
The robot didn't say much, except that he owed the world for nearly abandoning his doctor's last wishes. The president had no idea what he was talking about and the robot knew it both by looking at him and by how long he had been around. He reluctantly opened his left arm and showed the president what he was talking about.  
  
Almost everyone in the President's office gasped when they saw what was inside his arm. Right then and there, the robot had proven to them that he was the very first of the mechanical species to actually have human feelings. The president was overjoyed and wanted to use this discovery to prove to everyone that robots have feelings too. As for the robot himself, he was placed in lab 14, the only lab in the center who's volunteers weren't ordinary humans or robots. This made the robot very uncomfortable, but he knew that in order to get familiar with the human world, he would have to put up with it.  
  
There were three "people" in lab 14. One of them is an 18-year-old computer freak named Skie. He had white hair that reached his knees and wore a black and yellow trench coat over a black shirt and pants. He has no memory of his past, though he never bothers to find it. The volunteers claim that he's been having nightmares that may have something to do with his forgotten past.  
  
Another is a 16-year-old girl named Gato. Parts of her clothes were cat-related as well as her ears and tail. Some say she had the ability to morph into a cat at will. She came in with Skie, which had some volunteers believing that she had something to do with his past. But no matter how much they ask, she wouldn't tell.  
  
The last volunteer in 14 is a 20-year-old boy named Fig. He wore a red, hooded, unzipped sweater with white fire patterns on the collar of his sleeves over a white sweater, white pants that also had fire pattern on either sides of his outer legs, white and red gloves and sneakers. He had red hair that reached his ankles, tied back in a bandaged ponytail and goggles on his forehead with wing patterns near towards the curve. Most of the people thought the wings were genetically attached to his head because they moved depending on the mood he'd be in.  
  
Fig was different from everyone else in a strange way. In fact, before the robot came along, he used to be the most talked about volunteer in Robot Rescue not because of his unique ability to turn into a fire-based robot at will, but because he was one of the three high-school students who survived a chemistry explosion during a biology fieldtrip into one of the most radioactive labs in Tokyo. Most of the students who were caught in the explosion have died due to radiation poisoning. Fig was the first to recover from his coma, the other two were still being examined for any side effects from the accident, their chances of waking up were still questionable. Since then, Fig went by two names: his human name and his robotic name, Fire-Star.  
  
Skie and Gato didn't like their new partner. He looked more stuck up than he wanted them to believe. They didn't like people who sits back and looks at them like he didn't have a care in the world. Fig, on the other hand, knew that the robot was just built to act like a punk. He figured the two were going to get used to him eventually.  
  
- - -  
  
Robot Rescue wasn't a 24-hour a day center. Because most of the volunteers were either human or nearly rusted robots, the president had to set a closing time for tomorrow. Fig never really told anyone where he lived, thinking that his partners/friends would risk their career to help him escape his family problems.  
  
His birth parents were drug addicts. They spent most of their life arguing, smoking and drinking until their tolerance level reached its limit. The worst time for them to get this bad was during the night. Fig had problems sleeping with his parents constantly arguing over the simplest things. Whenever he tried to get them to stop, they would either beat him up or pretend he didn't even exist.  
  
When things got worse, he would retreat to his grandfather's house for a few weeks until things were back to "normal". But while his grandfather wasn't as bad as his parents, he had a few things that would sometimes embarrass Fig in front of his friends.  
  
Dr. Cain is an archeologist who never admits that he's an old man. Fig has been having problems trying to get him to stop doing things that he was way too old to do and would sometimes break his back trying. But despite this problem, Dr. Cain had taken better care of Fig more than the people who brought him to this world in the first place. He would sometimes wonder why Fig still insists on going back home when he knew his parents no longer loved him like they used to and would care less what he did with his life.  
  
Fig arrived at the gate of his home. It was a peaceful white house with a wooden arch covered in vines. He sighed and opened the gate, walking to the door of the house and opening it. His parents were inside, staring at the TV like mindless zombies, the whole house smelling like the usual burnt tobacco he was forced to smell every single day. His parents' condition continued to worsen, their body pale and thin to the bone, their face baggy and wrinkly as if they hadn't slept in years.  
  
The minute he stepped into the tobacco-scented room, his parents creaked their heads toward him, their blood shot eyes scanning his appearance.  
  
"Well...look who finally came through the door...." Fig's mother mumbled, half-sick.  
  
"Where have you been all day," his father mumbled in a not so loving way, the marijuana flapping up and down with each move of his lips, "Working at that god-damn repair center again, haven't you."  
  
"It's not a repair center, it's a robot hospital!" Fig said, "Besides, when do you care what I do anymore? Ever since you started burning weed, you made me feel like a ghost to you. It's gotten to a point where I just want to get away from you two for good."  
  
"Then why don't you?" the father said, getting up, "You don't seem to care who brought you into this world in the first place. Why don't you just grab your things and find someone else to live with?"  
  
"Fat chance," Fig's mother said, "Our son isn't worth the time we put into raising him. Who'd want to take him in after all this time? He's just going to end up in some ally with nothing but a box and a soggy, old newspaper serving as his shelter."  
  
"Then why did you give birth to him in the first place!?" the father yelled, turning to the mother, "'Oh, but we must have a child! Every married couple HAS to have a child!' You should've known the problems we would have raising this sorry excuse for a son, and yet you insisted we have one!"  
  
"Are you accusing me of WANTING a child and expecting god to give us a damn manual on how to raise him!? I didn't have it alone, you know! You stuck your manhood into this plan too! Why don't you prove you care about him once in a while instead of just pushing him aside like he was some sick animal!?"  
  
"Oh, and I suppose you're just going to sit back and snort coke up your nose while I work my butt and our life savings off trying to keep him alive!? Fig should've learned to take care of himself when he turned 10, but nooooooooooooooooo! You said that he couldn't leave this house until he's 18! Well, guess what!? He's now 20 years old and he still lives here, too helpless to find a real job and get his own life!"  
  
"What!? That isn't why I keep coming back here!" Fig said, "The doctor told me to take care of you two because your condition was getting worse! If you don't take it easy on those drugs, it could kill you! I love you guys too much to lose you!"  
  
Both his parents stopped arguing and glared at him. His mother huffed a cloud of foul scented smoke.  
  
"Love? You keep disappearing from us for over 10 years and you have the nerves to say that you still love us?"  
  
Fig began to back up, "Well...I...." his father turned and walked up to him, forcing him to continue moving backwards until his back hit the screen door.  
  
"It's those damn schools," he muttered, "not one of the teachers he listened to taught him the true meaning of 'love'."  
  
"T-That's not true! I know what love is! Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten a volunteer job at a robot hospital!"  
  
Fig's father turned around, throwing his hands in the air and nearly smacking him in the face, "There, you see!? Brain damage! The kid's so obsessed with robots, he thinks they could live like the rest of us! I'm beginning to think that explosion he got involved in had somehow brainwashed him to believe that robots can live like humans and not like the roles they were programmed to do."  
  
"B-But...."  
  
"I've heard enough!" the father whipped around and sent his bony hand into Fig's chest, shoving him into the screen door and knocking it off its hinges, both hitting the cobblestone floor. Fig soon sat up to see him stand near the top steps of the porch, glaring at him, "I don't want to see your face in this house again! Go steal a cardboard box and spend the rest of your life where you belong...OUT IN THE STREETS!!!" with that, he walks back into the house and slams the door.  
  
- - -  
  
"They did WHAT!?" Dr. Cain wailed when Fig told him why he was moving into his mansion.  
  
Fig fiddled with the zipper of his red sweater, trying to fight the tears that were spilling down his face, "They think I don't know the true meaning of the word 'love'. I tried convincing them that I care about them despite what they do to me, and instead of sympathy, they think I've been taught by teachers who're too stupid to understand life. Now that they've pushed me out of their life, I don't have anywhere else to go." His mouth quivered, "I...I don't want to live in the streets the rest of my life!"  
  
Dr. Cain walked up to Fig and pats him on the shoulder, laughing, "Who said you should live in the streets just because you're parents threw you out? You've got me after all. I ain't dyin' too soon, you know that! Besides, I was hoping you'd move in anyway. Things have been so lonely around here I could always use the company...even if you aren't home all the time." He then put his arm around the back of Fig's neck, "Come on. I've got dinner on the table that's getting cold."  
  
Fig tried to smile as he let his grandfather escort him to the dinner table. When they got to the table, Fig was shocked to see the red robot sitting there, head resting on his hand.  
  
"Ah, I see you've met our new family member," Dr. Cain said as he walked over to the table, "Funny thing too. I found him sitting on an old box in an ally and, after finding out he also didn't have a home to go to, decided to bring him here. I just couldn't believe someone had the nerves to throw out a robot with this much technology programmed into him. The ability to be like a human. If he had a brother, I'd probably give up research and become a robot designer like that old creator, Dr. Light."  
  
The red robots eyes widened behind his shades. Fig took a seat next to him and both had a quiet dinner for a few minutes until Fig looked at him again.  
  
"You know, that reminds me," he said, "I didn't quite catch your name."  
  
"Name?" the robot sounded like he didn't know the meaning of the word.  
  
"Well...since you'll be staying with us, it's only fair that we know your name." The robot looked down, muffling a grunt.  
  
"I...I can't say," he said, "these memories I have...it feels like they belong to someone else. There is a name in my head, but I don't want to say it for fear that this robot would eventually return and claim I'm an imposter."  
  
Fig just stared at him. He had never met someone who wandered the planet for over 100 years without a name he could feel comfortable with. Dr. Cain grinned.  
  
"I know what it is," he said, "People who don't hear their names for a long time eventually forget who they are. Kind of hard for a robot to do the same, especially when he thinks that it doesn't belong to him," He then scratched his beard, "Hmm.... Since he doesn't remember his name, we'll just have to give him one." He began studying the robot's appearance, "You remind me of someone that hasn't been around in ages. But who?"  
  
Fig also studied the robot's appearance, and soon noticed something drawn onto the right side of his belt, "Hey. There's some kind of insignia on your belt."  
  
The robot looked at the marks on his belt. It looked like a slanted "X" with a slanted "P" in front of it. After staring at it, Dr. Cain snapped his fingers.  
  
"That's it! We'll call you ProtoX!" he laughed.  
  
"Proto...X...?" the robot muttered, "It...it sounds familiar...somehow."  
  
"Well, given time, I'm sure you might get an idea on where those memories." Fig said, "Right now, you just need to learn how to adjust to life as a human. Who knows? You might run into someone you might have remembered some time ago."  
  
ProtoX looked at his folded hands sitting on the table. For all he knew, the people in the memories he was permanently stuck with could be long gone. What are the chances he'll see someone he could easily point out by appearance?  
  
- - -  
  
It had been five months since ProtoX's appearance at Robot Rescue. By then, everyone had gotten used to his mostly serious expressions. He was at least helping Lab 14 repair the robots that were brought in from the junkyard and Skie and Gato had gotten used to him being here and he was more than used to everything around him.  
  
One day, Dr. Cain pulled him and Fig out of their volunteer job for an archeological trip to another historical sight to study mosaic plant life. He kept a log in his voice-logged journal on what he found during the excavation. Nothing much was said about his discovery and he had already moved to three different sights within the past few days.  
  
Then one day, they arrived in a desert that used to be a city with most of the demolished concrete and poles that used to be buildings barely sticking out of the sandy ground. Dr. Cain noticed a change in ProtoX's expression, like he had been homesick for 100 years. More shocking was that he never told anyone why he felt this way. Even Fig couldn't figure out why he was acting strange.  
  
The next day, one of the archeologists found something in one of the grids they were excavating. There was detection of some kind of metal 30 feet underground. Dr. Cain disregarded it as a buried soda can since they had already dug up several of those in the other grid areas and went back to examining some of the things they found in those said areas. However, ProtoX never left the grid.  
  
He just stood there, staring at the very spot the archeologist had pointed out, his expression even more homesick than when he first arrived in old Tokyo. The rest of the day, ProtoX was just silent. He never talked much and he spent dinnertime in front of that very grid, staring at what might be underground.  
  
That night, ProtoX came into Dr. Cain's tent, seeing the archeologist talking in his voice-logged journal about what happened during the day. When he noticed the red robot at the door, he shuts off his journal.  
  
"Ah, ProtoX," Dr. Cain said, "I was about to go out and get you. I take it you aren't here for idle chat?"  
  
"It's about that grid you ignored earlier," ProtoX said, "I...seem to remember a lab buried underneath there. A lab I remember waking up in.... It seems to belong to that robot creator I saw on the Internet."  
  
"Yes? Go on."  
  
"Well...I believe that whatever is buried under there might be one of Dr. Light's hidden shacks where he keeps all his top secret robots."  
  
"You serious? The sand didn't get into your systems, did it?"  
  
ProtoX gritted his teeth, "I'm not kidding, gramps! These memories I have seem to link to that grid area. I think your team should dig it up tomorrow to see if I'm right."  
  
Dr. Cain stroked his beard, "Hmmm.... I suppose we could see what's buried under there. Might be worth something after all." He looked at ProtoX, "Very well. We'll start tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks, Dr. Cain."  
  
- - -  
  
Early the next morning, Dr. Cain had his team dig up the grid ProtoX pointed out last night. After half a day of digging, they were shocked to find out that instead of what Dr. Cain had predicted, they had found an underground lab that looked like it was involved in some kind of explosion.  
  
ProtoX jumped down into the old lab and looked around, his expression becoming more and more gloomy with each scan. What he saw in the old labs were identical to the nameless robots memories of 100 years ago before he came along. He found an old cabinet that wasn't nearly as destroyed as the lab itself.  
  
Walking over to the cabinet, ProtoX reached out to open it, only to see the door fall off its hinges. Inside the cabinet were stacks of worn out, spiral strapped notepads with writing on it that surprisingly didn't suffer with the rest of the lab. He took all of the notes and came back to the surface, handing them to Dr. Cain.  
  
Dr. Cain looked through each one of them that night. They were old logs of the last few years of Dr. Light. ProtoX wasn't kidding when he said that the grid area used to be a lab created by the father of all robots. He then noticed something that had been repeated in every note he read. Dr. Light kept talking about the capsule's progress during his time of existence in the living world. Dr. Cain kept reading the notes until he came up to a blank sheet of paper, which seemed to end Dr. Light's final logs.  
  
ProtoX only knew about the lab, he had no memory of a capsule hidden inside somewhere. Dr. Cain decided to have him search the place tomorrow for that said capsule.  
  
- - -  
  
Ever since ProtoX was rumored to be one of Dr. Light's last creations, the team kept ganging up on him, asking him a lot of stuff about what was going on inside the lab and if there was a chance that there will soon be robots with the ability to think like he did. Fig couldn't help but laugh at his stepbrother's problem.  
  
Fig's robotic alter ego, Fire-Star, and ProtoX had been searching the old lab for any sign of the capsule mentioned in Dr. Light's log. After three days of searching, they found an underground shack that lead to a row of capsules.  
  
"This must be where Dr. Light keeps all of his latest creations," Fire-Star said. He then looked at ProtoX, "They're all damaged. I'm not sure if any of them are still functioning."  
  
"This one isn't," ProtoX said as he threw chunks of the fallen ceiling away to reveal a glowing capsule underneath. He noticed that there may've been another capsule, but it had been ripped from its wires for some odd reason. Could there have been another robot resting in the missing capsule?  
  
ProtoX decided not to bother as Fire-Star soon appeared, looking inside the capsule. The silhouette resembled ProtoX without the scarf and shades, a helmet of some kind covering his head.  
  
"Let's get this capsule back to Gramps," Fire-Star said, "maybe he might know something about this capsule."  
  
- - -  
  
With their robot strengths, ProtoX and Fire-Star managed to haul the 14-meter long capsule into Dr. Cain's tent. Dr. Cain was completely shocked at the robot sleeping inside.  
  
"I can't believe such an amazing design actually survived the wreckage," Dr. Cain said in awe, "So this is one Dr. Light's final creations. If this robot has been programmed the same way ProtoX was programmed, why did he decide to seal this one up in a capsule?"  
  
ProtoX opened the left side of his mouth slightly. Most of the nameless robot's memories seem to spy on Dr. Light's work on the construction table. Somehow, he knew that whatever was inside the capsule had to be what Dr. Light had been working on for so many years.  
  
Dr. Cain walked up to the capsule, seeing a small computer beside it with some text scrolling up. It seemed to be some kind of warning label. The letter "X" kept being mentioned in each paragraph. Dr. Cain figured that was probably the robot's name.  
  
He looked at the capsule again, torn between wanting to open it now or wait 30 years like the warning ordered him to. He then noticed that the diagnostic program that tested "X" and his abilities had been completed 70 years ago, making the robot ready to be released. He decided to wait until tomorrow to know for sure.  
  
- - -  
  
The day had finally come for the robot's release. Almost everyone who wanted to see what was inside the capsule had crowded around Dr. Cain's tent as he and his two grandsons surrounded the capsule in question.  
  
Dr. Cain was a bit nervous about opening the capsule despite what the warning said. Would the robot inside jump out the second he opened the glass door? ProtoX had assured him that if the robot wasn't ready to be released, he would force it back inside before it could take any lives. Sighing, the aging archeologist reached for the row of buttons that would open the capsule and began punching in the password ProtoX somehow remembered.  
  
Steam shot out of slits of the capsule as the glass slid open, revealing the colors of the robot, "X". Indeed, he looked like ProtoX, with the helmet and no braided, white hair, but instead of him being red and gray, he was blue all over.  
  
Once again, ProtoX just stared at the robot, expressionless. The robot seemed familiar somehow. Maybe he is the answer to all the memories welled up inside of him.  
  
After a few seconds, the blue robot's eyelids twitched before opening slowly, revealing his green eyes. Dr. Cain shook slightly as the robot sat up, looking around his new surroundings.  
  
"W-Where am I?" the robot asked, a bit slowly. Dr. Cain tried to remain calm, but was still jittery.  
  
"Oh, uh. This is my tent," he said, walking up beside the robot, hands behind his back, "It's an honor to finally see you, X."  
  
"X?" the robot mumbled, "So...you must be Dr. Light."  
  
Dr. Cain nearly panicked, "Oh no! I only know him from history and these old notes he's been writing. I only got the name from the warning label on the capsule you were sealed in."  
  
"So...then if you're not Dr. Light, where could he be?"  
  
"Long gone," ProtoX said, walking up to X, "You and I are the first creations to think like humans. There...are a few things you might want to catch up on over the past 100 years."  
  
"Wow. You seem to know a lot about him, ProtoX," Fig said, "Are you sure those memories you have floating around your electrical brain doesn't belong to you?" ProtoX looked at Fig, then his folded arms. At least this time when he instinctively mimicked what the memories original owner did, it wasn't out of pure rage.  
  
"You...you know about me?" X asked. ProtoX lifted his head towards him.  
  
"Yes...you could say that."  
  
Dr. Cain examined this strange relationship between ProtoX and X. After much thought, he slapped his knee, cackling and pointing at them.  
  
"How could I have been so stupid!?" he said, "If you and ProtoX were made by the same creator, you must be brothers!" Both robots snapped their heads toward him, ProtoX more shocked than his would-be brother.  
  
"B-But I just told you I only remember Dr. Light constructing him! I'm not exactly sure if I was part of his blueprints."  
  
"Nonsense, of course you are! You act like you're a brother to X, only fair that you be one until we figure out the truth behind your memories."  
  
ProtoX had a look of nervousness on his face. If those memories he had didn't really belong to him, he would have a very upset aspect to deal with. He wasn't sure if he could handle it. Fig stood beside ProtoX and threw his arm around the back of his neck.  
  
"Chill out, ProtoX," Fig said, "At least it'll be nice to have another robot as a stepbrother. You two'll get along great!"  
  
- - -  
  
X's appearance has inspired Dr. Cain to create robots with the same feelings as the original blueprints that made him and ProtoX. But with the line of robots still following human orders like mindless slaves, Dr. Cain was worried that the first robot was going to feel just as used as the robots that don't have the features of human activity.  
  
He decided to call these human-persona robots "Reploids". For the next seven months, Dr. Cain, along with X, ProtoX and Fig's help as well as some of the archeologists who were experts on deciphering and constructing machinery, have managed to create the very first reploid of 21XX, named "Comp".  
  
Comp may look like a humanoid, child-like, long eared dog, but he still had the same modifications that gave X and ProtoX the ability to make his own decisions. Dr. Cain was excited about the success he made with this type of robot and wanted to advance this knowledge to other robot designers.  
  
By the end of the year, Reploids have been accepted as a replacement to the old robots the robotic nerds have been tired of seeing for many years. And with the new assembly of Reploids coming along, Robot Rescue was finally recognized as more than some repair shop. More than just human volunteers and minor personality-type robots now worked and the organization gained so much money, they went from a dull, graffiti riddled shack to a resemblance of the original hospitals seen throughout most of Japan.  
  
Very few humans still regarded the Reploids as machines with the brain of a human, but Dr. Cain was sure that nothing bad was going to happen. The Reploids seem to handle the name-calling and have yet to be pushed to a boiling point and strike down the first human. But ProtoX knew this wasn't going to last long.  
  
ProtoX would spend most of his time in the cafeteria, wondering why Dr. Light was afraid to show him and X to the public in the first place. Could it be that giving a robot the ability to think and feel like a human was a little much for a machine? The way he lashed out at the good doctor, he was surprised he hadn't dismantled X out of fear that he would do the same to an innocent human in the future.  
  
While thinking about Dr. Light, ProtoX remembered seeing two robots help him up. They seem to have the same thing he and X had. What if something in their program convinced him to try and build a robot with the ability to think for itself? What ProtoX doesn't know was that his and X's answers were about to be answered soon....  
  
OOC: Okay, so the whole thing wasn't revolving around the intro in the first MMX game, but you all know that fanfics don't HAVE to be exactly like the game itself. I'm just trying to do things my way instead of how the instruction books mention.  
  
Next Chapter: Reploids with too much of a human personality have finally snapped and went on a rampage. Anyone who hasn't pushed them to a breaking point now fear the outcome of the rest of the Reploid population. Instead of stopping the production of Reploids, Dr. Cain decides to keep it going, but how much longer can he keep this up before a coup is formed to destroy all Reploids? And what is the fate of Zero when his fight with Sigma has wiped out every memory if who he really is out of his memory banks as well as one mysterious reploid who may hold the key to peace? 


	3. The Beginning Chapter 3

Author's Note: This chapter was supposed to revolve around Rock and his involvement in this fanfic, but I finally came up with a storyline that forced me to push his life story into the next book series. I'm sure most of you (If you care) are hoping for me to have actually told what Rock was doing in the 21XX era instead of leaving you in the shadows. So sorry, but it'll have to wait (Please don't flame me ;;;).  
  
3 - Faulty Personalities  
  
X walked along the city towards Robot Rescue, his helmet gone, revealing his black, short, slightly spiky hair. He never really became a volunteer there, feeling that repairing things wasn't his most interesting hobbies. He had heard about a strange virus that was driving reploids insane. Already, two of them had to be examined after going berserk and nearly killing an innocent bystander. Dr. Cain has also been worried about the reploids' behavior and he can't seem to figure out what's causing it.  
  
His concentration was cut off when he heard a scream in the distance. Running towards the source, he saw a young, human woman thrown against the wall of a building, groaning. She had blood dribbling down her mouth, some coming out of the scraps she received from being dragged along the concrete sidewalk.  
  
A reploid stood in front of her, his hands covered in blood. X saw that he was some kind of electrical reploid with the ability to shock anything he touches.  
  
"P-Please...just go away...." the woman muttered as the reploid walked up to her, reaching his bloodied hands out towards her neck. X had seen enough.  
  
"Stop it! What're you doing!?" he screamed. The reploid stopped and eyed him with glowing red eyes, something X has never seen before in a reploid.  
  
"Don't interfere!" he screamed, sending electricity everywhere and scaring the humans that had crowded around the scene. X threw his hand over his face to shield himself from the surge and the brightness the reploid was giving off.  
  
"But...you're endangering human civilization. I can't just walk on by and let this happen!" X said. But his explanation was falling to deaf ear. It was as if the reploid was no longer conscious.  
  
"GO AWAY!!!" he screamed. He abandoned his previous target and charged towards X. He tried to run but the reploid was quick as lightning and grabs him by the throat, hauling him off the ground.  
  
"P-Put me down!" X yelped, trying to wiggle loose. The reploid only screamed and increased his grip on X's throat, the nozzles lining his back shooting 10,000 volts of lightning everywhere. He began to panic, even though the grip wasn't choking him to death.  
  
Without realizing it, X's left hand formed into a buster gun, aimed at the reploid's chest. Those who stuck around to see what was going on gasped as a huge blast came out of the reploid's upper back.  
  
X's eyes widened when he saw what he did. His left hand slid out as the reploid stood there, trembling everywhere, fluids dribbling down the hole in his chest and back, some leaking out of his gaping mouth.  
  
The reploid gagged quietly before letting out a ear-piercing scream, his whole body glowing. X and everyone around him panicked, the humans running for cover while X struggled to get loose before everything flashed, followed by the sounds of an explosion that reached ears 30 yards from the source.  
  
'X.... X wake up!' came a faint voice.  
  
X groaned and opened his eyes, seeing Fig, Gato, Skie and ProtoX hovering over him. He gasped and sat up realizing he was on the construction table in Lab 14 of Robot Rescue.  
  
"W-What happened?" X muttered, rubbing his head, "Ugh...I feel like a truck ran over me."  
  
"Sigma brought you here three hours ago," ProtoX said, "You were a mess. The front part of your body from the neck down had been blown off with some of your circuitry suffering minor damage. I'm surprised you could still function after that explosion!"  
  
"S-Sigma?" X mumbled, bringing his legs to the side of the table. The double doors slid open, getting everyone's attention. X nearly jumped when he saw the size of the reploid that came in.  
  
"Don't worry, were just as startled as you were," Gato said.  
  
"This is one of my gramps' latest creations," Fig said, showing a hand in the giant reploid's direction, "This is Sigma. Gramps overworked himself to install all the latest circuits he designed. After the three 'maverick' episodes, the council decided to organize a group of fighting reploids called 'Hunters' to stop any renegade reploid that tries to cause anymore problems." Fig walked up to X, "He tried to get to the scene sooner, but by the time he got there, it was already too late."  
  
"That...that woman," X said, "Is she okay?"  
  
"Woman?"  
  
Sigma looked down, "I'm afraid you were the only one who survived," he mumbled, "Everyone else got obliterated in the explosion."  
  
X gritted his teeth and looked down. The others saw that his clenched fists were trembling. He didn't know how he was able to form a buster gun or why it was there in the first place. After hearing the destruction he helped cause, he was afraid to tell them, thinking that he'd either end up as one of the Hunters or have everyone think he was a maverick and probably destroyed. He didn't want to cause any more problems for those he loved.  
  
"Commander Garma," one of the hunters said, "We have the maverick backed up in an old shack. What do you want us to do?"  
  
"Hold him there," came a voice on the hunter's wrist communicator, "I have a score to settle with that son of a bitch for wiping out half my troops!"  
  
Garma looked at the area of fluid covered sand, broken Maverick Hunters also littering the area. He couldn't believe the awesome power of this maverick. If he wasn't insane, he could've made an excellent addition to their troops.  
  
He was about to leave when his communicator came back on.  
  
"Commander!" the voice cried out, "The...the red maverick just retaliated! Three of our troops are dead! The rest of us are tracking him down right now!"  
  
"Dammit!" Garma snarled. This maverick was slipperier than he had expected. He wasn't sure if he could handle it alone.  
  
A foot slammed into the ground 10 inches from where Garma stood. The commander looked up to see the maverick they had been chasing stare at him with a look of madness in his eyes.  
  
"You!" He snarled, glaring at the red, blonde haired maverick, "You will pay for tearing up my troops as if they were rag dolls!"  
  
The maverick snickered, advancing towards the bitterly frightened hunter as he took a few steps back, then stopped.  
  
"No! I will not be scared of a mere maverick! I must avenge my troops!" Garma lets out a shrilling battle cry as he charged the maverick, his 5ft long, 8inch wide beam saber held behind his head.  
  
The red maverick just stood there, looking away from Garma, grinning with his arms crossed. This kind of reaction left him completely confused, but continued towards him, "What's the matter, Maverick? Why don't you fight back?"  
  
Not waiting for an answer, Garma closed in on his opponent and brought his giant beam saber down only to hit nothing but sand. Shocked and confused, Garma looked around as the red maverick suddenly appeared behind him.  
  
"Looking for someone?" came a dark, sinister voice. Garma whirls around only to feel the pointy end of the Maverick's knee fly into his mid- section, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying back several feet, releasing a cloud full of sand as he hit the ground and skitted the rest of the way.  
  
Garma struggles to sit up with a deep puncture wound in his mid- section, blood drooling down the right side of his mouth, "D-Damn! That maverick is fast. No wonder my troops can't stop him." He wipes the blood from his mouth and gets up, snickering, "No matter. Even with you increased agility, you're still no match for me."  
  
He brings the back of his beam saber towards his head as the glow became brighter, "I never wanted to use this, but you leave me no other choice. No one has ever survived the blast of my Crescent Boomerang."  
  
With that said, Garma swung his beam saber across him, creating a magenta-colored projectile that sailed from him towards the maverick who once again stood in his place with his head turned from him and his arms crossed. This began to irritate him.  
  
"Dammit, stop acting like you can outlast my Crescent Boomerang, because you can't!" Garma yelled. His eyes widened when the sound of a charging buster came to ear. The red maverick turns and looks at him, the grin widening before he spun around and fired a charged blast from his buster, slicing through the projectile, causing it sail through him harmlessly.  
  
Garma just stood there, mouth hanging and eyes wide before the blast slammed into his mid-section and came out his back spine, the impact throwing him off his feet. Before he hit the ground, a white hand grabbed his face. Garma could barely see the evil grin coming from the maverick's face, a snicker coming to his hearing sensors.  
  
"N-No...." he groaned, his vision slowly getting blurry from the pain of the blast, "This can't be happening.... Sigma.... Please save us...." After finishing his plea, he felt the grip on the maverick's hand tighten as sparks and fluid flew out of the spaces between his fingers, a muffled scream echoing throughout the whole desert.  
  
"WHAT!? DESTROYED!?" Sigma yelled, "Garma is the second strongest hunter in the base. How could he have lost to that maverick?"  
  
Out in the desert where the battle had ended tragically, two of Garma's reconnaissance troops stood over what was left of him, his body torn in three places and his face crushed and dented from the maverick's powerful grip, laying in a puddle of his own fluid.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sigma," one of the reconnaissance troop said, "We only found Garma's remains by the maverick's feet. This maverick is stronger than we thought."  
  
Sigma cursed under his breath, "Well...it seems that I must teach this pest the true meaning of the word 'pain'."  
  
"There's something else, Sigma," another voice said, "There were two more reploids in the area."  
  
"Two more?"  
  
"Yeah. It was weird, when we got to where Garma had been destroyed, these two reploids showed up. One looks like some kind of scientist and the other looked like an old model wolf-droid. The kid was engulfed in some kind of blue flame that seemed to be reacting negatively to the red maverick, which drove him away."  
  
Sigma's glowing blue eyes dimmed a bit in curiosity, "I don't trust that reploid's condition. Bring him to Hunter Base at once."  
  
"W-We can't. He's already gone."  
  
"Gone!?"  
  
"Our apologies, Commander. We tried to offer our help, but his dog wouldn't let us near him and they both escaped through teleportation. He could still be in this desert somewhere...including the shack we found that red maverick in. Shall we track him down?"  
  
"No. You locate that red maverick and keep an eye on him until I arrive. Once he's out of the way, then we can focus on finding that mysterious reploid." Before the troops could answer, Sigma throws the communicator to the floor and heads towards the door of the command center.  
  
After much searching, Garma's remaining two troops caught sight of a red beam touching down into the old rusted shack he was originally found in before the other Maverick Hunters chased him out.  
  
"What is our current situation?" came a voice. The two turned to see Sigma standing behind them with a grin on his face.  
  
"Commander." One of them said.  
  
"Where's the red maverick that wiped out Garma's unit?" Sigma asked. The two got up and saluted.  
  
"I-inside...he's inside that door."  
  
"You may leave now. I'd like to handle this personally."  
  
"By yourself, commander?"  
  
"I don't want to see anymore of my people being sacrificed." The two were forced to watch as their encouragement walked past them towards the shack.  
  
Sigma grabbed the two inch gap of the sliding doors and pushed them open, letting some of the desert light into the inside of the shack. The sound of rust scrapping across the floor got the red maverick's attention as he turned to see what was causing it. The minute Sigma walked in, he saw the maverick whip around and charge at him, screaming and throwing his fist towards him.  
  
The head Maverick Hunter just grinned and slid to the side, leaving an after image of himself as the maverick's fist flew past it and came to a stop, twirling around and sending his foot towards Sigma who dodges it, sending the foot into the wall and knocking a portion of it down, creating dust.  
  
Sigma stops a foot from the blonde haired killer, a bit shocked when he saw him emerge from the dust. He lets a battle cry and charged for the maverick as he went from walking to running, once again throwing his fist in Sigma's general direction.  
  
Again, Sigma dodges, grabbing the Maverick's arms and shoulder tossing him to the ground before flinging him to the ceiling headfirst. Sigma thought the maverick had given up by then, but instead, the maverick grabs a handle-shaped rod sticking out of the ceiling and pulls his head out, grinning as he ripped the rod out.  
  
He drops from the roof, throwing the rod at Sigma who swings his arm upward to deflect the object, then charge towards the maverick as he fell towards him fist first. Sigma threw his own fist, both connecting as they tried to force one another to the ground. The two separated, landing on poles several feet off the ground.  
  
Sigma reaches into his holster and pulls out his beam saber, bring it beside him. The maverick mimics Sigma by ripping a piece of rod off the pipeline next to him. The two got involved in a quick sword fight until Sigma's beam saber severed a portion of the maverick's pole, forcing him to drop it and charge Sigma who does the same.  
  
Both passed each other with the sound of a severed machine echoing through out the main entrance. Sigma grunts in pain as his sword arm flies off his socket and hits the ground, dented and sparking. He turns around, grabbing the other half of his arm as fluid leaked onto the palm of his hand, seeing the maverick snicker sinisterly as he walked towards Sigma.  
  
The next minute consisted of a bunch of pounding and ripping. The maverick throws Sigma on his skin-torn face, most of his body covered in dents and sliced armor. He lifts his head only to have it grabbed and yanked upwards as the maverick slammed his foot into his back, snickering louder with each pull until he reared his head back laughing insanely.  
  
Suddenly, a "W" appeared on the maverick's head, forcing him to stop laughing, his pupils shrinking once again, a buzzing sound that only he could hear stabbing pain into his electrical brain. Sigma pushed himself to his hand and knees, breathing heavily as he watched the maverick stumble back, grabbing his head and screaming.  
  
This gave Sigma a chance to retaliate, running towards the maverick and sending his other fist into the gem on the maverick's helmet, smashing it to pieces and throwing him to the ground, unconscious. Once the ordeal was over, Sigma drops to his knees, panting.  
  
At the same time Sigma collapsed slightly two figures appeared in the shadows, the sound of their footsteps getting his attention as he turned to see who it was, his eyes widening at their appearance. One of the figures resembled a bluish, teenage reploid with shoulder-long, black, raven hair tied back in a green ribbon with a dark brown streak extending from the tip of his middle bangs to the tip end of his ponytail, wearing a white lab coat with gold trimmings on his collars and sleeves. His legs had white, diamond-shaped knee guards on the knee area and the area around his ankle was red with a point almost touching the bottom part of the knee guard with protrusions on both sides of his ankles. Next to him was a violet and grey wolf robot.  
  
"A scientist and a dog...." Sigma muttered. He turned his attention back to the unconscious maverick laying by his feet, the "W" that appeared on his helmet had now vanished from the shattered gem, "Could he have been the one who stopped him?" Sigma turns his head back towards where the two reploids stood and blinked, realizing they were no longer there.  
  
A figure hobbled out of the shack.  
  
"Look! It's the Commander!" one of the hunters said. The second grinned.  
  
"Wonderful," he said, "Now there's no one on earth who can stop...wha?" both noticed how banged up Sigma was as he emerged from the shack.  
  
"Take that red maverick...to the repair center...and...and call Dr. Cain," Sigma grunted, "I wish to have that maverick studied."  
  
"C-Commander, are you okay?" the first asked. Sigma pushed him to one side, barging past the two shocked hunters.  
  
"Silence!" After walking two feet from the two, he stops and turns to them, "That reploid you mentioned...he's in the shack somewhere. I want him found and brought back to Hunter Base with the maverick."  
  
"What for?" the first asked again. Sigma narrowed his eyes and turned to leave.  
  
"That boy...may be the answer to all our answers...."  
  
Dr. Cain scratched his beard as he studied the motionless, red maverick inside the scanning capsule in Cain Labs. A minute later, the double doors opened as Sigma walked in, fully repaired.  
  
"Anything?" he asked. Dr. Cain took his hand off his chin and turned to Sigma.  
  
"Well, there isn't much information on this maverick," he said, "Except that he appears to be just as powerful as you are. But I have been able to recharge what little energy was drained out of him, and I have replaced the crystal that you shattered during the fight. He should wake up soon."  
  
As if on cue, the maverick groaned and opened his eyes. Dr. Cain pressed some buttons on the capsule, causing it to open, allowing the maverick to sit up, placing a hand on his head.  
  
"W-What happened?" he muttered. Sigma just about blew his stack.  
  
"What happened!?" Sigma snarled, shoving his face into the maverick's, "You killed a bunch of Maverick Hunters is what happened!"  
  
The red maverick sank back into the capsule, cringing, "H-Hunters? What're you talking about?" Sigma's snarl grew louder. Dr. Cain placed his arm in front of him and pushed him back.  
  
"Glaring at him isn't going to help, Sigma," he said, "I'll run another scan. Maybe we can get some information on his whereabouts."  
  
Dr. Cain disappeared behind the computer connected to the capsule and reappears a second later with a head ring covered in light bulbs and wires connecting to the monitor of the computer, "Could you remove your helmet, please."  
  
The maverick looked at him confused before placing his hands on the white protrusions of his helmet, pulling it off as his long bangs flew out, a third of the bangs in front of him almost reaching his chin, but hung out to give him some space to see. His helmet combed out his long ponytail, causing it to spill around the capsule.  
  
Not paying attention to his particularly long hair, Dr. Cain proceeded to place the head ring onto the maverick's forehead, which responded by the lights circling around the ring. Dr. Cain looked at the monitor and frowned slightly.  
  
"This doesn't make sense at all," he muttered. Sigma looked at him confused, "Every memory of his existence up until his reactivation in the stasis pod has been completely wiped."  
  
"What!? But that means...!"  
  
"That's right. You are now yelling at an innocent reploid that thinks he's been born."  
  
"Hey, is someone going to tell me why I'm being treated like some kind of criminal?" the now innocent reploid asked. Sigma grits his teeth and grabbed him by the shoulder.  
  
"Silence, you...!" Sigma was about to yell before Dr. Cain pushed him back.  
  
"Manners, Sigma. He is new here, you know." Sigma stared at him before backing away. Dr. Cain smiled and looked at the reploid who had placed his hand on the shoulder Sigma grabbed, "I apologize. He's had a rough day." Sigma snorted and turned his back to him, his arms crossed, "I'm sure you'll regain your memories in time. Until then, we'll try and make sure you're treated like the rest of the reploids in this base."  
  
"The rest of...the reploids?" the reploid asked as if he wasn't listening.  
  
"We'll fill you in once you've fully recovered. In the meantime, you wouldn't happen to remember your name, would you? You're...capsule was too damaged to give us the smallest of details."  
  
The reploid noticed a bit of lie on Dr. Cain's tongue, but decided it was best not to point that out. Instead, the reploid scratched his head, trying hard to think.  
  
"Z...Zero." he muttered, seeming a bit unsure of what popped into his head.  
  
The double doors to the lab slid open as the reconnaissance troops from Garma's unit ran in.  
  
"Commander, Sigma!" one of them called out. They both came to a stop, seeing Zero moving to the edge of the capsule and froze on the spot.  
  
Sigma noticed the shock in their eyes and stares at Zero, "Don't worry. He's...on our side now." Zero quirked an eyebrow in confusion. Sigma turns his attention back to the troops, "So where is he?"  
  
"He?" Dr. Cain asked.  
  
"We're sorry, Commander," the second troop said, bowing, "We've combed the place twice, but there was no sign of that reploid and his dog."  
  
"Sigma...?" Dr. Cain asked, "Is there something going on that I should know about?"  
  
Sigma turns his head towards Dr. Cain, almost forgetting he was there, "Oh.... There seems to be a particular reploid out there that is far different than any of the other reploids on this planet." He then lowered his voice so Zero wouldn't hear, "He also seems to have been responsible for stopping that 'maverick' with some kind of strange power."  
  
Dr. Cain eyed Zero, to which he didn't notice, "This is serious. If a reploid that strong could take out Zero, think of what might happen if he were to be persuaded to the wrong side." He turned his eyes back to Sigma, "In theory, he could very well be more powerful than you."  
  
Dr. Cain knew Sigma didn't like how he described the reploid's power through theory when he heard him muffle a growl. The troops saluted Sigma again.  
  
"We'll head back to the command center and have our navigators pinpoint where that reploid is," One of them said.  
  
"Don't bother," Sigma said, "I recognize the lab coat he wore. He must be one of those collogues from that scientific research center on the other side of Tokyo. I'll bring him here myself."  
  
Before anyone could second-guess him, Sigma turned to the door and walked out. Dr. Cain sighed as he watched him go.  
  
"Sigma...there's something wrong with him." Dr. Cain muttered, "I've never seem him act like this before...."  
  
After a while, Dr. Cain shrugged Sigma's strange behavior off, thinking he was probably in a bad mood since he had found out that there were two reploids that would overpower him. He goes back to the construction table in his lab to study the blueprints that came from Dr. Light's lab. While they have aged a bit since ProtoX had recovered them, the prints were still clear enough to understand.  
  
The blueprint in study was what looked like schematics for a robot dog. Dr. Cain scratched his chin, thinking of a household pet for Comp, but then noticed something that separated this design from a normal robotic dog.  
  
The blueprint showed that the dog wasn't just a dog, but a transportation unit designed to look like a dog. Dr. Cain read deeper into this dog's schematics before coming to a conclusion. Half the Maverick Hunters had already assembled their own support units, but neither of them had the technology to design one that could turn into a rocket board at its own will. By creating a transportation unit, Hunters wouldn't have to keep using teleportation to go great distances.  
  
"Um...excuse me," came a voice. Dr. Cain snapped his head up and turned around to see Zero standing near the doorway, holding his helmet beside his thigh.  
  
"Oh, Zero," Dr. Cain said, sighing in relief, "I thought you were still resting from your ordeal. What seems to be the problem?"  
  
Zero looked down, hesitant before looking back at Dr. Cain, "About what's been going on earlier...."  
  
"Z-Zero. Don't worry about it. Sigma is due for a virus check up once he returns from his mission."  
  
"It's just that...I don't know what I did that pissed him off, but I was wondering if there was some way I could make up for whatever it is that I did."  
  
Dr. Cain walked up to Zero and placed his hand on his shoulders, "You don't have to make up for anything. I'm sure it was all a mis- understanding. Maybe if you rest a little more, then you wouldn't feel so depressed."  
  
Zero stared at the floor a while before the double doors slid open. The two turned towards the doors to see Sigma walking in.  
  
"You're back, Sigma," Dr. Cain said, taking his hands off Zero's shoulder and walking up to him, "I've been looking through some of the blueprints from Dr. Light's lab and I noticed a particular blueprint for a transporting K-9. I was wondering if you would like to...."  
  
"You know Dr. Light?" came a sudden, child-like voice. Dr. Cain blinked as the raven-haired reploid ran out from behind Sigma and towards the table.  
  
"Doctor...Light...?" Zero muttered, looking at the floor again while putting his hand on his head.  
  
"Doesn't everyone?" Dr. Cain asked, raising an eyebrow, then looks at Sigma, "Um, could you enlighten me here?"  
  
"This is the reploid I was suspicious about," Sigma said, "I wanted you to examine him before we decide whether or not he should be kept out in the open."  
  
Dr. Cain walked around the table towards the reploid before a dog- like moan got his attention. He looks behind Sigma to see the violet and gray wolf looking up at him. Sigma turned his gaze to the dog.  
  
"The kid insisted he come along. He doesn't seem to trust leaving the dorm without him." Sigma said with a bit of distaste in his voice.  
  
Zero looked up at the group, curiously before walking towards them. Before he got to the table, the dog suddenly jumped out from behind Sigma and began barking viciously, forcing him to step back.  
  
"Down, Treble!" the reploid said. Treble looks at him, whining, "He's not our...enemy." He added by giving Zero an expressionless stare that he didn't seem to like.  
  
Again, Dr. Cain sighed with relief and turns his attention back to the lab coat wearing reploid, "Well, I don't see anything that identifies him as being dangerous. Perhaps a deeper examination will give us a clear answer."  
  
Sigma cleared his throat loudly, getting everyone's attention. Dr. Cain noticed his head slightly turned towards Zero, seeming to give him a hint.  
  
"Oh," Dr. Cain murmured, looking at Zero, "I'm sorry. Zero, could you wait outside a moment?"  
  
Zero blinked in confusion before turning to leave, neither he or the raven-haired reploid took their eyes off each other until one of them was fully out of the lab.  
  
Dr. Cain sat in front of the monitor connected to the scanning capsule with the reploid laying inside it, studying the schematics of his structure. After a while, his eyes widened as he gasped in surprise.  
  
"What is it?" Sigma asked as he walked up behind Dr. Cain. The old, former archeologist shook his head and turned to Sigma.  
  
"Well, the test confirms that he is of no danger," Dr. Cain began, "But when I checked his interior, I found something that I've never seen in a normal reploid." He points to something that looked like a glass case with a circular object floating in the middle of it.  
  
"What on earth is that?" Sigma asked.  
  
"I don't know. I tried running three different tests on it and not one of them came up with a conclusion."  
  
Sigma narrowed his eyes, "If the tests can't confirm that strange object in his chest, why did you say he was of no danger? You know that looks alone can be deceiving."  
  
Dr. Cain looked at the interior structure again, "I know. But one of the tests did claim that this object, while unidentifiable, is completely harmless. This must be his source of energy."  
  
"That's not good enough," Sigma nearly yelled, slamming his fist on the plastic case surrounding the reploid and nearly scaring him, "Even if the tests did confirm him as harmless, I know there is something about him that would give the mavericks an advantage if they identify it before we do!"  
  
"Sigma, calm down!" Dr. Cain said, hesitant, "I've tried everything I could but...." he was cut off by the sound of rapid beeping coming from the monitor. Both turned to see the circular object flashing slowly as the level reader went higher than it's last result.  
  
"What's going on!?" Sigma demanded.  
  
"I-I don't know," Dr. Cain wailed, "Whatever you did caused the readings on this object to shoot even higher than before." He looked at the scanning capsule and caught the reploid's hand shaking uncontrollably, which was something that even shocked the reploid himself.  
  
Sigma finally calmed down and took his fist off the plastic case. Dr. Cain looked at the monitor again, seeing the numbers slowly go back down to its original count. He scratched his beard and heads towards the construction table.  
  
"I wonder," he mutters. He returns with a piece of programming used to control reploids sealed behind a glass case and holds it over the reploid's chest. Again, the readings on the object in his chest began to slowly climb higher than it's original result. Dr. Cain looked at him again, seeing his hand tremble slightly, "Interesting."  
  
"How is this going prove he's not dangerous?" Sigma asked, rather irritated.  
  
Dr. Cain took the control chip away from the reploid as the readings on his chest went back to its original count, "This control chip was infected by a virus that may be one of the many results in reploids going maverick. It seems that this reploid has the ability to sense viral infections."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I may have found the answer to Zero's mysterious transformation from deadly maverick to innocent reploid. My theory is should a maverick's virus reaches its peak, its energy will activate this reploid's powers...maybe even destroy the virus at its source and return the maverick back to his or her old self."  
  
Sigma's mouth hung open in shock as he turned and looked at the reploid, "You mean to say that this kid could be the answer to all our problems?"  
  
"It might be," Dr. Cain pressed a button by the scanning capsule, causing the case to open, allowing the reploid to sit up, "He must be one of a kind to have a power like this. It is possible that by using the object in his chest, we could create a program that can override the maverick's control chips and cure their insanity."  
  
Sigma shuts his mouth, staring at the reploid a while more, "Then we better get started before things get worse." He was about to reach for the reploid who reacted by leaning back only to have Dr. Cain place a hand in front of him.  
  
"Hold on a minute, Sigma," Dr. Cain said, "Let's not jump to conclusions here. He may have the ability to sense and maybe even eliminate any virus that comes into contact with him. But because we don't have enough information on him, the only choice we have for a quick solution would be to open him up and extract the object dwelling inside of him. And I fear that without that object, he could die and would never be brought back."  
  
"Then what do you suggest we do?"  
  
"We will wait and see what happens. If we can do that, with luck, this reploid's inner powers may be able to spread just as quickly as the virus that's turning other reploids into mavericks. If that works, there would be no point in us interfering for the sake of sacrificing a life for many."  
  
Dr. Cain's eyes widened at a sudden realization, "Speak of the devil! Since you were the first one that sparked the reploid's power, it could mean that you are in danger of going maverick soon!"  
  
"That's nonsense!" Sigma snarled.  
  
"This is serious, Sigma!" Dr. Cain snapped, "If we don't get you physically checked, we'll have an even bigger problem on our hands!"  
  
Sigma's snarl grew louder, "There is nothing wrong with me! If a virus has infected me, I would have already shown signs of going maverick!" he then turns to leave.  
  
"Sigma, it's for your own good! Please, you have to be examined, or the whole world is in danger!" Dr. Cain's plea came to deaf ear as Sigma had disappeared behind the double doors. He sighs and looks at the reploid, worried.  
  
"Maybe he's right," the reploid said, "if it'll help restore all the other reploids that have already lost their sanity...."  
  
"Don't even think about what Sigma wants," Dr. Cain said, placing his hands on the reploid's shoulders, "You have a life of your own. You should have known by now that you're more than a machine. Just like all the other reploids in this city, you, too, should choose your own purpose instead of relying on others to tell you your fate."  
  
He took his hands off the reploid and goes over to the monitor, "There seems to be something else about you that seems familiar...but I don't want to tell Sigma, fearing he'd have another reason to keep you here. Maybe if I started...." he looks up to find both the reploid and Treble had mysteriously disappeared, "Hmm. I guess he already chose his path. Maybe if I looked at Dr. Light's blueprints for his design." He heads towards the bin where most of Dr. Light's blueprints were sitting in and blinked, "That's funny. Wasn't there another blueprint in this bin that needs deciphering?"  
  
The city turned into a golden color as the sun began to set. The double doors to Hunter Base slid open as Treble was the first to walk out before his raven-haired, lab coat wearing companion a second later.  
  
"You're hiding something from me," came a voice that stopped both the reploid and Treble, neither of them turning to see Zero leaning against the wall near the double doors of Hunter Base with his arms and legs crossed, "I've heard rumors from inside about how I was responsible for something I shouldn't be worried about. But when I saw you, I had a strange feeling you know more about me than what I have been hearing since I woke up."  
  
The reploid's eyes turned towards Zero, "So what if I do? It isn't my place to say what can and can't be done. Especially for someone who once can't be trusted."  
  
Zero tilts his head down a little and shuts his eyes, snorting as a grin appeared on his once expressionless face, "I don't know what it is about you, but something inside of me is making me hate you everytime I see you. What if YOU are the one who can't be trusted?"  
  
The reploid narrowed his eyes, "Think what you want. You will eventually realize where your path is. And depending on whether you'll go by that path or choose the path you're currently on, I won't make any moves against you." He looks in front of him and attempts to leave.  
  
"Not so fast, kid," Zero said, lifting his head and looking at the reploid who stopped after one step and turned his head towards him, "You're not really going to leave without telling me your name. I want to remember it should these lost memories tell me that you are the one who needs to be stopped."  
  
The reploid frowns slightly and snorts, "The names Rock. And believe me, by the time you regain your lost memories, you won't be considering me as your enemy." With that said, he looks in front of him and continues onward with Treble following.  
  
Zero lowers his head again and shuts his eyes, the grin never leaving his face, "We'll see about that...Rock...."  
  
OOC: I originally didn't want Zero to meet his would/would not-be enemy this early in the chapter, but I figure that doing this would have been a lot more compelling than if I had just stuck to Dr. Cain just examining Rock for something suspicious and letting him go with the knowledge of where his subject came from.  
  
Next Chapter: Sigma's behavior is soon suspected by most of his devoted troops when he refuses to send a Hunter out to stop amateur mavericks from scaring citizens half to death. But when a mysterious reploid by the name of "The Chimera" suddenly shows up and is held responsible for the piles of beat up mavericks, Sigma feels compelled to see just how skillful this anonymous reploid is.  
  
But the Chimera's refusal to join the Maverick Hunters ended with him being a wanted vigilante. When Sigma finally goes maverick and leaves with half of Hunter Base in ruins, he meets up with the Chimera for a final show down where he suddenly realizes who he really is. What is the fate of the Chimera when Sigma threatens to reveal him to the public should he interfere with his plans for human destruction? 


	4. The Beginning Chapter 4

Author's Note: At first, I didn't want to think of the Maverick Hunters as reploids who only went after highly dangerous mavericks, but I also didn't want to come up with the excuse that there weren't enough Hunters around to protect the city from minor maverick threats. I guess I'm just using lousy excuses for one of my next characters to get involved in this chapter.  
  
4 - The Ronin Hunter  
  
A month had gone by since the start of the Maverick Wars. With Sigma continuing his roll as head of the Maverick Hunters, all opposing reploids were kept at bay, but Dr. Cain continued to worry about him.  
  
Ever since his battle with the once out of control maverick, Zero, Sigma's behavior slowly began to worsen. He got irritated every time civilians, mostly human, avoided him because of his size and looks, and he spent most of his time locked in his quarters, only coming out every once in a while to respond to mavericks too strong for lower ranked Hunters to handle. No one knew why he never came out of his quarters for more than three or more days a week. Some have (or tried to) believe that Sigma's been planning his strategy to the upcoming wars in the future.  
  
Dr. Can had been asking Sigma repeatedly to get a physical exam to pinpoint his strange behavior and destroy it. But Sigma refused, thinking it was just an evolution in his behavior, his voice getting harsher and harsher with each response. Dr. Cain feared that if Sigma doesn't get examined soon, he may turn into something that could put the world in an even bigger risk that no one could stop.  
  
The situation out in the city also became worse. Mavericks, who didn't have the knowledge of the guts to physically harm a human, took advantage of their fears by harassing them with death threats. This kind of irritation was reported to Hunter Base, but when no one responded to the civilians' demands to take care of the verbal abusing mavericks, most were pissed off at the fact that the Hunters were too overzealous too deal with such a "minor" threat while others feared that if they don't do something, sooner or later, one of the mavericks would eventually do what they have threatened to do to those they tried to scare.  
  
Responding to this outcry, one mysterious reploid took it upon himself to deal with the mavericks that were irritating or frightening the civilians with death threats. In less than one day, up to five or more gangs of non-violent mavericks fell at the hands of the mysterious reploids' unbelievable skills. The civilians, while grateful that someone actually did something in their favor, didn't really trust the sudden appearance of their new hero and reported his actions to Hunter Base. This reaction shocked even Sigma who refused to let the Hunters respond to the civilians' outcry to deal with the verbal abusive mavericks in the first place.  
  
"What was that!?" Sigma blurted out in front of a Hunter who had recently returned from his break. Hanging on his index fingers by old- fashion string was a stack of photos representing the scenes where previous, unidentified attacks had been reported.  
  
"I don't know what happened, sir," the Hunter said, "but I got reports from five humans who were being threatened by a hoard of mavericks that a mysterious reploid in armor suddenly showed up and beat them to a pulp, then left them piled onto each other. They couldn't identify who did this, but the evidence in these photos may give us a clue."  
  
Sigma snatched the photos from the hunter and yanked the string off, flipping through each take, seeing a pile of out cold mavericks ranging from 5 to more than 50 gangs. Each of the photos had a symbol either spray painted in the walls behind them or drawn on a piece of paper of a graffiti- like lion with the heads of a dragon and a goat on either side of its head. He narrowed his eyes and set the stacks down.  
  
"It seems we have a renegade maverick on our hands," Sigma said, scratching his chin. The Hunter saluted.  
  
"Sir, just give the word and I'll have our troops track that maverick down and taken care of."  
  
"Don't bother," Sigma said, waving his hand, "the rule of a Maverick Hunter is that we do not attack unless mavericks have attacked the humans. This renegade seems to be of no harm to anyone but the mavericks who do nothing more but throw death threats at innocent civilians, both human and reploid. However...." he adds by staring at the photos again, "...the way this mysterious reploid has cleaned up such a mere threat and disappears leaving nothing but graffiti-art as evidence of his appearance has me wondering what his capabilities are. I want to meet this...'Chimera'."  
  
"Chimera?"  
  
"Yes," Sigma points to the graffiti in one of the photos, "Take a good look at that photo. See this symbol. I've read a myth on such a creature matching the graffiti in these photos and I figured, until we get some more information on our renegade maverick, to refer to him by that creature."  
  
He grins again, looking at the photo.  
  
In an abandoned, two story building in New Tokyo, Sigma and his 17th Unit stayed hidden in a dark corner of the wall behind a stack of tin, rusty barrels of the second story. Zero crouched right next to Sigma who stares at him in a mixture of dis-trust and concern.  
  
After hearing that Zero wanted to become a Hunter to make up for all the bad rumors against him, Sigma took it upon himself to train him to be just as swift as he is. The training destroyed most of Zero's innocent personalities, making him less friendly looking than what he was when he first woke up from his ordeal. This would be Zero's first mission since the training.  
  
"Did you send a distress call to the ID signal we matched earlier?" Sigma asked.  
  
A hunter stood in front of a miniature radar machine, holding a headphone near his ear, "It's been sent, Commander. Now all we have to do is hope that he takes the bait."  
  
"Good," Sigma said with a grin, then returns to staring at the empty building.  
  
"Are you sure this'll work?" Zero asked.  
  
"The Chimera will fall for anything," Sigma said, "When he hears a report about an abandoned building full of homeless people being harassed by a gang of mavericks, he'll fall for the fake distress signal like a fly to a light bulb. Once he arrives, we'll put his capabilities to the test. If he truly is what we have imagined, he will make a great hunter next to you."  
  
"Commander!" the hunter next to the radar console cried out, "he' coming!"  
  
Sigma snickered, "Well then, Chimera. Let's see if you really are what the reports say...."  
  
A few minutes later, a figure appeared near the window of the second story, floating into the large, abandoned building and looking around. When he came into the light, Sigma frowned slightly. The appearance of the Chimera was not what he had imagined from the report.  
  
The Chimera was no higher than X wearing a lab coat under armor that looked like it was designed by Picasso, except for the helmet, which almost looked like X's with yellow blades sticking out of the red gem and arrowheads on the sky blue protrusions of the helmet and a mask with visors that only presented his indigo pupils hiding his face from public as well as a white rod sticking out his black and brown ponytail with a yellow arrowhead tied to the rod by a red, thin cloth.  
  
His armor vest stood a couple of inches from his chest with a yellow ring wrapped around near the neck area with a spiked pattern overlapping the red, half-circular design on the front of the vest and egg-shaped shoulder-pads with sky-blue and yellow triangles on top of the pads and a red circle on the bottom of the pads with a sky-blue curve next to the circle as well as a black curve surrounding both designs with a dark blue, triangular armor piece sticking out the bottom of the shoulder pads with red trimmings. A giant boomerang hovered close to the back of the armor vest with a white triangle between the red wing parts with a three inch, black border along the blade areas.  
  
His arm parts were mostly blue with a rectangle on the top part of his arms with yellow and white trapezoids (yellow on the bottom, white on top) splitting it in half, black hands and a wing-shaped blade sticking out the backsides of his arms, also having a trapezoid design, only the bottom trapezoid was red instead of yellow and a two inch, black border near the outer wing blade area.  
  
His leg parts had red and white curves along the front and back legs with blue near the front and a red circle near the ankles. The feet were blue along the back legs that narrowed down to the front of the feet with rectangles, the left was sky-blue while the right was black, along the top feet and a yellow triangle near the front of the feet.  
  
While shocked by this sudden appearance, Sigma wasn't the least quick to judge. He continued to watch the Chimera constantly look around for the homeless people and the mavericks claimed to be harassing them. After a while, Sigma finally sprang up and pointed at him.  
  
"GET HIM!" he yelled. The Chimera whipped around to see most of the Hunters jump out from behind the barrels and come at him. Zero attempted to follow only to be held back by Sigma who seemed shock when he saw what looked like a grin coming out of the faceless expression of the Chimera.  
  
The Hunters surrounded the renegade maverick. The first one to come at him were the Hunters with beam sabers. Unfortunately, they didn't get far when the Chimera jumped straight into the air, causing them to run into each other and fall to the floor in various, unconscious positions.  
  
The long-range hunters aimed their busters and rifles at the air- borne maverick and opened fire, seeing him dodge each blast without even getting the tip of his hair or his coattail singed by the burning plasma. Zero watched Sigma's grin continue to grow wider, then the Chimera landing on the floor the minute the long-range hunters ran out of ammo.  
  
Raged, the hunters dropped their weapons and came at him only to meet the same result as the sword wielders who came at the Chimera when he jumped straight into the air again. Zero eyed Sigma again who did the same giving him permission to attack.  
  
The Chimera landed to see the longhaired, crimson reploid come at him at the same speed as Sigma. But even that didn't match his target who merely ducked a punch to the face. Sigma continued to watch as Zero hot- headedly came at the Chimera with melee moves that seemed to get closer to him with each throw, his faceless expression turn from plain to slightly paranoid.  
  
"Why aren't you fighting back!?" Zero shouted as he continued his melee onslaught, seeing the Chimera barely avoiding his attacks without once retaliating. He began to get frustrated, "Come on, dammit! Fight!" he swung his leg, which, to Sigma's surprise, finally connected with the Chimera as he brought his arm up for defense. The impact threw him onto his back as Zero slammed his foot on his mid-section and pointed his Z- Buster towards his face in rage and frustration.  
  
"That's enough!" Sigma ordered, stepping out from behind the barrels and walking up to the two fallen fighters, eyeing Zero, "I suggest that you refrain from blasting him, unless you want to carry your head back to Hunter Base."  
  
Zero turned his head towards Sigma, feeling a sharp object nip the side of his neck. He eyes where the slight pain came from, noticing the arm blade hanging dangerously close to his throat. Sigma could only grin as he gently pushed Zero off the Chimera, allowing him to get up.  
  
"You have great potential," Sigma said, "but have you ever thought about how wasted those potentials are?" he waited for a response, but the Chimera barely said a word. Sigma crossed his arms, "The strong silent type, I see. Well, either way, with your help, we can put an end to this war for good."  
  
The Chimera narrowed his eyes a minute before he reaches behind him and pulls out a can of red spray paint. Before Sigma or Zero could figure out what it's for, he presses the head nozzle, spraying red paint in Sigma's face, forcing him to stumble back and grab his eyes, yelping, more in shock than in pain. After regaining his balance, Sigma stared at the Hunters who had regained their senses, got up and throws his finger towards the Chimera, "Capture him and bring him back to Hunter Base for analysis!"  
  
The Hunters spread out and surrounded the Chimera in all directions, busters, rifles and sabers armed and aimed at him. He eyes every last hunter surrounding him before taking his spray paint and smashing it to the ground, causing it to explode and surround the building with a cloud of red paint, forcing everyone to cover their faces.  
  
"Dammit! He must've mixed some chemicals into the spray paint to create a smoke screen!" one of them shouted. Sigma gritted his teeth, which turned to shock when the red cloud sank to the ground to reveal the Chimera's sudden disappearance.  
  
"Search the building!" another hunter shouted as everyone but Zero dispersed and ran into separate rooms surrounding the main building.  
  
"The Chimera...." Zero muttered, "Something about him looks...familiar."  
  
Sigma looked at Zero before looking at one of the glassless windows surrounding the building, "Yes...he does. But who?"  
  
Unfortunately, the Chimera's refusal to join the Maverick Hunters was just the beginning of the real terror that would forever endanger the Hunters' reputation. Just a month after the Hunter's vow to keep the world safe from danger, half of Hunter Base exploded, killing and damaging any reploids or humans that were still inside.  
  
X, who was going to meet Fig, Gato, Skie and Dr. Cain at Hunter Base for a maintenance check, had arrived in time to see the smoke coming out of the back of the base.  
  
"What the...!? What happened!?" he yelped as he ran towards the door of Hunter Base, seeing a gang of shadows cautiously walk out as if nothing had happened. The first to come out was Sigma who stopped in front of X and looks down at him.  
  
"X, what a surprise," Sigma said with a cocky grin, "What brings an innocent reploid like you to a place like this?"  
  
"Sigma, do you know what happened to the people at Hunter Base?" X asked. Sigma's grin widened.  
  
"I have finally seen the truth, X," Sigma said, "This world is being wasted by the humans. It is time to end their suffering once and for all."  
  
"What're you talking about?"  
  
"The humans are limiting the production of our brothers. It took me a while to think about it and after reading some reports I found in an old lab I was at recently, I realized that what we are doing is wrong." X's mouth hung open in shock as Sigma continued his speech, "In order to correct this error, we must join forces and eliminate the humans before they figure out a way to take away our freedom for good."  
  
"What happened to you!? You, of all reploids, know that we want to live among the humans like civilized creatures. Even if what you say is true, that doesn't mean all humans act like they don't care if we are more human than we look."  
  
Sigma just snickered at X's response, "When will you wake up, X? Even with those who treat us like normal, those humans, alone, aren't enough to convince us that we are one with the world. Come with me, X. And I will show you what it's like to show these cold-hearted creatures the true meaning of what it's like to be limited and controlled."  
  
"Forget it, Sigma! I will not turn my back on those who care about me! If I wanted to find out the truth about humans, I'll do it on my own terms, not yours!"  
  
Sigma's snicker turned into a laugh. X snarled and ran past him to try and get inside only to be knocked back by a spark ball that covered him in spark the minute he hit the ground. X barely lifted his head to see a purple, Boba Fett-like reploid standing behind Sigma with a shoulder cannon aimed at him.  
  
"I'm sorry, X," Sigma said walking up to him, "But I'm afraid those who side with the humans are our enemy. However...." he adds as he stoops over X, "You can be spared, if you agree to join my army. You would make a great right hand man."  
  
"N-Never!" X groaned, trying to get up. Sigma slammed his foot against his paralyzed chest.  
  
"That's too bad. I tried to persuade Zero the same way I persuaded you since he is meant to follow me from the beginning. But his new life has taught him that not all humans treat us like everyday tools with feelings. It's a shame I had to take care of him like I did your pathetic friends from Robot Rescue."  
  
"W-What!?" X gasped, then snarled, "You didn't!"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sigma said mockingly, "I did call them over here to check for a malfunction in one of our surveillance equipment. But it turns out I didn't need them after all since I found the faulty connection myself. Too bad your friends met their end when I made the malfunction worse."  
  
"You monster! Everyone had their trust on you and you turned it against them!" X felt the increasing pressure of Sigma's foot upon his chest.  
  
"Don't feel too bad, X. I know how much you care about them. That's why I've arranged a reunion for you. There, you will all live happily ever after in the fiery pits of hell." Sigma raises his foot towards X's head to strike when a giant boomerang slammed into him, knocking him off X. Sigma stumbled back a few feet, regaining his balance and looked in the direction the boomerang came from as it was flying back, "Who's there!?"  
  
X lifted his head to see the Chimera land in front of him with his back turned. The boomerang flew past him a second before it came back and hovered near the magnetic needle of his armor vest.  
  
"Who...who are you?" X grunted.  
  
"Well, well. If it isn't the Chimera," Sigma said with a grin, "I never thought a renegade like you would ever show up in a place that could simply put you behind bars if they so chose." The Chimera looks at him with stern eyes, "I guess I know why you're here." His grin widened as he points at the Chimera, "DESTROY HIM!"  
  
The Hunters came at the Chimera with their weapons drawn an their voice boxes straining from their battle cries. The Chimera shifted his eyes between the coming mavericks and X before flying into the mass, limbs and body parts flying everywhere as battle cries slowly turned into screams. By the time most of the screaming had died, only eight mavericks, Sigma and Vile were left standing. He looked at Sigma as if expecting him to look terrified, but saw a sinister grin instead.  
  
"Last time we met, you have overpowered us. But this time, you won't be so lucky," Sigma said pulling his beam saber out, "After your little brawl with Zero, I have managed to upgrade my mobility to match your speed. What do you say? Shall we go somewhere a little less crowded to finish what we should have started a month ago?"  
  
The Chimera only stared at him, uninterested and turns to X, bending down to him and sticking his hands over his chest, seeming to absorb the sparks surrounding his body. Once the sparks were gone, X slowly sat up, flexing his arms. Sigma wasn't too pleased.  
  
"Ignore me will you?" Sigma snarled, then grinned, "Very well. You may have succeeded in saving a life, but that success will not last long." He finished by snapping his fingers.  
  
A spark ball slammed into X's back, causing him to cry out in pain and fall towards the Chimera, who's pupils shrank to the size of rice grains the second X landed on his left shoulder. He looks behind X's fallen body to see a violet dog with pointy shoulders stand a foot from them, hunched over and snarling.  
  
"Do you like him?" Sigma said with an evil grin, "Dr. Cain created him a week ago to follow my every command. I just thought I'd let him finish the job you interrupted me from completing."  
  
The Chimera raised his clenched fists as they shook before springing to his feet, knocking the unconscious X from his shoulders, screaming in rage and lunging towards Sigma at a speed that exceeded his own limitations.  
  
"What the...!? How did you pick up such speed!?" Sigma cried out in shock. Before he could move, the Chimera rammed into him, throwing his arms around him, hauled him off the ground, and into the sky. Vile watched them disappear before looking past X at the city ahead before making his way into it. Velguarder looked in the direction Sigma was hauled off into and teleports after him.  
  
In the nearly destroyed portion of Hunter Base, a pile of rubble fell over. Zero emerged from the pile, coughing up concrete and dust.  
  
"Damn him!" Zero said between coughs, "He'll pay for this!"  
  
"Oh my god! Grandpa!" came a voice.  
  
"Skie! Wake up!" came another voice.  
  
Zero ran towards the source and gasped in shock at what he saw. Fire- Star and Gato, covered in scratches and their own blood, were shaking Skie and Dr. Cain who were in worst shape than they were.  
  
"What happened!?" Zero called out as he ran to the two.  
  
"It's...it's terrible, Zero!" Gato said, her face drenched in tears, "Sigma brought us to the surveillance room to fix a malfunction in one of their machines and the next thing we knew, we were engulfed in this giant explosion!"  
  
"Dr. Cain and Skie stood too close to the explosion, so they're in worse shape than we are!" Fig said, his face also covered in tears, although he wasn't crying as hard as Gato was. Zero gritted his teeth before helping the two to their feet.  
  
"Find a communicator that hasn't been destroyed in the explosion and call an ambulance down here to take care of you and anyone else caught in the explosion," he said, getting up, "I've got a score to settle with that bald, betraying bastard!" Zero stormed out of the Hunter Base only to come to a screeching halt when he saw X laying on his back, unconscious, "Oh my god! X!" He ran up to X and shook him, getting no response, "He's not responding! Something must've drained his energy!"  
  
Zero looked around frantically for something to recharge him, spotting an old-fashion E-Can laying right next to X's leg. Not taking any chances, he grabbed the can and pulled the tab off, tilting X's head back and pouring the contents into his mouth, which responded in a mechanical whirring sound as X slowly opened his eyes.  
  
"Zero!" X snapped the second his five senses were back online as he immediately sat up, rubbing his head, "What...What happened!? Where's Sigma?"  
  
"He disappeared," Zero said, "I don't remember what happened. One minute I was heading the holo-simulator to train myself. Next thing I knew I was buried under a pile of concrete and poles. Sigma was nowhere to be found."  
  
X snarled and clenched his fist, "Damn him! I can't believe Sigma, the worlds most trusted hero, has decided to do this to us!" His snarl grew louder as he sprang to his feet, enraged, "He'll pay for this!" He was about to run off when Zero grabbed him by the arm.  
  
"Are you crazy!?" Zero snapped, "You won't stand a chance against Sigma!"  
  
"Let go of me!" X yelled, yanking his arm from Zero's grip, "I have to stop Sigma! Otherwise he will continue hurting more innocent creatures!"  
  
"But X...!" before Zero could stop him again, X teleported out. Zero just stood there snarling, "That idiot! Unless he's some kind of superhero, he'll never stand up to Sigma with his fists alone!" With that said, he teleports out as well.  
  
X landed in the middle of a busy highway, seeing a bunch of nearly damaged cars zoom past him as he ran along the road to where Sigma was said to have attacked. A lot of mavericks blocked his way towards the location, but he only cared about dealing with Sigma and plows straight through them, using his X-Buster to blast the mavericks that tried to attack him.  
  
The further he went along the highway, the damaged it became as more mavericks showed up to try and stop him. Suffering only minor damage from the recent onslaught of the other mavericks, X continued onward, blasting those that tried to ram him to the ground until he had reached the end of the highway. He didn't get too far into the streets when a giant ship appeared overhead and sent a lift down towards him as blaster cars dropped from the lift and came at him only to get blown by his X-Buster.  
  
Once three of the cars had been destroyed a different vehicle dropped from the lift. An armor carrier that was far different from the ones that most of the Hunters had used on missions involving this kind of armored machine. Inside the machine was Vile who looked at X as if he was grinning with excitement.  
  
X tried to get past Vile, but his armored carrier was too high for him to jump over, and his legs weren't programmed with the same boosters Zero had on his feet, making it difficult for him to try and get around as Vile continued to ram him with his fists and armored plating. Finally fed up, X started hitting him with blasts, but even when they were charged, the carrier still kept coming at him.  
  
After a while, X stumbled back, trying to stay standing as Vile looked at him, the expression in his eyes growing darker than before. Before X could get out of the way, Vile fired the same spark ball that paralyzed him earlier, knocking him to his knees, surrounded by an electrical barrier. Snickering, the armored carrier-controlling maverick walked up to him and grabbed him within the grips of its giant fist.  
  
"You worthless piece of scrap metal," Vile said, "Did you honestly think you could destroy me?" His snicker turned into a chuckle as the fist of the armored carrier continued to increase its grip on X, hearing him groaning in pain before a charged blast slammed into its arm, blowing it straight out of its socket and dropping X to the ground.  
  
Zero zoomed in front of X, glaring at Vile a moment before aiming his Z-Buster at him, charging up again as the mother ship appeared over them, lowering the lift just as the buster reached its maximum power. He released a charged blast, barely missing the armored carrier as Vile jumped onto the lift. Zero watched the lift rise into the ship as it flew away and turned his attention to X who stared back at him a minute before he lowed his head.  
  
"I guess I'm not powerful enough to stop him," he said with a bit of frustration in his voice, feeling his hopes of taking care of Sigma slowly start to slip away. Zero narrowed his eyes.  
  
"X, you shouldn't hope to defeat him. He is designed to be a war machine," Zero said, "Remember, you are not at full power yet. If you continue to use the skills you were designed with, you may be able to become more powerful." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "You may even become as powerful as I am." He then looks up, "I'll get as much information on Sigma's whereabouts as I can." He looks at X, "I'll meet up with you when you get there." X didn't lift his head to look at him. Zero sighed, "X, I know you can do it."  
  
X looked at Zero in time to see him teleport out. Gaining some confidence back, he gets up and teleports out a well.  
  
In a forest somewhere far from the city, two streaks hit the ground. The Chimera was the first to emerge from the dust he created, Sigma following after.  
  
"So, you've finally touched down," Sigma said, then looks around, "Such a quaint place for someone willing to die at the hands of someone who could've made him the next head of the Maverick Hunters." The Chimera narrowed his eyes as Sigma gripped his beam saber, "Let's finish this once and for all!"  
  
The two came at each other, their battle cries echoing throughout the entire forest followed by the sounds of blades clashing that lasted for over an hour before the two stopped, Sigma's blade an inch from the Chimera's head who kept the beam blade away from his face with his arm blade.  
  
"Such skills!" Sigma said with a grin, "What say you and I stop this infernal fight and join forces? Together we can overthrow the humans and create a world in which only reploids can live. What do you say?" The Chimera narrowed his eyes and brought his foot towards Sigma's chest, kicking him into a nearby tree, the impact ripping it from its roots as he fell on his back. Snarling, Sigma got up, holding his beam saber in front of him, "You are a fool! Why do you insist on defending those who treat you like a common criminal!?"  
  
"Why do YOU insist on hurting the ones you try to protect?" the Chimera finally spoke for the first time since his appearance. Sigma's mouth hung open as his eyes widened.  
  
"Of course! How could I have been so stupid!?" Sigma blurt out, "Now I know exactly who you are!"  
  
"If you know who I am, then you know exactly what I'm about to do to you!" the Chimera said. He reached towards Sigma's head only to yank it back as a wave of fire curved between the two. He eyed Velguarder standing a foot from them, hunched over and snarling. Sigma's shock turned into an evil grin as he backed away.  
  
"My pet doesn't like what you're trying to do," Sigma said, "And neither do I. I kinda like being who I am now." The Chimera eyed him, "Besides, if you try anything on me, I will reveal your identity to everyone. You would be lucky if the Hunters decide to keep you behind bars instead of turning you into another victim of the junkyard." He heard the Chimera muffle a growl, "So which will it be? Change me and not even the ocean will keep you safe from the Hunters as they come tracking you down."  
  
The Chimera continued to snarl before turning around, "This isn't over. I will find a way to free you. Deep inside, there's a part of you that's screaming for help. And I'm going to find it." Sigma watched as he turned his back on him and flew off, the grin never leaving his face.  
  
"Search all you want," Sigma snickered, "The innocence that was once inside me is now gone. And the new me is about to raise terror so bad, you'd wish you thought twice about your decision to save the world sooner." He then turns and walks off.  
  
OOC: Yes, I know Zero's lines were different from the lines in the first MMX game, but it was a little less confusing than when I had to describe the Chimera's armor without making it look like one hanging long paragraph.  
  
Next Chapter: Sigma has fought and lost to Mega Man X. But evil of a different kind starts brewing and the only Hunter strong enough to handle it is off on a mission to finish off Sigma's remaining force and retrieve his companion's separated parts. However, help is on the way as ProtoX, who senses some familiarity in the reports of the new evil, took it upon himself to seek that evil out, hoping to get some answers to the memories he still believes don't belong to him along the way.  
  
But it seems he is not alone. The Chimera, who disappeared prior to X's first journey into maverick territory also shows up to deal with the evil himself. Will the two be able to team up and put an end to this new threat, or will they slay each other before either of them have a chance to stop the threat once and for all? 


	5. The Beginning Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry if I rushed the first MMX game, but I have a slight problem trying to talk action instead of details of a location of where the fight took place. If I had the dignaty to at least spend some time working on more than just the description of a location, I wouldn't have to shorten this chapter to avoid boring you to death (Don't take this as me being rude, I like the fact that you are actually reading this, and I hope that I get some good (or bad) reviews out of you...if you have the time).

5 - Seeking Answers to an Unsolved Mystery  
  
When X regretfully joined the Maverick Hunters in hopes of getting back at Sigma for destroying half of Hunter Base and putting his friends in the hospital with major injuries, he has yet to learn that the casualties of his closest friends were just the beginning of his depression. He has managed to take down the eight mavericks that survived the Chimera's slaughter, along with Vile and Sigma's dog, Velguarder, and, after a rough and agonizing battle, Sigma himself.  
  
While the war had been won, more sacrifices widened the hollow victory X received after Sigma's destruction. Zero, who had become his friend long before he joined Maverick Hunters, died while knocking Vile down a few notches both in power and in size. The sorrow of having to watch him die before his eyes left an emotional scar in his mechanical heart. But that sorrow wouldn't stop him from finishing off Sigma's remaining force and put an end to the infernal war for good while bring peace back to the world. Unknown to X, the real war was about to start.  
  
In the far outskirts of Japan, a fortress resembling a rusted, moss- covered version of the Eiffel Tower emerged from the ocean near the cliff of a forest, the water spilling from the roof of the tower and drenching the trees and grass below it. Once it was fully out of the water, the windows glowed an eerie purple as a mysterious and sinister laugh echoed throughout the entire forest.  
  
The outlines of crushed reploids, both maverick and innocent began to glow as they slowly rose, their natural eyes replaced by a foreboding, crimson gleam. The further the strange phenomenon went, the more reploids rose with the same eyes glowing on their undead features.  
  
The alarms at Hunter Base went off, scaring half the Hunters who were either falling asleep near their surveillance console or playing card and board games with one another. Dr. Cain, who was released hospital a week after having surgery to remove most of the metal shards from his body, ran into the command center a second later.  
  
"What's going on!?" Dr. Cain blurted out.  
  
"Dr. Cain!" one of the Hunters said, turning to him, "We're getting a massive report of maverick uprises all over the world. We don't know what's causing it. What's even weird is that they aren't even alive."  
  
"Alive? You mean they're just machines without a will or a soul?"  
  
"Not one. If we don't figure out what's causing these dead mavericks to come to life, the world could be in serious trouble!"  
  
Dr. Cain looked at the map that was riddled with flashing dots, indicating signs of high maverick activity, "We should take it slow and easy. Try to identity the source of all the madness. Maybe then we can figure out how to stop it."  
  
"Searching...." the Hunter began typing like mad on the keyboard, "Found it! It's somewhere at the edge of Japan. But the place is crawling with so many undead mavericks, not even second strongest hunters could get in."  
  
"Looks like something that involves X. I'll go contact him and see if he isn't too busy to come deal with this situation."  
  
"Don't bother," came a voice that stopped Dr. Cain after taking only three steps towards the communicator, "I will handle this alone."  
  
"ProtoX?" Dr. Cain asked, turning to white haired reploid leaning against the doorway of the command center, "But why? You said you didn't like becoming a Maverick Hunter."  
  
"I didn't mention wanting to become a Maverick Hunter. But that won't stop me from seeking out and destroying the source of these disturbances on my own. Besides," he adds, looking at the flashing dots on the map, "I feel that if I fight the source of this strange anomaly, I would find answers to who these memories I have really belong to."  
  
"But ProtoX, fighting isn't the only way to find answers to your unsolved mysteries. I'm sure there are other ways of uncovering your true past."  
  
"No, there isn't. I know it. Even if there was, it would take a while to make it come true. And I can no longer wait that long. I feel that fighting for the answer is the quickest choice I have."  
  
"Think of how X will feel if you go out there blindly and get killed. He's already lost Zero, we don't want to lose you too."  
  
"I won't lose. These memories also hold fighting capabilities that I have been taking the liberty of perfecting every time I go on a lunch break by myself. I have also perfected a new weapon technique that has not been in my memory before, and created a weapon with the same ability as X's ability to copy the mavericks' powers after each defeat."  
  
"ProtoX...." Dr. Cain's voice was less harsh and a little more strained with sorrow. ProtoX walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Please, let me handle these mavericks. I know I don't want X to suffer another loss, but this is something that can't wait. I have to find out who I really am."  
  
Dr. Cain moaned and looked down, muttering, "Do what you must...just be careful, okay?"  
  
ProtoX compressed his lips a bit before taking his hand off Dr. Cain's shoulder, "I'm sorry...I'll try." He turns and walks out.  
  
"Are you really going to let him go?" the Hunter asked.  
  
"He is a reploid," Dr. Cain said, "He has a right to choose his own path in life. Even if that path will cause X more pain than what he has suffered already."  
  
A beam touched down in the forest near the location of the source causing the resurrection of dead mavericks. Wasting no time, ProtoX runs through the forest, keep an eye out for any mavericks that might come at him along the way. He suddenly caught a strange figure fly past him a foot from where he is and came to a stop, seeing it disappear into the shadows of the forest.  
  
"What was that?" he mutters to himself, "Whatever it is, it's faster than Sigma." He stands there for a moment before continuing into the forest after the figure that zoomed past him. After an hour, the sound of rustling leaves stopped ProtoX again as he looks around for whatever caused that noise. He caught something out of the corner of his eye as he turns around to see what it is.  
  
It was a mechanical monkey. Judging from the torn condition it was in, ProtoX knew it was one of those reploids that had already been destroyed. He reached for the 7ft, white rod behind him and pulls it out, the red, five inch high, three inch wide nozzle shooting out a neon green, five inch wide, slightly curved blade, a third of it separated from the rest.  
  
The monkey reacts by leaping off the branch, heading towards ProtoX only to pass by him, cleaved in half when he swung his PX-Staff over his head like a sledgehammer. He stares at the vertically sliced monkey before continuing towards the source of its activation. As he got closer, more mechanical monkeys popped up everywhere, jumping at him only to get scrapped by his PX-Staff.  
  
But when he got near the edge of the forest leading to the cliff and the pinpoint of the strange phenomenon, a giant, mechanical gorilla sprang from the bushes leading to the forest exit, pounding its chest and roaring. Its shoulder had been torn open, exposing the circuitry, bleeding fluid and spitting sparks every few seconds. The tractor that moved it was severely damaged, making it difficult for it to move fluently. The gorilla was missing an arm and a lower jaw, exposing the slightly burn nozzle of a plasma rifle as well as a shattered, right eye.  
  
ProtoX bared his teeth a bit as he backed away some, hands on his PX- Staff held beside him. The gorilla eyed him with its remaining eye, lifting its fist and firing it at him. ProtoX jumped back as the fist slammed into the ground a second before it flew back to the gorilla, reconnecting with its wrist. He charges at the gorilla, swinging his PX- Staff at it, leaving a hefty gash in its chest and knocking it back some, but the gorilla continued to stare at him, growling and moving towards him, sparks flying out of the new gash mark. Growling, ProtoX thrusts his PX- Staff into the gorilla's stomach, forcing it to stop. He thought he had finally gotten rid of the obstacle blocking his way only to see it get worse.  
  
Outraged, the gorilla began thrashing about, trying to yank ProtoX off his feet as he kept a firm grip on his PX-Staff. It then fell back, sending him flying over it, forcing him to lose his grip and slam into a tree behind the gorilla. He struggled to sit up in time to see the gorilla stoop over him, raising its remaining fist to strike when a giant boomerang smashed through the tree over his head, knocking a third of it to the side, and slam into the face of the gorilla, knocking it onto its back, roaring in pain.  
  
ProtoX followed the boomerang as it flew back to its thrower who lands in front of him, slinging it onto his back and facing the gorilla struggling to get to get up with its tractor feet. His mouth opened slightly upon seeing his savior being none other than the Chimera, whom he read from the reports on the Internet and in the newspaper stands along the streets of New Tokyo.  
  
The Chimera eyed ProtoX before turning his attention back to the gorilla and jumping towards it, bringing his arm blades down on its head, slicing it in half before jumping back and allowing it to explode into a burning heap of scrap.  
  
'Why...why did he decide to save me?' ProtoX thought to himself. He continued to stare at the back of the Chimera, a strange, familiar feeling growing inside of him, 'Why does he...feel so familiar? Who is he?' The Chimera eyed him before taking off into the air, "NO! WAIT!" he gets up to stop the Chimera only to see him disappear through the leaves of the tree. The way the Chimera looked at him was as if he had known him from the start. Perhaps he was the key to all of ProtoX's answers. He shakes his head, thinking that it was just a coincidence and continues to the edge of the forest, finally reaching the location of the undead mavericks' source of power, the glowing windows of the metallic and moss-covered Eiffel Tower.  
  
"That must be where the source of power is coming from," ProtoX muttered to himself. He focused on an open window, which seems to beckon him to walk inside, to which he did.  
  
The inside of the to tower was covered in wires, with very little space on the floor for him to walk through without having to trip over the ones that stood a foot off the floor. Surprisingly enough, with all these wires getting in the way, a slew of undead mavericks managed to make their way around, focusing on the intruder and coming towards him, chanting the word "kill" as if it were a ritual and he was the sacrifice.  
  
ProtoX winced in concern, seeing most of the mavericks looking like innocent reploids that had recently been scrapped for reasons he didn't want to know or imagine. But since these innocent reploids no longer had a soul to tell them what to do, he wasn't as concerned about having to take care of them as he would if they did have a regretful reason to attack. Clutching his PX-Staff, he came at the hoard, swinging the blade everywhere and severing the mavericks in several places as he charged through the wire covered room until he reached the stairs, seeing wall-crawling mavericks aiming their small phazers at him.  
  
"This...may take a while...." he grumbled as he ran up the stairs deflecting the blasts with the beam end of his PX-Staff and blowing the mavericks that came in contact with their own blasts. He kept doing this for the next two to three minutes before he finally reached the top of the stairs, slicing the last wall-crawling maverick that decided to jump off and knock him down. Beyond the flight of stairs he ascended from is a door that may lead into another section of the room.  
  
ProtoX cautiously walked through the door, thankful upon seeing the ballroom-size area beyond it free of wires with three doors, two on the side and one in front. One of the three doors was bound to lead him to the source of the undead maverick's soulless battery. He walk into the center of the room, looking between the three doors, seeing which one will lead him where. His thoughts were cut off when he heard robotic footsteps coming towards him. Nervous, he moved into a fighting position, holding his PX-Staff to the side as the footsteps got louder, seeing a figure slowly appear from the doorway in front of him, his determined face soon turned to that of confusion when the figure came in full view.  
  
"It's you," he mutters when the Chimera stopped a few feet from him, his eyes showing no signs of expressions. ProtoX also lost his previous expression, staring at the Chimera some more, "There were a lot of questions running through my head the minute I saw you, but you left before I could ask them. Seeing you again made this deep feeling of familiarity inside me grow. It's as if I knew you from one of these memories. The question is, which person in these memories do I remember you from?" the Chimera said nothing, only continuing to stare at him. ProtoX's expression became deeper, "I see. I guess that by fighting you, something might click that would tell me who you really are." He moves back into a fighting stance, seeing the Chimera do the same, "I wish we didn't have to fight for something so simple, but since you seemed to have been created to fight, I suppose this is the only way to settle things."  
  
The two stared at each other, unmoving for the next two minutes before coming towards the center of the room, letting out a battle cry so loud, it echoed throughout the entire tower, followed by the sounds of blades clashing. The fight went back and forth between blows. One minute, ProtoX came at the Chimera with moves that sent him back with defensive maneuvers only to have him retaliate a minute later, forcing him back, using the rod of his PX-Staff as a shield to deflect the blades that were coming at him. The more the fight deepened, the similar it was to ProtoX's memories.  
  
After a while, a sudden vision flashed in ProtoX's head of the first time the memories' original owner had appeared, fighting a blue reploid that may have been recognized later a his younger brother. This sudden vision caused ProtoX to lose hold of reality, allowing the Chimera to knock him to the ground, abruptly stopping the fight the minute ProtoX had dropped to a sitting position, propped on his hands, his knees standing. Neither of them moved as they continued to stare at each other, ProtoX looking like something had spooked him.  
  
More visions that claim to have something to do with the Chimera continued to flood through ProtoX's head from the next two fight between the memories owner and his brother, showing up and saving a human girls life, stopping an evil clone from messing up his reputation and then helping him until the point of his death at the hands of an imbalance infecting his machine and turning him into a motionless shell in a scanning capsule.  
  
'What...what do these memories have to do with the Chimera?' he asked himself, 'What did he do to bring them up?' his eyes widened behind his visors, 'Could...could he be...?'  
  
ProtoX's thoughts were once again cut off when a maniacal laughter echoed throughout the room he and the Chimera are in.  
  
"It appears that we have intruders!" the voice boomed, "Well, I have only set my sights on the Chimera, but I want to get my hands on you too, Break Man ProtoX!"  
  
"Who are you!?" ProtoX shouts.  
  
"Why don't you come up here and fight me? If you can survive the avalanche that is!"  
  
"Avalanche?" before the two could figure out what the voice meant, the tower began to shake with explosions coming from the roof over them, sending piles of stones and concrete raining down on top of them. By the time the dust cleared, the entire room was covered in two feet of debris.  
  
After an hour, the Chimera emerged from the pile, his coat slightly torn, but his armor suffered nothing less than scratches and dents. He looks at ProtoX, his head and shoulders being the only body parts barely sticking out of the pile. His face twisted into a snarling rage as he turned to the door where a strange glow seemed to give the maverick's location away. He looks at ProtoX again.  
  
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I should've seen you sooner so you would know me better. But this is something I must handle alone." With that, he turns and heads toward the glowing stairway.  
  
ProtoX soon stirred and dragged himself to his feet, stones and concrete slipping off his back as he stood. He was barely conscious, only remembering part of what happened. Fluid dribbled down his forehead and mouth as most of his body was covered in bigger dents and scratches, some of his armor torn open with fluid spraying out along with the sparks crawling around his exposed circuitry. The left side of his visor broke off from the avalanche, revealing his half open, green eye and his once braided hair spilled out along around his back, surprisingly straighter, if not slightly messy from the crash.  
  
"M-Must...save...him...." he muttered half-consciously as he walked/stumbled towards the stairs where the purplish glow is emitting from.  
  
From the top room of the tower, the Chimera begins to back away some, a look of terror written on his faceless expression. In front of him is a capsule much like the ones that held X's armor data, only this time, instead of Dr. Light, a different scientist with wild and messy hair around his bald scalp and a long mustache, wearing a high collared lab coat, shirt, pants and a belt with a skull-shaped buckle around his slightly tubby waist appeared inside the capsule, his holographic features were purple instead of blue.  
  
"What's the matter, Chimera?" the hologram said with an evil cackle, "Surprised to see me again? I knew that eventually, my robots would rebel, so I downloaded by A.I. into this capsule and set it to activate should anything happen to me. Being killed by my own creation may have delayed me for 100 years, but when the holographic program finally kicked in, I found the right opportunity to make my appearance by resurrecting all the robots that have been permanently disabled by the ones you are trying to protect." The Chimera snarled as he began to back up some more, "Oh yes. I wouldn't want to forget my surviving servant. He thought he was so smart, allowing a goody-to-bot like you to install another program into him without even thinking of what happens when you activate it." The hologram's grin widened before he threw his hands out, "NOW! TIME TO ACTIVATE THE FUSIONS MANUAL OVERWRITING COMMANDS!" The Chimera's eyes suddenly shrank to the size of rice grains. He stumbles back, grabbing his head and screaming in agony. The hologram laughed, "That flea-bitten traitor may have accepted you as his new master, but even he isn't aware of the brainwashing program that will consume you both and turn you to my side! Consider this a trade off, my masterpiece for you. And the best part is, X won't even know he had two brothers until he has annihilated you."  
  
The Chimera drops to his knees, throwing his head around and screaming at him to stop before a streak flew past him and hit the head of a deformed praying mantis standing behind the holographic capsule, causing it to short circuit and fall over, its arms dangling in the air.  
  
"What...what happened!?" the hologram screamed.  
  
"You will not...lay a hand...on my brother!" came a slurred voice. The Chimera took his hands off his head once the pain stopped and turns around to see ProtoX hunched over and breathing heavily with his left hand stuck out from throwing his PX-Staff.  
  
"You!? You were supposed to have been destroyed!" the hologram looked as though he was backing into the glass of his capsule as ProtoX dragged himself past the shocked Chimera towards him.  
  
"As long...as he needs me...I...will never...die...!" ProtoX seethed, inching closer to the frightened hologram.  
  
"Stop...STOP HIM!" the hologram screamed. Almost immediately, the impaled mantis' eyes glowed and slowly rose with a mechanical whirring sound, taking its claw and swinging it towards ProtoX, who seemed blinded by the pain to see it coming.  
  
The sound of blade slicing metal echoed throughout the room. The Chimera's eyes shrank even smaller at the sight of ProtoX's upper torso and left arm falling towards the ground a second before his lower body. Shaken, the renegade vigilante gets up and walks toward him dropping to his knees and picking up his upper body in his arms  
  
ProtoX opened his left eye slightly and looked at the Chimera, smiling as more fluid dribbled out of his mouth, his sliced torso oozing more fluid and creating a puddle around the sky blue legs he was being held over, "F-Fight...fight him...brother...." he mutters before closing his eyes and dropping his head into the Chimera's trembling arms. He mumbled something in a cracked voice before embracing the dead corpse in his arms, more fluid staining his white coat and lap, turning from trembling to shaking.  
  
"A small price to pay for not showing your face sooner," the holographic scientist laughed, "But now that he is out finally of the way, I can finish brainwashing you to do my bidding." His gleeful and sinister grin soon turned to terror when the Chimera suddenly sprang up, screaming and dropping ProtoX, "What's...what's going on!? Your readings...they're going off the charts! How can that be!?" The Chimera sprang towards him at the same unbelievable speed that shocked Sigma when he took down X. Again, he tried to back himself up only to hit the corner of his holographic capsule, shaking everywhere before throwing his hand in front of him, "S- Stop! Don't do this! I beg of you!"  
  
The Chimera was too blinded by rage to listen to him. Frightened, the hologram braces for impact as he zoom past his capsule with enough speed to knock him against the wall, causing the projectors to distort, fuzz and wiggle before bringing back his appearance.  
  
The hologram lowers his arms to see the Chimera leap into the air and slice the mind-controlling mantis off the wire covered walls, sending it crashing to the ground as sparks flew from its body. He then began tearing through the wires and computer consoles surrounding the room like a savage beast, scaring the hologram even further.  
  
"No! S-Stop it! If you keep tearing this place apart you'll cause a chain reaction that will blow up this tower!" the room jolts slightly as a sign that one of the severed wires has knocked the towers floatation device offline, causing it to start sinking into the ocean. A wave of explosions ripped throughout the tower, stopping the Chimera as his expression suddenly goes from raged to shocked at the damage he caused, "You fool! No thanks to you, we'll all sink into the ocean!"  
  
Water began spilling into the room as more explosions ripped throughout both inside and outside the tower, annihilating anything that got in the way. The Chimera just stood there, shaking everywhere as the water slowly rose to his ankles before running over to ProtoX, ripping his back panel open and pulling his control chip out. The hologram looks down, seeing the water rising past his tilted waist, then the Chimera who takes off for the roof of the tower, crashing through it and sending large boulders down towards the water.  
  
"NO! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! HELP...ME!!!" his scream began to sound buzzed and distorted, as his hand, fuzzy and wavy, was the last thing sinking into the rising water.  
  
From a distance, the exploding tower disappeared into the ocean a second before it exploded, sending a giant wave that drenched a third of the forest around it. All zombified mavericks stopped what they were doing and fell to the ground, motionless.  
  
The Chimera floated over the giant splash as it settled into the ocean, eyes wide before they close, lowering his head.  
  
"Deactivate helmet." He muttered.  
  
"Helmet deactivated," the computer inside his head said. The Chimera's helmet glowed and vanished, revealing Rock's head as he opened his eyes and stared at the destruction he helped cause. He looked at ProtoX's control chip in his hand, trying to fight back the tears that were coming out of his eyes.  
  
"They're...they're right," he murmured, "I'm no vigilante. I'm just a murderer. I...I killed my own brother!" Rock closed the fist holding ProtoX's control chip and throws his head to the side, tears spilling out of his eyes as he groaned from emotional pain.  
  
"The mavericks have all stopped what they were doing!" the Hunter shouted, "ProtoX did it!"  
  
Dr. Cain jumped and screamed for joy, "I never should have doubted him for a minute! He is definitely like his little brother!"  
  
"But wait! I've lost ProtoX's signal! Something must be wrong!"  
  
"What!?" Dr. Cain ran over to the map and saw that the signal used to locate ProtoX had suddenly vanished, "But...how can that be!? Did he...?" a thud interrupted him before he could finish. He ran outside to see what it was. There was nothing there, except for a white and red beam spear with a CD, sealed in a small, plastic bag, hanging off the center of it by a piece of string.  
  
Dr. Cain ran back inside with the CD and pops it into a nearby computer, running the program, his eyes widening at what he saw, "Oh...no...."  
  
The Beginning – Epilogue  
  
After a triumphant victory over Sigma's second defeat, X and the newly revived Zero return to Hunter Base to give Dr. Cain the news. But when they came through the door, Dr. Cain just sat in front of the computer, staring at the monitor, his lips quivering from sorrow and fear.  
  
"Dr. Cain?" X asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
Dr. Cain snapped his head up, turning it to X, trying to fight back the urge to cry, "Oh, X.... It's ProtoX.... He's...."  
  
Deep within the ocean near Japan laid the ruins of a tower. Underneath a pile of stones, a violet glow emitted from the gaps, an evil laughter echoing throughout the ocean depts.  
  
End of "The Beginning"  
  
OOC: I wanted to make the first series longer, but because most of the chapters involved more description than action, I was worried I'd bore you readers to death. So instead, I just cut to the point to save you the hassle of having to read a bunch of stuff that you didn't need to know.  
  
Next Book Series: "The Mysterious Reploid"


	6. The Mysterious Reploid Chapter 1

Author's Note: If you were confused by the way I did Chapter 3 of "The Beginning" (And that probably means all of you readers), now I'm doing a brief recap of "The Beginning" in Rock's point of view. Yeah, I know it's a waste of a chapter for the intro to "The Mysterious Reploid", but I can't leave most of you hanging out to try without some answers to those burning questions in your heads.  
  
Oh, and one more thing, Gate never went insane until MMX6 in this fanfic.  
  
1 - New Lives for Old Robots  
  
News suddenly spreads throughout the whole city. The Chimera has been labeled a highly dangerous maverick by Mega Man X, who was crippled by the sight of his brother's death at the hands of this armored vigilante. Hunters are on high alert to track him down and destroy him. The Chimera once again disappears without a trace.  
  
Devastated by the news, Rock and Treble never talked to anyone. His friends believed that he was broken hearted over the death of his brother. None have yet to realize the true reason why he was so silent. Treble, while he's never met ProtoX much aside from what he used to be 100 years ago, had felt Rock's emotions through fusion and was the first important, yet sorrowful, lessons he had learned since he started following Rock around.  
  
When they had heard that they, as the Chimera, had been labeled highly dangerous mavericks, they feared that the Maverick Hunters would eventually uncover their dark secret and not only put them in danger, but all those who cared about them. From that point on, Rock and Treble have agreed never to use the Chimera armor again.  
  
Alia, the only friend who not only knew Rock and Treble's connection with the Chimera but practically helped him create the adaptor from the blueprints he stole from Dr. Cain's lab, knew how the two really felt, but was helpless to do something about it because she isn't sure whether Rock claiming he is dangerous is true or not. And trying to lie to him to make him feel better isn't going to make him feel any better than if she was forced to agree with him.  
  
Rock's teachers decided to give him some time off to recover from his recent loss after seeing his lack of attention and the amount of times he keeps botching up his assignments no matter how hard he tried to fix them. He tried to refuse, but after much insisting, he finally accepted it. He spent most of the day laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling of his dorm, unmoving, tears spilling down his face. His friends, along with Alia and Gate, had decided to leave him alone, worried that trying to talk to him would only make him even more upset. His mind began going back to the time he had woken up for the first time since his destruction at the hands of his former, mortal enemy, Zero. He didn't exactly remember what happened just after his tragic loss, and at the time he was feeling his systems shut down one by one, he thought he was done for...until....  
  
Two months ago in the 21XX era....  
  
Gate walked up to the capsule that had been retrieved by his colleagues from a hidden location in the jungles of Japan. Inside the capsule was a silhouette of a human reploid laying inside with his eyes shut.  
  
"Hmm...." he mumbled, "These readings indicate that he was created by Dr. Light. If that is true, he could be of great use to us."  
  
"But there was nothing in Dr. Light's history that mentioned a reploid like this," Alia said, "What if the readings were wrong?"  
  
Gate sighed and backed away from the capsule, "You might be right. The only way we can really confirm he came from Dr. Light is if we reactivate his functions and see if he can remember who his creator is."  
  
"Fat chance he is," one of Gate's colleagues said, "If he was created by Dr. Light why was he found in a jungle and not in the same place X came from? Is he some kind of super machine that can't be trusted by those who dug up the main honcho that started the reploid race?"  
  
Gate scratches his chin, turning his back on the capsule and eyeing the floor, "Could be because this reploid is meant to wake up on his own. Given the capsule has some kind of time-release mechanism that would reactivate him when the time is right for his activation."  
  
Alia walked closer to the capsule, looking at the reploid inside. As she examined his structure, questions began rising in her head. What kind of answers does this reploid have if he is truly Dr. Light's creation, and would he even be in a good mood to answer them? As she contemplated on these questions, she ran her hand over the glass near where the reploid's face is.  
  
As if the entire glass was an "on" switch, the reploid's eyes shot open, scaring her slightly.  
  
"H-Hey...what...!?" the reploid stuttered in a child-like voice, looking around the capsule. He then panicked and began pounding on the glass, "LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!!"  
  
The others heard the reploid scream and turned to see Alia frantically messing with the buttons near the capsule, causing the glass to swing open.  
  
"Alia, what're you doing!?" Gate shouted. The reploid scrambles out of the capsule, stumbling across the room until he fell flat on his face and skids across the room, scaring the other colleagues as they scattered, seeing him stop an inch from the wall.  
  
Alia threw her hands over her mouth, shaking everywhere, "I-I'm sorry. He was panicking, I didn't know what to do!"  
  
The reploid got up, stumbled a bit on his wobbly legs and slammed his back against the wall, staring at all the lab coat-wearing strangers surrounding him. Outside the capsule, they noticed that he looked like Mega Man X without shoulder pads with a slanted "X" on his right shoulder. His hair was black and shoulder length with three long bangs, the middle extending past the nostrils of his nose while the ones on either side of it sagged a couple of inches, curved near his green eyes.  
  
"W-What's going on!? This isn't Dr. Light's lab!" the reploid nearly wailed, shocking everyone in the room when he mentioned his creator, "Where am I!?"  
  
"A college research center," Alia said, getting the reploid's attention as he eyed her.  
  
"R-Research center? I don't understand! Where's Dr. Light? Where's my father!?"  
  
"Dr. Light has been dead for nearly 100 years," Gate said. The reploid's mouth hung open in total shock.  
  
"A...a hundred years? N-No! I couldn't have been stuck in that thing for that long!"  
  
The reploid continued to stare at the others before sprinting towards the door, knocking two of the colleagues to the floor.  
  
"HEY!" one of them shouted, jumping up to run after him.  
  
"No!" Gate said, throwing his hand in front of the colleague, "Let him go. When he accepts where he is, he will return. Being in a world that has changed over 10 decades, this center will be the only known place he could return to." He turned to the door, "Come on. We've got work to do."  
  
Alia watched Gate and the other colleagues leave, putting a hand over her chest. She knew Gate might be right about the fact that Dr. Light's newest creation may end up coming back here for shelter, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the problems the reploid was going through just after being released from his capsule. If she knew the reploid, he was probably off at old Tokyo, looking for the rubble that used to be Dr. Light's lab.  
  
Alia arrived in the ruins of old Tokyo. The place was barely visible after years of sandstorms burying it underground. She wondered if the reploid could even find the cemetery Dr. Light had been buried in under all this sand. She caught a figure heading over to a nearly buried, white gate that had tombstones barely sticking out of the sand. She ran into the cemetery, standing behind a giant cross, the only tombstone in the desert that was taller than most of the other buried tombstones.  
  
The reploid looked around the cemetery until he came across the forehead of a statue sticking out of the sand. He bends down and starts grabbing a hand full of sand and tossing it to the side until the statue could be fully recognized. It looked exactly like Dr. Light. The reploid, seeing the statue as being too familiar, decided not to bother digging deeper to find the carved out name of the statue.  
  
Alia wanted to walk up to the reploid and convince him that he wasn't the only family member alive, but her sub-conscious mind told her to leave him alone. Losing to her sub-conscious mind without even lifting a finger, she stood behind the cross and waited to see what the reploid would do next.  
  
A faint whine got both reploids' attention. They turned to see Treble lying in front of a badly made grave with a wood plank almost buried by the sandstorm. Alia could tell he had been laying there for over 100 years due to the sand that had covered up his once shiny, violet, metal skin.  
  
The reploid got up, walking over to Treble who saw him and scoots back, snarling. After a minute of the reploid's inaudible coaxing, the wolf-bot whined and walked over to the reploid, rubbing his face onto his chest as he placed a hand over his head and lightly stroked him. This had Alia wondering if the mysterious reploid is really Dr. Light's first creation, Mega Man.  
  
Feeling that the reploid may already have a better life ahead of him, she turns to leave, both ancient bots unaware of her appearance in the first place. She began to think that Gate was wrong about the fact that 100-year-old reploids won't have anywhere else to go.  
  
Alia had been depressed all day, thinking of nothing but the reploid Dr. Light had sealed up. Her teachers found it very hard to get her to pay attention during class and would sometimes slap their rulers or pointers on the desk in front of her to wake her up. This worried Gate, knowing that she was the most attentive reploid in college. To see her this spaced out made him think that she might have caught something during her none class days when she would go outside with her friends and have fun.  
  
That afternoon, Gate caught up with Alia who stood near the door to her dorm, Frog standing beside her, trying to chase a fly that was flying around them.  
  
"Is something wrong, Alia?" Gate asked, "You've never been this spaced out before."  
  
"Huh?" Alia looked up to see Gate standing in front of her, his hand resting on the wall beside her head. She shook her head and looked down, trying to force a smile, "Of course I am. I...guess I need to have that stasis pod fixed again."  
  
"Come on, you could sleep for an hour and you'd still be awake and active. Admit it, something is bugging you."  
  
"Frog know what wrong with Alia! Frog know what wrong with Alia!" the red headed, humanoid amphibian said, bouncing up and down beside Gate and Alia. She stops and points to her, "Alia in love with ancient reploid! Yes yes! Frog felt same way when she saw Toad Man on the Internet!"  
  
Alia's eyes bugged out, her face turning red, "WHAT!? No way! How could I fall in love with someone who's only been on this planet for half a day!?"  
  
"Is that it, huh?" Gate said, slyly, "I see Ms. Independent found someone she actually likes for once."  
  
"Y-You got it all wrong! I may have an interest in him, but that doesn't mean I love him!"  
  
"Come on. You're face isn't red because of the outside heat. It's almost winter." Gate began nudging Alia's cheek with his other hand, "I think I see love in the air."  
  
Alia got into Gate's face, nearly blowing him back with her voice, "Quit saying that!" she then backed up some, "Even if I do like him, it's not going to last long. That reploid has a life ahead of him. Why waste it being cooped up in a place that teaches him stuff that he might already know?" She rested her back against the wall, eyeing the floor, "He...he might not come back."  
  
Gate put his hand back on the wall beside Alia's head, "Not come back? I already told you we're the only ones he'll have to trust. Being in a world that evolved over the years, even old Tokyo is like a huge labyrinth to him. He'll HAVE to come back here." He takes his hand off the wall and turns around, "Well, I'm going to go play with some of my creations before shutting down for the night. Don't stay up too long thinking about him."  
  
"GATE!" Alia glared at Gate, watching him walk off, laughing. She stood there, growling, her fists throttling.  
  
Frog bounced up and down in front of her, "Frog want go swimming before sleep! Alia join, yes?"  
  
Alia straightened up, looking at Frog, "Well...I...." Frog stops bouncing and looks at her with a VERY wide grin stretched across her face. She sighed, "Alright. But don't push me into the pool this time."  
  
Frog squealed and hopped off, chanting, "Frog go swimming" along the way (And annoying half the colleagues trying to sleep). Alia sighed and followed.  
  
They went to the public, indoor pool in New Tokyo. Frog always liked swimming there. As she swam around the pool, Alia sat near the edge of the 14ft end of the pool, her feet in the water. She wasn't paying attention to how Frog swam. She was still caught up on the questions revolving around Dr. Light's creation. Is he really the old Mega Man from 100 years ago? If so, what happened to him and why was he sealed away the minute he was reconstructed? She knew these unanswered questions would eventually leave her mind the next day...she hoped it would. She didn't want these questions to keep distracting her from class.  
  
She then saw Frog jump out of the pool, landing beside her and nearly drenching her in chlorine.  
  
"Ancient reploid come! Ancient reploid come! Bring doggy reploid!" Frog squealed. Alia saw her hopping towards the high dive where, sure enough, the old reploid and Treble stood. Could they have come in to see her? Maybe Gate was right about the reploid not having anywhere else to go.  
  
Frog stopped behind the two as they looked at her, slightly confused, "You come to see Alia, right?" she then looked at Treble and crawled up to him, seeing him back up slightly, "Is this your dog?" she began running her hands around Treble's head, causing him to blush and curve his mouth into a love sick smile, "Such a good doggy." Treble began to sag from the webbed hands rubbing against his face until he lost balance and fell into the pool, bobbing to the surface on his belly, the lovesick expression still on his face. Frog giggled and turned to the reploid.  
  
"Frog want know! Frog want know!" without warning, she jumps up and lands on the reploid's back, her weight forcing him towards the pool as he yelped and tried to regain his balance, "Does ancient reploid swim?"  
  
She jumps off the reploid her feet knocking him off the ground and into the pool. She squealed as she rose into the air, arms and legs spread out before turning over and landing in the pool.  
  
Alia gasped, throwing her hands over her mouth. The reploid burst his head out of the water a second before it disappeared. Frog's face appeared in the reploid's face, scaring him slightly as she let go and swims towards the surface. He shakes his head and follows. When his head came out of the water, Frog began swimming circles around him, "You lousy swimmer. Alia swim better than you."  
  
"Come on, I can barely run in this body." The reploid said. Frog threw her hands on his head, pushing him up to his forehead in the water.  
  
"You're funny!" she giggled.  
  
The reploid wiggled his head until Frog released him, spitting water out of his mouth, "Why're you roughhousing me!? Why don't to roughhouse her instead?" he adds by pointing to Alia who grits her teeth in both startlement and nervousness. Frog frumped.  
  
"Alia no fun. She doesn't want to swim with Frog."  
  
The reploid looked at Alia who stuffed her hands between her legs, her mouth now compressed, a bit of sweat running down the side of her face. The reploid grinned. "She doesn't? She's the only one who isn't in the pool with us. I'll just have to fix that."  
  
Alia yelped as the reploid swam towards her. She tries to get away only to see him grab her by the waist and pull her in, screaming, creating a huge splash that drenched both Frog and Treble.  
  
Both came up. Alia quickly pulled away from the reploid, her face even redder than before. This left him a little confused. Frog swam up behind him and whispered in his ear. "Frog think Alia like you."  
  
"Frog!" Alia cried. She sighed, brushing some of the wet hair from her face, looking at the reploid, "Why did you decide to come here? New reploid's rarely decide to come here for a quick swim."  
  
"I was going to head back to that research center to ask some questions about what happened over the past hundred years," the reploid said, "But when I saw you here, I thought you might need some company."  
  
Alia's face turned beet red. She then smiled slightly and moved closer to the reploid, putting her arms around him, uttering a quick, "Thanks." She moves back slightly, her hands moving to his shoulders, "To be honest, I wanted to ask you a few questions myself. First of all, you wouldn't happen to remember your name, would you?"  
  
The reploid eyed the water a bit before turning them back to Alia, "Rock...Rock Light."  
  
A couple of months have passed since the start of the Maverick Hunter organization. With Sigma as head of the army, most of the mavericks have been reduced to at least 200 a sector. Proving their loyalty to humanity, everyone began to breathe easier.  
  
At the research center, Rock sat on his bed, tightening the green ribbon in his hair, a dark brown line extending from the tip of his middle bangs to the tip of his ponytail, wearing a lab coat identical to most of the colleagues walking around the center. His friends found it weird that he was the only reploid on the planet who refused to sleep in a stasis pod like the other reploids do to his fear of capsules, but that didn't bother him as much.  
  
Treble also became less aggressive. His times spent following Rock had given him time to realize that humans weren't as evil as Wily had led him and Bass to believe. He still misses his old master, but his friendship with his former enemy taught him that there was more to life than just being obedient. And the more he learned about that, the more he became friendly with other college students, both human and reploid alike.  
  
Alia walked into their dorm, getting Rock's attention as he turned around to look at her, "We're heading over to Robot Rescue to do some extra credit on robotic technology. Wanna come?"  
  
Rock got up, Treble appearing at the foot of the bed, "Maybe later. I promised Treble I take him to his friend's hideout in the desert to retrieve some of his belongings."  
  
"You don't mean the dead lands of the desert, do you? "Alia looks as though the dead lands was the last place anyone would have the guts to go to retrieve some mere belongings, "Are you sure you can travel that far in one day?"  
  
"That's where teleporting comes in. I was lucky to still have mine equipped when I was upgraded. No one'll even know I left."  
  
Alia eyed the floor, then Rock, "Well...just be careful, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you while you're gone."  
  
"Don't worry. If anything happens to us, we can defend ourselves. I've had years of experience in battle, you know." He gives Alia a-thumbs up before walking out of the room with Treble following.  
  
An hour later, two beams touched down in the center of the sandy desert of the dead lands. After re-materializing, Rock and Treble were shocked at the sight around them. Torn hunters and their four-legged companions lay scattered across most of the desert, their fluids staining the grains of sand that wash over their body parts.  
  
"Something tells me we should've landed closer to the shack." Rock muttered. Treble's ears perked as a faint scream echoed through the dead silent desert. The two ran to the source to see Garma's torn and lifeless structure in Zero's hand. Rock's eyes widened.  
  
"It's...it's you!" he cried. Treble snarled, both backing away as Zero eyed them, dropping Garma and turning to fully face them, his grin wider than before. He began to walk towards them, flexing his bloodied hands. Fearing his unmatched power, the two reploids continued to back away from him.  
  
Rock's pupils suddenly shrank before he grabbed his chest, screaming in pain, stopping both Zero and Treble, watching him as he hunched over, eyes shut, his hands trembling, "It...it hurts!!!"  
  
Garma's reconnaissance troops who heard their leader screaming in agony and were running to the source in hopes that he wasn't destroyed came to a screeching halt when another scream got their attention.  
  
"Wh-What was that?" the first asked.  
  
"I don't know, but it's coming from the area where Garma was last heard." The second said before running ahead of the first hunter. When they got to the source of the screaming, they saw four figures standing 4 feet from them, one of them being what's left of Garma. Their eyes widened when they saw blue fire shoot up from under Rock, his hair and the bottom of his lab coat flying flapping upwards in various directions. What happened next shocked everyone with in the area.  
  
Zero's pupil shrank to the size of rice grains, grabs his head and stumbles back, screaming in pain. The reconnaissance troops didn't know what was going on, but felt as though Rock had something to do with it. After a few minutes, Zero's body glowed as a beam shot out, dematerializing his structure it was completely gone, the beam disappearing into the sky. Both hunters were in complete shock when they saw what happened. They watched as the fire surrounding Rock vanished, his pupils growing back to their original size.  
  
Treble looked at Rock who's looking at his trembling hands, "I-I don't know what happened. All of a sudden, my chest feels like it was on fire." His eyelids began to sag as his hands dropped to his side, "I...I feel so...tired...." he then dropped to his knees a second before the rest of his body hit the ground face first, releasing clouds of sand from both impacts.  
  
"He...he needs help!" one of the hunters called out. Both ran towards Rock only to see Treble stand over him, snarling at the two.  
  
"Whoa! T-Take it easy, mutt! We're just trying to help your friend." The second said, but Treble continued to snarl at them before both teleported out in separate colored beams.  
  
"What should we do now?" the first asked.  
  
"Well, it seems that Commander Garma wasn't able to handle that Maverick. We may have to call Sigma and tell him what happened."  
  
The two beams landed somewhere in the middle an old shack somewhere in the dead lands. Treble moved towards Rock's head and began licking him until he groaned and sat up.  
  
"Ugh...someone get the license bar of the mechaloid that hit me?" he mumbled, pushing himself to his hands and knees. When he regained all five of his senses, he looked around his surroundings, "Is...this the place you and Bass hung out in?"  
  
Treble eyed the floor, a bit depressed. Rock moves his hands toward the wolf-bot's head and rubbed it, "Come on, we'd better look for your stuff."  
  
Treble lead Rock through the paths of the shack. There was barely any light to help them see where they were going. Treble had to rely on his sense of smell to prevent either of them from bumping into something along the way to the center of his hideout. When they finally arrived, the desert light shining in from the holes in the walls and ceiling, preferably from when Bass would shoot inanimate thing out of irritation after having one of his arguments with Dr. Wily.  
  
"This is your hideout?" Rock asked, looking around the cargo area of the shack, "Don't mind me criticizing, but this place could use some work." He looked at Treble who scowled slightly, "Then again, it has been 100 years since this place's been used last. Maybe the lack of maintenance caused most of the surrounding to rust. Let's just hope none of your stuff suffered with this place."  
  
The two walked around the cargo room until Treble stopped near some boxes, tail wagging. Rock appeared behind him, seeing a gothic-style doghouse hidden behind the stack of "Dr. W" marked boxes. He kneels down and looks inside the doorway of the house.  
  
"Whoa, it looks like an apartment building in here." Rock yelped. Treble grinned, tail still wagging. Rock gets up and closes the door to the doghouse, picking it up, "Well. I guess this saves us the trouble of looking for all your stuff. Let's head back before anyone else finds out where we are."  
  
But when they arrived at the entrance of the old shack, Rock and Treble came to a halt upon seeing Sigma drop to his knees, battered and torn with one arm missing and Zero laying behind him with gem shards laying around him and what looks like a "W" glowing on the socket in his helmet. Hearing their footsteps, he lift his head to look at them, muttering something they couldn't hear, but knew it wasn't good. When he turned to look at Zero, the two took this moment to make their escape and teleported out.  
  
Rock placed the doghouse near his bed back in their dorms in the college research center.  
  
"Well, at least this saves a lot of temporary roommates having to complain about the way you sleep at night." He said. Treble wags his tail, grinning before running into his doghouse.  
  
Rock noticed something under the bed that wasn't there before. He pulls it out seeing the words "Robo-Porn" strewn across it, "Robo-Porn? Who'd read this junk?"  
  
He tosses it behind him a split second before a violet blur flies out of the doghouse and grabs the magazine. Rock turns around to see Treble snarling in his face, causing him to yelp and stumble back.  
  
"WAH! How was I supposed to know you liked robot porn!?" Rock squeaked, putting his hands up for defense.  
  
A shadow blocked out the overhead lights of the dorm room, getting Rock's attention as his looked up to see Sigma towering over him. Treble turns around to see him and quickly stumbles to Rock's side. He continues to stare at the two ancient reploids before turning around.  
  
"Come with me," he said, walking off. Rock and Treble looked at each other before following.  
  
Sigma took Rock and Treble to Dr. Cain's lab where they uncovered his strange an ultra rare ability to sense and even destroy any virus that was causing reploids to turn maverick. When Dr. Cain found out that Sigma was the one who sparked this realization, he tried to persuade him to get tested, but the head of Maverick Hunters refused and left in anger. He sighed and looked at Rock's structure again, unaware of the slippery Light bot sneaking up to the bin of blueprints and disappearing with one of Dr. Light's aging blueprints.  
  
"Where did you get that?" Alia asked when she found Rock sitting at his desk with the blue print spread out across the desk's surface.  
  
"I found these designs for a fusion adaptor when Sigma took me to Cain Labs to get examined," Rock said, studying the instructions that were printed around the adaptor's design. Alia's mouth hung when he said that.  
  
"W-Wait! Did Dr. Cain know you took one of his blueprints?" Rock didn't look up from the blueprints, knowing how shocked Alia was.  
  
"I doubt he even knows about this. And to be honest, I don't think it's a good idea if he did."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Take a look at the designs of this adaptor," Alia looks at where Rock points, seeing an arrow going from the adaptor to what appeared to be some kind of flight/gliding armor, "Dr. Light originally intended to install this into one of my support units. But after my accident, he never got around to making it. With all this controversy going on about some of the Hunters going maverick, I'm worried that if Dr. Cain ever got a hold of this blueprint, he would use it to duplicate a lot of fusion adaptors so powerful, no army on earth could stop them if the Hunters all of a sudden turn maverick." He didn't want to let on the fact that he didn't trust Sigma's strange behavior.  
  
Alia stared at the blueprints some more, "Then...what do you think we should do with this?"  
  
Rock covered his mouth, staring at the blueprint a while longer, "Dr. Light would sometimes let me fight by my own rules as long as they aren't too dangerous. Because of him, I felt as though no one on this planet would be able to tell me who I should fight." Alia's eyes widened at where he was going with his thoughts.  
  
"Wait...you're not thinking of...."  
  
"Well, following commands isn't going to end this ridiculous war anytime soon. Since I'm the only one who knows the schematics for the fusion adaptor, I figured I'd create the armor and install it into Treble."  
  
"But...what if something bad happens to you while wearing that armor?"  
  
"I know there won't be anything bad happening to me." Rock looks at Treble who seemed eager to want the fusion program installed, "Treble's already removed everything that might give us problems during the time we're fused. We should be okay."  
  
With Alia's help, Rock had managed to design and program the fusion adaptor into Treble. After making some proper adjustments and getting rid of some of the bugs that may cause serious problems to the adaptor, it was time to put it to the test.  
  
Rock and Treble stood on the roof of a building high above the city where no one would know what they were about to do.  
  
"You ready?" Rock asked. Treble nods and jumps towards him, dematerializing into sparks as it slammed into Rock, causing a white glowing armor to cover him from head to foot. Once the glowing faded, he was in full armor. He looked at his black hands. With Treble's mind apart of his, he could feel that he was as awed at the appearance and the power they were feeling as he is. Rock clenched his fist in excitement, "Alright! Now to test the flight program."  
  
A schematics of the armor appeared on the visors of his helmet, the feet part of the armor flashing white.  
  
"Rocket boosters activating," a computerized voice said. Rock leapt into the air as the boosters came to life, keeping him in the air. Excited, he began flying around the city, most of the people mistaking him for a strange looking airplane. While flying around, he heard a terrified scream in one of the allies of New Tokyo. He flew to the source to see a young schoolgirl backed up against the wall with three ugly looking mavericks standing in front of her.  
  
"Beware...beware...." they chanted as if it were a ritual, "We're going to get you...we're going to get you...."  
  
"P-Please, stop! Leave me alone!" the girl whimpered. The mavericks laughed as they continued their dreadful chants.  
  
"Beware...beware.... We're going to get you...we're going to get you...."  
  
"ACK!" The two mavericks turned around to see the third fly into them and knock them to the ground.  
  
"What the hell was that!?" the first shouted, shoving the out cold maverick off them. They got up and looked behind them to see Rock standing in a forward stretch with his left fist held out in front of him.  
  
"Hey! What's with the kid and the tacky armor?" the second grumbled.  
  
"Who cares? He's gonna pay for interfering with us!" the first charged towards Rock swinging his massive fist only to see him merely duck it, "What the...!?" he yelps as a black fist slammed into his mid-section, knocking the wind out of him as saliva flew out of his gaping mouth. The second maverick watched their leader fall to the ground, out cold and glared at his attacker.  
  
"Why you...!" he leapt towards Rock and brought his folded fists down only to see them land in his open hands, holding him in mid-air, "How did...!?" a foot to the mid-section interrupts him as Rock releases his grip on his wrists, sending him flying onto his little gang.  
  
The schoolgirl looks at Rock before springing to her feet and running past him, screaming. He watched her disappear into the streets before focusing on the pile of mavericks beside him, then cans of spray paint behind them.  
  
The blueprints had a name for the fusion adaptor: the Chimera armor. This gave Rock an idea.  
  
The first news of the Chimera's heroic actions didn't last very long as another report followed the day after in which he had been turned into a convicted Vigilante. While the Hunters have tracked him down while trying to take out a gang of wanna-be mavericks, he managed to evade their attacks. For the next month most of the Hunters had been working hard to uncover both the Chimera's identity and where he was hiding until the sorrowful and fearful day when Sigma all of a sudden went maverick and provoked the Chimera to battle him which ended in near tragedy. Rock didn't think that the head of Maverick Hunter, turned traitor, would even recognize his identity through voice alone.  
  
X soon took over as leader of the 17th Unit in hopes of riding the war himself and getting revenge on Sigma for what he did to everyone in the base. Seeing that with his brother more alert with maverick outbreaks, both minor and major, Rock felt no need to interfere any longer and the Chimera disappeared for a while until another disturbance called him back.  
  
Strange activities involving dead mavericks coming to life began plaguing the city with terror. The Chimera had already tried to deal with the problem but when his visors picked up an even stronger energy reaction coming from the outskirts of Japan, he knew he had to do something.  
  
Relying on the energy-tracking device on his helmet, the Chimera reached the forest, seeing a purplish glow in the far distance. Not wasting any time, he kicked his rocket boosters into high gear and charged through the trees, almost reaching the glow when a loud noise interrupted him. He turns around to see ProtoX getting thrown into a tree with a giant, banged up gorilla heading towards him. He grabs his C-Boomerang and throws it towards the gorilla, slicing the tree over his brother's head and slamming into its face, knocking it to the ground. Then he leapt over ProtoX and swung his left C-Blade across the gorilla's face, causing it to explode as he jumped back to avoid getting sucked into the burning balls of fire.  
  
The Chimera looks at his brother before taking off after the glow without saying anything. When he reached the source of the glow, he saw it was a rusted, moss-covered version of the Eiffel Tower, its windows emitting an eerie, purple glow. Not wanting to look for a door, he charged in through the window. The place was not only covered with wires, but also had undead machines wandering around like zombies from an old monster movie.  
  
Ignoring the mavericks wandering around the ground, the Chimera saw a flight of stairs to the right and flew towards them, seeing most of the mavericks try to grab him, but barely got his coattail. Finally reaching the stairs, he deactivates his flight boosters and starts climbing them on foot.  
  
When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw that ProtoX had already beaten him halfway to the top of the tower. The two stared at each other unmoving and emotionless. When ProtoX knew that the Chimera wasn't going to talk, he felt that fighting was the only answer, to which the Chimera accepted without hesitation.  
  
The two had fought for more than two minutes until ProtoX suddenly stopped, his mouth hanging open as if he had been spooked by something. The Chimera felt as though the fight had given his uncertain memories a jumpstart. Before he could say anything, an evil laugh got their attention.  
  
"Well, well. It seems we have intruders," the voice boomed, "I was only interested in the Chimera, but you can come to...Break Man ProtoX."  
  
"Who are you!?" ProtoX shouted. The voice laughed.  
  
"Why don't you come up here and find out...if you can survive my avalanche."  
  
"Avalanche?" the room suddenly shook as an explosion buried the two in a pile of stones and concrete. The Chimera was the first to emerge, looking at his brother half buried under the pile, in worse shape than he is and making no signs of waking up soon. He stares at ProtoX some more before running towards the purplish glow coming from the stairways to the top of the tower.  
  
Upon arrival, he saw that a giant praying mantis was pined to the wall by wires and a capsule with a purple glass standing under it. The evil laugh echoed again.  
  
"How good to see you again, Chimera," the voice said, "Or should I say...Mega Man!"  
  
The Chimera's pupils shrank slightly, "W-What!? Th-Then...you must be...!"  
  
"That's right!" the glass slid down as a holographic figure appeared in its place. The Chimera took a step back.  
  
"You're...You're Wily!"  
  
"What's the matter, Chimera? Surprised to see me?" the hologram grinned, "I knew that my creations would turn on me one of these days, so I downloaded my A.I. into this hologram, programmed to activate should something tragic happen to me. And since my reappearance after all these years, I've decided to let the whole world know of my reactivation!" The Chimera continued to back away, "And I wouldn't want to forget my traitor of a servant. He thought he was so smart trying to purge every controlling virus in his body. But there was one program that can't be erased." He grinned and raised his hands, "AND NOW! TIME TO ACTIVATE THE MANUAL OVERITING PROGRAM!"  
  
The praying mantis' eyes flashed a crimson red causing the Chimera's eyes to shrink to the size of rice grains. He stumbles back and grabs his head screaming in pain as a buzzing sound filled his hearing sensors. Wily laughed again.  
  
"Once I have taken control of you," he said as the Chimera dropped to his knees, increasing the grip on his head, his screaming growing louder, "I will use you to turn against those you've tried to protect over the years. Think of it as a trade off with your baby brother. My masterpiece for you! The best part is, he won't even know he had a brother until he has annihilated you!" His laughing was cut off when a streak flew past him and the Chimera and slammed into the forehead of the praying mantis causing it to short out and fall over limp, its arms dangling over his capsule. Wily looks to where the streak came from, "Who's there!?"  
  
"You will not...lay a hand...on my brother!" came a labored breathing voice. The Chimera turns around to see ProtoX standing behind him with his hand in front of him, half conscious.  
  
"You! But you were supposed to have been destroyed in the avalanche!" Wily cried as he backed into the wall of his capsule, seeing ProtoX coming towards him, hunched over and dragging his feet along the ground.  
  
"As long...as he needs me...I...will never...die!" ProtoX seethed. Wily began shaking everywhere before pointing at him..  
  
"S-STOP HIM!" he cried. The mantis sprang to life and swings its claw towards ProtoX, slicing him in half. The Chimera's eyes widened in shock, watching ProtoX's left arm and his upper and lower body fall to the ground, fluid spilling out of the gashes as he fell. Shaken, he gets up and walks towards him, falling to his knees and picking him up in his trembling arms.  
  
ProtoX opened his left eye slightly and looks at him, smiling, more fluid spilling out of his mouth, "F-Fight...Fight him...brother...." he muttered before his eyes closed, dropping his head into the Chimera's now shaking arms. Horrified by the death of his brother, he embraces him in a sorrowful hug. Wily just laughed.  
  
"A price to pay for not revealing yourself sooner!" he said. He brings his slightly curved fingers towards the Chimera, "And now, to finish turning you against your remaining family and friends!" The Chimera muttered something morbidly before he shot up screaming in rage. Wily's eyes widened in fear, "What...what's happening!? You're readings! They're going way off the charts! How can that be!?"  
  
The Chimera glares at Wily with raging eyes before flying towards him, his left arm slung across his throat. He thrusts it out when he neared the capsule, causing the whole room to flash brightly as the sound of blade slicing something was heard before pitch blackness....  
  
Rock's eyes shot open, gasping as he stared at the ceiling of his dorm room. He sat up rubbing his slightly messy, undone hair, one hand gripping the sheets of his bed, his lab coat missing. He looks at the morning sun shining through the window on the left side of his bed.  
  
Three weeks had gone by since ProtoX's death. As the days went by, Rock slowly started to regain his old personalities, his sorrow nothing more than a deep feeling. The dream he had last night seemed to be a slight farewell from the pain he suffered those past three weeks.  
  
"Must've fallen asleep," he mumbled. He then sighed and pushed the covers off, slipping out of bed and walking over to his lab coat hanging off his desk chair with his dark green hair ribbon on top of it. He felt something rubbing against the back of his leg and turns around to see Treble pressing his head against him. He smiles a bit and bends down to pet him, "Had a nightmare too, huh?" Treble whined as he got up and slipped his lab coat on, tying his ribbon around his raven hair, "Let's take a walk. Maybe the morning air might calm us down some."  
  
Treble wags his tail as he heads to the door, Rock following behind him. The door suddenly swung open as Mekah and Carlos suddenly sprang into the room, shouting "SURPRISE!!!" Treble screamed a doggy-like scream and jumped onto to Rock, Scooby-Doo style.  
  
"Ewwwww...you let Treble watch Scooby-Doo!?" Mekah said sticking her tongue out in disgust. Rock laughed nervously, his legs shaking from Treble's weight.  
  
"W-Well, I can't fit into his doghouse," Rock grunted, "So I never know what he's watching."  
  
"Enough about that! We found something you might be interested in!" Carlos said.  
  
"It's not another one of your cheer-up rap numbers, is it?"  
  
"Hey! What's wrong with my rap!? I have good rhythm!" Mekah elbowed Carlos and walks up to Rock.  
  
"We were walking by Robot Rescue and came across this sign that's looking for brave people for an On-Field Rescue Squad! We thought you might be interested since you do have good experience in battle, and this would be a great opportunity for you to get your revenge on the Chimera for killing your brother!"  
  
Rock stares at Mekah, then Treble who stares back at him for an answer. If being an On-Field Rescue Squad would help him end the war better than being some vigilante-gone-maverick, it would probably be worth it. They would just have to go there and see for themselves.  
  
OOC: Don't worry, the actual start of the second series is starting soon, so don't complain about me looking for an excuse to post stories with rehashed plots. Besides, I figured a good humor scene would lighten some of you tearjerkers up (For those who even cry over the angst parts of my fanfics).  
  
Next Chapter: To end the war without using the Chimera armor, Rock and Treble tried to become members of an On-Field Rescue Squad at Robot Rescue and shocks everyone with their good fighting skills. But their actions gave X the wrong idea as he had expelled them after Dr. Cain revealed that Rock is his older brother, bringing up one of the biggest sibling rivalries in history, and Zero is stuck in the middle of it, trying to play peacemaker. Will the two brothers settle their argument and except things as they are? And what happens when the X-Hunters rise from the grave to play another round of tampering with X's feelings? 


	7. The Mysterious Reploid Chpater 2

Author's Note: I am getting around to fixing the tense problems of the previous chapters so I can relieve most of you of the brain cramps suffered when trying to understand what I was saying so far (I could've done it sooner, but at the time, I didn't really know I had tense problems). Anyway, don't let this minor grammar error keep you from enjoying the next chapter.

2 - Emotional Wreck  
  
While ProtoX's death had shaken up most of the volunteers who had grown to like him, despite his stuck up and mostly silent attitude, his courage to face something so dangerous as the glowing source that brought dead machines to life had inspired the President and some of his promoted associates to organize an On-Field Rescue Squad.  
  
The On-Field Rescue Squad sends brave volunteers to the battlefield and help fight off mavericks while escorting wounded Maverick Hunters back to Robot Rescue for repairs. At first, X didn't approve of this because not only were there going to be human volunteers trying to fight off mavericks, but since he was still grieving over ProtoX's death, he didn't want it to be some sort of inspiration towards increasing the amount of casualties caused in a war. But after losing the vote by show of hands of the other Hunters and the lack of recruits remaining in Hunter Base, he was forced to deal with it.  
  
There was only one problem with the On-Field idea. Most of those "brave and daring volunteers" were nothing more than chicken wusses who couldn't hold a stick to save their lives. It was the President's dumb idea to hire Hunters to spend some of their off-duty time to teach them how to fight like true warrior in battle. Very few took this offer seriously. Others, including X, were having a ball scaring the volunteers shitless just by yelling and glaring at them. New Robot Rescuers stuck to fixing reploid civilians instead of facing the evil grin of the Hunters who needed something to brag about during leisure times.  
  
The volunteers swore that one of these days, one of them, possibly a newbie, was going to turn the tables around and make the Hunters the laughing stalks. The Hunters, believing that would never happen, just laughed it off. No one would suspect just how right the volunteer's threat was going to be....  
  
When Rock and Treble arrived at Robot Rescue, they noticed that most of the area was covered in dents and burnt manikins littering the floor in one piece or a pile of plastic. Although a bit nervous about the mess, the two sighed and walked towards the front desk where a female reploid with red hair and dressed in a traditional, old-fashion nurse outfit sat behind the counter, talking up a storm on her cell phone.  
  
"Ugh! I cannot wait for this day to end, you hear me!?" she complained, "If I have to put up with this any longer, I'm afraid I'll go maverick!" Long pause, "It's a figure of speech dummy! Anyway, whatever those sorry excuse for mentors are doing back there is hectic!" Long pause, "I'm not kidding! They're treating us like it was Happy Hour for Maverick Hunters!" she didn't bother to look up when Rock arrived at the front desk. She just slapped the resume strapped clipboard in front of him along with a ballpoint pen and continued talking, "Can you believe that?" Rock looks at Treble, who looks back at him, and picks up the pen to fill out the form, "I swear, if another person comes in here wanting to become an On- Field Rescuer, he had better have balls of titanium, or so help me, I will rip his fuckin'...." she trails off when she took the resume and turns it around to see "On-Field" with a checkmark next to it. She sighed, "Could you hold on a second?" she lowers the cell phone and puts her hand to the side of her mouth, "Oh, Mr. President!" A chubby reploid in a business suit zooms up to the nurse and stops behind her.  
  
"Yes, Marah?" he said. His smile was so wide, he looked like he could hardly see trough his cheeks.  
  
"Another one for the training room," Marah grumbles, pointing to Rock.  
  
The President's smile grew even wider as he walked over to Rock, "Welcome to Robot Rescue, my friend!" he backed Rock up towards one of the chairs near the windowed walls of Robot Rescue and sat him down. He reached into his coat, pulled out a schedule book and hands it to Rock, "Now, I need you to look through this book and tell me which session you want to train in."  
  
"S-Session?" Rock stuttered, "Actually, I don't need to train for anything. I've had plenty of experience in battle." The President laughed and slapped his back, almost knocking him off the chair.  
  
"Sure, sure. I know you do," he said. He then stuck the book closer to Rock's face, "Now seriously, if you can just circle the session you want to train in, I will...." he didn't get a chance to finish when Rock shoved the book in his face.  
  
"Are you're hearing sensors offline!?" he growled, "I said I don't...." an explosion shook the room. Rock looks up to see a burning manikin fly towards them. He grits his teeth, increases his grip on the book as well as the President's face and leaps out of the chair, "GET DOWN!!!" he drops to the floor, throws the President against the wall and covers his head as the manikin flies over him and Treble, also on the floor, covering his head, shatters the window and skids across the street, scaring civilians and forcing cars to come to a screeching halt, some nearly crashing into each other.  
  
"I'm fine," Marah said through an earphone connected to her cell phone, reading a yuri manga without the slightest care in the world, "That ditsy volunteer just blew another manikin out of the training room."  
  
From the training room, X, hand over his face, stood behind a green haired, pink reploid who's shakily holding a white buster gun towards a burning rope that used to hold the manikin now laying in the streets, melting from the fire surrounding it.  
  
"How many times do we have to go through this?" he grumbled, "You press the trigger repeatedly to fire rapid shots, you hold the trigger down for three seconds and THEN release it to fire a charged blast."  
  
"I...." the reploid squeaked, shaking everywhere, her eyes shut and her mouth compressed nervously, "It's just that...I...I'm uncomfortable holding a gun."  
  
X sighed, "If you're afraid of holding a gun, why did you sign up for target practice?" the reploid drops to her knees and cries as if her eyes were fountains.  
  
"I HAVE TO! MY LITTLE BROTHER KEEPS TEASING ME ABOUT MY FEAR OF GUNS, AND I WANT TO PROVE HIM WRONG!"  
  
"OH, THIS IS JUST HORRIBLE!!! HORRIBLE, I TELL YOU!!!" the President wailed in the same manner as the green haired reploid, "EVERY TIME WE HIRE A HUNTER TO TRAIN OUR VOLUNTEER, HE'LL TREAT US LIKE LAUGHING STOCKS UNTIL HE RETURNS TO HUNTER BASE IN A GURNEY!!! AND WE'RE LOSING VOLUNTEERS EVERYDAY!!! WE'VE EVEN TRIED TO ENLIST X AND ZERO TO HELP US AND THEY'RE ONLY MAKING THE SITUATION WORSE!!! WE'RE DOOMED!!!"  
  
Rock grinned, 'X is here, is he?'  
  
X grabbed the reploid and placed her in front of another manikin, "Look. Instead of just firing like a mad girl, why not try AIMING first?"  
  
"B-But...this won't do me any good," the reploid whimpered, "What if the manikin decides to come at me?" X grabbed her head and turned it to the ceiling.  
  
"Do you see any tracks or remote controlled ropes on the ceiling?" he lets go of her head, "There is nothing in this room that is going to make this thing come at you."  
  
As if on cue, a spit wad hits the back of the manikin's head and causes it to shake a bit. To the reploid, it was coming at her. She began screaming and firing everywhere, "Keep it away! KEEP IT AWAY!!!" everyone screamed as well and ran around while ducking and dodging the wild blasts flying everywhere. Some of the blasts nailed the volunteers, causing them to scream even louder and continue to run around and cry for help. X snarled and eyed Zero who tried to hide a torn piece of paper and a plastic straw in front of him, acting like he didn't do anything.  
  
"DAMMIT, ZERO!!!" he yelled, "THAT'S THE FIFTH TIME YOU SCARED EVERYONE BY HITTING THEIR MANIKINS WITH YOUR STUPID SPIT WADS!!! IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!" Zero just turned his back on him, snickering.  
  
"Oh, yes it is," he mumbles, then suddenly jolts.  
  
The whole training room stopped as if someone had hit the pause button on a VCR remote. All eyes focused on Zero who moaned before he jumped into the air, hands behind his burnt, torn and smoking rump. Once he landed, he began running all over the training room, yelling, "IT BURNS!!! IT BURNS!!! SOMEONE GET A BUCKET OF WATER BEFORE MY HAIR CATCHES ON FIRE!!!"  
  
The reploid who fired at Zero heard a mixture of snorts and snickers and looked at X who had his lips compressed to keep a smile from fighting its way to the surface, "Um...I don't see what's so funny, Sensei...."  
  
"It's...snort...it's not. It's just that...I...." X interrupts himself and moans, his lips quivering the more he compressed them. He finally lost control and bursts out laughing like a hyena, "I...I found out who Zero's true love is...! HIS HAIR!!!"  
  
Zero came to a screeching halt and turns his head towards X, his eyes glowing red. Those standing behind the now hunched over reploid went wide- eyed and split in multi-colored streaks as a shadow loomed over him.  
  
"MAKE FUN OF ME, WILL YA!?" Zero roared. X looked up with a dumbfound smile before a white clad fist slammed into his face, throwing him to the far end of the room and slamming against the wall, leaving a life size crater, X's laugh slowed to a weak and dazed chuckle. Retracting his fist, Zero eyes the reploids standing behind him, "Anyone else wanna comment?" he seethed. The reploids shuttered and shook their heads while babbling like idiots.  
  
"Seriously, I'm fine! It's that ditsy volunteer again," Marah said, this time reading a "Play-Bot" magazine, "Oh, and one of the hunters punched another against the wall. I don't know who, and, to be honest, I don't care. They're all idiots." Long pause, "I agree, they really need to expel her for being an idiot. In fact, I'd like to see just one volunteer in this center sit through one session without crying for his mommy."  
  
"Oh whoa is me," the President cried poetically, "If we do not shape up, I'm afraid we'll have to...." Rock snatched the book from his hand.  
  
"Gimme that!" he slammed his back against the wall and flipped through every page until he came across a "Sword Practicing" session and grinned, "You know? On second thought, I think I will take that training session," he walks over to the President and bends down to him, slapping the book in his dumbstruck hand, rolled up, "IF they don't expel me for my good moves," he pats the President on the shoulder, "I'm taking Treble to the cafeteria." Treble jumped up and down with excitement as he followed him into the hallway to the RR labs.  
  
"Great...." Marah grumbled, "Just what we need. Another hotheaded volunteer turned nervous wreck...."  
  
An hour later....  
  
"Ugh! It felt like five minutes instead of an hour," X grumbled as he and Zero headed back to the doors of the training room, "Those guys are idiots! I wished we didn't have to go back in there."  
  
"No kidding," Zero said, "Stick those wimps in front of Sigma and he'll be running off like a screaming little girl." He reached for the doorknob only to ram it into X's. Both glared at each other.  
  
"They haven't finished their buster training," X said.  
  
"You read the schedule," Zero said, "It's my turn to scare these guys!" the two continued to glare at each other and began shoving at each other, their hands still on the doorknob.  
  
"Screw the schedule!" X grunted, pushing Zero back, "It's your fault! You were the one who kept shooting those stupid spit wads at everyone!"  
  
"My fault!?" Zero grunted, pushing back, "I wasn't the one who let a ditz-for-brain blow 12 manikins out the center! Be thankful none of them actually killed anyone!"  
  
X pushed back, "At least I'm not the one who had to sit on a pillow during lunch with a bandage strapped to my butt!" the two lost grip of the door and stumbled back a couple of meters, taking up fighting stances.  
  
"Oh yeah!? You wanna settle this now!?" Zero seethed.  
  
"Bring it on!" X seethed. Both stood there for a while before throwing their fists out, X opening his hand while Zero stuck out his index and middle finger. X's jaw nearly hit the ground. Zero snickered and pulled his arm back, opening and closing his two fingers.  
  
"I just made snowflakes out of your hand," Zero said, seeing X slump over, groaning. He turns to the door, "Too bad you'll have to sit in the 'loser' chair while I give these wimps something to cry about."  
  
Zero opens the door and walks in with X dragging himself in a second later. The volunteers for the On-Field Rescue Squad were too busy talking about their new arrivals to realize they were there.  
  
"Okay, everyone, if I can just have your...." Zero began with his eyes closed.  
  
"Do you think he'll last in this session?" said a volunteer  
  
"Ha! As if! I'll give him half an second before he's on the floor, crying for help!" said another.  
  
"I still think he's...."  
  
Zero's eyebrow twitched, "I said... SHADDUP!!!" his scream was loud enough to send everyone screaming to the floor in a fetal position. Rock and Treble, the ones responsible for everyone's gossip, were the only ones who didn't drop like everyone else. Finally getting everyone's attention, Zero exhaled, "That's better." He placed his hands behind his back and moved to the right side of the room, "Now, today I'm going to teach you saps how to use a beam saber. I'm sure you all know that a beam saber is different from a buster gun...." he stops near the pink reploid and sticks his face in hers, snarling, "Because unlike a beam saber! You're not shooting your mentors 3ft away with quivering hands!"  
  
Rock watches as the reploid drops to her knees, crying and babbling apologies, "Whoa, wonder what happened earlier?" one of the reploids, a chubby orange and white one, managed to get up and look at him.  
  
"Well...you see that giant bandage taped to his butt?" he asked, pointing Zero's rear end where a cross-shaped bandage barely appeared behind his ankle-long hair, "That volunteer is so afraid of guns that she accidentally shot him in the rear end. I've never seen someone so serious run around and scream like a moron with his hands behind his ass." Zero's eyes turned towards him and Rock, "That's not the worst of it." The volunteers cringed and back away some as they watched Zero walk toward the two, "The other day, a Hunter tried to teach us how to program a dog to retrieve stuff and one volunteer accidentally programmed it to explode when he sneezed."  
  
"So, feeling free to talk about our accidents?" Rock and the reploid jumped startled and turned to see Zero stand in front of them with his arms crossed.  
  
"Uh...." the reploid waved his hands in front of him, "N-No! Of course not! I was just...uh...recapping what happened earlier...well...not in full detail, but...." Zero stuck his head in his face, growling. He bent back, sticking his hands over his mouth, "Shutting up...."  
  
Zero snorts, turning his eyes towards Rock, "So, you must be that new kid everyone's been bragging about." He continued to eye Rock some more before moving them to Treble. He turns his head towards them, a grin slowly growing onto his face, "I remember you now. You're that unusual reploid Sigma brought in. Rock, isn't it?"  
  
X raised an eyebrow upon seeing Zero's grin, "Zero...you know this kid?"  
  
Zero stood up, his eyes never leaving Rock, "In a matter of speaking." He placed a hand on Rock's shoulder, "So, decided to become an On-Field Rescuer, have you? What makes you think that you even have the nerves to consider joining a group that risk their sorry necks to save Hunters like us from being killed by mavericks? You could very well die in the process." Rock frowned slightly in annoyance, "Then again, remember that feeling I had that said you can't be trusted? It's also telling me you're an unmatched fighter." He moves his hand down to Rock's back, "There's only one way I can trust my feelings." His grin widened, showing his teeth. The next thing he did shocked everyone. Without warning, Zero stepped aside and shoved Rock out of the group.  
  
Before he hit the ground, Rock bent his upper body forward, causing him to roll to the center of the room, then throws his hands to the ground and flips into the air until he was in a side-crouching position, facing Zero. X nearly fell out of his chair, more in shock of Zero's action than the raven-haired reploid's skillful ability to flip to his feet after a roll.  
  
"Z-Zero! What're you doing?" X cried out, watching as Zero walked to the center of the room, standing a few inches from Rock.  
  
"I just thought I'd use him as a guinea pig for this session," Zero said, reaching for his beam saber, "Don't worry, I've set the beam saber so it'll shock him with each strike. He'll still be functioning when I'm done with him."  
  
"Holy shit!" one of the Rescuers shouted, "Did you see how Zero just shoved him out there?"  
  
"Yeah," another said, "I'd hate to be that kid if Sigma ever brought me in for whatever reason!"  
  
"So, how's the training going?" Dr. Cain asked as he and Fig walked along the halls of Robot Rescue.  
  
"Gramps...I don't even wanna look," Fig said, hunched so low, he nearly dragged his dangling arms along the floor, "Those idiots think they're so tough, but when they face a Hunter for training, they're nothing but a can of jumping beans nailed to the ground. I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for the new kid that walked in."  
  
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?" Dr. Cain shouts out of excitement, almost knocking Fig further to the floor, "X and Zero ARE tutoring them. Knowing Zero, he just LOVES to scare newbies shitless!" he jogs in place, fists under his chin like a schoolgirl trapped in an old man's body, "This I gotta see!" and with that, he zooms off, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Fig watches him go and sighs.  
  
"I thought I told Comp not to put so much caffeine in his coffee!" he groaned.  
  
Dr. Cain burst the double doors of the training room open, ran inside and jumps on a massive reploid for height support as he watches the center of the training room.  
  
"It's been a while since I've been used for demonstration," Rock said as he turned to Zero with his hands behind his back, "I hope my dodging skills haven't gotten rusty."  
  
"You're real funny kid," Zero said, pulling his Z-Saber out, "But, you won't be joking so much when I'm through with you." He swung his Z- Saber at Rock and finds himself facing the opposite direction of his "guinea pig". He looks behind him to see him bent back before getting up.  
  
Snarling, Zero whips around, swinging his Z-Saber towards Rock only to see him jump straight into the air, once again allowing the Z-Saber pass over him harmlessly. He tries again by swinging the Z-Saber towards his head only to see him turn around, missing him by an inch of his back, and finally tries swinging his Z-Saber horizontally, seeing him bend forward, barely getting the tip of his brown streaked, black hair singed.  
  
'I knew it!' Zero thought to himself, 'I knew he wasn't just some run of the mill reploid!' he caught Rock's expression turn from normal to a mocking grin.  
  
"You little brat!" he seethed, eyes twitching, "You're actually enjoying this, aren't you!?" Zero swings his Z-Saber arm across his neck in the form of a one-handed baseball bat, "That does it! I'm going to do more than wipe that snotty grin off your face!" he swings his Z-Saber towards the ground and grins when he saw Rock jump into the air. He stops the Z- Saber below him and brings it upward.  
  
Rock saw the Z-Saber coming towards him. The bottom of his feet spat out a bit of fire, pushing him back into the air as he flips over Zero and lands behind him, a bluish version of the Z-Buster, the dark blue part made of thick glass that showed his hand wrapped around a trigger handle, appearing over his hand and sleeves and aims it at the back of his head, shocking everyone in the room.  
  
Zero turns around to see the buster an inch from his face and yelps, stumbling back a few inches and holding his Z-Saber in front of him for protection. Rock grins and pulls the buster back.  
  
"I guess you just found out why I didn't sign up for target practice," he said, then throws his fist and the nozzle of his Shield Buster to his side, "But I would've loved to see how you embarrassed yourself by being shot by a scared little girl." Zero was too shocked at his swift agility to take the comment personally.  
  
"How did...!?" Zero squeaked, "You've dodged every move as if you were reading me like a book!"  
  
"Now I remember you! You're X's second older brother!" came a voice that nearly knocked Rock to the ground, startled. Dr. Cain walked over the group's head and shoulders until he reached to the front, ran up to Rock, grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, "Oh, Rock, my boy! I see you've finally decided to show yourself after all this time!"  
  
Rock threw his arms up, knocking Dr. Cain's hands off him, "Geez, doc! Did you have to announce it to the whole room!?"  
  
"B-Brother!?" Zero blurted out, "What makes you think this kid is X's brother!?"  
  
"There was something familiar about this reploid's design," Dr. Cain began, slapping Rock on the shoulder, "So I started comparing them to the other blueprints from Dr. Light's lab and I came to the conclusion that he is another one of Light's creations!" he the laughed, "Oh, man! If ProtoX were alive, he would've been overjoyed to see that he has two brothers!" Rock eyed the floor remorse, "So, you're going to become an On-Field Rescuer, are ya? This'll be great! The world's strongest Maverick Hunters being rescued by the world's fastest Rescuer!"  
  
The volunteers, on the other hand, couldn't believe what they were hearing.  
  
"Th-That's X's brother!?"  
  
"No way! If he was, why didn't he show himself sooner!?"  
  
"Forget that, why would someone like him want to become a Rescuer? With his skills, he should've just become a Maverick Hunter like X!" X frowned when he heard that.  
  
"Well, that's...." Rock was about to say, but Dr. Cain grabbed the back of his shoulders and shook him a bit.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous!" he said, laughing, "Of course he'll make a great On-Field rescuer! You wimps might need someone who's cunning, who's agile, who's...."  
  
"Expelled!" Everyone turned to X who glared at Rock in anger.  
  
"E-Expelled!?" Dr. Cain muttered, "But X...."  
  
"I don't care how skillful he is, if he's going to be a Rescuer, he should be indoors fixing damaged reploids!"  
  
"You can't be serious, X!" Rock yelled.  
  
"I can't!?" X's frown tightened, "Our brother wasn't even supposed to get involved in something that has nothing to do with him, and yet he takes the liberty of going out there himself and gets himself killed! Or were you so caught up in wanting to end this war that you completely forgot!?"  
  
"Forgot!?" Rock snapped, throttling his busterless fist, "You think I showed up just to piss you off by fighting in my own way for the good of mankind!? In case you weren't listening, an On-Field Rescuer doesn't fully get involve in a battle. They just go out there and fend off mavericks while trying to haul your beaten carcass back to Robot Rescue for repairs!"  
  
"You don't care, do you?" Rock's face turned from anger to confusion when X popped the question, "That's it, isn't it? You think that with our brother dead, you could just show up and take his place!" Rock bared his teeth, growling, "Here's a reality check, bro! Just because our brother's gone doesn't mean you have a right to take his place and expect everyone to like you like they liked him! Think about it the next time you decide to act like the world revolves around you!" with that, he turns and leaves. Rock's growl turned into a snarl.  
  
"If you'd at least stuck around a while longer, you would've known exactly how I felt and why I really wanted to help end this stupid war!" he yelled just before X slammed the door of the training room. Zero looked at the group crowding the dead silent room.  
  
"I...guess it's time for a break," he said, laughing nervously, "I'll...see you in a couple of hours?" the group looked at one another before walking out of the training room. Dr. Cain looked at the door X stormed out of.  
  
"I've never seen X this upset before," Dr. Cain mumbled, "He's really taking this loss personally."  
  
Treble walked up to Rock as he looked at him, the Shield Buster vanishing from his left arm, "Come on, Treble. Let's go." And both walked out of the room.  
  
Zero ran out after X and grabbed his shoulder, "Hey! Wait a minute, X!"  
  
"Leave me alone!" X snarled, knocking Zero's hand off.  
  
"Don't you think you're being too hard on him? I'm sure he's just as torn up over ProtoX's death as you are!"  
  
"Torn up!?" X turned to Zero, tears spilling down his face, "You think that coming in here without a care in the world is your term for being torn up!? I don't know who that kid thinks he is, coming in here and acting like he can make a difference in someone's life! But I swear to god, I don't want him near me if he thinks that he can try to cheer me up with his thirst for war!" he turns his back on Zero and attempts to leave.  
  
"Well, yeah. I admit he's a stuck up little brat, but that doesn't mean he has to spend everyday of his life dwelling on the death of his brother." X stops after two steps, "What if he joined that On-Field Rescue Squad just to get revenge on the Chimera for what he did to ProtoX?" X started to tense up, "You won't know what he's up to unless you calm down and hear him out."  
  
"Sh...SHUT UP!" He turns around and shoves Zero onto his back with his knees in the air. X was shocked at what he did, but didn't want to apologize. Instead, he points at Zero, seething, "You stay the hell out of this! This is my family business, I'll handle it my way!"  
  
Zero propped himself on his hands, "I was just...."  
  
"You're just going to make this worse!" X pulled his finger back, "You don't have a brother! You don't know what it feels like to lose him, so just back off!"  
  
"That's not...." X tensed up some more and turned to leave, "W-Wait a minute, X!" Zero got up and reached out towards him, but stopped, seeing him walk away, feeling too left out to do anything.  
  
Zero walked along the sidewalks of New Tokyo, looking at his crossed arms. He felt as though he was stuck in the biggest emotional family feud in history and he has no idea how he was going to get himself out of it. Rock and Treble never returned to Robot Rescue and X was somewhere in Hunter Base, crying until his eyes rusted shut. Fig, while still just as torn up over ProtoX's death, had managed to fill in for X for the remainder of the day. Despite his lack of sword techniques, he was able to keep the volunteers from swinging their wooden swords like frightened cavemen.  
  
"Saber installment operating at 50%," came a computerized voice. Zero stopped and looked towards the park where the sound came from, "Whip installment also operating at 50%. More resource is needed in order to raise both installment to maximum power." Curious, he walked into the park to see Rock sitting on a bench with a laptop on his lap, Treble laying by his feet, asleep.  
  
On the screen of the laptop had a display of the hilt of a beam saber. On either side of it with lines pointing towards the top of the hilt were two kinds of beams, one shaped like a blade while the other looked like a glowing "S". Both structures had percentage numbers flashing next to them.  
  
Zero wasn't about to let someone this skillful just walk around with a buster that was too powerful to be seen in public. He decides that if Rock was going to learn to use a beam saber, he would at least learn how to use it in self-defense. A feeling inside him told him not to do it, but he shakes it off, knowing that feeling came from how X would have felt if he found out how they were going to train and where.  
  
X, after finally calming down from his ordeal, decides to take a walk around the city to clear his mind. It was bad enough that he was forced to deal with ProtoX's death but what's even worse is the fact that he not only found out he had another brother, but how he cared more about fighting than about the welfare of his brothers.  
  
As he was heading to the door of Hunter Base, he noticed three of his troops surrounding something, one of them looking like he was trying to pull an object out of the ground.  
  
"Wow! For an antique, he sure is strong," the Hunter pulling the object said.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder if the reploid who owns him must have upgraded him to be this strong!" the second said.  
  
"No kidding," said the third, "if he hadn't decided to become a Robot Rescuer, he would've made a great Hunter next to X." X's eyes widened slightly when he heard that and walks towards the group, looking over the third Hunter's shoulder to see Treble playing tug-o-war with a rusted pipe the first Hunter held until he yanked it out, tail wagging.  
  
"That dog...." X mumbled. The first Hunter looked up to see him and stumbled to his feet.  
  
"C-Commander!" he shouted. The other two turned around and also stumbled to their feet. Treble gulped and ran off.  
  
"Where's reploid who owns this dog?" X asked.  
  
"Reploid?" the third asked, confused.  
  
"He's talking about his older brother," the second whispered.  
  
"Oh, you mean the one Zero's training in the holo-simulator!"  
  
X's face twisted into an angry snarl, "He's WHAT!?"  
  
The third Hunter clobbered the second on the head, "You idiot! Zero ordered us not to mention that!" X's frown grew tighter as his fist began to throttle.  
  
"Damn him!" he seethed. The three Hunters watched him turn and run.  
  
"This...won't be pretty...." the third Hunter mumbled.  
  
Zero stood in a desert area, head tilted towards the floor, his eyes shut. The wind blowing through the desert played with his hair and the sand created clouds of dust around his feet. From the distance, a figure came towards him with a beam saber held behind it with two hands. He soon opens his eyes and turns around to see Rock close in on him, attempting to swing his beam saber towards him and jumps back, letting the blade hit the ground, creating more clouds of dust than the wind blowing around them.  
  
Rock charges at Zero, swinging his beam saber, seeing him dodge the swings just as swiftly as himself before pulling his own saber out and retaliating. Both sent blades clashing into each other as the pressure between them went back and forth, Zero coming at Rock with Z-Saber swinging only to have Rock fight back with his own beam saber. The fight temporarily ended with them connecting their blades together, struggling to push one another to the ground until the sparks of the saber knocked them back a couple of feet. Through all this, they neither panted, nor took their eyes off each other.  
  
The wind increased, causing the clouds of sandy dust to rise over them, Rock and Zero continuing to stand in their fighting position, staring each other until the clouds rose over their chests. The two came at each other letting out a battle cry so loud, it echoed throughout the entire desert as the clouds washed over their heads. The streaks of their blades were the only things visible in the sandy scene.  
  
Rock held his beam saber beside him like a baseball bat and swings it towards Zero only to slice a portion of the dust cloud he disappeared into. He looks around frantically until he felt someone standing behind him. He turned his head around in time to get swatted across the desert by a neon blade. He lands on his face a few feet from the silhouette that attacked him, his beam saber stabs the ground in front of him before the beam vanishes, dropping the hilt to the ground.  
  
The wind decreases, causing the clouds to sink, revealing Zero, slightly crouched, his sword-wielding arm stretched behind him. He sighs and stands up, walking towards Rock.  
  
"That's no good," he said, "You keep holding the beam saber like it was a two-handed sword. It may increase the strength of your blows, but unless you're really desperate, you need to focus on the speed of your swing rather than its strength."  
  
Rock pushed himself to his hands and knees, picking up his beam saber, "That's easy for you to say." He gets up and turns to Zero, "The only short range weapon I had was destroyed a long time ago."  
  
Zero sheaths his Z-Saber, "Maybe we should try a different simulation. The way you're moving, it's hard to find something in a place this windy and sandy." He looks up, "Computer...."  
  
"End simulation!" barked a voice. Zero flinched as the area turned from desert into a wide, black room covered with yellow, graph-like patterns.  
  
"W-Wait a minute! I didn't...." Zero exasperated. Rock looks behind him and dropped his shoulders.  
  
"Oh no...." he groaned, "My 'conscience' is here...." Zero blinks before turning around to see X standing in front of the sliding doors to the holo-simulator, teeth bared in a snarl, his fists shaking even faster.  
  
"Have you lost your mind!?" X snapped, walking over to Rock and snatching the beam saber from his hand, "I thought I made it clear to everyone that HE...." he adds by thrusting his finger towards Rock, "...isn't getting involved in this war!"  
  
"I'm just teaching him self-defense!" Zero protested, "Do you know how many mavericks wander this city everyday. If anything, he should at least learn to fight off any mavericks that try to jump him while trying to escape!"  
  
"Do you have any idea what you're doing to him!?" Zero blinked, confused, "It's bad enough that he all of a sudden shows up, wanting to end this war through violence. I don't need you to make it worse!"  
  
"Worse!? For god's sakes, X! It's not like I'm encouraging him to become a Maverick Hunter!"  
  
"It's not!?" X threw his fists to his waist in frustration, "I don't recall fighting my brother in the middle of a desert simulation an act of non-encouragement! I will not have him doing the same thing ProtoX did when he decided to volunteer for something that he didn't even want to get involved in and get himself killed!" Rock snarled.  
  
"Do you know why Sigma used Zero as a pawn in the previous war!?" Rock snapped, "It's because he knows just how upset you were and took advantage of it when he had his X-Hunters force you to play scavenger hunt to retrieve his parts!"X tensed up, growling, "At least I was smart enough to hide my true feelings when ProtoX died! If you don't control your emotions, Sigma's going to take advantage of it and turn you into so much of a nervous wreck, you wouldn't even take one step into a battlefield without worrying about someone dying in front of you're eyes!" X whipped around and slaps him across the face, knocking it to the side and forcing him to shut his eyes from the shock. Zero's mouth dropped when he saw that and took a step back.  
  
"How dare you use my family and friends for your twisted excuse!" X seethed as Rock placed a hand across the cheek that got slapped, "You don't even know what I've been going through the past three months, having to go out and retrieve Zero's parts and then having to get over our brother's death! You're the most cold-hearted brother I've ever met!" with that, he slams the hilt to the ground, startling Zero, and walks out. He watches him go before looking at Rock who's rubbing his cheek before realizing he was being stared at and eyes the floor.  
  
"Sorry...." he mumbles. Zero blinks and looks towards the double doors as they slid shut.  
  
"Don't worry about it," he said, "Let's take a break."  
  
The two moved to an open-field park in New Tokyo with a wide lake surrounding the center area. Rock sat, chin on his hand as the elbow connected to it rested on his standing knee, next to Treble who's laying on his stomach. Zero laid on his back on the other side of the two with one knee standing, his hands behind his head.  
  
"Maybe X was better off if he didn't know I was his brother until after the war," Rock said, taking a pebble and tossing it into the lake.  
  
"What can we do?" Zero asked, "Sigma was the one who didn't trust your condition. Even if Dr. Cain had decided not to reveal who you are, X would have eventually found out long before this war could end. Then he'd have more of a reason to think you were some hot-headed reploid who'd jump at the chance to get into any fight you saw." He continued to stare at the sky before he looked at Rock, seeing him eye the grass, tears spilling down his face, "You really are upset about ProtoX, aren't you?" he looks at the sky again, "I wouldn't be surprised. When X saw how the Chimera killed ProtoX, he swore he'd track him down and destroy him." Rock mentally gasped, "I've never seen him like that before." Rock closes his eyes, trembling everywhere, more tears spilling down his face, "After a while, he went to his quarters and cried the rest of the day. No one bothered to go in and talk to him. I figured this is the reason you're trying to become an On-Field Rescuer. You probably want to get your revenge on the Chimera if you ever run into him again."  
  
Rock opened his eyes, frowning furiously, "I'd tear him apart without having to join anything!" Zero looks at him to see his face turn from furious to a mixture of sorrow and fear, 'If only I had the dignity to tell you why I never tried....'  
  
Zero stared at Rock some more. Since the first time he saw him, he had this feeling inside of him that says he couldn't be trusted. Seeing him now, he knew that the strange feeling was wrong. He only wished he knew how he was going to get X to understand that his second older brother isn't as hotheaded in the inside as he was on the outside. But he never got a chance to think when an all too familiar voice got their attention.  
  
"Aw, such a sad story!" both turned to see a giant, chained spike ball fly towards them, forcing them to split as it hit the ground, digging deep until it stopped just an inch from the shores of the lake and rips out, taking bits of grass and mud with it. Rock and Zero followed the mace until it reconnected with its holder. Zero's eyes widened when he saw who it was.  
  
"Poor little X will never be the same again," Violen laughs when he lands a few feet from his crouching targets.  
  
"You!" Zero growled, "X destroyed you three weeks ago!"  
  
"Did he?" Violen checks himself, then shrugs mockingly, "I don't see any plasma burns on me, do you?" he puts his arms down and looks around, "Where is that little blue twit, anyway? I would have thought he'd be out here getting chubby-chubby with his surviving brother."  
  
Zero reached for the hilt of his Z-Saber, "Why do you care?" he asked through clenched teeth. Violen threw his hand against his check, giving him a fake pout.  
  
"Aw, is it that much trouble to have a few words with my arch- nemesis?" Rock frowned and got up.  
  
"My brother's trying to unwind right now!" Rock yelled, "So why don't you bother him some other time!?" Violen muffled a growl and swung his head, causing his chained mace to do a 180°, slamming into the right side of Rock's head.  
  
"Rock!" Zero yelled as he saw his pupil hit the ground, belly-flat, in front of him, fluid spilling down the right side of his head. Violen snort and walk up to the unconscious reploid.  
  
"Little brat! Should've learned to keep his big mouth shut!" Treble snarled and jumped towards him only to get nailed on his back by the same weapon that got Rock. Violen grinned, "Him and his flea-bitten mutt!"  
  
Zero snarled and shot up, yanking his Z-Saber out of its holster, "Bastard!" He attempted to move, but stopped when Violen waved his finger side to side, his fist on his round waist.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, lifting his foot and placing it onto Rock's head, "Unless you want to explain how his brother ended up on Robot Rescue's construction table without a head." Zero's snarl grew louder, keeping his Z-Saber to his side.  
  
"What the hell do you want?"  
  
"Give X this message...if he isn't still moping over his recent loss," Rock groaned and opened his eyes slightly. He slowly reached into his lab coat and pulled out a pin with his Chimera symbol on it, "He should be happy to know that we have managed to retrieve all of ProtoX's parts. And I'm sure you at least remember what we did when we recovered your parts."  
  
"You spineless pug!" Zero growled, unaware of Rock sticking the pin in the slot between Violen's ankle before slipping back into unconsciousness, "It's bad enough that you forced him to recover my parts, but if you do the same with his brother's, you'll be praying he goes easy on you!"  
  
"Ah, but the odds are even this time, granted the Chimera gets involved in this. But since we haven't seen him around for the past three weeks, I'd say the news about his murderous intentions has driven him away. However...." Violen eyes Rock, "I could take X's other brother just to rile him up some more."  
  
Zero eyes Rock, then turns them back to Violen, "Leave him out of this! He's done nothing to you!"  
  
"Aw, but what's the fun of fighting him when he's not at the peak of his rage?" Violen laughs and takes his foot of Rock's head, "But if you insist, I'll spare him this time. You wouldn't want X to blame you for the loss of another brother."  
  
"What!?" wind kicked up around them as a giant mother ship landed two feet from their heads. Zero watched as Violen jumped onto the flat, triangle-shaped roof.  
  
"Remember, if X wants to see his brother's good side again," Violen said, "He had better get his act together and come hunt us down!" he laughs and walks away from the edge of the roof.  
  
"Not if I have a say in this!" Zero yells, jumping onto the roof of the mother ship as it rose into the sky and flew off, leaving Rock and Treble unconscious on the ground.  
  
OOC: For those of you who are probably thinking I'm bashing X in this chapter, you've got it all wrong. I like X...no, really, I do! I like him just as much as I like most of the characters both in the game, made up or recreated for this fanfic. So don't take it too seriously that I treat X like a pacifist (As my sister keeps referring him to). There are a few volumes where X actually acts like a hotheaded reploid at times.  
  
Next Chapter: With ProtoX's life once again in jeopardy, Rock is forced to don the Chimera armor in hopes of getting his parts back before anyone finds out he came out of hiding. But due to the damage Treble received from Violen's attack, getting those parts back without having his identity blown in front of Zero and the X-Hunters was no walk in the park. Having this fatal flaw slowing him down, how will Rock be able to save ProtoX and what is the X-Hunter's real plan when they decide to use Zero's demise as evidence that the Chimera was at fault?


	8. The Mysterious Reploid Chapter 3

Author's Note: I realized that I didn't have the three astrick symbols that signified the scene changes. So when I tried to put them back in during a QuickEdit segment, I had to reload my chapter after losing the indent on one of my paragraphs. I'll probably come up with a different scene changing symbol when I'm revising my earlier chapters.

3 - Framed  
  
Treble walks up to Rock, whimpering and nudging him until he stirred, lifting his head toward him.  
  
"Treble...?" he groaned. Rock pushes himself to his hands and knees. A slight pain caused him to wince as he placed a hand on the right side of his face and pulled it back to see it covered in fluid, "So much for reasoning with a maverick." He blinks, getting up and looking around, "Zero?" Treble blinks and looks around as well, "He's gone!" he looks at the hilt of his beam saber sticking out of the holster on his back as Violen's words ran through his mind, frowns, then looks at Treble, "Come on, we're going after them!" Treble looks at him, growling confused, "The only way we know how." He saw his eyes widen and take a step back, "Even I hate doing this, but we don't have much of a choice."  
  
Treble eyed the floor, growling slightly before jumping towards Rock, dematerializing into a mass of sparks until it entered his body, causing a bright glow to surround him, slowly forming into his Chimera armor. The minute the glowing fades, a piercing pain forces him to the ground as he grabs the right side of his head. The schematics to the fusion adaptor popped up with the word "Disabled" flashing in front of it.  
  
"Fusion adaptor damaged during attack," a computerized voice on his helmet part said, "Adaptor's shield had been disabled and is in need of immediate repairs. Until repaired, any further damage to the Chimera armor will result in immediate shut down to protect wearer's condition. Checking for armor damage...." the adaptor schematics dropped down and the Chimera's structure popped up, the helmet part flashing white, "Head injury has increased damage to Chimera head part and is decreasing wearer's life energy by 1% per hour. Defusion is necessary to prevent further loss of energy."  
  
"Dammit!" Rock growled, "I knew I should've brought an extra E-Can before we left!" he watched as the schematics to the armor dropped down and a map of the world appeared in its place, a flashing Chimera symbol moved along the map, "There you are. If anyone's going to retrieve ProtoX's parts, it's going to be me!" with that, he crouches to the ground and jumps off, the boosters on the bottom of his feet explodes with fire, sending him into the air.  
  
Agile slams Zero against the wall with his red beam saber, grinning as he watches him slide from the dent in to a sitting position on the floor.  
  
"You are a fool to interfere with family issues," he snickered, "You should have left the retrieving to X. But our new master as a special interest in you. If we bring you to him, he would be greatly pleased."  
  
"I don't know who this 'new master' is," Zero said, reaching for his Z-Saber, "but I won't let him control me!"  
  
"Oh, but it appears you should. You see, Zero. There is something about you that is far different than any common reploid. Once everyone hears about that difference, you would be hated just like the Chimera...even by your best friends."  
  
"I could care less which side I was originally on. The path I choose is my own and no one is going to take that away from me! Not even a scumbag like you!"  
  
"Is that so? Well, I'd like to see someone try and stop us 30 feet in the air."  
  
As if he got his wish, the overhead windows shattered, getting Agile's attention as he turned to see where the noise came from and instead got a C-Boomerang flying straight into him, shoving him into a wall away from Zero. The blonde Hunter follows the C-Boomerang as it did a U-turn, whacking Agile with each spin and flying back towards its thrower, his eyes widened when he saw the Chimera land on the glass shards and catch it a second later.  
  
'Crap!' Zero grumbled, increasing the grip of his yet-to-be- unsheathed Z-Saber, 'As if things weren't bad enough already!'  
  
"The Chimera!?" Agile yelped, "Why are you here!?"  
  
"I'm here to clean up the mess I made," the Chimera said, strapping the C-Boomerang onto his back and pointing to Agile, "Now hand over my brother's parts or you'll be the first X-Hunter to experience what it's like to be torn in three and scattered across the landscape!"  
  
Zero's eyes grew wider when the Chimera said that, 'Did...did he say brother!?'  
  
Agile laughed as he got up, "You conniving little brat! You expect me to believe that you, the one responsible for ProtoX's death in the first place, would even think of coming here, expecting him to forgive you?" he raises his beam saber towards his face in the same manner a knight would when ready to attack, "I will be honored to rip you limb from limb until the only thing keeping you alive is the back up generator in your head!" with that, he charges towards the Chimera, swinging his blade as he closes in only to see him jump to the side.  
  
The Chimera tries to retaliate by swinging his C-Blade towards Agile who jumps back and comes at him with his beam saber in the air, swinging it down on him but hit the ground as he jumps back. Relentlessly, Agile came at the Chimera with sword swings, seeing him dodge like wind until at one point where he drops to a kneeling position and catches the oncoming blade between the curved ends of his C-Blade, grunting as the pressure increases, his right eye squeezed shut by the pain of his inner wound.  
  
The schematics popped up again, the head part now flashing red, "Aggressive maneuvers increasing damage to Chimera Head part. Deactivation is required to prevent permanent damage to fusion adaptor."  
  
'No!' the Chimera thought to himself, 'If I deactivate my helmet in front of Zero, I'll lose more than my brother's trust!'  
  
"You don't look to well, Chimera," Agile said, grinning, "Why don't you give up this feeble attempt to survive and let me give you a swift ending!"  
  
"F-Forget it!" the Chimera growled, turning his attention back to Agile, "ProtoX is my brother and there is no way in hell I'm going to let you destroy me!" he shoved Agile back and lunged at him, swinging his right C-Blade toward him as he brought his beam saber up for defense.  
  
Zero watches as the two continued to clash blades, lost in confusion, 'This doesn't make sense! Why would the Chimera....' he mentally trails off, seeing the Chimera constantly grab the right side of his head while using his left C-Blade to knock Agile's beam blade away, 'Wait! His head! That's the same area Rock got hit in earlier! But...that means...!'  
  
The Chimera drops back to his kneeling position, covering the right side of his head. Agile was starting to get bored.  
  
"Pathetic," he snorts, "I heard the Chimera fought better than this!" the Chimera looks up at him with one painful eye, "But after battling you, you're nothing more than a pushover!"  
  
"Sh-Shut up!" the Chimera yells as he sprang towards Agile and swung his left C-Blade diagonally across him. His anger turns to shock when he saw the sliced image suddenly waver and vanish.  
  
"Looking for someone?" came a voice. The Chimera whipped around to see a neon streak fly into his face, leaving a deep dent in his mask. The impact sent him skidding on his back until he stopped near the center of the room. The schematics of the armor popped up again as the flashing helmet part faded to black and the beeping stopped.  
  
"Chimera head part has exceeded 100%," the computerized voice said, "Chimera head part will now deactivate to prevent permanent damage to adaptor."  
  
"NO!" the Chimera screamed as his helmet flashed and vanished, revealing Rock's head. Zero's mouth hung open in shock.  
  
"R-Rock?" he stuttered. Agile looked at him confused.  
  
"Rock, you say?" he walks over to the fallen vigilante and stoops over, seeing Rock's head instead of a masked helmet laying on the floor eyes shut, "Hmm.... Green ribbon, black and brown hair." He grins, "Why, I'll be. You must be that other brother Violen left behind," he slams his foot on Rock's throat, hearing him bite back the urge to scream in pain, "Our new master has no interest in you, which means we can dispose of you however we want. And seeing that you are the Chimera, I'm sure X wouldn't mind if we end your life miserably."  
  
"Then finish it already!" Rock groaned, "I'll probably end up dead no matter what I do now."  
  
"Lost your will to fight? That's not the Chimera we were supposed to fear," Agile began to snicker, "Then again. Since you're identity is about to be revealed to every human and reploid in the world, I guess it's only natural that you'd wanna quick death instead of a long and painful torture, both emotional and physical. If you were lucky, X would've kept you behind bars with bodyguards that would enjoy hitting you with an electro-rod every hour." He switched the blade around and held it over Rock's head with both hands, "But I can make it less painful and short just by driving my blade through your forehead." Agile raised the blade over his head and sent it toward Rock's head only to have it knocked out of his hands by a different blade, the jolt almost yanking him forward.  
  
"Sorry to drive a wedge between your promise," said a voice, "but even if X didn't care about his brother, I'm not going to stand around here and watch him die!"  
  
"Wassa...!?" He looks to the right to see the nozzle of Zero's Z- Buster almost touching his nose, yelps and yanks it back, "Y-You've gotta be kidding me! He's a murderer! Why're you saving him!?"  
  
"Even if he is, he wouldn't have done it on purpose," Zero moved his Z-Buster closer to Agile's face, "Now get your filthy boosters off my pupil's throat or you'll be experiencing what it's like to feel burning plasma through my buster!" Agile shuddered some more before his expression turned from startled to grinning.  
  
"It doesn't matter if you do believe he's innocent," he snickered, "You won't be living long enough to report it!"  
  
"What do you mean?" Zero seethed. Agile's grin widened as he stepped away from him and Rock.  
  
"We were hoping you and the Chimera would get involved in this battle. So we rigged this part of the ship to self-destruct the minute our escape saucer detaches from it." Zero's eyes widened, "You will be the second casualty in the Chimera's deadly path towards being the most dangerous maverick on the planet!"  
  
"You bastard! You mean to tell me the evidence we saw on the CD was a hoax!?"  
  
"You've got it! We plan on keeping X and the Chimera at each other's throats by killing all of his closest friends trying to interfere with the next phase of our plan, and pin them on the Chimera. I was going to tell X who the Chimera really is, but since you wouldn't let me do that, I will enjoy seeing him suffer as X's rage grows closer and closer to tracking him down and tearing him apart before he finds out who he is." Zero snarled, his Z-Buster throttling, "But you should be lucky! Once we get rid of X and his would-be brother, we'll fish your rusted, torn parts from the ocean and turn you back to who you really are!" he bursts out laughing as Zero's snarl grew louder, "This...this is too much! X killing someone who's innocent only to gain two more enemies who once were his beloved friends! The blue bomber will be so shot down, he'll want you and ProtoX to end his suffering without even so much as putting up a fight!"  
  
"Damn...you!" he fired a charged blast only to see it sail through Agile's afterimage as it wavered into smoke, the real McCoy appearing near the door of the room.  
  
"I hope you have a good sleep at the bottom of the ocean, Zero. 'Cause when you wake up, you will enjoy the life you were meant to follow." He grins again and walks through the door.  
  
"Come back here!" Zero ran towards the door only to see the next door that led to the cockpit slam shut. The walls attached to the body of the mother ship to the escape saucer disconnected, sending it falling towards the ocean.  
  
Once the cockpit had disappeared, the outside air began sucking out anything that wasn't bolted to the floor. Zero struggled to keep his grounding, gripping both sides of the door as he hair flew out in front of him. He could feel his feet begin to drag towards the edge of the floor as he turned his head towards Rock who's still on his back, fighting to stay conscious as the suction slowly started to pull him towards the doorway. He took one hand off the doorway and tried to reach for Rock in hopes of grabbing him and jumping out before the ship began to explode. But before he could reach for Rock's C-Blade, the back end of the ship exploded. Zero looks up to see a wall of fire close in on them.  
  
The X-Hunters looked out the windows as the body of the mother ship began riddling with explosions before hitting the ocean and ending with a huge splash that signified it's complete self-destruction. Agile and Serges grin.  
  
"Those poor fools," Agile snickers, "It's a shame Zero won't be around long enough to see what his pupil will be going through."  
  
"I still think we should've just taken Zero instead of having to go down into the ocean and dig his parts out," Violen grumbled.  
  
"But the Chimera isn't some off the shelf reploid," Serges said, "Even if we did decide to take Zero and claim he's dead, the Chimera would have recovered long enough to hunt us down and rescue him. Then Zero would have broken the news to X and he would no longer hunt the Chimera down for personal revenge."  
  
"This is ridiculous. What if Zero's body is too damaged to repair?"  
  
"Then we will rebuild him." Came a voice. The X-Hunters turned towards a purplish glow coming from the huge ceiling light in the center of the cockpit.  
  
"R-Rebuild him?" Agile asks.  
  
"I only want Zero's control chip! Without it, we won't be able to awaken his true self! We will build another body that is stronger than the last. And then the world will know the true terror of the robots. Now come. We must begin the next faze of our plan."  
  
The escape saucer turns and flies away from the metal debris as they rose to the surface.  
  
X ran into the command center after getting a call from Dr. Cain, "Dr. Cain! What is it!?"  
  
Dr. Cain turns to X, shaking everywhere, "Oh, dear, X. We're getting an unknown message on our screen!" X ran up to the monitor as an image began to form through the snowstorm.  
  
"Hello, Mega Man X! Remember us?" came a voice from the monitor. X's eyes widened at the familiarity of the voice.  
  
"You! But...I destroyed you three weeks ago!" X seethed.  
  
"A funny thing," said another voice, preferably Violen, "Zero said the same thing when he saw us again."  
  
"While we're on the subject," said a third, "Remember when we forced to you to fight us for Zero's parts? It was so exciting that we've decided to do it again. This time, with your oldest brother's parts!"  
  
"Oldest...?" X's eyes widened even more, "You don't mean ProtoX!"  
  
"You guessed right," the first voice said, "Unlike you, we risked the cold waters of the night to retrieve your brother's parts. If you want him to believe you actually care about him, I suggest you come after us and get his parts back before he believes that you no longer care about him!"  
  
"X, don't forget that you aren't alone in this one," Dr. Cain said, looking at X, "Now that we have Zero back, your chances of finding and collecting ProtoX's parts are almost even." He then lowers his voice, "it would be exact...IF you decide to let Rock help you out just this once."  
  
"Forget it!" X snapped, causing Dr. Cain to flinch, "My brother's happy to see him dead! What makes you think he'd want to waste his precious time helping me recover them!?" The X-Hunters laughed.  
  
"You'd wish you have!" Violen said.  
  
"Why's that?" X demanded.  
  
"Oh, I guess you haven't heard," Agile says, "I'm afraid you're on your own X. It appears that Zero tried to get ProtoX's parts before you, but the Chimera got involved with his own plans of resurrecting ProtoX." X's eyes twitched in rage, "What a fight those two got in. Zero was no match for the Chimera. And just like that," he snaps his fingers...or...that's what X had assumed from the barely clear snowstorm, "without a care in the world, he just severed something on the ship and takes off as it was exploding."  
  
Dr. Cain looked at X to see his face twisted into rage so bad it would have given Sigma nightmares for a year if he ever decided to push his emotions to the next level.  
  
"That...Chimera...." X snarled, "He'll pay for this!" Dr. Cain turns back to the monitor.  
  
"Then you'd better hurry and get ProtoX's parts back before he does," Serge says, "Or the Chimera will make sure that you get the most miserable experience of your life." The X-Hunters laughed before the snowstorm blipped out. X's snarl grew louder as he began to tense up.  
  
"Why did you do it...?" Dr. Cain looked at X again and jumped startled when he slammed his fist against edge of the console, "Dammit, Zero! You've only been alive for three weeks! Why do you keep interfering with my problems!?"  
  
"X, he's just trying to help," Dr. Cain said, "Even if he knows it's none of his business, he feels that it's his duty as a Hunter to do what is right!"  
  
"At what cost!?" X said, glaring at Dr. Cain, "Zero died because of me, don't you get it!? He should have known by now that if something that revolves around me goes too far that he needs to let me handle it!"  
  
"But you need to understand that you can't just handle things by yourself! You need to let other people help you through your problems, whether their dangerous or not!"  
  
"Letting them help me through emotional times is one thing! But when it comes to a point where it involves them risking their lives to help me, I take all the grief! I won't let anyone else die for my sake! I'll handle the problem on my own!"  
  
"Even if you were to get ProtoX's parts back by yourself, it won't do us any good," X looks at Dr. Cain as if he was insane, "We need his control chip in order to reactivate him. Without it, he's nothing but another reploid with a different mind. But our Hunters have gone down into the ocean where he was killed and came back empty handed."  
  
"Those X-Hunters probably have it!" X raised his throttling fist, "I'll force the information out of them if I have to! But I'm not about to lose another close friend!" with that, he turns and storms out before Dr. Cain could stop him.  
  
Zero groaned and opened his eyes, his vision slowly focusing on what was in front of him. He blinks, when he realized he was still alive and in one piece, aside from the slight burns he felt on parts of his right shoulder and legs. At first he thought he had washed up on short, until he felt his lower body and his arms dangling under a wet substance and his hair brushing against them. He lifts his head to find his chest sticking out of the ocean along with the debris of the ship that was said to have exploded, taking him and Rock with it. He didn't know how he survived. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was the wall of fire coming towards them before he felt something slam into his mid-section and throw him out of the exploding ship before everything went black. His emergency floatation device must survived the blast long enough to kick on the moment he blacked out. He didn't know how long he had been floating along the debris, but he was sure it was at least over an hour or two.  
  
Zero struggled to shut his floatation device off, almost causing him to sink until he began swinging his arms and legs back and forth to keep his head above water. He looked around the salty, debris covered waters until he caught something sticking out of the water that wasn't parts of the ship. He swam towards the unknown object to find Rock barely sticking out of the water by his head and left shoulder, unconscious. His back, while unidentifiable by the near cloudiness and wavering of the water, was burnt and nearly melted, the tail of his lab coat shredded to ribbons, which hinted that he tried to pull him out, but as a result, took the full force of the explosion.  
  
Zero placed a hand on Rock's shoulder in an attempt to move him when he heard him groan and open his eyes slightly, turning to where he was being touched.  
  
"Z-Zero!?" he yelps, eyes wide open as he stumbles back a few inches, grabbing his lower back and wincing. Zero was shocked before he put his hand back on Rock's shoulder.  
  
"I'll take you to Robot Rescue," he said, "they'll...."  
  
"I can't!" Rock yelled, knocking Zero's hand off his shoulder, "Not like this! They'll never help me!"  
  
"I'll try and talk to them. I'm sure they'll understand."  
  
"What about X?" Zero blinked in confusion, "The X-Hunters may have already sent out the news by now. If he finds out I'm the Chimera, there's no telling what he'll do to me." He sighs and pulls a remote out of the water, "I wish I didn't have to do this now." He pressed a button on the remote, causing a vibration that shook the ocean around him and Zero.  
  
An object began to rise out of the ocean. Zero stuck his arm in front of him as water began to fall onto him the more the object rose. Once the water stopped vibrating, he moved his arm away to see the mouth of a huge cave sticking out of the water. The rusted, slightly decayed Chinese Dragon symbol above it was all too familiar to him.  
  
"But...I thought Sigma destroyed that hideout a month ago," Zero said in shock.  
  
"It wasn't completely destroyed," Rock said, which slowly started to slur, "I managed to fix it and turn it into our own hideout away from those I care about."  
  
"'Our'? Who else is with you?" Zero asked, but didn't get a response, "Rock?" he turns around to see him up to his forehead in water and sinking further. Panicked, he swam up to Rock and pulled his head out of the water by his arm, "Hey! Stay with me, Rock!" Rock forced his eyes open slightly and looked at Zero.  
  
"I can...I can barely move my legs...." he mumbled. Zero placed a hand on Rock's chest.  
  
"Something's draining your energy. And it's not the ocean," he said. He took Rock's arm and slung it around the back of his neck and brings him into the cave, pushing him onto the edge of the walkway before pulling himself out.  
  
Once Rock gained enough strength to move, he got up and started dragging his feet toward the inside of the cave. Once inside, his burnt and melted Chimera armor glowed. Zero walked in behind him in time to see Treble leap out of Rock, both dropping to the floor, Treble on his stomach, Rock in a kneeling position.  
  
"What the...!?" Zero murmured in shock, "What on earth did you just do?"  
  
"It's a fusion adaptor," Rock said, putting his hand on Treble's head, seeing his eyes squeezed shut from the lack of energy, "Treble's the last robot on earth who can handle the adaptor." He gets up and walks over to crate full of E-Cans, taking two out. He walks back to Treble and pours the contents of one of the cans into his mouth until his eyes shot back open and got up, shaking himself like an ordinary dog after getting wet.  
  
"Wait a minute," Zero said as Rock sat on a stool near the giant computer, sipping his E-Can, "If there was such a thing as fusing reploids to become stronger, how come Dr. Cain never mentioned it before?"  
  
"Because he doesn't even know it exists," Zero raised an eyebrow, "during the time Sigma was still head of the Maverick Hunters, Dr. Cain had been creating things from the blueprints he retrieved from Dr. Light's lab. One of them was the blueprint to the latest fusion adaptor, the Chimera armor. Anyone who wore it would be able to move, fight and fly faster than a fighter jet. I was afraid of what would happen if Dr. Cain created the adaptor for Sigma even with his change in behavior, so I stole the blueprint and installed it into Treble, believing I could control that power." Rock turns around and brings up Treble's schematics on the huge monitor, the fusion adaptors he currently has installed, "But after what happened three weeks ago, I'm not so sure I can trust myself with it anymore."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Rock looked down, "I didn't know what got over me, but when I saw ProtoX die in front of me, I completely lost control of myself and tore the tower apart like a maniac." He gets up and walks over to the construction table, picking up a welder, "After that, I was afraid I'd hurt my friends if something like that ever happened again."  
  
Zero looks at Rock a while before he turned back to the monitor and noticed two more adaptors installed into Treble, "What's with the other adaptors?" Rock turned his head towards him, the welder sealing the slice on the right side of his head.  
  
"Well, to be honest, Treble isn't really my dog," Rock said, "We used to be enemies a long time ago until each of us lost someone we cared about. He wanted me to keep the adaptor as a memento so he wouldn't forget him each day." Treble looked at the "Super Bass" adaptor, his mouth curved into a sorrowful frown. Zero continued to stare at the adaptor some more.  
  
"What about the one next to the Chimera armor?"  
  
Rock snapped his head up, looking at Zero, "What?" he walks over to the monitor, seeing the initials "NSZ" flashing between "Super Bass" and "Chimera", "I didn't see that there before. I counted two last time I checked Treble." He looks at Treble, "I remember his creator rambling about him being some kind of last resort against me. Maybe that adaptor has to do with that last resort."  
  
Zero stares at the flashing adaptor some more. He couldn't help but feel as though it belonged to him. In fact, every time he looked at Treble, he felt as though he was meant to be his long before Rock "interfered". He shook his head and headed over to the crate to get an E- Can and noticed a chip sealed behind a glass case on a file cabinet behind it. He noticed the words "PX" written on the surface.  
  
"Is...Is that ProtoX's control chip?" he asked, taking the case off the top of the file cabinet, "I thought the X-Hunters had all of ProtoX"s parts."  
  
"They didn't," Rock said, looking at Zero, "Just before the tower exploded, I managed to detach his control chip. If ProtoX's parts were recovered or he was rebuilt, I was going to hand the chip over to Dr. Cain."  
  
A maniacal laughter got their attention as they turned to a small monitor near the computer console where a snowstorm broke its way onto the screen, a familiar silhouette appearing in between it's wavering fuzziness.  
  
"What a whacked out hideaway you've created," the voice said, "It could use a major make-over."  
  
"Oh, come on!" Rock snarled, running over to the monitor, "Don't you ever die!?"  
  
"Who says people can't live forever?" Treble hunched over, snarling, "Only those smart enough to keep their brains alive in a hologram will be able to live more than they can last in real life! Phase two of my plan to keep you and your brother at each other's throats has played out perfectly." Rock snarled, throttling his fist, "If you were as smart as you were supposed to have been when you became a warrior, you'd stay away from his mission or he will lose more than one brother!"  
  
"I would rather die than see you pit my brothers against each other for your sick and twisted pleasures!"  
  
"That can easily be arranged," Zero almost thought he saw the shadow look at him, "For it won't just be your baby brother that'll turn against you." Suddenly, the monitor flashed a light so bright it turned the whole room red as a high-pitched flat-line sound echoed throughout the hideout forcing Rock and Treble to covered their ears, unaware of Zero's pupils shrinking as a piercing pain stabbed his head like a knife. His screaming got their attention as they turned to see him drop his E-Can and grab his head, throwing it around, his screaming growing louder.  
  
"Cut it out!" Rock yelled, turning back to the snowstorm in the small monitor, "You can't just control reploid's like that! He's not like you anymore!"  
  
"You are wrong! He is every bit like me! And once I have him back under my control, you won't be considering him your friend anymore!" he finished with a maniacal laughter that began to piss Rock to a boiling point.  
  
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" he screamed as he slammed his fist into the monitor, killing the red light and the high-pitched sound and causing Zero to drop to his knees, shaking his nearly dazed head. The maniacal laughter still echoed throughout the cave.  
  
"You can't hide the truth from him forever, Mega Man!" it echoed, "Once Zero has regained his memories, he will want to end this world's suffering my way! And you won't be there to stop him!"  
  
"You're the one who's wrong!" Rock shouted, looking around, "Even if he were to regain his memories, he'd still fight for what is right!" He didn't hear anymore laughter, which confirmed that the evil shadow had completely disappeared. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this from Zero before he realizes where his loyalties lie and whether or not he will follow those orders or go against them.  
  
Treble walks up to Zero, whining and nudging him until he took his hands off his head. He looked at Rock who turned from angry to worried.  
  
"Who...who was that?" Zero muttered. Rock just stared upwards before he looked down.  
  
"That...that used to be Treble's creator," he mumbled. Rock felt a bit hesitant when he said it. Should the mysterious fusion adaptor that appeared in Treble's inventory really belong to Zero, it could only be one answer towards some of the burning questions in his head, and whether or not he should truly follow the path he was given, or the path he chose.  
  
When the X-Hunters found out that Zero was still alive, Violen, not being too happy, throw his chain mace against the wall.  
  
"Damn him!" he snarled, "I told you we should've taken him with us! Now our plan is about to be ruined!"  
  
"We must do something," Serges said, "Perhaps we should locate the Chimera's hideout and burn it to the ground!"  
  
"You will do no such thing!" came a voice. The X-Hunters turned to a human-size capsule as a violet glow emitted from it.  
  
"B-But, what about...!?" Agile stuttered.  
  
"Zero is stuck in a predicament he can't solve by himself. He knows that X won't believe a word he says even if it is true. The brat is too enraged by both deaths to think that the Chimera is being framed. So instead of even trying, he'll have no choice but to help the Chimera clear his name and be known as a good vigilante once again."  
  
"But what happens if X is finally convinced that the whole thing with him and ProtoX's death was a hoax?" Violen asks.  
  
"He won't. I will make sure of that...." he finished with a maniacal laughter that made the X-Hunters cringe slightly.  
  
OOC: I ran into a bit of Writer's Block on this chapter, so most of it was made up off the bat. But then I'd probably end up going back and retyping the whole thing with a better scenario near the end of the chapter.  
  
Next Chapter: With the fusion adaptor repaired enough to prevent loss of life energy, Rock sets off the hunt down the X-Hunters and get ProtoX's parts back. But he knows that with X getting involved, having to try and retrieve the parts without getting into a fight with him isn't going to be as easy as he wanted especially when he shows up with a device that may permanently end his quest, and his life, for good. Will Rock be able to rescue ProtoX before his dark secret is revealed?


End file.

Mega Man, Adventure, Drama